Blog

TO PUBLISH OR NOT PUBLISH (YET)

It's one of the most common—and complicated—questions that comes up in an MFA program: Is now the right time to publish? This is a...

Announcing Our New One-on-One Alumni Mentorship Program

Around here, we believe that writing is both an individual pursuit and a collective endeavor. We write alone—but we build our writing...

What Do You Want Written On Your Headstone? And Other Knockout Advice on Building A Writer's Life from Libby Flores

What does it take to become a writer? For Libby Flores, associate publisher at BOMB Magazine, the journey was anything but traditional....

New & Noteworthy

FACULTY

Aimee Phan recently appeared at a special Lunar New Year celebration at the Mechanic's Library, one of San Francisco's great literary treasures. Joining Aimee were Kathryn Ma, Mina Kim, and the uber-iconic Maxine Hong Kingston. Aimee's new book The Lost Queen comes out in May can be preordered here.

A fantastic review of Joseph Lease's latest book of poems, Fire Season, has this to say about it: “Fire Season is one crucial answer and multi-faceted instance in a season of outstanding books of poetry that are, in part or completely, a writing into this time when aspects of life on earth, for our own species and far too many others, is becoming less and less tenable.” Read it here.

For those headed to AWP in Los Angeles this March, don't forget to calendar panels & readings by CCA MFA Writing's own Faith Adiele, Yalitza Ferreras, and Jasmin Darznik. Check out the full schedule. Also, if you want a primer on AWP and how to prepare for it, Jasmin Darznik made a YouTube video about it a while back.

Faith Adiele will be in conversation with Nnedi Okorafor at the LitQuake Event “Death of the Author” on Feb 13 at 7:00 pm at Books, Inc. in San Francisco, CA. Closer to home, she appears as part of CCA's VCS Forum on Feb 24 from 5:30—7:00 pm. She's teaching an online course Applying to Residencies & Fellowships on March 11 at 8:00 am.

Jasmin Darznik was awarded a Creative Citizens in Action grant for my spring seminar The Art of Witness. She will use the funds to collaborate with the San Francisco-based Voice of Witness Organization, putting on a public oral storytelling showcase with my students (date to be determined). Darznik was also recently commissioned to write an essay about Julia Child for Branson Magazine, which you can read here.

ALUMNI

Olga Gonzalez Latapi recently published her first poetry collection, Silla Amarilla. Writing in both Spanish and English, Olga's work has appeared in dozens of journals and magazines globally. Read her alumni interview below.

Fiction by alums Rolando Andre Lopez and Wenmimareba Klobah Collins appears in the hot-of-the-press anthology Not Your Papi's Utopia: Latinx Visions of Radical Hope.

Icarus Koh's fiction appears in the next issue of McSweeney's.

“The Underdog” by Rob Bailey appears in Under Review.

Evan Schnair is on the English faculty at the private Branson School in Marin County.

Laura Soriano has been working as a Senior U/X/Content writer in the Bay Area, whose clients include Google and many others.

Kevin Whiteley is a now a content editor with Commonwealth Capital LLC, in New York City, following a gig with Salomon Brothers.

CURRENT STUDENTS

Simran Malhotra was chosen as a a semi-finalist for the highly-competitive Headlands Artist in Residence.

Susan Skeele's poem appears in the February issue of The Ekphrastic Review.

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Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Fellowships, scholarships, and TA-ships are available.