FRONTMATTER

Upcoming Community Enrichment Class

Hello all! I hope your Thanksgiving holiday went well, Covid-19 restrictions notwithstanding. It's been quiet here in the dorms, though we have gotten to share a bit of turkey, stuffing and pie. Post turkey-day classes have begun again, and we are now into the fifth and final module of the semester. First-years are finishing their final weeks of Forms and Publishing & Fieldwork, which produces our fine literary magazine, Hunger Mountain. Second-years have turned in their thesis proposals and…

Reading Series Friday 11/20

  We will host another edition of our Friday Night Reading Series this Friday, November 20th, Featuring our own delightful Miciah Bay Gault, author of Goodnight Stranger, and teacher extraordinaire (if you have the chance, take her module "Sentence Clinic." You'll learn the grammar you always wished you knew, discover the joy of diagramming sentences, and get down one on one with your own work at the sentence level. She'll also help you remember how to see, hear and feel what's around you.) Shawn…

David Weiden at VCFA

Program Awesomeness   One of the best things about The Writing & Publishing program here at VCFA is the amazing visiting writers that come to speak and to teach modules. David Heska Wanbli Weiden is just such a person. Although he started his MFA right here at VCFA, he completed it at the Institute of American Indian Arts. He also holds a law degree and a PhD. He’s a Tin House Scholar, a MacDowell Fellow, and a PEN/America Writing for Justice Fellow. David is the author of Spotted…

Halloween Community Enrichment Class

  Here, at VCFA, we believe in being good members of our community. Now, by community, we mean, of course, students and faculty here in the W&P program. More than that, however, we mean the writing community outside of our school. We also mean the surrounding community of Montpelier and beyond. Because of this responsibility to being good citizens, we hold community enrichment classes in different types, styles and genres of writing. In doing so, we not only give our students valuable…

Fall Reading Series

  The semester keeps soldiering on here at VCFA. The weather can’t decide what it’s doing, but that’s okay, since we students are keeping to our rooms studying hard and writing up a storm. We did, however, have our second virtual Zoom reading, featuring faculty members James Scott, Justin Bigos and Kelly McMahon. I encourage you to watch it here, but in the meantime, here’s the rundown: James Scott The evening was led by James, the author of the bestselling novel The Kept, a finalist…

Fall Arrives: A New Academic year at VCFA

Fall has arrived! I'm looking out my dorm room window as I write this. The view over the college green is a stunning representation of a New England Autumn, with oranges and reds mixing with green in the trees and on the grass. I think back to last year at this time, as I was just entering my second month in  Vermont. Everyone warned me that we probably wouldn't  get much of a show, leaf wise, since the weather had been so "mild" for the season. When I say mild, I mean that it was 71 degrees with…

A (Not So) Lazy Sunday

What a Day   After a few days of temperatures in the single digits—and down to sub-zero temps at night (yikes!)—today was a balmy 34 degrees. This meant that it was the perfect day for a long hike through Sabin’s Pasture, the nature area behind VCFA.           I was under the impression that the pasture would be next to impossible to navigate with snow on the ground. I have come to the conclusion that I was very much mistaken. It is,…

We're Baaaaacckkk!

Home Again, Home Again Winter break is over and we students are convening again, returning from far-flung locations like Nigeria, as well as closer locales like Chicago, Los Angeles, and NYC. One student went to Florida, another to Iowa. A few of us stayed here, in town, and in the dorms. Orientation for the Spring semester felt like a meeting of long-lost friends, and that is indeed what we've become, we Writing & Publishing students, good friends for life. Now we're busy settling in. First-year…

The Last Readings of the Year

What an amazing couple of nights for readings we have had here at VCFA. First, on Thursday 12/5 we had our last reading of the year at the North Branch Café, featuring students Dayton Shafer and Ukamaka Olisakwe. Then, on the following night we had the Final Friday Night Reading of the year at Cafe Anna. Cafe Anna is always a great venue, and on this night featured faculty Justin Bigos & Ariel Francisco as well as visiting writers Kristina Marie Darling, & Chris Campanioni. North Branch…

The Vermont Book Award Gala

We've been busy here at VCFA for the past few weeks: classes, readings, modules, mixers, and most notably, the 5th Annual Vermont Book Award Gala, held Saturday, November 9th in Alumnx Hall. The Gala has become a go-t0 event for literati in the Montpelier area since it's inception: The inaugural Vermont Book Award was given in 2015. Vermont College of Fine Arts created the award to continue its mission of promoting emerging and established artists, especially those with deep connections to the state…