MFA Writers Steven Duong — Iowa Writers’ Workshop
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Aug 16, 2022 In this engaging discussion, Steven Duong, a second-year MFA candidate at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, shares insights on his journey from poetry to fiction. He contrasts the competitive expectations of Iowa with the supportive community he found. Duong explores the relationship between poetry and narrative, discussing how constraints fuel creativity. He also delves into the blending of genres and how his diverse background shapes his writing. Listeners will find inspiration in his reflections on the transformative power of community and collaboration in the writing process.
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Sandbox Excerpt
- Steven Duong read an excerpt from his fiction piece, "Sandbox."
- It features a character who builds structures in a virtual world while friends defend against monsters.
Constraints and Freedom
- Duong's fiction writing is rooted in his poetry background, particularly his experience with formal constraints like sonnets and pantoums.
- These constraints, like line breaks and syllabic counts, allow for surprising creative exploration and compression in his writing.
Self-Imposed Constraints
- Duong uses self-imposed constraints in fiction, similar to formal poetry.
- For "Sandbox," he listed words related to a video game to guide his writing, pushing his work in a satisfying direction.