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Director’s Message
Judy Halebsky
On campus, December is not a time of doing new work. It is a time of finishing, of surveying the work we have done and pulling it together. My grandfather would say it’s harvest time, work night and day so they’ll be food in the winter. Of course, it’s not actually harvest time in Northern California but on an academic schedule, it is. We are looking over our copious notes and drafts. We are writing up our best ideas into paragraphs and stanzas and pages. We finish up, we push off from our old projects and concerns, we cut our losses, dump our false-start drafts, and make way for a new start. This makes January an ideal time for us to come together in our upcoming residency to reconnect and envision a new year.
We’ve got a fantastic week planned January 11-16 with returning writers and new visiting faculty. Saturday night, we’ll launch Joan Baranow’s new book, In the Next Life and see Marianne Rogoff’s new play, Dancing with J. Alfred Prufrock. Our first panel Word by Word is on getting started and facing the blank page. Indigo Moor will be back on campus to present and Susan Kelly Dewitt and Joshua McKinney will be joining us for the first time. All three writers are coming to us from the Sacramento Delta.
We’ll have a craft talk on screenwriting by Tony Vidal and a panel on Writing Voices about writing dialog for the screen and the page. We’re having a Band Reunion which is a reception for our alumni just prior to our keynote reading by Evie Shockley, cosponsored by Marin Poetry Center. She’s coming to us from the east coast and will be reading from her new book, semiautomatic. Tom Larson, Raina J. León and Dawn McGuire will offer perspectives on Narrative and Poetic Medicine. Tom Larson, from LA, will be joining us for the first time. Raina J. León was previously on campus as a reader in our Writers for Migrant Justice event. Dawn McGuire is a neurologist and the author of American Dream with Exit Wound. We are glad to welcome her back.
In our Books in the World panel we’ll hear about how to launch and promote a book from Marin Poet Laureate Terry Lucas, poet Tess Taylor, and novelist Angela Pneuman. Our panels will culminate with The Big Picture, Making Small Parts into a Larger Work where Gillian Conoley and Michelle Herman will offer a craft perspective on how to compile and structure a book. Both authors are prolific and widely published. Gillian Conoley will read from her new book, A Little More Red Sun on the Human. Michelle Herman, visiting us from the east coast, writes memoir, fiction and an advice column on Slate.
All are welcome to join us for our afternoon panels and evening readings. Visit our Public Events page for a full schedule.
Prospective Student Night is Saturday, January 11th. Join us for an MFA Info Session and stay for an evening of readings, a short play, and an optional cha-cha lesson!
I wish everyone a joyous season. See you in January!
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With gratitude,
Judy Halebsky
MFA Director
judy.halebsky@dominican.edu
415-482-1846
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Join the MFA in June 2020! Admission now open.
Prospective MFA Student Night is January 11, 2020
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We are currently accepting applications to the MFA program to start in the June 2020 residency.
You are cordially invited
Prospective MFA Student Night
January 11, 2020 6:30-8:00pm
Garden Room, Edgehill Mansion. 75 Magnolia Avenue, San Rafael CA 94901.
RSVP here
6:30pm - 7:00pm: MFA Program Info Session with Director Judy Halebsky
7:00pm - 7:30pm: Faculty Reading with Judy Halebsky and Joan Baranow
7:30 - 8:00pm: Play Production: Dancing with J. Alfred Prufrock. Written by Marianne Rogoff, performed by Mark Novak, Danielle Vierra, and Mia Camera. Author and cast Q&A plus an optional beginner cha-cha lesson to follow the performance.
Interested in us from afar? Email Director Judy Halebsky to schedule a Zoom Video MFA Info Session or a phone appointment.
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January MFA Residency Public Events
January 11-16
Garden Room in Edgehill Mansion
75 Magnolia Ave, San Rafael
The low residency MFA in Creative Writing program will open its doors to the public to attend selected afternoon talks and evening readings at our upcoming January residency. During these events, MFA students and YOU engage with Dominican faculty and a dynamic lineup of guest speakers in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, narrative / poetic medicine, memoir, and publishing. See below for our schedule of public events and mark your calendars!
Saturday January 11
6:30-7:00 MFA Program Info Session - All Prospective Students Welcome
7:00-7:30 Faculty Reading: Joan Baranow, Judy Halebsky
7:30-8:00 Play Production: Dancing with J. Alfred Prufrock: Written by Marianne Rogoff, performed by Mark Novak, Danielle Vierra, and Mia Camera. Author and cast Q&A plus optional beginner cha-cha lesson to follow the performance.
Sunday January 12
4:30-6:00 Panel: Word by Word: Getting Started: Susan Kelly Dewitt, Joshua McKinney, Indigo Moor
7:00-8:00 Reading: Susan Kelly Dewitt, Joshua McKinney, Indigo Moor
Monday January 13
4:30-6:00 Panel: Writing Voices: Joan Baranow, Thomas Burke, Marianne Rogoff
7:00-8:00 Keynote Reading: Evie Shockley
*This event is cosponsored by Marin Poetry Center*
Tuesday January 14
4:30-6:00 Panel: Narrative Medicine: Tom Larson, Raina J. León, Dawn McGuire
7:00-8:00 Reading: Tom Larson, Raina J. Leon, Dawn McGuire
Wednesday January 15
4:30-6:00 Panel: Books in the World: Terry Lucas, Angela Pneuman, Tess Taylor
7:00-8:00 Reading: Terry Lucas, Angela Pneuman, Tess Taylor
Thursday January 16
4:30-6:00 Panel: The Big Picture: Making Small Parts into a Larger Work: Gillian Conoley, Michelle Herman
7:00-8:00 Reading: Gillian Conoley, Michelle Herman
**Please check the MFA Public Events page for schedule updates in January**
LOCATION AND PARKING
All public events take place in the Garden Room of Edgehill Mansion at the Dominican campus.
75 Magnolia Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
Download a Campus Map Here
MFA PUBLIC EVENT SUGGESTED DONATIONS
Dominican Students, Faculty, and Staff
Free attendance for all events
Members of the Public
Afternoon Sessions: $20/day
Keynote and Evening Readings at 7pm: Free
Discounted Pass for All Panel Discussions: $80
MFA event donations are tax-deductible and can be made via cash/check at the door, or online directly to our MFA Scholarship Fund. Registration in advance is not required.
For more information contact judy.halebsky@dominican.edu.
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Capella Parrish (MFA '21) was inducted into Alpha Omicron Rho, the Dominican chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, an international English honor society. Founded in 1925, Sigma Tau Delta is part of the of the Association of College Honor Societies. Members of Sigma Tau Delta gain access to national and international events and activities, enjoy networking with colleagues and alumni members, and can take on leadership opportunities within the organization. Members are also eligible for Sigma Tau Delta scholarships.
This fall, Capella was also granted a paid internship as editor at undiscoveredpublishing.com and finished "Numbered Block," a selection of short stories about her quirky one-block town neighborhood in Point Reyes Station.
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Bogie Bougas (MFA '19) won a $500 scholarship to attend the Futurescapes writers conference in October. She presented 100 pages of the novel she worked on while she was a student in the MFA program.
Futurescapes Capitol Reef is an intensive, exclusive workshop, offering writers an unparalleled chance to work with top authors and agents in speculative fiction (science fiction, horror, fantasy, paranormal). Each participant works with all three workshop faculty mentors on the first 100 pages (25,000 words) of their manuscript, while receiving substantive feedback on the overall feedback of their work in progress.
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MFA alumnae Brennen Belogorsky, Catharine Clark-Sayles, and Kat Crawford, along with Joan Baranow and her husband, physician and poet David Watts, participated in an evening of poetry readings courtesy of Blue Light at the Gallery. The readings took place at the Marin Society of Artists in San Rafael.
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MFA Alumni Workshops
The graduating class of 2019, aka the Band of Poets, held a series of MFA Alumni workshops on the Dominican campus in fall. These workshops served to keep students connected and moving forward with their post-graduation writing. They met in their favorite places, the Hunt Room in Meadowlands, and the Siena Center in Edgehill Mansion. Joan Baranow dropped in to visit and provide mentorship to the group. The "Band" plans to continue meeting, and writing, at Dominican in the new year!
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MFA Student Writing Assistant Positions
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The MFA in Creative Writing program is offering two Writing Assistant
positions to current MFA students. Assistants will develop content
for social media and the MFA blog site. Writing style will vary from
creative pieces to business and marketing writing. Students may
inquire with Judy Halebsky about this opportunity.
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Marianne Rogoff has been appointed to serve on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Pediatric Surgical Nursing. New Editor-in-Chief Dr. Anita Catlin read Marianne’s memoir Silvie’s Life and became interested in including narrative stories, poetry, and book reviews in future issues. Watch for calls for submissions as deadlines and further details emerge.
Marianne's 493-word story "Tangible Things" was accepted for publication in The Coachella Review with no edits! Her story "BFFs" was a Finalist for the Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize and published by Fiction Southeast
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Marianne will debut her play production, Dancing with J. Alfred Prufock, at the opening night of our January MFA residency. The production is a 10-minute theatrical written by Marianne that includes dance and the poetic lines of T. S. Eliot's famous poem, performed by a cast of three: Mark Novak as Prufrock, Danielle Vierra as Soulmate, and Mia Camera as Diamond Girl. It is part of the global Fringe Festival of Short Plays, produced by Gina Pandiani, Artistic Director of Fringe of Marin, directed by Sherry Hines.
We will also hear a brief introduction to T. S. Eliot as Marianne details her process for writing the play in collaboration with his Prufrock poem. She will share how the piece evolved following her experience with another play production at Dominican, Dancing with J.D. Salinger, which was performed at the June 2019 MFA in Creative Writing residency. This evening is open to the public. See our Public Events page for more info.
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Extra Extra, Read All About It!
When she wasn’t producing a PBS documentary, overseeing Dominican’s MA Humanities program, developing the MFA in Creative Writing program, or publishing books of poetry, Joan Baranow was slowly but surely nurturing a feature-length documentary about a brave young woman trying to live a normal life with terminal cancer.
The Time We Have was a labor of love – a stop-start effort that spanned 14 years, culminating with recent screenings at the New Hope Film Festival in Pennsylvania, the Examined Life Art & Medicine conference at the University of Iowa, and it has now been accepted by the Film Only Film festival in London, England.
Last month, the Marin Independent Journal published a front page story covering Joan's remarkable journey with this film from inception to film festivals. Congrats Joan!
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Judy Halebsky’s new book, Spring and a Thousand Years (Unabridged) will be released this spring from University of Arkansas Press. At times a translator’s notebook, an almanac, or an ecological history, this book of poems is inspired by Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book and writes to the possibilities of classical literature guiding our contemporary lives. Billy Collins selected the manuscript and writes, “Judy Halebsky likes the unleashed energy of poetry, and in the poems gathered here, she delivers.”
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This fall Judy gave a number of readings and guest lectures. The Albany Public Library’s fall theme was haiku. Judy gave a reading in which she shared a number of poems that are in conversation with Basho’s teachings on haiku. She also gave a guest lecture at UC Davis on writing for the stage and led a workshop in storytelling at San Jose State University’s MBA program.
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- Jan 11-16 @ 4:30-8:00pm MFA Residency Public Events
- Mar 5-7 MFA Program at AWP 2020 San Antonio TX Conference. Bookfair table 1347.
- Ongoing: Interested in learning more about the MFA program? Email Program Director Judy Halebsky to schedule an appointment. Video appointments available upon request.
- Ongoing: Campus tours Tour campus and visit with an admission counselor to discuss the application process.
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MFA Student Scholarship Fund
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This is the season of giving, and as such we would like to thank all of our supporters who have donated to our MFA Student Scholarship Fund. All of the funds in this scholarship will go directly to support students in financial need.
To make a donation, visit our MFA Donation Page and select the Student Scholarship Fund. Donations are tax deductible.
Thank you and happy holidays!
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How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. A schedule is a mock-up of reason and order—willed, faked, and so brought into being; it is a peace and a haven set into the wreck of time; it is a lifeboat on which you find yourself, decades later, still living. -- Annie Dillard
We don’t need endless amounts of time to grow as writers, we just need to return to writing and to keep it alive from day to day. In this prompt you will write for 15-20 minutes each day for six days. Write at the same time and in the same place each day. On the seventh day, look back over what you have written and compose a piece each using only writing generated on the previous six days. (One can adjust grammar and syntax but don’t add new lines or sentences).
Send us your pieces using the submission link below and we will publish them in our upcoming newsletters!
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