University partnership generates creative writing master's program
Karen Schubert
Issue date: 10/21/04 Section: pageone
Philip Brady strode through the Youngstown State University English department wearing his trademark slouch hat, his arms full of papers.
As director of the YSU Poetry Center, adviser for the campus literary journal Penguin Review, director of the literary publishing company Etruscan Press, poetry editor for the Artful Dodge and the first two-year director of the new Northeast Ohio Creative Writing MFA, he has plenty of paperwork. He has so many papers on the desk and boxes of books on his office floor that, if he was not 6'3", it might be hard to find him.
The clutter is worth it, Brady said, especially when it comes to the NEOMFA.
The Northeast Ohio Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts is a consortial effort involving four schools: YSU, Kent State University, Cleveland State University and the University of Akron.
Brady said the new program will enhance the university, especially the English department.
"I'm excited about bringing new students into my world," he said. "Students are the lifeblood of a university. It is going to give us more excitement and energy."
Many people have been involved in the fledgling project - in fact, Brady said, it has been 12 years in the making. He has been the YSU committee representative for six years. As deans and committee members retired or were replaced, there often was a loss of momentum and some starting over required.
Robert Pope, a University of Akron professor, and a member of the committee, said it really has been a labor of love. He complimented Brady, Maggie Anderson of Kent State University and Neal Chandler of Cleveland State University for "shepherding" the project.
"I've been through this planning group for about 10 years now, so I know what they have done," Pope said. "They refused to listen to the good sense that this country doesn't need another MFA program, and that's to their credit."
This program will be different, though, he added, and well tailored to the needs of writers in Northeast Ohio.
As director of the YSU Poetry Center, adviser for the campus literary journal Penguin Review, director of the literary publishing company Etruscan Press, poetry editor for the Artful Dodge and the first two-year director of the new Northeast Ohio Creative Writing MFA, he has plenty of paperwork. He has so many papers on the desk and boxes of books on his office floor that, if he was not 6'3", it might be hard to find him.
The clutter is worth it, Brady said, especially when it comes to the NEOMFA.
The Northeast Ohio Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts is a consortial effort involving four schools: YSU, Kent State University, Cleveland State University and the University of Akron.
Brady said the new program will enhance the university, especially the English department.
"I'm excited about bringing new students into my world," he said. "Students are the lifeblood of a university. It is going to give us more excitement and energy."
Many people have been involved in the fledgling project - in fact, Brady said, it has been 12 years in the making. He has been the YSU committee representative for six years. As deans and committee members retired or were replaced, there often was a loss of momentum and some starting over required.
Robert Pope, a University of Akron professor, and a member of the committee, said it really has been a labor of love. He complimented Brady, Maggie Anderson of Kent State University and Neal Chandler of Cleveland State University for "shepherding" the project.
"I've been through this planning group for about 10 years now, so I know what they have done," Pope said. "They refused to listen to the good sense that this country doesn't need another MFA program, and that's to their credit."
This program will be different, though, he added, and well tailored to the needs of writers in Northeast Ohio.