I don't get this anti-mfa thing either. There are tons of articles about the subject most which are full of poorly formed arguments and bat shit crazy logic. I mean, a lot of the books I read DO LIST on the jacket covers where authors got their MFAs. So, what? You can't list your MFA to get your foot in the door with an agent or a publisher but it's okay to stick it on your book? Like anybody knows or cares? "Iowa? What the hell? They got writers in Iowa?"

The hackneyed argument that MFA programs are destroying literature because it stifles originality and produces competent yet uninspired writers producing the same drivel rests largely on a few flimsy assumptions:

1) All MFA graduates become writers/continue to write

(Even directors of some MFA programs admit that less than 50% of their students will ever publish anything or continue to write seriously. Yes, there is probably more crap out there today but to blame this entirely on MFA grads is sort of silly. And it's been said before - a lot of people in MFA programs are still figuring out if they even want to be a writer.)

2) MFA programs directly influence a writers success/failure

(Nobody can prove this. Most writers don't "break out" until years and years after graduating and by then who can say what made that writer great or not so great)

3) Literature as defined only by "the establishment"

I've never been advised by faculty to be quiet about my MFA, but I do not mention it in my queries or bios. I'm grateful for the training I received, and I've learned a lot, but I just don't see how my MFA has anything to do with my submissions or public persona. For me, it feels like wearing my old letterman jacket. I'm proud of my high school and all (Go Hawks!), but it's time for me to move beyond past glories.

In any case, I certainly don't do what I do out of some fear of an anti-MFA bias.

Also, you should know that your MFA connections work more quietly. Naming your institution in a query probably won't do anything for you, but some day a mentor or friend may come along with a tip like, "So-and-so at XYZ Review is a friend of mine. Send that story/poem and mention my name," or, "QRS Quarterly publishes a lot of work like yours. Some of my former students, So-and-so and Who's-his-face and What's-her-deal, have had some success there. You should send your work."

I think it's worth mentioning that an MFA CAN help you if you're querying agents. I've seen several agent websites and blogs that mention the importance of an MFA. One site even asks for the names of your mentors.

Never underestimate the value of networking. Just my thoughts...

Jeanne
http://www.jeannelyetgassman.com
http://jeannelyetgassman.blogspot.com

"MFA programs turn out newly minted graduates like Willie Wonka turns out choccie bars. Too bad the supply doesn't get eaten up so demand remains the same. Out here in the real world, there aren't enough jobs for all those MFA holders. You spend two years and enough money to buy an apartment in Queens, and you're unemployable. Yum.

I also get a lot of query letters from said newly minted graduates. Treacle is the kindest word I can use to describe it. It's self involved, pretentious, and usually imitative. My view is that it takes quite some time to get over your influences and your teachers to find your own voice. Fresh out of graduate school is too soon. And those MFA programs tend to beat down the truly original voices.

What MFA programs DO provide is time to read, at least according to Jennifer Egan and Abraham Verghese, both Iowa graduates. Both have said that to me personally, and probably publicly as well.

So, if you're going to get an MFA so you can teach, think again.
If you just need time to read, there are cheaper ways to do it.
And if you're doing it to learn how to write, don't."

Here's the link to it: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2005/12/mfa-programs.html

In Reply To

As with any letter to a stranger that you'd like to embrace professionally, I'd do research to see what they were all about. I'd ask other writers their opinions and if possible see if I knew anyone that has a connection to the person in question. Overall, I wouldn't try to hide the fact. And, of course, it really depends on which program you went to, what kind of connections you made there. If you went to a cash-cow MFA program and were riding on that alone, I could see an agent being a bit incredulous. If you went to Iowa or Irvine, mentioning that might serve you well in conjunction with your kick ass writing and some history of publication. Yes, names matter to people. At the end of the day, it's going to be about marketability, originality and quality of writing.

Miss Snark, as with many other bloggers, makes the faulty assumption that all MFAers are going to be flooding the academic job market and that all MFAers will be contributing to the decline of literature.

Also, I love stories about infidelity and lesbianism in the Bible Belt. It's got the likes of Proulx written all over it. Drop in an intellectual monster and I'll eat the story up whole.

Really? I often worry that my stories won't be taken seriously because I'm not able to mention an MFA education in my queries.

Why is it so tsk tsk to admit that, hell yes, I want my MFA so I can teach. And write. And read. There, I said it. Shame on me. ;)

In Reply To

Yes, I'm with you. It really bothers me that writers sometimes chide each other for voicing their ambitions out loud. There is nothing embarrassing about wanting to be published, selling books, making money, winning awards and getting tenured.

We all want those things. We don't have to be ashamed.

I guess the only thing that's embarrassing is when a writer EXPECTS those things to happen to them just because they're them.

I think everyone's forgetting that there's not one person reading and judging all these cover letters. The people on the receiving end of those things have tastes and biases just as varied and unpredictable as ours. One person might reject you because you don't have an MFA (or vice versa), another might take you more seriously because you have one (or vice versa), another might not read the cover letter at all and just read the work.

That being said, one of my advisors did advise me to not mention the degree, but also said I could use her name in the cover letters I sent to journals she had some connection to.