Updated March 21, 2024
By Marjetta Geerling, Spalding MFA Alumni Association Director
Each year, as our alumni population grows, so do our Spalding MFA Alumni Association offerings. We have so much going on, it can be hard to keep track of all the opportunities available, so here it is at long last—a breakdown of all things Alumni Association. Hold on to your hats and glasses, folks, because it’s a long list!
Programs
Homecoming: Reconnect each year at Homecoming! Offered in person at Spring residency in Louisville and virtually during the virtual Summer residency, participation in Homecoming events is free for all alumni. Lectures, alumni readings, literary chats, writing sprints, and generative sessions are led by alumni. Keep an eye on your inbox in the winter for the call for presentation proposals!
International Travel: Alumni have the opportunity to travel abroad with the writing enrichment trip. All the fun of traveling abroad with your Spalding family, and no residency deadlines! Watch your email and News from Home for sign-up information every year.
Alumni Gatherings around the country, ad hoc: From a simple meet-up at a restaurant to multi-day retreats, alumni are invited to plan get-togethers where they live. Past events include readings, meet-ups at book fairs, and lectures followed by happy hour/mingling. Future events are limited only by our imaginations. Contact me if you want to talk about getting a group together in your area.
The Business of Writing Seminars are virtual curriculum offerings for current students, but alumni can participate in two ways. For a nominal fee, alumni can participate in the full-day seminars, which focus on the business side of writing. You may also choose to propose a seminar in your area of expertise. Keep an eye on News from Home for more information.
Alumni Celebration of New Works showcases alumni accomplishments in the areas of publishing, play production, and filmmaking. Faculty, students, and alumni are invited to celebrate the success of Spalding graduates by attending their readings and screenings. The evening culminates with an opportunity to purchase alumni works during a meet-and-greet with the authors and filmmakers. Held twice annually: at Homecoming in Louisville and during virtual Homecoming as well. Look for selection criteria and deadlines on social media and the alumni website.
Ongoing Education and
Engagement Opportunities
Online workshops/writing groups: Twice a year, an Alumni Association representative sends out an email asking if you’d like to join an online writing workshop. You have the choice of staying in your genre or exploring other genres and participating in partial or full manuscript workshops. Once responses are in, groups are formed. Each group decides its own rules, including how often to exchange work, whether or not to meet virtually, and how long the group will stay together. This opportunity is currently being redesigned, so keep an eye on your email for more details to come!
PGRA positions: Help out at a residency in Louisville or virtually by volunteering to be a Post-Graduate Residency Assistant. PGRAs help residencies run smoothly by doing all the behind-the-scenes work that make for a memorable student experience. PGRAs receive a room at the Brown and may have the opportunity to sit in a workshop alongside current students. They are also included in all residency activities and meals. Contact Karen Mann if you’re interested.
Residency-only is an opportunity for alumni to continue their studies in the academic setting. Residency-only alumni attend residency alongside current students, benefiting from the School’s advanced curriculum to further their personal writing goals. Contact Karen Mann for more information.
Post-master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment or Teaching: The School offers a 15-credit-hour, one-semester Post-master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment to study creative writing. A related version of the certificate allows alums to study the teaching of creative writing. School alumni, as well as graduates of other programs holding the PhD, MFA, or MA with creative writing thesis, may enroll. Financial aid may be available, and the certificate may prove a useful credential for career advancement. Contact Karen Mann for more information.
Writing at the Brown is a writers’ retreat that takes place at each Spring and Fall residency. The retreat provides alumni with space to write in quiet, pleasant surroundings at the Brown Hotel or in the Mansion on campus. Participants also have the option to attend residency sessions, such as faculty and guest lectures. Keep your eye on social media and News from Home for more information.
Write with Me sessions are designed to inspire you to rekindle or maintain a regular writing practice. Hop on a Zoom link and check in with the group, then mute your mic and camera, and write away. At the end of the session, check back in to celebrate getting words on the page! We currently offer three sessions, held on different days for different lengths of time to accommodate different schedules:
Sundays, 6 – 9 p.m. ET / 3 – 6 p.m. PT, hosted by Chella Courington (F '14)
Tuesdays, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT (30-60 minutes), hosted by Diana McQuady (F ’14)
Fridays, 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT (for around 75 minutes), hosted by Terry Price (F ’06), who will begin the session with an inspirational thought.
You can find links to these sessions on the Spalding MFA in Writing Alumni Association closed Facebook group. Don’t see a session that works for you? Contact me to volunteer to host your own Write with Me sessions for alumni.
Spalding Water Cooler, hosted by Mervyn Seivwright (P ’19) and Cristina Trapani-Scott (F/P ’09), is a supportive space to discuss the challenges and joys of the writing life. Held every third Sunday of the month on Zoom, 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. Watch social media for the registration link!
First Monday: Submit Your Work: hosted by Noelle Sciulli (F '20). Want to build a practice of regularly submitting your work for publication? You've come to the right [or write] place! These sessions will be dedicated to finding opportunities and submitting your work for publication consideration. It takes courage to put your work out there; let's come together virtually to support each other as we do it. All genres welcome! First Monday of every month, 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PT.
Prompt with Me! Hosted by Kimm Stammen (F ’19). Seeking the chance for some spontaneous creativity? Write in response to a writing prompt! Last Monday of the month, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
But wait, there’s more! Keep reading . . .
Communication
MFA in Writing Alumni Facebook & Alumni Association Twitter: The Alumni Association has a presence on both Facebook and Twitter. Please join our closed Facebook group for Alumni Association news and updates. It’s also a great place to celebrate good news, ask for advice, and connect with other alumni! You can find us on Twitter at @Spalding_MFA_AA.
News from Home: News from Home is a quarterly newsletter Katy sends out to keep alumni informed about all the opportunities available and to share alumni good news through Life of a Writer. Formatted to skim, each short entry links to more information about each item in the newsletter. Make sure Katy’s email address is in your contact list so you’ll never miss an issue. News from Home is the best way to keep up with all that’s happening at Spalding and with the MFA Alumni Association.
Faculty/Staff Blog: Stay inspired by reading the faculty/staff blog at Good River Review. Posts include discussions of craft and the writing life.
Website: Our beautiful alumni-run website is designed to be a resource and a home base for all alumni. Visit it at spaldingmfaalum.com and be sure to bookmark it. You'll want to come back!
Emails from Staff: Make sure all staff members’ email addresses are in your contact list so that emails from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing don’t get sent to spam or bounce.
Kathleen Driskell: kdriskell@spalding.edu
Karen Mann: kmann@spalding.edu
Katy Yocom: kyocom@spalding.edu
Lynnell Edwards: ledwards02@spalding.edu
Ellyn Lichvar: elichvar@spalding.edu
Other Benefits
Spalding Email: You have lifetime use of your Spalding email address, which includes access to the portal and all the faculty lecture audios from the past few semesters.
Free registration for AWP: We are awarded a limited number of registration waivers for each Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) yearly conference. Katy Yocom announces them in News from Home and on social media. They are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so email Katy as soon as you see the call.
Opportunities to Serve
Hosting Local Events: Missing your time at the Brown? Want to connect with other alumni in your area? Consider organizing an alumni gathering where you live. Contact me for help getting your event up and running.
Your Ideas! Our Alumni Association is so wonderful because our alumni are so wonderful! Everything we offer was once someone’s wild idea, so we welcome your thoughts about how to keep the Alumni Association active and relevant. Feel free to reach out to Katy or me with your ideas!
Recruitment: We don’t have alumni without having students graduate from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing first! Bringing in new students keeps the program strong and strengthens the value of our degrees. If you know a writer who’d be a good fit, please reach out to them and encourage them to apply. As an added incentive, new students referred by alumni are offered a $2,000 Alumni Select Scholarship.
Every year, alumni are invited to propose Homecoming sessions for the upcoming Homecoming. Alumni offer a variety of programs: lectures, generative sessions, literary chats, writing sprints, and more. If you have an idea you’d like to pitch, keep an eye on your inbox for the Call for Proposals, which will outline criteria, format, and deadlines.
As mentioned above, the Business of Writing Seminars are twice-yearly virtual curriculum offerings for current students. Alums can propose a Business of Writing seminar in your area of expertise. Keep an eye on News from Home for more information.
Donate: One way to give back is to literally give back. Whether you choose to support programming for alumni or donate to a scholarship fund, you can decide how your donation will be used. Check out the opportunities to give:
Wherever your writing journey leads you, the MFA Alumni Association is here to support you in staying connected to your art, the program, and each other. There’s no expiration date on your membership—it’s never too late to jump back in! Whether you graduated with your MFA, MAW, or certificate, you are always welcome at any Alumni Association offering.
If you have any questions or ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
with love,
Marjetta Geerling, W4CYA ’11
Director, Spalding MFA Alumni Association