WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.870 align:middle line:90% Welcome. 00:00:00.870 --> 00:00:01.800 align:middle line:90% Can you hear me? 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:02.730 align:middle line:90% Can everyone hear me? 00:00:02.730 --> 00:00:07.350 align:middle line:90% 00:00:07.350 --> 00:00:09.650 align:middle line:90% Welcome. 00:00:09.650 --> 00:00:12.950 align:middle line:84% I'm Kate Bernheimer, and it is my pleasure 00:00:12.950 --> 00:00:16.490 align:middle line:84% to congratulate the University of Arizona MFA 00:00:16.490 --> 00:00:19.190 align:middle line:84% program in creative writing as we 00:00:19.190 --> 00:00:21.610 align:middle line:90% celebrate our 50th anniversary. 00:00:21.610 --> 00:00:23.570 align:middle line:90% [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] 00:00:23.570 --> 00:00:28.630 align:middle line:90% 00:00:28.630 --> 00:00:32.080 align:middle line:84% I began my role as the program director just this year, 00:00:32.080 --> 00:00:34.630 align:middle line:84% and I was excited my appointment aligned 00:00:34.630 --> 00:00:36.880 align:middle line:84% with this moment in history because I'm not only 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:41.770 align:middle line:84% a professor in this program, I am also an alumni of it-- 00:00:41.770 --> 00:00:43.750 align:middle line:90% a long time ago. 00:00:43.750 --> 00:00:47.710 align:middle line:84% Since its founding in 1972, the MFA program 00:00:47.710 --> 00:00:51.070 align:middle line:84% has been recognized for its innovative approaches 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:53.500 align:middle line:84% to the teaching of creative writing, 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.800 align:middle line:84% the study of literature as an art form, 00:00:56.800 --> 00:01:02.050 align:middle line:84% and training for work in the field, and perhaps most of all, 00:01:02.050 --> 00:01:04.209 align:middle line:84% for its generations of authors who 00:01:04.209 --> 00:01:07.930 align:middle line:84% have emerged from our student cohorts, many who have 00:01:07.930 --> 00:01:11.020 align:middle line:90% had very illustrious careers. 00:01:11.020 --> 00:01:14.500 align:middle line:84% Our alumni have brought meaning to the interior lives 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:17.800 align:middle line:84% of readers through a half century 00:01:17.800 --> 00:01:21.370 align:middle line:84% across more than 1,000 book publications 00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:23.875 align:middle line:84% among other meaningful works in the world. 00:01:23.875 --> 00:01:26.470 align:middle line:90% 00:01:26.470 --> 00:01:30.970 align:middle line:84% For a quiet moment, I'd like for us to privately remember 00:01:30.970 --> 00:01:33.850 align:middle line:84% some MFA community members whom we 00:01:33.850 --> 00:01:37.120 align:middle line:90% have lost, some quite recently. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:39.100 align:middle line:90% In the moment of silence-- 00:01:39.100 --> 00:01:42.100 align:middle line:84% or quiet, I should say-- please do call out 00:01:42.100 --> 00:01:48.040 align:middle line:84% the names of any MFA alumni, faculty, staff, or community 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:53.530 align:middle line:84% member, past or recent, you wish to have held in this space. 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:56.320 align:middle line:84% Most recently, we learned of the loss 00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:00.865 align:middle line:84% last month of Kevin McIlvoy and Philip Gerard. 00:02:00.865 --> 00:02:09.324 align:middle line:90% 00:02:09.324 --> 00:02:10.210 align:middle line:90% Tony Hoagland. 00:02:10.210 --> 00:02:12.570 align:middle line:90% 00:02:12.570 --> 00:02:13.800 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:16.000 align:middle line:90% Peter Wild. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:17.450 align:middle line:90% Steve Orlen. 00:02:17.450 --> 00:02:19.200 align:middle line:90% Steve Orlen. 00:02:19.200 --> 00:02:19.800 align:middle line:90% John Payne. 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:22.540 align:middle line:90% 00:02:22.540 --> 00:02:23.340 align:middle line:90% Morgan Schuldt. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:27.280 align:middle line:90% 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:27.970 align:middle line:90% Bob Ramsey. 00:02:27.970 --> 00:02:31.760 align:middle line:90% 00:02:31.760 --> 00:02:33.500 align:middle line:90% Jon Anderson. 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:34.310 align:middle line:90% Jon Anderson. 00:02:34.310 --> 00:02:45.020 align:middle line:90% 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:49.010 align:middle line:84% It's not easy to follow one's artistic sensibilities 00:02:49.010 --> 00:02:53.120 align:middle line:84% into a life of the mind, to dedicate oneself 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.230 align:middle line:84% to mostly working alone, many hours a day, 00:02:57.230 --> 00:03:01.010 align:middle line:84% with the technology only of language, 00:03:01.010 --> 00:03:04.070 align:middle line:90% such a mercurial tool. 00:03:04.070 --> 00:03:07.130 align:middle line:84% Time in an MFA program in creative writing 00:03:07.130 --> 00:03:11.390 align:middle line:84% tempers that solitude with gatherings in classes, 00:03:11.390 --> 00:03:15.350 align:middle line:84% at readings, at professional trainings, 00:03:15.350 --> 00:03:20.990 align:middle line:84% in classmates' homes, and sometimes at faculty parties, 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:23.600 align:middle line:90% not as often as we used to. 00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:26.570 align:middle line:84% I recall one gathering at Professor Joy Williams' 00:03:26.570 --> 00:03:30.290 align:middle line:84% mid-century home when a javelina suddenly 00:03:30.290 --> 00:03:33.650 align:middle line:84% appeared in the middle of the very dark and very crowded 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:35.120 align:middle line:90% living room. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.420 align:middle line:84% And her husband, who also taught in the program 00:03:38.420 --> 00:03:41.990 align:middle line:84% at the time, Esquire Fiction Editor Rust Hills, 00:03:41.990 --> 00:03:48.380 align:middle line:84% raised his martini to the roomful of disheveled MFA folks 00:03:48.380 --> 00:03:51.770 align:middle line:84% and said, with great confidence and flair, 00:03:51.770 --> 00:03:56.660 align:middle line:84% I'd like to introduce you all to Tucson's newest author. 00:03:56.660 --> 00:03:58.790 align:middle line:84% Somehow, the javelina made it safely back 00:03:58.790 --> 00:04:01.340 align:middle line:90% into its natural habitat. 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:05.660 align:middle line:84% At some point, every reader tonight and every student 00:04:05.660 --> 00:04:10.250 align:middle line:84% in this program has been Tucson's newest author, 00:04:10.250 --> 00:04:15.440 align:middle line:84% showing up poignant as a javelina, blinkingly alone, 00:04:15.440 --> 00:04:18.890 align:middle line:90% in a strange, crowded room. 00:04:18.890 --> 00:04:22.100 align:middle line:84% As faculty, we have the chance to watch 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:25.520 align:middle line:84% you emerge in your splendor and return 00:04:25.520 --> 00:04:28.160 align:middle line:90% to your more natural world. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:29.990 align:middle line:90% It is a gift. 00:04:29.990 --> 00:04:32.300 align:middle line:84% I learned how to do this tangibly from some 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:35.300 align:middle line:84% of my own professors, including Elizabeth Evans, one 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:37.370 align:middle line:90% of our introducers tonight. 00:04:37.370 --> 00:04:41.990 align:middle line:84% Once, she kindly stapled her favorite Grimm fairy tale 00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:44.720 align:middle line:84% to a short story manuscript of mine 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.670 align:middle line:84% before handing it back to me marked 00:04:46.670 --> 00:04:52.050 align:middle line:84% up brilliantly in every sentence with a pencil. 00:04:52.050 --> 00:04:56.090 align:middle line:84% She forever quietly changed the course of my literary life 00:04:56.090 --> 00:05:00.760 align:middle line:84% by affirming that I wasn't alone. 00:05:00.760 --> 00:05:02.470 align:middle line:84% Occasions like this are the chance 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:04.780 align:middle line:84% to take pride in the MFA program's 00:05:04.780 --> 00:05:09.160 align:middle line:84% small and big moments, all of the accomplishments, 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:11.920 align:middle line:84% and to raise a glass to our current MFA 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:18.940 align:middle line:84% students, many of whom are here, our dedicated staff, sponsors, 00:05:18.940 --> 00:05:23.410 align:middle line:84% our wonderful undergraduate creative writing students, 00:05:23.410 --> 00:05:28.100 align:middle line:84% an important part of our community, our alumni, 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:32.930 align:middle line:84% of course, the Poetry Center, and our university home, 00:05:32.930 --> 00:05:36.290 align:middle line:84% the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. 00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:40.490 align:middle line:90% Happy 50th, MFA program. 00:05:40.490 --> 00:05:44.360 align:middle line:84% You'll now be introduced to our distinguished alumni authors 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:47.520 align:middle line:84% who are scattered somewhere about. 00:05:47.520 --> 00:05:48.920 align:middle line:90% I see all three of you now-- 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.430 align:middle line:90% OK, good, you're here-- 00:05:52.430 --> 00:05:55.100 align:middle line:90% your stunning trio of voices. 00:05:55.100 --> 00:05:59.390 align:middle line:84% And I'm so honored to be introducing this event. 00:05:59.390 --> 00:06:03.680 align:middle line:84% Our readers will be introduced by Elizabeth Evans, whom I just 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:06.830 align:middle line:84% mentioned, professor emerita, and she will 00:06:06.830 --> 00:06:10.880 align:middle line:90% be introducing Cara Blue Adams. 00:06:10.880 --> 00:06:14.900 align:middle line:84% Professor Ander Monson will be introducing Aisha Sabatini 00:06:14.900 --> 00:06:17.570 align:middle line:90% Sloan, and Bojan-- 00:06:17.570 --> 00:06:19.250 align:middle line:90% there you are over there-- 00:06:19.250 --> 00:06:23.000 align:middle line:84% Bojan Louis, a professor as well, 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.990 align:middle line:84% will be introducing Alberto Ríos. 00:06:26.990 --> 00:06:30.350 align:middle line:84% Enjoy the evening, and thank you for coming. 00:06:30.350 --> 00:06:33.400 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE]