The Butler MFA greeted the incoming class and welcomed back current students at our annual Welcome (Back) Party. This social gathering builds friendship within our writing community and also gives students a chance to hear from each other about the diverse ways to get involved in the Butler MFA community.

The Butler MFA offers many opportunities for writers outside of classes. From first years to thesis candidates, all students are encouraged to get involved. Many successful authors agree the biggest advantage of an MFA degree is the community, and these experiences are designed to build a supportive writing community as well as enhance your writing education.

Like & Subscribe 

We have a Facebook page where you can see reminders of upcoming events, information about literary events and conferences, and news about current students and alumni. Also, subscribe to the blog by email (check the sidebar) so you will be up-to-date on all the latest news and opportunities.

Attend Literary Events

One of the nation’s best reading series, the Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series regularly hosts public readings and Q & A sessions with some of the most influential people in contemporary literature. The program offers an average of 14 events each year, all of which are free.

In addition to the VWS series, the MFA-run conversations@efroymson  series offers a diverse lineup of niche authors and interactive workshops.

Read for Booth

Booth is Butler’s award-winning literary magazine. Readers and editors are all MFA students. Reading for a literary magazine has multiple benefits: improving your own writing, understanding how publishing works, and building a community. Plus there’s free food! Email Rob Stapleton for more information.

Be a Writing in the Schools Mentor

Writing In The Schools (WITS) is the Jefferson Award-winning partnership between the MFA program and Indianapolis Public Schools that strives to foster the creativity of young writers through mentorship. This rewarding opportunity is highly recommended by past mentors as a way to gain teaching experience, build meaningful relationships in our community, and positively impact a young person’s life. Visit the WITS website for more information.

Volunteer for a Wellness Writing Group

The Butler MFA believes the Indianapolis community can benefit from the proven powers of creative writing. The Wellness writing initiative trains MFA students to lead therapeutic writing groups at diverse locations. This semester, groups are planned for Indiana Women’s Prison, Indiana Youth Group, Eskenazi Hospital, and American Village Senior Home. To get involved in this outreach, contact Hilene Flanzbaum.

Poetry Lunch Hours

Part of the conversation@effroymson series, these bimonthly casual meetings are a great way to get involved in your MFA writing community and have meaningful poetry discussion. Led by Mindy Dunn, the poetry discussions are low-pressure, inclusive, and open to poetry readers of all levels. Because Mindy emails a short selection of poems directly to those who RSVP and provides lunch, it has never been easier to discuss poetry. Come see why the PLH continues to grow each year. See the schedule here or email Mindy for more information.

Attend Dialogue

Looking for a completely fun way to discuss your writing away from the formal workshop atmosphere? Or just looking to eat free food and laugh with some of the most entertaining members of the MFA community? Come to Dialogue. Planned by Tristan Durst, Dialogue is a student-only monthly gathering that will leave you inspired, energized, and with sore abs from laughing. Check out the Facebook page or email Tristan for more information.

Introduce yourself to Mindy

The Butler MFA has the best administrator in the world. Her goal is to make your MFA experience satisfying.  Many positions, both paid and volunteer, are available to MFA students at Butler. Some examples include writing camp mentors, bridge workshop leaders, teaching fellows, and publishing editors. Meet with Mindy to let her know your interests and talents so she can connect you and help you gain experience to meet your goals.

The Butler MFA greeted the incoming class and welcomed back current students at our annual Welcome (Back) Party. This social gathering builds friendship within our writing community and also gives students a chance to hear from each other about the diverse ways to get involved in the Butler MFA community.

The Butler MFA offers many opportunities for writers outside of classes. From first years to thesis candidates, all students are encouraged to get involved. Many successful authors agree the biggest advantage of an MFA degree is the community, and these experiences are designed to build a supportive writing community as well as enhance your writing education.

Like & Subscribe 

We have a Facebook page where you can see reminders of upcoming events, information about literary events and conferences, and news about current students and alumni. Also, subscribe to the blog by email (check the sidebar) so you will be up-to-date on all the latest news and opportunities.

Attend Literary Events

One of the nation’s best reading series, the Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series regularly hosts public readings and Q & A sessions with some of the most influential people in contemporary literature. The program offers an average of 14 events each year, all of which are free.

In addition to the VWS series, the MFA-run conversations@efroymson  series offers a diverse lineup of niche authors and interactive workshops.

Read for Booth

Booth is Butler’s award-winning literary magazine. Readers and editors are all MFA students. Reading for a literary magazine has multiple benefits: improving your own writing, understanding how publishing works, and building a community. Plus there’s free food! Email Rob Stapleton for more information.

Be a Writing in the Schools Mentor

Writing In The Schools (WITS) is the Jefferson Award-winning partnership between the MFA program and Indianapolis Public Schools that strives to foster the creativity of young writers through mentorship. This rewarding opportunity is highly recommended by past mentors as a way to gain teaching experience, build meaningful relationships in our community, and positively impact a young person’s life. Visit the WITS website for more information.

Volunteer for a Wellness Writing Group

The Butler MFA believes the Indianapolis community can benefit from the proven powers of creative writing. The Wellness writing initiative trains MFA students to lead therapeutic writing groups at diverse locations. This semester, groups are planned for Indiana Women’s Prison, Indiana Youth Group, Eskenazi Hospital, and American Village Senior Home. To get involved in this outreach, contact Hilene Flanzbaum.

Poetry Lunch Hours

Part of the conversation@effroymson series, these bimonthly casual meetings are a great way to get involved in your MFA writing community and have meaningful poetry discussion. Led by Mindy Dunn, the poetry discussions are low-pressure, inclusive, and open to poetry readers of all levels. Because Mindy emails a short selection of poems directly to those who RSVP and provides lunch, it has never been easier to discuss poetry. Come see why the PLH continues to grow each year. See the schedule here or email Mindy for more information.

Attend Dialogue

Looking for a completely fun way to discuss your writing away from the formal workshop atmosphere? Or just looking to eat free food and laugh with some of the most entertaining members of the MFA community? Come to Dialogue. Planned by Tristan Durst, Dialogue is a student-only monthly gathering that will leave you inspired, energized, and with sore abs from laughing. Check out the Facebook page or email Tristan for more information.

Introduce yourself to Mindy

The Butler MFA has the best administrator in the world. Her goal is to make your MFA experience satisfying.  Many positions, both paid and volunteer, are available to MFA students at Butler. Some examples include writing camp mentors, bridge workshop leaders, teaching fellows, and publishing editors. Meet with Mindy to let her know your interests and talents so she can connect you and help you gain experience to meet your goals.

Although classes have not started, Indianapolis has many literary events to fill your last days of summer or get you acquainted with our always busy city. Every month Butler University, the MFA program, and the creative community of Indianapolis host a variety of events ensuring you’ll never have a lack of things to do.

Events at Butler

Sunday, 8/21 -Welcome (back) Party
ECCW, 4:00pm

All new and current students, faculty and staff to are invited to the ECCW for the annual party celebrating the start of a new school year. Plans include heavy appetizers catered by Duos, croquet in the yard, and fun conversation. An orientation for new students will precede the party at 3:00pm. All are welcome to bring a +1, but please no children under age 21.

Wednesday, 8/24 – Classes Begin
ECCW

In addition to four workshops, the fall semester includes electives like Reading Like a Writer, Writing in the Schools, and Prose Poems and Flash Fiction. Most of the MFA classes are held in the ECCW, a beautiful, historic house owned by Butler’s MFA. Students are welcome to bring snacks or make a cup of tea or coffee and make themselves at home.

Events in Indy

8/9 – Ross Gay 
Bloomington, 5:30 PM

Award Winning Poet Ross Gay will speak at Bloom Magazine Book Club. In each edition of Bloom, a noted author or literary personage will recommend a book. Two months later Bloom will host a Book Club Party at a local venue where the recommender will give a short talk and lead a discussion about the book.
This issue’s book is Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay, who will be speaking at the free event. 

Ross Gay’s most recent book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, is the winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is currently a nominee for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award and a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award.  Catalog was also a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in Poetry, the Balcones Poetry Prize, and it was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

8/10 – Robert Snow
Irvington Library, 6:30 PM

Adult are invited as retired IPD Detective Robert Snow discusses his recent autobiography, “Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic: The True Story of a Policy Detective’s Reincarnation.” He tells of past life regression done in response to a dare, ends up researching one of the people he was in his past life, and learns that what he saw reflects the reality of his previous life. Books will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Bookmamas.

8/15 – Dan Wakefield’s “Uncle Dan’s Story Hour”
The Red Key Tavern, 6:00 PM

Visit the Legendary Red Key Tavern for UNCLE DAN’S STORY HOUR. Only 48 tickets available ($15 each) for this special night featuring Indiana author and screenwriter Dan Wakefield. With host Will Higgins from the Indianapolis Star, it’s your chance to hear life stories from a master of the word. This show will be recorded live and broadcast at future dates on 90.1 WFYI Public Radio Indianapolis.

8/22 – Barbara Shoup
Central Library, 6:00 PM

As part of the Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program whose theme celebrates Indiana’s bicentennial, adults are invited as local author Barbara Shoup leads a book discussion of An American Tune.

8/22 – From Match to Flame: The Evolution of Fahrenheit 451
Central Library, 6:00 PM

This 3rd Annual Ray Bradbury Memorial Lecture will be presented by Dr. Jonathan R. Eller, Chancellor’s Professor of English and Director for the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies. The unlikely evolution of Fahrenheit 451, and its even more remarkable transformation into an international literary classic and a major 1966 motion picture, forms the core of this lecture. Ray Bradbury drafted the final version during a nine-day blaze of creativity in the summer of 1953, but his nightmare world of book burning originated in a seven-year arc of drafts that spilled over into some of his most famous early stories.

8/22 – Author talk with Indiana’s Poet Laureate Shari Wagner
Pike Library, 6:00 PM

As part of the Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program whose theme celebrates Indiana’s bicentennial, adults are invited as Indiana’s Poet Laureate Shari Wagner conducts a poetry reading and discusses nature and history’s connections to poetry.

Although classes have not started, Indianapolis has many literary events to fill your last days of summer or get you acquainted with our always busy city. Every month Butler University, the MFA program, and the creative community of Indianapolis host a variety of events ensuring you’ll never have a lack of things to do.

Events at Butler

Sunday, 8/21 -Welcome (back) Party
ECCW, 4:00pm

All new and current students, faculty and staff to are invited to the ECCW for the annual party celebrating the start of a new school year. Plans include heavy appetizers catered by Duos, croquet in the yard, and fun conversation. An orientation for new students will precede the party at 3:00pm. All are welcome to bring a +1, but please no children under age 21.

Wednesday, 8/24 – Classes Begin
ECCW

In addition to four workshops, the fall semester includes electives like Reading Like a Writer, Writing in the Schools, and Prose Poems and Flash Fiction. Most of the MFA classes are held in the ECCW, a beautiful, historic house owned by Butler’s MFA. Students are welcome to bring snacks or make a cup of tea or coffee and make themselves at home.

Events in Indy

8/9 – Ross Gay 
Bloomington, 5:30 PM

Award Winning Poet Ross Gay will speak at Bloom Magazine Book Club. In each edition of Bloom, a noted author or literary personage will recommend a book. Two months later Bloom will host a Book Club Party at a local venue where the recommender will give a short talk and lead a discussion about the book.
This issue’s book is Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay, who will be speaking at the free event. 

Ross Gay’s most recent book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, is the winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is currently a nominee for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award and a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award.  Catalog was also a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in Poetry, the Balcones Poetry Prize, and it was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

8/10 – Robert Snow
Irvington Library, 6:30 PM

Adult are invited as retired IPD Detective Robert Snow discusses his recent autobiography, “Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic: The True Story of a Policy Detective’s Reincarnation.” He tells of past life regression done in response to a dare, ends up researching one of the people he was in his past life, and learns that what he saw reflects the reality of his previous life. Books will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Bookmamas.

8/15 – Dan Wakefield’s “Uncle Dan’s Story Hour”
The Red Key Tavern, 6:00 PM

Visit the Legendary Red Key Tavern for UNCLE DAN’S STORY HOUR. Only 48 tickets available ($15 each) for this special night featuring Indiana author and screenwriter Dan Wakefield. With host Will Higgins from the Indianapolis Star, it’s your chance to hear life stories from a master of the word. This show will be recorded live and broadcast at future dates on 90.1 WFYI Public Radio Indianapolis.

8/22 – Barbara Shoup
Central Library, 6:00 PM

As part of the Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program whose theme celebrates Indiana’s bicentennial, adults are invited as local author Barbara Shoup leads a book discussion of An American Tune.

8/22 – From Match to Flame: The Evolution of Fahrenheit 451
Central Library, 6:00 PM

This 3rd Annual Ray Bradbury Memorial Lecture will be presented by Dr. Jonathan R. Eller, Chancellor’s Professor of English and Director for the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies. The unlikely evolution of Fahrenheit 451, and its even more remarkable transformation into an international literary classic and a major 1966 motion picture, forms the core of this lecture. Ray Bradbury drafted the final version during a nine-day blaze of creativity in the summer of 1953, but his nightmare world of book burning originated in a seven-year arc of drafts that spilled over into some of his most famous early stories.

8/22 – Author talk with Indiana’s Poet Laureate Shari Wagner
Pike Library, 6:00 PM

As part of the Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program whose theme celebrates Indiana’s bicentennial, adults are invited as Indiana’s Poet Laureate Shari Wagner conducts a poetry reading and discusses nature and history’s connections to poetry.