Despite everyone being exhausted, sometimes speaking in incomplete or undecipherable sentences from lack of sleep, a murmur of expectation was building in the air.
Though everyone else had two days of the residency left, for the graduating class, today was graduation day.
In the morning, the last batch of graduate presentations were given. Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you organize what you are going to write first or do you dive in, giving yourself to the muse, letting your story evolve led by your characters?
Julie Day and Keith Potempa gave arguments for each.
Next, workshops. More critiquing and being critiqued.
After lunch saw the final faculty presentations: 1.) “Iranian Literature” by Kazim Ali, Amin Esmaielpour, Reza Jalali, and Nahid Rachlin, 2.) “From Passion to Politics: Rachel Carson as ‘The Gentle Subversive’ by Barbara Hurd, and 3.) “Writing with Trauma Survivors” by Ruthie Rohde, Elizabeth Searle, Suzanne Strempek Shea, and Kayenta Williams.
Following that, the final graduating students gave their readings.
At this point, however, thoughts were increasingly on the upcoming graduation ceremony.
Tim Seibles gave an inspirational commencement speech, and students from each of the genres (popular fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and fiction) also gave memorable and commendable speeches. Lynette James gave a talk for Popular Fiction.
As each student walked across the stage before receiving their diploma, David Anthony Durham read a short clip of that student’s work.
Degrees conferred, the rejoicing began.
Not all the students came to the graduation reception and dance, and I wasn’t able to take everyone’s picture, but here follows a sampling of happy people, many with new MFAs.
