Since 1978 the Masters of Fine Arts Creative Writing program has held the Distinguished Visiting Writers program, which Doug Heckman, director of the MFA program, said brings big time writers to the University of Idaho.
The program usually brings three writers throughout the school year — a fiction, nonfiction and poetry writer — that are nationally or internationally known for their work, Heckman said.
This program differs from others, as the author comes for one week and holds workshops with the graduate students.
“It is a really unique opportunity for our graduates,” Heckman said. “They get to spend intimate time with such good writers.”
For the week the writer is in town, they hold a class four evenings a week for two and a half hours, with a maximum of 12 students in their class, he said. So when they are choosing writers for the year they take into consideration whether they can teach the students, as well as whether they are a good match for the program.
The writers also give a public reading while they are here, which he said is very well attended.
“We have a smart community,” Heckman said.
He said because of this, many community members along with students come to the readings, especially because this program has reputation for bringing in great writers.
The nonfiction writer visiting UI this year is Rebecca Solnit, who has written 13 books on various subjects.
She will be at UI from Jan. 28 – Feb. 1 and will give a public reading at 7:30 on Wednesday in the Menard Law Building Courtroom.
Heckman said students will have the opportunity to generate new work during the workshops with Solnit.
“I’m excited to see what she is going to talk about and what the students take away from that,” he said.
The next writer for the series is fiction writer Adam Johnson, who recently won the National Books Critics Circle Award, Heckman said.
“He is particularly hot right now,” Heckman said, “So we were lucky enough to get him before all of this went down.”
Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]