The MFA in Creative Writing program ( mfa) was developed by Rutgers English Professor Jayne Anne Phillips. The award-winning author came to the Newark campus with definite ideas for the Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program she was charged with developing. She envisioned a dynamic MFA for the 21st century, a time in which diversity and communication will be paramount, and also wanted to draw upon the energy of the campuss urban environment, an environment in which she saw many intriguing possibilities for an aspiring writer.
Her dream is now a reality: The program has accepted 36 graduate students in Fiction, Poetry and Non-fiction, for its first classes, which begin in September. The MFA is still accepting undergraduate students for its one-credit, pass or fail Writers at Newark Colloquium.
The MFA features the Writers at Newark Reading Series as well as a wide range of electives taught by Rutgers scholars, and workshops by an accomplished writing
faculty. One especially innovative aspect of the program requires students to complete an electives concentration in either literature/book arts, performance/media studies, or in cultural/political studies, to complement their writing work.
Rutgers undergraduates may take the newly established Writers at Newark Colloquium, (English 26:350:204), and attend the Series for one credit hour of pass fail credit. These undergraduate students must commit to reading at least four books from the Writers at Newark readings list (one book per event), attend four scheduled events in the Reading Series, and write four short responses to the readings/books each semester.
The MFA program is subtitled Real Lives, Real Stories, because, as Philips explains, Were interested in the real world experience of our applicants as well as in their creative work and intellectual rigor. The program will actively engage students in the Newark arts community in which their faculty, and Rutgers itself, already play a vital role. MFA students also will draw upon the diverse cultural resources of both the university and the nearby community.
In addition to Phillips -- herself the award-winning author of the novels Motherkind (2000), Shelter (1994), and Machine Dreams (1984), as well as two widely acclaimed collections of short stories, Fast Lanes (1987) and Black Tickets (1979) -- MFA faculty members include novelist Tayari Jones, and short story writer Alice Elliott Dark (In The Gloaming); poet Rachel Hadas; M.F. Steinhardt Visiting Writers Rigoberto Gonzlez and D. Nurkse; and nonfiction writers James Goodman a Pulitzer Prize finalist as well as Vietnam and science fiction specialist H. Bruce Franklin, and jazz pianist and author Lewis Porter.
The inaugural 2007/2008 Writers at Newark Reading Series begins Sept. 19 with readings by Rick Moody and Jo Ann Beard. Moody is author of Garden State, The Black Veil, Demonology and The Ice Storm (made into an Ang Lee film in 1997). Beard is author of a collection of autobiographical essays, The Boys of My Youth, and the recipient of the Whiting Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts. The readings continue through April 2, and include writers such as poet Major Jackson, short story writer Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize finalist Suketu Mehta, and Phillips. (The full schedule follows.)
For more information on the writers, please go to: writers
2007/2008 WRITERS AT NEWARK READING SERIES
All readings are from 5:30 7 p.m. in the Paul Robeson Gallery, Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Newark Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007: Rick Moody and Jo Ann Beard: (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007: Major Jackson and Rigoberto Gonzalez: (Poetry)
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007: : Elisa Albert and Ed Schwarzschild: (Fiction)
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007: Suketu Mehta and Katherine Russell Rich: (Nonfiction)
SPRING 2008 SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008: Junot Diaz and Jayne Anne Phillips: (Fiction)
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008: Cyrus Cassells: (Poetry)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008: Jennifer Gilmore and Angela Pneuman (a First Books reading): (Fiction)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 : Monique Truong and Tayari Jones: (Fiction)