The Little MFA Dramatic Writing Program That Could – Part 1

By Charlie Schulman, Spalding Low-Residency MFA Dramatic Writing Faculty

This is the first of an ongoing series that will report and promote the accomplishments of Spalding University’s MFA Dramatic Writing alums and current students. In this edition we will be featuring four MFA Playwriting alums who are making contributions to the field by creating theater-making opportunities for themselves and others.

This is at the heart of the ethos of the Spalding program: the writer as provocateur who builds and sustains community while creating opportunity for themselves and others.

Advertisements

INTERVIEW: ‘Terminus’ finds characters discovering painful truth

March 2, 2018 Interview with Gabriel Jason Dean, reprinted with permission from the author, John Soltes at HollywoodSoapbox.com

Gabriel Jason Dean (center) with cast members

Terminus, the topical new play from Gabriel Jason Dean, is currently being staged as part of the Next Door initiative at the New York Theatre Workshop in Downtown Manhattan. Starring Deirdre O’Connell, the drama looks at Eller, a white woman facing the realities of her violent past amidst the racism of the segregated South. As she journeys along in the play, the woman’s mixed-race grandson, Jaybo, faces a dilemma himself on how to look after his grandmother, a woman he’s no longer recognizing.

Three Friends, Three Stages, NYC

By Roy Hoffman, Spalding MFA Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Faculty

Gabriel Jason Dean

Lesléa Newman

Charlie Schulman

Whenever I visit New York City one of my pleasures is attending theater. In the brisk days of late February this year, I had the delight of scurrying out of the cold into two venues where works by friends took away the chill and replaced it with dramatic heat unfolding in front of me.

Writing for musical theatre: A workshop with two Off-Broadway pros

By Katy Yocom, Associate Director, Spalding low-residency MFA

An award-winning Off-Broadway musical-theatre team is taking their collaboration into the Spalding MFA classroom this spring to offer a workshop in writing for musical theatre.

A Sneak Peek at the Fall 2017 Residency

 

By Katy Yocom

Spalding University MFA, Associate Administrative Director

 

With summer residency in Scotland behind us, it’s time to look ahead to special sessions on the slate for the Fall 2017 Spalding MFA residency, November 10-19 in Louisville.

WHY DO AN MFA IN WRITING, AND WHY AT SPALDING UNIVERSITY?

by Jody Lisberger
Spalding MFA faculty, Fiction

Many people want to know, “What does an MFA in Writing at Spalding get me?” So we asked our alums of all ages and from all over the world to help us out.

Forty-eight graduates, 19 men and 29 women, starting with the first class of 2003 to the present, responded to our open question: How did the Spalding MFA in Writing low-residency program impact you professionally, creatively, and personally? Their responses extol and probe both surprising and not surprising reasons to pursue an MFA in general, and a Spalding MFA in particular.

AN INFINITELY RECURSIVE CHILDHOOD

by Larry Brenner
Spalding MFA faculty, Screenwriting & Playwriting

(originally published 2012)

I’ve heard that one of the great parts of being a dad is that you can recapture what it’s like to be a kid again. Relive your childhood.

But I don’t think my childhood ever ended. Not really. Not where it counts. I think it’s more like watching how my childhood got started. Because the processes I developed back then are still the processes I use right now.

NO EXIT: When Endings Disappoint

 

By Dianne Aprile
Spalding MFA faculty, Creative Nonfiction

I’m a big fan of ambiguous endings. I have no problem with being left in the middle of things in the last scene. In fact, I find pleasure in lingering with a range of possibilities after the final page is turned. I have no quarrel with a novel or memoir that closes with its main character teetering on the brink of change—rather than safely ensconced on the other side of it.

SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE SPRING 2017 RESIDENCY

By Katy Yocom
Spalding MFA Associate Administrative Director

The Spalding low-residency MFA in Writing program is gearing up for its spring residency, May 26-June 4 in Louisville, Kentucky. The residency features dozens of special events and sessions, acclaimed guest speakers, faculty craft lectures, and a special performance by the nationally acclaimed Louisville Leopard Percussionists.

In addition, the MFA program is pleased to welcome a new faculty member in writing for children and young adults, as well as a special guest workshop leader in poetry.

LIFE OF A WRITER: February 2017

Here’s what our Spalding MFA students, alumni, faculty, and staff have been publishing, producing, and doing since our last update!

— STUDENTS —