The following found poem stitches together 19 headlines from ads for MFA programs published in the January / February 2010 issue of Poets and Writers—an issue focused on “inspiration.” Each discreet sentence is a headline; those presented as parenthetical statements are, of course, not in parentheses in the ads themselves. The headlines appear in the same order as the ads appear in the publication.
To Writing Programs: A CanticleThis way, that way, that way, this,Here and there a fresh love is.—Robert Herrick,Realize the greatnessof your voice. Inspirationcomes in many forms.Discover the writer’s lifein New York City.(You’re not in Iowaanymore.) Writein Miami! Writefrom the Heartland.(We’ll let our reputationspeak for us.) Writefrom the heartof writing. (The world’sfocus is on our faculty.) Mywords, my time, my MFA.Otis emphasizes the writer’sability to articulateinnovation. What makesus different? Expectmore. Big thinkingfor a big world.Finally—an MFAthat trains youfor a career, not justa genre. Studyyour way. (Scribbling onthe ether.) Achievement!Change the worldwith words.
________________________
[3] The New School
[4] Emerson College
[14] Chatham University
[16] Burlington College
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Sorry, Linh! I should have prefaced it with a warning, like they do when advertising new drugs. "Nausea has been reported by some readers. Ask your program director before reading this poem while drinking alcohol." Etc.
Thanks, Joe, I'm going to throw up now.
This one's about as far from "inspired" as one could get, but offered up in the spirit of fun. I have an MFA myself, and my friend Kathryn Winograd teaches in your program. (You're lucky to have her, by the way.) Cheers!
Clever idea – we're all trying to inspire you to write… looks like we did it ;)<br /><br />Sarah Wells,<br />Admin. Dir. – Ashland MFA