Sticky Notes Blog

A blog of writing news, tips, and inspiration from Fat Plum

A peek inside the enclave

Do you need to have an MFA (master of fine arts, typically in writing or literature) to be considered for publication in "serious" literary magazines and journals? Recent events at The Paris Review seem to indicate so. To investigate the situation, Maud Newton interviewed the journal's new editor, Bridget Hughes. A review of the "new/unpublished writer" controversy is included.

9. Do you know how many new writers published each year are enrolled in or graduates of a prestigious M.F.A. program like Iowa or Columbia? We have this conversation occasionally at the magazine. It increasingly seems to be the case that people who are interested in pursuing a writing career attend mfa programs.

10. How, if at all, have these numbers changed since the first issue of the magazine was published in 1953?
MFAs weren't as commonplace in 1953 as they are today. As for unpublished writers, looking back it's hard to tell. I mean, Philip Roth was really an unpublished writer when "Conversion of the Jews" appeared in Issue 18 in 1958 (though his work had appeared in a few other little magazines). But it's difficult to think of him that way now. Ditto Jack Kerouac, Gina Berriault, Richard Yates, Richard Ford, Edward Jones, Rick Moody, Jeff Eugenides . . .

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Let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that it's true that increasingly "people who are interested in pursuing a writing career attend mfa programs." Isn't it possible that this is because these people realize they'll have trouble being published in literary journals without that credential?

It sounds as though the literary magazines are counting on the MFA programs to weed out writers who don't fit the accepted formats. Alternatively, perhaps they use the MFA criterion to reduce the number of manuscripts they need to consider seriously. Given the difficulty of even getting into an MFA program -- numbers of applications have soared in the last few years, and percentage of acceptances have dropped accordingly -- such emphasis on writers having an MFA feels elitist and counter to the principles espoused by The Paris Review.

Posted by Cindy on June 09, 2004
This entry was posted in the following categories: Publishing