MFA/MFYou

Issue Two, June 2009

Letter from the Editor:

We’re serving up our second issue of MFA/MFYou on a brand new platter. If you’ve been following the site from its inception you may notice that there’s been a pretty dramatic change: our Poetry Editor Damien Cowger, once a fierce and proud spokesperson for the MFYous of the world, has made the decision to join an MA program in Creative Writing. This certainly does not mean that he realized the MFYou route was impassable – indeed, he’s had some heartening success as an MFYou and whether he were to continue down that path or not he would surely have continued to thrive.

But the temptation of joining an academic community of writers – along with free tuition and some valuable teaching experience – proved too strong for our fearless MFYou Leader, and we’re excited to see what new adventures await him. And to all you MFYous out there – never fear. Damien and I both still firmly believe that whether you hone your craft in one of the many available programs of advanced study out there, or whether you go it on your own, the road to success as a writer is just as long and thorny, just as completely worthwhile, and both roads lead to the very same place.

Sifting through all the great submissions for Issue Two was a difficult, though rewarding, process. Perhaps because we’re no longer a “fledgling” journal (by Duotrope’s definition), the number of submissions we received for this issue increased considerably and we had so much phenomenal stuff coming our way that we had to reject some stories and poems that we would have been absolutely delighted to display in our journal. The upside of this, of course, is that we were able to put together a fantastic second issue for you.

Our MFA representatives for this issue come from two very different schools – a nice reminder about the variety of programs out there. Matthew Quinn Martin studies in a Popular Fiction program and I can honestly say his story “Spinning,” with its clever playing with names, self-constructed identities, and how much they really matter in the big picture, is one of the most engaging flash fiction pieces I’ve ever read. Edward J. Kim just completed his first year in a more traditional MFA program but certainly his poetry has no less chance of being “popular.” Kim’s poetry zooms in on individual moments that are simple and complicated at once, and each of the two poems presented here demonstrate alternate views of the agony and the redemption in everyday existence.

The MFYous are holding their own in this issue, as well. After reading David Meyer’s story “Antarctica,” I couldn’t get the cold desolation of this empty marriage out of my mind. Meyer’s unaffected style leaves the reader feeling more strongly about these characters’ self styled “Antarctica” than I think the characters themselves do. Justin Evans’s poem “Lost in Wikiburbia” is a funny and thought provoking look at an experience many of us have had. Over and over again. How fitting that our MFYou poem for this issue should be about the wealth of knowledge available outside of academia.

And, of course, don't forget to read about these writers' MFA/MFYou Experience.

Enjoy!

Ashley Cowger,

Editor