By Katy Yocom, Associate Director
Alumni have a slew of opportunities to choose from at spring residency. Jump to Class Reunions for 2004 and 2014, Homecoming, Writing at the Brown, full-residency workshops, or the Post-master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment. Or just read on.
Class Reunions: 2004 and 2014
This spring, we’re celebrating a 20-year reunion for the spring and fall classes of 2004 and a 10-year reunion for the spring, summer, and fall classes of 2014. Whether you graduated twenty years ago or ten, we hope to see you back to campus and the Brown Hotel for a reunion on Thursday, May 30!
The class reunions include a hosted alumni gathering (faculty and students are invited too) on Thursday evening at Noble Funk Brewing Company near campus. We’ll also have a pay-on-your-own lunch just for our reunion classes. As a reunion attendee, you're automatically included in all Homecoming events. You'll get access to dedicated writing space at the Brown Hotel alongside Writing at the Brown attendees. And you’re invited to faculty and student readings, lectures, and other residency curriculum sessions. (Wednesday evening features a presentation by our distinguished visiting writer, poet Kevin Prufer, author of our residency book in common, The Fears.) And to keep you buzzing, there’s free coffee on campus from Red Hot Roasters.
Registration is free, though you do have to get yourself to Louisville and cover your room at the Brown Hotel. Reunion attendees receive a 10 percent discount on their room at the Brown for a special rate of $148, including tax. Reservations are based on availability. Register by April 15 to reserve your room!
Homecoming
Homecoming runs May 30-31, and all alums are welcome. Our plans this year include
a dine-around breakfast
the Alumni Celebration of New Works
afternoon tea featuring a reading and conversation with alumni with multiple books
a Scholastic Book Fair-style pop-up book sale hosted by Carmichael’s Bookstore
a special book-signing reception for our recently published alums
a hosted alumni gathering at Noble Funk Brewing near campus
the fourteenth annual Literary After-Party, hosted by Teneice Durrant (P ’06)
and more!
Registration is free. The registration form allows Homecoming attendees to reserve a room at the Brown at the student rate of $164/night, including tax. Reservations are based on availability. Register by April 15 to reserve your room!
(If you can’t attend Homecoming in person, or if you’d like to attend even more Homecoming sessions, mark your calendar for Virtual Homecoming! It takes place June 27-28, during our virtual summer residency. Watch this space for more information.)
Writing at the Brown
Want to jumpstart your writing project or finish that revision? This spring’s Writing at the Brown retreat takes place May 25-31, during the spring residency. School alumni are welcome to attend for as many days as you like.
The retreat provides alums with space to write in quiet, pleasant surroundings at the Brown Hotel. During the day, write in the comfort of the hotel’s Louis XVI room. Wednesday evening, attend a presentation by our Distinguished Visiting Writer, poet Kevin Prufer. Other evenings, relax with other alums in the lobby or join pay-on-your-own alumni dinners. Retreatants are also invited to attend faculty and student readings, lectures, and other residency curriculum sessions. And registration gets you free coffee on campus from Red Hot Roasters! All this is available for a $50 suggested minimum donation.
Reserve your place at Writing at the Brown by filling out the Writing at the Brown survey by April 15. Rooms at the Brown may be available at $164 a night, including tax. Request your room on the registration form, and we’ll confirm availability by April 20. If confirmed, payment is due by May 10. A payment link will be emailed to you. Rooms are assigned on a first-reserved basis.
You may make your donation here to support one of our scholarship funds or the Alumni Association Support Fund—the choice is yours. Please make your gift by May 10 to secure your reservation.
Full-residency workshops
Spend a residency studying and workshopping alongside current students. Alums who take part in full-residency, faculty-led workshops gain critique on their work in progress. As residency students, alums receive the student rate at the Brown Hotel, are included in student meals and cultural activities, and have access to the full spectrum of curriculum sessions.
Workshops are running in every genre, although our dramatic writing workshop is full. Space may be available in workshops led by Robin Lippincott, Kenny Cook, or Angela Jackson-Brown, fiction; Greg Pape or Erin Keane, poetry; Roy Hoffman, creative nonfiction; and Lesléa Newman, writing for children & young adults. Students will be assigned to workshops first, so while you’re welcome to request a specific workshop leader, we can’t guarantee that your request can be honored.
If you’re interested in taking a full-residency workshop, email Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu by March 20 to inquire about price and availability. We'll let you know if we’re able to seat you in a workshop by March 27. Workshop submissions are due April 10.
(If you’d like to workshop, but Spring residency doesn’t work for you, consider attending workshop during our virtual residency, June 22-29. Virtual residency workshops take place live, in real time, over Zoom and are led by an MFA faculty member. Again, email Karen about price and availability.)
Post-master’s certificate in writing enrichment
For MFA and MAW alums, our Post-master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment brings you back to your writing with a low-residency semester of creative writing study in any of the genres we teach.
The 15-credit certificate includes a 3-credit-hour residency on campus (our dates this spring are May 25 – June 1) followed by a 12-credit-hour independent study, completed from home while you work one-on-one with a Spalding MFA faculty mentor. You can mix and match genres—for instance, you might study screenwriting during residency but switch to fiction for independent study. School of Writing alums received a $2,000 tuition discount. To find out more, email Karen Mann at kmann@spalding.edu by March 20. We'll let you know if we’re able to seat you in a workshop by March 27. Workshop submissions are due April 10.
(The Post-master’s certificate is also available beginning with the virtual residency, which takes place via Zoom, live in real time, June 22-29. Tuition is the same, with a $2,000 discount, but there are no travel expenses. Email Karen for more information.)
We look forward to seeing you at one—or more—of our alumni events!