Special Episode! Gregory Spatz | MFA Applications: Faculty Edition

The annual MFA application episode is back! This year, Jared is joined by Gregory Spatz, Professor and Program Director of the MFA program at Eastern Washington University, who explains what the application process looks like from a faculty member’s point of view. Answering listener questions, they discuss what to include (and avoid) in your personal statement, what makes a writing sample stand out, why to bother with an MFA at all, and more.

Gregory Spatz is the author of the collection of linked stories and novellas, What Could Be Saved, and of the novels Inukshuk, Fiddler’s Dream and No One But Us, and the short story collections Half As Happy and Wonderful Tricks. His stories have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Glimmer Train Stories, Shenandoah, Epoch, Kenyon Review and New England Review. The recipient of a Michener Fellowship, an Iowa Arts Fellowship, a Washington State Book Award, and an NEA Fellowship in literature, he teaches at Eastern Washington University in Spokane. Spatz plays the fiddle in the twice Juno-nominated bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds. Find him at his website gregoryspatz.com.

Mentions:

· 2020 special episode on MFA applications with Cady Vishniac
· “The Teachable Talent: Why Creative Writing Can Be Taught” by Gregory Spatz
· Shann Ray
· Shawn Vestel
· Jess Walter
· Frank Conroy