MFA in Creative Writing Program
As a teacher of poetry I am most interested in helping students to cultivate the individuality of their voice. Individuality, authenticity, and risk are the three qualities that interest me the most in the work of the writers I read and in the work of the students I advise. I begin each semester by asking students to think about the ways in which they might funnel their passions, obsessions, and what captivates them into their poems. I encourage students to mine the details of the worlds they inhabit and to use these details as one way to lead to the uniqueness of their work. Regarding the development of craft, I once heard an established writer with a long list of books to her name say: Writing is 80% revision. Since hearing this, it has been my #1 writing commandment. It is what I expect of myself and of the students I advise. Regarding reading, I encourage students to read widely and to annotate a significant number of international writers. I believe that reading a multiplicity of literary voices helps us to produce writing that is unpredictable, complex, and full.
I have published two books of poetry. The first, mercy mercy me (Painted Leaf Press), won a Lambda Literary Award and was a finalist for the Publishing Triangle Award. This book was reissued by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2003). The second book, The World In Us (St. Martin’s Press), is a collection of l/g/b/t poetry co-edited with Michael Lassell. I am presently finishing a new poetry collection entitled, Rhapsody of the Naked Citizen. I have received an Astraea Foundation award for poetry, a New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellowship, and a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts poetry fellowship. My poems have been published in numerous anthologies, literary journals; most recently in The Cream City Review, The Spoon River Review, Gargoyle, Bloom, Lumina, and Tarpaulin Sky.
|
Elena Georgiou, MA