on the road, again

January is a busy month! I’ve been on the road most of the month and continue to be until that very last week. I’m living in and out of suitcases.

Part of my earlier travels included visiting the students of Arcadia University’s low-residency MFA program. I chatted about social media and websites, the art of book reviewing, and the ever-important business chat about contracts, agents, and taxes. apart from a few travel-related glitches, it was a great time and I’m honored to have met some truly engaged and eager students pursuing their dreams.

Me at the Maslow Reading Series

The bulk of January, thus far, was spent at the Wilkes University low-residency MFA program. Here, I worked with faculty and students on their social media and website development and presented a plenary session on using social media as part of one’s overall platform development. I was also honored to be included in the Maslow Reading Series. I read poems from my new book, Square Feet, including this little poem about baggage, which I thought was fitting, considering my month of travels: 

I’m now enjoying some time in Toronto, Ontario, as part of the University of King’s College (Halifax) creative nonfiction MFA program. I’m one of the CNF mentors in the program and this winter we’re spending quality time in Toronto meeting with nonfiction editors from Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, touring the Kobo offices, and much more in this publishing epicenter.

Later this week, I’ll also be a guest for the Toronto Wordsmiths writing group. I look forward to meeting a great group of young and emerging writers and sharing their enthusiasm for this creative life.

So, packing and unpacking. On the road and off. It’s a busy month and I’m so excited to be a part of all this literary action, across the country and beyond borders. Stay tuned for more news, travels, and reports from the road.

Write on.

update: Arcadia University’s low-res MFA

Last June2011, I first mentioned Arcadia University as they were preparing for the first ever residency for their newly created low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program. Now that a couple of residencies have passed and another cohort is happily on their way to earning grad degrees, I caught up with Joshua Isard, the Program Director of the M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Arcadia University.

“We’ve just finished our first residency with our second class, which is great,” Josh said. “More interesting than that, however, is how we’re developing the pedagogy and technology.”

Josh told me how Arcadia is vamping up their online discussion boards and focusing on ways to make their student-faculty communications super-accessible, regardless of how the student logs in and no matter the device. That includes using the discussion boards for weekly workshops.

“Our MFA program is totally accessible on mobile devices,” Josh said. “We've switched from Blackboard to more mobile-friendly discussion software, make use of Google Apps—which Arcadia subscribes to, not just the program—for file sharing and collaboration, and continue to use Skype for one-on-one faculty to student conferences.”

That’s great news for students who can now complete their program on a desktop, laptop, iPad, or other mobile device. It comes down to is accessibility and finding ways to make the MFA life part of the student’s everyday life. As Josh said, “Students really can take their classroom anywhere now.”

Speaking of anywhere… Arcadia has a really cool residency schedule for students who enjoy travel or wish to write with a global perspective. Each cohort experiences three residencies, one of which takes place abroad. That includes Edinburgh, Scotland, and other locations like Umbria, Italy. The other residencies take place at the King of Prussia campus, just outside of Philadelphia.

In addition to residencies, students take between six to nine credits each term and work toward completing a full-length manuscript. Then, with the assistance of mentoring faculty, students design a publication plan to get that completed work out into the world.

Potential students should visit the program website and stop by their Facebook page to say hello.

Applications for admission in August 2013 are being accepted now, and the priority deadline is March 1. Review the admission requirements before applying.

Residencies for the class of 2015:

• Residency One: Aug. 12-17, 2013 (in King of Prussia)
• Residency Two: July 2014 (abroad in Italy or Scotland)
• Residency Three: Jan. 12-17, 2015 (in King of Prussia)

For more info about the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program at Arcadia University, visit http://www.arcadia.edu/mfa-creative-writing.htm.