Poking around the Poets & Writers Speakeasy Forums, I found an interesting active thread here (you'll have to register on the forum to read the thread) discussing the "value" of an MFA in Creative Writing. Actually, it originally started out as a thread on how editors and committees select pieces for their magazines, but then sort of morphed (as all threads invariably do) into something entirely different. The discussion on the value of writing programs was very interesting, in my opinion. As one poster notes: "...I've always been a Cassandra, but here goes. The housing boom and bust. The mortgage boom and bust. The investment banking boom and bust. The MFA in Creative Writing boom and bust. The line cannot hold. In a lot of ways, I believe the MFA in CW to be a rather decadent pursuit. It is born of a society that is willing and able to pay out thousands for the time off and writing community... that can be gotten for far less."
Good points, I think. I've harbored these same thoughts for some time. And the word "decadent" especially hits the nail on the head for me. What substantiave gain will an MFA in Creative Writing get you, at the end of the day? A teaching position at a University? No, especially since most positions require one or two book publications in order to be seriously considered. Publication? Hardly. Potential and two quarters is still just fifty cents. While a program may invest in your potential, may give you the tools, the resources, the environment to succeed, publication is still an area in which all writers will have incredible odds stacked against them -- all this, assuming you even put in the time and effort to sell yourself. At most, an MFA in Creative Writing will get you a teaching gig at the high school or community college. Which is fine, but not the same kind of mileage you'd get out of a Masters degree in most any other area -- I mean, look at what an MBA from Harvard will get you, for crying out loud. Which brings me back to the original word: "decadent." An MFA in Creative Writing is a luxury. Who has the time or the energy to transplant their entire life, move to an entirely different city for two, three years? Nevermind the fact if you have a significant other or a family or without the means to pay for school or to move. Not many people can do the things that MFA students can do -- write, read, and teach all day, seven days a week -- even the willing.
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Thanks for your blog. I found it in the Speakeasy forum. It's been great to find solace in this as I am going through similar anxieties.
I've struggled with the same question(s) about the practicality of the degree and whether it will be applicable later on down the road. Unfortunately, our culture doesn't seem to value much that does not promise statistical or financial progress. It's a shame how much pressure we apply to that element of life. But each time I think about that, and as that anxiety grows, I go back to a couple of thoughts about pursuing the MFA.
1. It's already considered a nonprofessional degree. They tell you that right off the bat. By expecting a full-time gig with a university or literary magazine, I may be setting myself up for a disappointment.
2. There's an interview from The Believer where I think it is Ben Marcus who asks George Saunders about the practicality of an MFA degree (or something like that). Saunders responds in defense of it as an artistic degree, saying something like "God forbid we do something that doesn't advance our professional career." I like that.
3. In the end, we want to do it for love of reading and writing.
These are my lines of defense, probably poorly rationalized and probably insignificant to the Harvard MBA or the JD from John Hopkins, but two/three years to study, to read, and to write and to do so with some income seems like a gift.
Hi David,
Thanks for the comment!
I agree with everything you said. I think it's a matter of simultaneously rationalizing our actions AND being honest with ourselves at the same time. This is something we all need to do because if we didn't, we'd be forever regretting it -- what if? And it's also something that if we're not honest about, we will, to quote you, simply be setting up ourselves for disappointment.
And while it sounds completely contradictory -- because it is -- I think it's the only way we can reasonably live with ourselves at the end of the day, knowing that we'll be delaying our lives and our careers to live the dream.
Why can't it be both? Two to three years to read and write and study is both a gift and a luxury.
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