Prose and poetry writers know words are the only way to go. With creative flair, they let their pens fly, crafting the tales that make us laugh, think and cry.
At the University of Idaho, they hone the skills for their craft, writing endlessly and hoping their hands don’t cramp.
This is the tale of UI’s Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program, part of the graduate program offered by the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. The program is helping to fine tune the works of the newest generation of authors and both students and graduates of the program are already achieving literary success.

One of those is Jeff Jones, a 2005 graduate from the program with an emphasis in creative nonfiction. An essay he developed in one of his courses, “Children of Cain,” won the Pushcart Prize, an award that honors small presses and authors.
“What has really been helpful was the cross-pollination of the genres,” Jones said. “I felt really enlivened by the potential for what I could write.”

The program encourages students to take courses in genres outside their own, allowing them to pick up techniques and ideas from other writing styles.
The three-year program also requires students to write a publishable-quality thesis utilizing what they’ve learned in the techniques and literature courses they have taken. Students also learn from the example of their professors who, in the past ten years, have published more than a dozen books and numerous works in literary magazines.

“Just to see a professional writer at work … and their thoughts on craft was really helpful,” Jones said.
Robert Wrigley is one of those professors, whose most recent poem, “Exxon,” is due to appear in an upcoming issue of The New Yorker.
“I’ve learned more from teaching writing than from just about anything else except reading,” Wrigley said. “Our students are very smart. They keep all of us on our toes, and, quite honestly, often inspired. It’s both an honor and a huge responsibility to be entrusted with the work of someone’s life.  And that’s what being a writer requires: a lifetime commitment.”
Andrew Millar, a current student of the program, is planning to make that commitment.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s work I want to be doing,” Millar said.
Millar was one of the graduate students who went down to Sun Valley’s Ernest Hemingway festival Sept. 25-28 to represent the UI program. 
“Our program is growing. It’s on the map,” Millar said.

The program accounts for nearly 50 percent of graduate applications for the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, according to Wrigley.
With students coming into Moscow from such universities as Yale, Harvard and Stanford, it seems as though the program and its authors are making their mark on the literary world.
“We have such a vibrant MFA program here at Idaho,” Jones said. “Moscow seems like a good place to hunker down and write.”

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