“We’ve Got Your Book”

I’m in Halifax for the annual two-week summer residency, the centerpiece of the University of King’s College’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction, where I’m on faculty as one of eight mentor-advisors. The only low-residency creative nonfiction MFA offered in Canada, it’s a two-year program that, in addition to the summer sessions, includes a week-long residency in January that alternates between New York and Toronto. During the summer residency, students develop their book proposals, learn structure and research skills through lectures, workshops, panels and seminars, and begin writing the chapters that will eventually become finished manuscripts. During the winter residencies, students meet with agents and editors and learn about the complexities of the book publishing business. Between these residencies, students work long-distance with their mentors to move their manuscripts forward. (When students and mentors happen to live in the same cities, they often meet in-person.)

As one of the mentor-advisors since the beginning of the program, I’m as excited by it as the students are. It’s always challenging and exhilarating working with talented writers on projects that range from journalistic investigations to memoirs. If you’d like to find out more about the program — slogan: “we’ve got your book” — look at the web site: University of King’s College MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Here is an article written about the program: Mastering the Art of Authoring a Book.