MFA Summer Program Connects Community of Writers, Thinkers, Dreamers

The Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program held its fourth annual Summer Literary Programs June 9-17 at University of St. Thomas. The program features three major events for writers, authors, students, and those who want to encounter the beauty of the written word and participate in the lively life of the mind and imagination. These events are the Summer Literary Series, the MFA Residency and the Summer Writers Institute.

Words Come to Life in Global Gathering of Literary Talent

As the signature event, the Summer Literary Series brings distinguished authors and scholars from around the world as they share the joy and beauty of the written word. The multi-night event convened at Cullen Hall on the UST campus for a series of readings, lectures, and performances that featured the best in contemporary literature and reflections on enduring classics. During these 10 days, the free and open to the public series featured highly acclaimed literary figures such as poet Dana Gioia, Nigerian author Okey Ndibe, novelist Brigid Pasulka, a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the MFA program, and more.

Summer Residency Takes Creative Writing from Calling to Craft

The MFA program, which boasts 120 students in its poetry and fiction tracks, convenes its MFA Summer Residency every year. Students participate in an intensive series of seminars, workshops, and literary events during the same 10 days as the literary series, and many of the authors and scholars featured in the public events also conduct the seminars.

The theme of this year's MFA Residency, "In Theory," aimed to serve as a corrective to the excesses of literary studies in recent decades and to aid students, writers and critics of literature, in understanding and putting into practice the principles of their elected art form.

Dr. James Matthew Wilson, Founding Faculty and Cullen Foundation Chair in English, said "Literary Theory" emerged decades ago as a series of philosophical and critical schools that conceived of literature as something to be dissected and "seen-through."

"It was as if literature were a body on the table and only the theorist could torture that body until it despairingly revealed its secrets," Wilson stated.

Writers Institute Stretches Budding Poets

The Summer Writers Institute (SWI) is a three-day intensive program, inviting people from all walks of life to contemplate the Church's teaching on the nature of beauty, the craft and practice of the literary arts, and to grow as writers themselves through individual attention and editorial counsel.

For the first time ever, the SWI coincided with the residency, allowing participants to connect with MFA students, giving them a greater opportunity to experience that most elusive thing: a literary community intended to deepen and strengthen their own work while also welcoming them into the greater literary and cultural tradition of the Church.Aside from a $100 deposit, all costs for tuition, meals, and receptions were covered by University of St. Thomas.

Faculty for both SWI and the MFA Summer Residency included Wilson and Pasulka, as well as Associate Professor of English Ryan Wilson and Writer-in-Residence Katy Carl.

Poet and MFA candidate Zina Gomez-Liss from Newton Upper Falls, Mass., summarized the experience on her Substack "The Beauty of Things."

"There is so much I could highlight about my time at residency," she wrote. "It's been a great, soul-flourishing experience. I've learned so much, and I know others could benefit from this style of education."

To learn more about the MFA in Creative Writing and its summer events, visit the UST website.