MFA Writers

Spencer Robert Young sits down with Jared to talk about their path from punk music concertgoer to writing a chamber opera. Plus, Spencer and Jared discuss pattern and rupture in poetry, the pros and cons of staying in academia versus taking time off, the beauty and collaboration of editing, and life in Moscow, Idaho.Spencer Robert Young (they/them) is a poet, essayist, and editor. They write about embodiment, punk music, queerness, climate change, and good books. Spencer holds an MA in Creative Writing and Literature from Kansas State University and an MFA in Poetry from the University of Idaho. While earning their MFA, Spencer edited reviews and interviews for Fugue Literary Journal, and they currently judge chapbooks for the Cow Creek Chapbook Prize. A recipient of an Academy of American Poets Prize, their work has been published in a handful of literary magazines and journals, and their original chamber opera, Let's Blow Up a Gas Station!, premiered with Seattle Opera in 2024. Find them at spencerrobertyoung.my.canva.site. MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

Former stand-up comedian Max Delsohn sits down with Jared to talk about how humor and detailed line-level revision show up in his work for the stage and the page. Plus, he discusses a pleasure-forward writing process, switching MFA programs after the first year, and his experiences with big-name faculty like George Saunders and Mary Karr.Max Delsohn is a third-year MFA candidate in fiction at Syracuse University. His writing appears in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, VICE, Joyland, The Rumpus, Passages North, Nat. Brut, and the essay anthology Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games, edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado, among other places. He has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Saltonstall Foundation for The Arts, Mineral School, and Hugo House, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times. His debut short story collection, CRAWL, is forthcoming in fall 2025 from Graywolf Press. Find Max on social media @maxdelsohn, and sign up for alerts to pre-order his collection via his website, www.maxdelsohn.com.This episode was requested by Amy Peltz, Sarah Blood, and Frank Turner. Thank you all for listening!MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

Having moved from Atlanta to Montreal as a toddler, some of Sophia Tone’s earliest memories are shaped by the “slipperiness of language.” In this episode, she tells Jared how bilingualism and her French immersion experience influence her poetry today, and how she seeks to highlight lesser-known Québécois art and poetry. They also discuss the connection between visual art and poetry, as well as the cross-genre focus at Hollins (or “Pulitzer University”), where students receive funding without the requirement to teach.Sophia Tone is a second-year MFA candidate at Hollins University. Her focus is poetry, but she recently discovered the lyric essay and has been experimenting with creative nonfiction ever since. She seems to enjoy writing intertextual and ekphrastic work the best, these days. During her time in Atlanta, with her best poet friend, she co-founded PEACHFUZZ Journal (@peachfuzzjournal on Instagram), which seeks to publish emerging voices from the Atlanta area. You can find her work at HAD, Switch Microfiction, and Axil Poetry and Art. She is on Instagram @lilso3.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

Writers often share work in readings, but how often do we write stories that are designed to be read aloud? Lewis Millholland tells Jared about preparing for a reading by creating a piece “that was short, had a lot of repetition, no dialogue, and noticeable voice changes.” Millholland also discusses drawing inspiration from Harvard Business Review case studies, bumping into Salman Rushdie at the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, and the extensive literary scene (including writing workshops in Hemingway’s final house) in and around Boise, Idaho.Lewis Millholland is a writer and video game developer. His fiction and essays have appeared in journals including Passages North, DIAGRAM, and The Garlic Press. Currently, he is a third-year MFA student at Boise State University, where he serves as the associate editor of The Idaho Review and lives with a stolen (rescued) jade plant. His work can be read online at lewismillholland.com.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

In our Season 6 premiere, James T. Morrison talks about how creative nonfiction provides an opportunity to discuss challenging topics like drug dependency and justice system involvement that counter the stereotypical portrayal of the addiction redemption arc. He and Jared also explore revision as a process to find your voice, Morrison’s shift from a law school path to an MFA at age 40, the importance of accessible mentors over university prestige, and the underappreciated literary scene of Fresno.James T. Morrison is a recent graduate of California State University, Fresno, where he received his MFA in creative nonfiction in June of 2025. He serves as the nonfiction editor at The Normal School literary magazine, affiliated with Fresno State's MFA. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Slate, Diode, River Teeth's "Beautiful Things," and Fugue. To hear him talk about his writing and American drug policy, check out his appearance on the award winning podcast, Death, Sex, and Money. James lives in California's Central Valley with his wife, Sara, their three cats, and brand new puppy (she is a real pistol). Find him at his website, www.james-t-morrison.com, and on Instagram @regularjamest.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

On this episode, Sam Herschel Wein tells Jared about their path to finding poetry outside of academia, co-founding and editing Underblong, and their approach to collaboration and humor in their writing. Plus, they discuss the nuances of MFA program decisions (Two or three years? English or Art departments?) and whether creative writing should live within institutions of higher education at all.Sam Herschel Wein (he/they) is a lollygagging plum of a poet who specializes in perpetual frolicking. They have an MFA from the University of Tennessee (2021-2023) and were the recipient of a 2022 Pushcart Prize. They have published 3 chapbooks, most recently Butt Stuff Flower Bush from Porkbelly Press, and are the co-founder and editor of Underblong Journal. They have recent work in American Poetry Review, The Cincinnati Review, and Gulf Coast, among others. Find them on social media @samforbreakfast and at their website, samherschelwein.com.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

What’s it like to pursue a low-residency MFA when you’re a collaborative playwright and performer? In this episode, Suli Holum describes devised work, partnerships between writers and actors, and how she created a piece based on her research in the oil fields of North Dakota. She and Jared also talk about the details of Goddard’s creative and craft assignments, and how students in this low-res program still get teaching experience.Suli Holum is a Philadelphia-based director, performer, choreographer and playwright who recently graduated with an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Goddard College in Vermont where she was the recipient of the 2020 Engaged Artist Award. She is a member of the Wilma Theatre’s HotHouse Company, a founding member of Pig Iron Theatre Company, and Co-Artistic Director of Stein | Holum Projects, whose works include Drama Desk-nominated Chimera, and The Wholehearted. She’s the recipient of a Drama Desk Award, a TCG/Fox Resident Actor Fellowship, a Barrymore Award, an Independence Fellowship, and a NEFA Touring Grant. Credits at the Wilma include Romeo and Juliet, Dance Nation and Minor Character, and you can also catch her on HBO’s Mare of Easttown. Find her at suliholumthework.org.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

Noah Evan Wilson spent ten years finishing his undergraduate degree while developing as a musician and a photographer. In this episode, he talks with Jared about how that decade of experiences animates his current writing, how the craft of music and photography overlaps with and informs his fiction, and how the MFA has provided him the opportunity to experience college in a way he wasn’t able to before.Noah Evan Wilson is a writer and musician based in New York City, and a second-year MFA candidate at Rutgers University-Newark, in the fiction track. His short stories have been published in Beyond Words, Third Street Review, and the anthology, Ten Ways the Animals Will Save Us, from Retreat West Books. He received third place in the 2022 Dreamers Creative Writing Flash Fiction Contest, and second place in the 2021 Prime Number Magazine Flash Fiction Prize, and has stories forthcoming in both Chautauqua and Orca. Noah is currently working on his first novel, exploring the lasting power of a brief and intimate friendship between two young men who become entangled with a high-control religious cult. His solo records, Desert Cities, and The View from the Ground, are available on all major music streaming platforms. Find him at noahevanwilson.com or on Instagram @NoahEvanWilson.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

How do voice-driven writers find their characters? Austin Tucker tells Jared how he uses collage and research into his characters’ life histories to craft voices that are often “on the edge of collapse.” Plus, Austin discusses the pros and cons of a small program with 6-8 students in each poetry workshop, healthcare access as a PhD student, and opportunities to design and teach composition, workshop, and survey classes.Austin Tucker is a poet and fiction writer who received his MFA from the University of Rutgers-Camden and is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at Ohio University. He is the current editor of Quarter After Eight and his poetry was selected for The Southeast Review’s 2024 Gearhart Prize by Kareena McGlynn, and has appeared in Pleiades, Frontier, and Four Chambers, among other places. His fiction won the 2024 Masters Review Flash Fiction contest and was a semifinalist for the 2018 Halifax Ranch Prize. He’s also a two-time finalist for The DISQUIET International Literary Prize in Poetry. Find him at r.austin.tucker [at] gmail [dot] com or via the Quarter After Eight IG (@qaejournal). He is represented by Julia Eagleton with Janklow and Nesbit.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

Poetic forms are sometimes considered limiting, but can we find freedom within the constraints? On this episode, Brandon Blue tells Jared about how recontextualizing traditional forms through the lens of identity creates an additional, sometimes subversive, layer of meaning. Plus, he discusses writing about intimacy and eroticism within and outside of sexual relationships; how he decided to pursue an MFA after teaching middle and high school for seven years; and the importance of advocating for your needs and goals in an MFA program, writing community, and career.Brandon Blue is a black, queer poet, educator and MFA candidate at Arizona State University from the D(M)V. He is an assistant editor for Storm Cellar Magazine and his work has or will appear in Barzakh, the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival Poetry Anthology, [PANK], and more. His work is also featured in the Capital Pride Poem-a-Day event. His work has received the support of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing. His chapbook, Snap.Shot, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Keep up with his work at brandonbluepoet.com.MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.BE PART OF THE SHOWDonate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.STAY CONNECTEDTwitter: @MFAwriterspodInstagram: @MFAwriterspodcastFacebook: MFA WritersEmail: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com