Are MFA Programs a Waste of Time? Mine Wasn't

The rap against graduate writing programs is pretty bad these days. They're insular, they turn out cookie-cutter writers, and they're too damned many of them: over 800 by a recent count.

When I teach workshops or do readings, people often run those criticisms by me and ask if they should bother with a program. I have to tell them to think it through carefully, but I also tell them I got a lot out of mine.

I was at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst MFA program for two and a half year...