fwriction

from The Faster Times, Chloe Cooper Jones’s “Dialogues,” with George Saunders and Deb Olin Unferth discussing MFA programs. A wonderful read:

The Faster Times: Deb and George: How do you encourage your students to use their discomfort or disequilibrium toward the production of good writing? How do you encourage students to do more than what is expected of them? To break them from the malaise of imitation and toward a truer speaking self?

George Saunders: Well, let me start off with a sort of 15-point rambling mini-manifesto about creative writing programs in general.

(1) Saying that “creative writing programs are bad” is like saying, “college football teams are bad” or “book clubs are bad” or “emergency rooms are bad.” All it takes is one good example to disprove the generality.