2018 Massachusetts Poetry Festival

Low-residency programs give writers the flexibility to earn an MFA without giving up their day job or moving to a new city. In this panel, five recent graduates share the view from the trenches. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of low-residency programs, why we decided on it, how we balanced work on our MFAs with the rest of our lives (or not!), our advisors, and, of course, we’ll talk about money: how we paid—or are still paying—for our degrees. Panelists include poets at all stages of life (from parents of young children to nearing retirement), poets of color, an LGBT poet, poets with demanding day jobs, and poets with a variety of poetic interests, including conceptual and hip hop poetry, and one poet now pursuing a PhD. We’ll talk about our experiences during our programs and afterwards, and we’ll leave plenty of time for your questions.