Iowa Writers' Workshop at any age

Is there a right time to get your MFA? This hour features a panel of graduates of the Iowa Writers' Workshop who came to the program at different ages, some earlier in life, others having already established lives, families, and careers. Panelists talk and answer questions about the benefits and challenges of attending graduate school earlier or later in life, what it was like to be in workshop, what it was like to manage school and family, and what the MFA experience offered them in the end. If you've considered applying to an MFA program, hear first-hand about what the MFA experience is like at any age.
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The University of Iowa is one of the nation's top public research universities and the smallest public institution in the Big Ten. It's home to one of the nation's largest academic medical centers, the pioneering Iowa Writers' Workshop, and hundreds of options for affordable, accessible education.

[@SummerHillSeven]

Excellent and valuable information. Each story provides inspiration. The relationships are genuine. The experience is human.

[@s.romahora1825]

this was wonderful. thank you for sharing.

[@toddboothbee1361]

Mr. Cochran, life is for the living.

[@adolfousiermarketstars6765]

nice 😃

[@toddboothbee1361]

Sam, how does Iowa Writers Workshop and Warren Wilson College's MFA Program for Writers compare in age diversity?

[@candaceberan3592]

I left this comment on another video but I'm so curious when applicant's work is being read for admission is it read blindly or are the reader's aware of the writer's name and age?

[@nmaurok]

it's read blindly! and the writing samples go through 7 different readers

[@chunkyjohns]

How does the summer workshops differ from the MFA program? Is there as much diversity in age and experience during the summer fiction workshops as there is during the regular year?

[@Truffleshuffle18]

When I did the summer workshop there we had someone in their senior year of undergrad sitting next to a few folks in their 60s and 70s (maybe 80s? never asked). Some of the most beautiful writing was actually from the oldest gentleman in the class. Never count yourself out due to age!

[@Lulu-kt6gr]

Does your Bachelor’s need to be in English or another writing discipline in order to be accepted to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop?

[@newjawn9004]

Be sure to watch the TH-cam vid "Sandra Cisneros: I Hate the Iowa Writers Workshop." Hearing her, it made me see these people in a much clearer light.

[@ColburnClassroom]

Sandra Cisneros graduated from the workshop in 1978. The program has increased its diversity since then.

[@Truffleshuffle18]

Yeah, like @ColburnClassroom said, Cisneros' time at the workshop in the 70s and even Sam Chang's time in the 80s was a very different and much more brutal and callous environment. Sam Chang has been instrumental in pushing the pedagogy far far away from that.

[@scottjackson163]

I find the Cisneros comments shrill and self-pitying. She says essentially the place wasn’t for me so the place needed to be different. It didn’t need to be different.

[@tomgebarowski8156]

I think a prestigious Writer's Workshop program respected for decades internationally has more credibility than Cisneros. What's her beef?