Advice from Butler’s MFA Class of 2015

Successful Butler MFA graduates look forward to exciting futures and encourage new and current students to fully experience the many valuable opportunities offered by the program.

10906356_1577764212436414_9121016278610724129_nSome graduating students, like Emma Faesi Hudelson, are looking forward to teaching at the college level. She is in the interview process at several major Universities in Indiana. In addition to teaching creative writing, Emma will continue instructing yoga and writing her blog, thebuddhiblog.com. She and her thesis advisor are discussing plans for publishing her thesis, a recovery memoir that moved her audience to tears at her public reading. While a student at the Butler MFA program, Emma was a Teaching Fellow, a writing mentor for WITS, and the poetry editor for Booth.

Emma’s advice to new students: “Take your time to explore and find what you are meant to do. I came in thinking I didn’t want to teach, but I fell in love with it. Take advantage of all the opportunities the program offers: read for BOOTH, come to conversations@efryo, go to a poetry lunch hour, take Writing in the Schools… just get involved.”

authorOther graduating students will continue their creative writing education by pursuing PhD degrees. Kaveh Akbar will work on his PhD in poetry at Florida State University. To the delight of all poetry fans, he will continue to write Divedapper, his highly touted blog where he shares conversations with his poetic heroes. He is also attending the Bread Loaf writing conference this August.

Kaveh’s advice to new students: “Just say yes to everything. Go to every visiting writer event, whether or not it’s in your genre. Work with BOOTH, work with Bridge. Just say yes. You’ll get so much more out of the program than you would by just going to classes. The MFA is what you make of it.”

10519640_2433966606251_6368351870366197216_nLuke Wortley was recently hired as a high school teacher at a school serving Indianapolis’ under privileged students. Teaching is his calling, and teaching this population is Luke’s passion. He says, “I chose the Butler MFA because of its mission to make itself an integral part of not only the (Butler) campus community but also Indianapolis as a whole; I came, in short, because of Writing in the Schools. The WITS program informed me as a writer, served as a foundation for my identity as a teacher, and made me a better version of myself.” Luke will continue to write and seek publication. He’s already been printed in several journals and magazines including:  Inch in Durham, NC; Pea River Journal in Midland, MI; Milkfist in Sacramento, CA; Limestone at the University of Kentucky; and his interview with Karen Russell was published in BOOTH.

Luke’s advice to new students: “Say ‘yes’ to everything – whether it is for pay or not. Eventually, if you’re present, and if you follow through, people will notice. Go to the extra Q&A, do the optional revision for workshop, run that errand for the English Department. Take advantage of WITS, the teaching assistantships, BOOTH, whatever. Do it all, do it well.”

Early Look at Next Year’s Visiting Writers

Butler has some big names in writing confirmed for next year’s Visiting Writing Series.

Denis Johnson and Dean Young are the writers in residence for fall 2015. Writers in Residence typically extend their stay on Butler’s campus and provide outstanding experiences for the MFA students: Q & A sessions, class visits, dinners, and workshops. MFA students will also have an opportunity to meet award winning poet Claudia Rankine and best selling novelist Lev Grossman.

Unknown-2Denis Johnson touches all genres with his creative work. He writes novels, poetry, plays and non-fiction. He is well known for his short-story collection Jesus’ Son (1992), his novel Tree of Smoke (2007), which won the National Book Award, his pulitzer-prize finalist novella, Train Dreams (2011), and The Laughing Monsters (2014). He holds an MFA degree from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where he has also returned to teach. He received a Whiting Writer’s Award in 1986 and a Lannan Fellowship in Fiction in 1993.

DeanYoung_NewBioImage_Credit-LaurieSaurbornYoungDean Young is named one of the most energetic, influential poets writing today by the Poetry Foundation. His numerous collections of poetry have won the Colorado Prize for Poetry, been named finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and shortlisted for the International Griffin Poetry Prize.  He has been presented the Academy Award in Literature and been awarded a Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

Unknown-1Claudia Rankine is the author of five books of poetry including the best selling Citizen: An American Lyric (2014), a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. Rankine has been awarded fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Lannan Foundation. In 2013, she was elected as a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, and in 2014 she received a Lannan Literary Award. Read an interview with Ms. Rankine by Butler MFA Kaveh Akbar.

UnknownLev Grossman is the author of the best selling The Magicians trilogy. The Magicians was named one of the New Yorker’s best books of the year. The Magicians books have been published in twenty-three countries and have garnered praise from George R.R. Martin, John Green, Audrey Niffenegger, Erin Morgenstern, Joe Hill, William Gibson, Gregory Maguire, Junot Diaz and many others. Grossman is the book critic for Time Magazine and has also written for Believer, the Village Voice, the Wall Street Journal, the New York TimesSalonWiredEntertainment Weekly,  Lingua Franca, and more.

Gessner Encourages Buttler MFA Students

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Earlier this month, David Gessner visited Butler as part of the Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series. The author, editor, and professor at the University of North Carolina held a public reading, but when an author visits Butler, MFA students have unbelievable opportunities beyond the public reading.

Gessner met with the nonfiction workshop, where he answered questions, inquired about students’ writing, and gave encouragement. A student in the class, first year Jervon Perkins said, “He was so cool. It was so personal and relaxed. It was like he was just hanging out with us, talking about writing. It changed my perception of visiting writers.”

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Gessner was interviewed by a student, ate dinner with a small group and participated in an informal Q & A where he encouraged students to write wild and live wild. He said, “Do what you love from here on out. And do more than one thing. All my heroes do more than one thing.” His advice for successful writing is to practice the balance between freedom and discipline. He suggested creating a daily routine of two distinct writing periods, one to “air it all out, loose and free” and then another to be disciplined and serious.

Before leaving Indianapolis, Gessner also conducted one-on-one workshops with nonfiction students. He gave personal advice, discussed thesis plans, and seemed genuinely excited to engage personally. Students were amazed by the time and thought he put into the meetings.

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Summer Course: Story Structure

Over the next three weeks, the Butler MFA Blog will explore the summer class opportunities available for summer 2015.

danbarden1_100x150Story Structure with Dan Barden

Dan’s Story Structure has become a summer staple for Butler MFA students. Affectionately nicknamed “Watching TV with Dan,” the course takes a close look at story structure and explores the moves writers can use to become better storytellers.

Professor Dan Barden is a  the author of two novels The Next Right Thing and John Wayne: A Novel. He loves teaching this course. He says, “It’s the one place in my life where I’m actually on the other side of the bullshit of storytelling. That is, I’m talking about storytelling as pure storytelling. This is about how you move a reader (or viewer) from moment to moment through the experience you’re giving them.”

Writers from all genres enjoy the course, and some have taken it more than once. Dan redesigns the course every year, continually evolving to push writers further. Fiction MFA student Bob Helfst took Story Structure last year. He says, “Watching TV with Dan” is not nearly as easy as it sounds. This is a class where you’ll read scripts, watch television or films, and dissect scenes, all to better understand the narrative engine of conflict. It’s demanding but rewarding, and you’ll see your writing change for the better in a big way.”

Lisa Renze-Rhodes, a nonfiction MFA student, is enrolled in the course for the second time this summer. She says, “In short, here’s the reason I love Dan’s class — In example after example, whether it’s in books, TV shows or movies, Dan is constantly helping us see where the writers ‘moved the ottoman’ into the path of a character. In other words, he has a way of clearly and distinctly pointing out the role conflict plays in story development. He takes the time to break down classics, say Casablanca, and cult classics, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and point specifically to a scene or dialogue and say, ‘See that right there? That’s the ottoman shove.’ I thought as I head into thesis, his class would be a great reminder of all that I’ll need to keep in mind as I finish my work with Butler.”

 Details

EN501 Story Structure with Dan Barden.

T/R 6-9pm, June 9ththrough July 16th. This course is open to Butler MFA students only.

Course Description

The tools of narrative storytelling are probably as old as cave paintings and certainly as old as Greek drama. Aristotle articulated the principles that still pertain to every Hollywood blockbuster. As fiction writers and essayists and poets, our application of these principles will be tempered, but maybe not so much as we think. By studying the examples of stories, novels, and films, we will seek to understand these principles and apply them to our own work.

April Events

EVENTS AT BUTLER

1st – David Gessner Reading, Reilly Room, 7:30PM

Creative Nonfiction writer and professor, David Gessner, will present a free reading. Gessner is the winner of the John Burroughs Award for Best Natural History Essay, is the author of nine books, including the forthcoming All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West. He is currently a MFA Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he founded the award-winning literary journal of place Ecotone.

2nd – David Gessner Q & A, ECCW, 9:35 AM

Join the Professor for a friendly question and answer session at Butler MFA’s Efroymson Center for Creative Writing.

2nd – Poetry Lunch Hour, ECCW, 12:30 PM

We are continuing our poetry conversation with a discussion of Visiting Writers Series and conversations@efroymson series poets, Ellen Bryant Voigt and Catherine Barnett. As always, lunch will be served and book purchase is not required.Please email Mindy at mdunn1@butler.edu to RSVP.

2nd – Tell Me More, An Address by Michel Martin, Clowes Hall, 7:30 PM

Martin has spent more than 25 years as a journalist—first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Her NPR show “Tell Me More,” which aired from 2007–2014, marked her debut as a full-time public radio show host. Martin has also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR news magazines and talk shows, including “Talk of the Nation” and “News & Notes.”

6th – Catherine Barnett & Ellen Bryant Voigt Reading, Krannert Room in Clowes, 7:30 PM

Catherine Barnett is a poet, editor, teacher and author of two collections of poetry. Voigt was a founder of the Goddard College low-residency MFA program, now the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, and she continues to teach creative writing. She continues to teach, write, and publish books of poetry and essays. The two will present a joint reading.

7th – conversations@efroymson Presents Catherine Barnett & Ellen Bryant Voigt, ECCW, 7:30 PM

No matter what you write, and no matter whether you consider yourself a student of writing, a teacher of writing, or both, you won’t want to miss the final conversations@efroymson event, Writers and Mentors: Ellen Bryant Voigt and Catherine Barnett. Visiting poets Ellen Bryant Voigt and Catherine Barnett examine how writers learn from other writers-whether interacting as students and teachers in the classroom or as readers and writers on the page.

9th- 19th Butler Arts Fest

Talent from all over the world—from Los Angeles to Sierra Leone to Indianapolis—will perform at the third annual Butler ArtsFest on the Butler University campus. Fifty plus events are scheduled including three-time Grammy winner Christian McBride, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, the Lula Washington Dance Theatre from south Los Angeles, Indianapolis favorite (and Butler alumnus) Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, and Butler Ballet performing The Sleeping Beauty.

INDY EVENTS

1-30th – Indy Big Read

Indianapolis residents are invited to read and celebrate The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Ethiopian-American author Dinaw Mengestu through April 30 as part of the national campaign, “The Big Read,” which is designed to revitalize the role of reading in American culture.

The author himself will appear on Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m. at Central Library to share his experiences as an Ethiopian immigrant and give insight into the process of writing his novel. Book signings will follow.

Other April events will include the “Ethiopian Lunch and Learn Series” at select Indy Library locations, during which attendees can enjoy traditional food of Ethiopia and learn about its history and culture. Also, there will be a screening of the documentary, “Sincerely, Ethiopia,” Ethiopian artwork on display at the Central Library, and book discussions held at various branches.

2nd –  Jeanne White-Ginder & Nelson Price, Bookmamas, 5:30-7:00 pm

White-Ginder will be at Bookmamas to share the story of her son, Ryan White’s, extraordinary life.  Both she and author Nelson Price will be available to sign copies of Nelson’s new book, The Quiet Hero:  A Life of Ryan White.

4th – Lori and Steve Zeller, Bookmamas, 10:30-noon

Lori and Steve Zeller will talk about their experiences raising their basketball star sons, Luke, Tyler and Cody and sign their new book, Raising Boys the Zeller Way.

15th – Literary Awards, Purdue University

Purdue University is pleased to announce that Roz Chast will be the distinguished writer for the 2015 Literary Awards celebration. Events include a reception, dinner, remarks about the creative process by Ms. Chast, and a free public reading.

15th- Natalie Shapero, Depauw University, 7:30 PM

Natalie Shapero, this year’s GLCA New Writers Award for poetry, will be reading in the Peeler Auditorium. She is the author of the poetry collection No Object (Saturnalia, 2013), and her writing has appeared in The BelieverThe New Republic, PoetryThe Progressive, and elsewhere.

16th – Dana Roeser, IUPUI, 7:30

Named by Library Journal as one of “Thirty Amazing Poetry Titles for Spring 2014,” Dana Roeser’s third book, The Theme of Tonight’s Party Has Been Changed, was published in March 2014 by the University of Massachusetts Press as winner of the Juniper Prize.

28th – Rick Bass, Depauw Univeristy, 7:30 PM

Fiction and Creative nonfiction writer Rick Bass has received many awards including O. Henry Awards, numerous Pushcart Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has had numerous essays and stories anthologized in Best American Short StoriesBest American Travel Writing, and Best American Science Writing. His memoir The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons At Home in Montana has been excerpted in O, The Oprah Magazine. Bass’ collection of short fiction, The Hermit’s Story, was named a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year, and The Lives of Rocks, was a finalist for the prestigious Story Prize and named Best Book of the Year by The Rocky Mountain News. His most recent book of nonfiction, Why I Came West, was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.

April Events

EVENTS AT BUTLER

1st – David Gessner Reading, Reilly Room, 7:30PM

Creative Nonfiction writer and professor, David Gessner, will present a free reading. Gessner is the winner of the John Burroughs Award for Best Natural History Essay, is the author of nine books, including the forthcoming All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West. He is currently a MFA Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he founded the award-winning literary journal of place Ecotone.

2nd – David Gessner Q & A, ECCW, 9:35 AM

Join the Professor for a friendly question and answer session at Butler MFA’s Efroymson Center for Creative Writing.

2nd – Poetry Lunch Hour, ECCW, 12:30 PM

We are continuing our poetry conversation with a discussion of Visiting Writers Series and conversations@efroymson series poets, Ellen Bryant Voigt and Catherine Barnett. As always, lunch will be served and book purchase is not required.Please email Mindy at mdunn1@butler.edu to RSVP.

2nd – Tell Me More, An Address by Michel Martin, Clowes Hall, 7:30 PM

Martin has spent more than 25 years as a journalist—first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Her NPR show “Tell Me More,” which aired from 2007–2014, marked her debut as a full-time public radio show host. Martin has also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR news magazines and talk shows, including “Talk of the Nation” and “News & Notes.”

6th – Catherine Barnett & Ellen Bryant Voigt Reading, Krannert Room in Clowes, 7:30 PM

Catherine Barnett is a poet, editor, teacher and author of two collections of poetry. Voigt was a founder of the Goddard College low-residency MFA program, now the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, and she continues to teach creative writing. She continues to teach, write, and publish books of poetry and essays. The two will present a joint reading.

7th – conversations@efroymson Presents Catherine Barnett & Ellen Bryant Voigt, ECCW, 7:30 PM

No matter what you write, and no matter whether you consider yourself a student of writing, a teacher of writing, or both, you won’t want to miss the final conversations@efroymson event, Writers and Mentors: Ellen Bryant Voigt and Catherine Barnett. Visiting poets Ellen Bryant Voigt and Catherine Barnett examine how writers learn from other writers-whether interacting as students and teachers in the classroom or as readers and writers on the page.

9th- 19th Butler Arts Fest

Talent from all over the world—from Los Angeles to Sierra Leone to Indianapolis—will perform at the third annual Butler ArtsFest on the Butler University campus. Fifty plus events are scheduled including three-time Grammy winner Christian McBride, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, the Lula Washington Dance Theatre from south Los Angeles, Indianapolis favorite (and Butler alumnus) Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, and Butler Ballet performing The Sleeping Beauty.

INDY EVENTS

1-30th – Indy Big Read

Indianapolis residents are invited to read and celebrate The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Ethiopian-American author Dinaw Mengestu through April 30 as part of the national campaign, “The Big Read,” which is designed to revitalize the role of reading in American culture.

The author himself will appear on Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m. at Central Library to share his experiences as an Ethiopian immigrant and give insight into the process of writing his novel. Book signings will follow.

Other April events will include the “Ethiopian Lunch and Learn Series” at select Indy Library locations, during which attendees can enjoy traditional food of Ethiopia and learn about its history and culture. Also, there will be a screening of the documentary, “Sincerely, Ethiopia,” Ethiopian artwork on display at the Central Library, and book discussions held at various branches.

2nd –  Jeanne White-Ginder & Nelson Price, Bookmamas, 5:30-7:00 pm

White-Ginder will be at Bookmamas to share the story of her son, Ryan White’s, extraordinary life.  Both she and author Nelson Price will be available to sign copies of Nelson’s new book, The Quiet Hero:  A Life of Ryan White.

4th – Lori and Steve Zeller, Bookmamas, 10:30-noon

Lori and Steve Zeller will talk about their experiences raising their basketball star sons, Luke, Tyler and Cody and sign their new book, Raising Boys the Zeller Way.

15th – Literary Awards, Purdue University

Purdue University is pleased to announce that Roz Chast will be the distinguished writer for the 2015 Literary Awards celebration. Events include a reception, dinner, remarks about the creative process by Ms. Chast, and a free public reading.

15th- Natalie Shapero, Depauw University, 7:30 PM

Natalie Shapero, this year’s GLCA New Writers Award for poetry, will be reading in the Peeler Auditorium. She is the author of the poetry collection No Object (Saturnalia, 2013), and her writing has appeared in The BelieverThe New Republic, PoetryThe Progressive, and elsewhere.

16th – Dana Roeser, IUPUI, 7:30

Named by Library Journal as one of “Thirty Amazing Poetry Titles for Spring 2014,” Dana Roeser’s third book, The Theme of Tonight’s Party Has Been Changed, was published in March 2014 by the University of Massachusetts Press as winner of the Juniper Prize.

28th – Rick Bass, Depauw Univeristy, 7:30 PM

Fiction and Creative nonfiction writer Rick Bass has received many awards including O. Henry Awards, numerous Pushcart Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has had numerous essays and stories anthologized in Best American Short StoriesBest American Travel Writing, and Best American Science Writing. His memoir The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons At Home in Montana has been excerpted in O, The Oprah Magazine. Bass’ collection of short fiction, The Hermit’s Story, was named a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year, and The Lives of Rocks, was a finalist for the prestigious Story Prize and named Best Book of the Year by The Rocky Mountain News. His most recent book of nonfiction, Why I Came West, was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.