Tag Archives: thesis

MFA Monday

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I’ve been trying to decide what to do next with MFA Monday. I knew, at some point, I was going to have to figure out when to start moving it towards completion. I think we’ll be moving towards graduation more sooner than later!

So, in lieu of a class, I want my regular participants (although anyone can participate) to consider what they need to do for “graduation.”

Consider today as a class where we meet to discuss those remaining items which will be:

  1. A book review. This can be on a book of poetry (or other genre you are focusing on) or on a craft book. These do not have to be long, but I’d like them to be posted in comments next Monday when I post the MFA Monday blog.
  2. The Monday after that I want a small reflective essay about your writing. Tell me what you have learned, want to learn still, or a technique you’ve been studying. It can be any number of things and can be as short as a blog comment or a bit longer and posted to the MFA Blog group (feel free to ask questions about any of this in comments). This will count more as your final “paper.” This can also be emailed to me if you want to keep it more private. If you don’t have my email check the sidebar!
  3. I want to see 3-5 poems as a mini chapbook of sorts in the third week (again I’ll post the topic and let you know). These can be emailed directly to me versus posting in the blog group. This will count as your thesis.
Then, perhaps, we will do a small wrap-up but I think it is time to finish our mini blog MFA and to move on to other topics. I’ll still have our regular writing prompts and Thursday Poem Share’s and Friday’s to report in on what you are working on, submitting etc but the Blog format – I think – has run its course.
Thanks for participating in it and let’s finish up this remaining work!

Video Tuesday

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This week will be some additional vids from the most recent Queens Univ of Charlotte MFA grads. For some reason some of these end up very quiet so I apologize for that.

First up, is a poet I was able to mention in my thesis reading because he ardently defended one of my poems – which, perhaps I’ll post this week on Thursday Poem Share – and besides that he is just awesome! He even has a book out already. Woo hoo for Scott Wilkerson!

Next in no particular order except this just happened to be how I typed them is David Locke who I am so glad I got to know as I was finishing up my degree. Rock on David!

And finally in this initial list is sweet home Georgia boy, Tony Galloway:

I also decided to make a PLAYLIST of all the various reading clips I made from this year and from a year ago when I did my thesis reading.

Feel free to link  to any videos you might have seen around or drop some comments here or on the comment sections of the YouTube vids. Nothing from me this week. Unless you wanted a video punctuated with the sound of hammers in the background.

Ah Rejections They Do Roll In . . .

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I just reported in on a private message board I go to that I sent out 8 sets of poems this week but I had 6 rejections slips come in which included two sets of poems I pulled that I labelled “assumed declined” meaning I sent to journals over 6 months ago and I’ve had no response/been unable to get a notification from them etc. *sigh* I didn’t count the one rejection slip from a university pub that I originally sent them 6-30-08!! Yep. I had already pulled that.

So, no acceptance notes this week and the struggle just continues. I am still looking forward to buckling down next week with my remanining unrevised/unsent out poems – about 25 – and getting them out in the mail before I start really reassessing what poems I’m sending out and where I am sending them.

I am also tentatively optimistic about my Element project.  I put all the poems that thematically connect to it and I have over 100.  I know I will cut the vast majority of them but 3 have already been published and it is looking like I really might have  viable manuscript to start sending around again. Unlike my thesis, which I still love but I just don’t feel as connected to at this point.

How do writers do it?  If you are sending around a manuscript of work you wrote during your 20′s and revised during your 20′s and early 30′s…How do you keep sending it out? I do plan on revisiting my thesis poems after a few more of them are *cross fingers* published and then maybe I’ll have two collections to circulate as I did when I had chapbooks. Although only one chapbook was every published. Still *crossing eyes* have the 2nd chapbook under consideration in a few places so ya just never know!

Still haven’t written anything new since the rush of NaPoWriMo but I’m ok with that. I’m pretty busy reading poems that I volunteered to read for a project, and whew!, it is going to take me a while.

Hope everyone els is keeping their chin up in the writerly world.  I feel like I’m getting back on track. There is no definitive scale for that, but sadly I will step on the definitive weight scale after having a bad day yesterday, so, heh, that should be funny and vlogworthy for next week :)

Another Day in the Books…

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I turned in my thesis. It is officially in the hands of the school and will eventually be bound and put up in the library. Even though I am sending my manuscript out in that current version, I doubt it will ever be published exactly as it appears in the library but still fun to think it will be there. Now if I could just ever settle on a title. One I’ve been toying with is “Route 1, Box 574″….

We had a special lunch with faculty yesterday and I went out (with some other poets) to the Non-fiction writers dinner at Pie Town here in Charlotte. It was a lot of fun! But, I ended up flaking on coming back to the 8:15 faculty reading. :( It was cold and I was exhausted. As I am this morning. 14 degrees outside! And I really am tired and not feeling terribly well, but looking forward to hanging out again with my fellow students because I won’t be on campus Saturday except to go to graduation.

The slow week has gone and sped itself up!

Busy Friday

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Busy busy Friday and I still haven’t quite finished my housework, but at least I did other “getting ready to graduate work”

Picked up my thesis copies.  They look fine but I asked them to make some copies of my handout and to collate them.  They didn’t do it so I found my old stapler and did it myself.  This stapler is one I bought back in 1993 to take with me to college.  I didn’t use it much, obviously, cause I still have a very full box of staples to go into it!

I’m in the process of revising some poems so hopefully I’ll have some stuff to send out soon.

Put the finishing touches on two videos today and sent out a call for submissions for people going to AWP.  Have a few responses already and I’m looking forward to trying to read them before the busy-ness of this upcoming week really gets into full swing :)

Also got to splurge on a book today because one of my poety friends sent me a gift card to Borders for graduation! woo hoo!

What else..what else?  Just the normal spending too much time on the internet as well…

To make up for that I will straighten the kitchen and vacuum.

Or maybe I’ll just go write a poem :)

Have a great weekend!

A Day Filled With Poetry Great..A Week Filled With Poetry AWESOME!

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My world has just been revolving around poetry this week!

Monday: wrote a poem :)

Tuesday: Put a new issue of Shape of a Box up online (see blogs below)

Yesterday: Dropped off my thesis for printing.  Met with poet Helen Losse to record her portion of a video/poem that will be up on Shape of a Box on 1/20/2009 in honor of inauguration day.

Today: Met with poet Scott Owens for an interview that will appear on 2/6/2009 and he contributed to the inauguration video as well. Also tonight going to an open mic at Jackson’s Java (8pm if you are around)

Tomorrow: Pick up thesis copies and print outs of handouts for  my class. Make all kinds of final preparation and maybe, just maybe get some poems out in the mail!

And if there is poetry in doing some straightening up and driving then I did that as well!

Have a great evening everyone.

YouTube Haters

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I’ve had this video on my mind for a while, and after meeting with fellow blogger and poet Helen Losse this morning I thought I’d go ahead and make the video.  I’m posting the link now even though it is still updating (cause who reads this anyway?) and then I have to go take a copy of my thesis to be printed onto the correct paper and to make other copies of things I will need for Monday and Tuesday and to well prepare to GRADUATE!

I am also going to go and weigh-in today (restarted weight watchers) and while I might not have lost much because I weighed in on Friday last week, I really wanted to work with the leader who is actually there on Wednesdays.  She was filling in on Friday. 

I actually got caught up on some of the cleaning that didn’t get done over the holiday weeks and won’t get done next week during my final residency at school.

What a busy week?  More to do tomorrow and hopefully more to report.

Now to get blown away in the crazy strong wind! You’d think I’d moved to the Midwest or something?