By Katy Yocom, Associate Director
Class Reunions: 2003 and 2013
It’s been twenty years since Spalding’s first MFA graduating class received their hoods, and we’re celebrating! This fall, we’re holding a 20-year reunion for the spring and fall classes of 2003—collectively, our charter class (of which I was a member, so I'm having lots of feelings). We're also throwing a 10-year reunion for the classes of 2013. Whether you graduated twenty years ago or ten, you’re invited to return to campus and the Brown Hotel for a reunion with your classmates, faculty, and staff. The reunion runs November 16 – 17, but you're welcome to come early and spend as much time at residency as you like. More on that below.
We’ll kick off the reunion Thursday with a pay-on-your-own lunch just for alums. Later that evening, we'll have a festive, hosted Alumni Gathering (faculty and students are invited too) at Noble Funk Brewing Company near campus. Think wood-fired pizzas, craft brews, and delicious NA beverages too.
As a reunion attendee, you’ll get access to dedicated writing space at the Brown Hotel alongside Writing at the Brown attendees. You’re invited to faculty and student readings, lectures, and other residency curriculum sessions. (If you arrive early, you can attend Wednesday evening's presentation by our Distinguished Visiting Author, Professor Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of our residency book in common, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.) And to keep you energized, there’s free coffee on campus from Red Hot Roasters!
All this is available for a $50 suggested minimum donation to a scholarship fund or the Alumni Association Support Fund. The donation also registers you for Writing at the Brown, for as many residency days as you like. And if you sign up for a SpaldingCon workhop, full-residency workshop, or the Post-master’s Certificate, the reunion suggested donation is waived.
Reunion attendees receive a 10 percent discount on their room at the Brown Hotel for a special rate of $148, including tax. Reservations are based on availability.
If you graduated in 2003 or 2013, watch your inbox for an invitation!
More offerings for alumni
Several additional opportunities are on offer for alumni this fall. Jump to SpaldingCon workshops, full-residency workshops, or the Post-master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment. Or read on for Writing at the Brown.
Writing at the Brown
Want to jumpstart your writing project or finish that revision? This fall’s Writing at the Brown retreat takes place November 11 – 17, during the fall residency of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing. School alumni are welcome to attend for as many days as you like.
The retreat provides alums with space to write in quiet, pleasant surroundings at the Brown Hotel. During the day, write in the comfort of the hotel’s Louis XVI room, available from 4:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, till 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17. Wednesday evening, attend a presentation by our Distinguished Visiting Author, Professor Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. Other evenings, relax with other alums in the lobby or join pay-on-your-own alumni dinners. Retreatants are also invited to attend faculty and student readings, lectures, and other residency curriculum sessions. And registration gets you free coffee on campus from Red Hot Roasters! All this is available for a $50 suggested minimum donation. (Reunion attendees are included in all Writing at the Brown activities.)
Reserve your place at Writing at the Brown by filling out this survey by October 1. Rooms at the Brown may be available at $166 a night, including tax. Request your room on the registration form, and we’ll confirm availability by October 11. If confirmed, payment is due by October 26. A payment link will be emailed to you. Rooms are assigned on a first-reserved basis.
You may make your donation here to support one of our scholarship funds or the Alumni Association Support Fund—the choice is yours. Please make your gift by October 1 to secure your reservation.
SpaldingCon: Virtual and In-person
SpaldingCon is a post-graduate writers’ conference held during the School of Writing’s fall residency. The conference is built around in-person and virtual workshops, mostly generative. Here’s the line-up:
In-person Workshops on Spalding’s campus:
Exploring Adaptation, led by Sam Zalutsky (Nov. 11-17) NEW! A full-week SpaldingCon workshop
Writing with Scissors: The Collage Form in Prose and Poetry, led by Dianne Aprile (Nov. 15-17)
Let’s Misbehave: The Art of Disobedience, led by Kenny Cook (Nov. 15-17)
Building the Book: Strategies for Shaping a Poetry Manuscript, led by Lynnell Edwards (Nov. 15-17)
Virtual Workshops—attend from anywhere:
Who Do You Love? Writing Personal Stories Grounded in Pop Culture, led by Erin Keane (Nov. 15-17)
Flash Fiction/CNF: A Generative Workshop, led by Robin Lippincott (Nov. 15-17)
Diving into the Wreck: Excavating Family Histories in Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, & Hybrid Writing, led by Douglas Manuel (Nov. 15-17)
Additional curriculum sessions are included, among them a Wednesday evening presentation by our Distinguished Visiting Author, Professor Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. Learn more about SpaldingCon.
Full-residency workshops
Spend a residency studying and workshopping alongside current students. Alums who take part in full-residency, faculty-led workshops gain critique on their work in progress. As residency students, alums receive the student rate at the Brown Hotel, are included in student meals and cultural activities, and have access to the full spectrum of curriculum sessions.
Workshops are running in every genre. Our fall workshop leaders are Rachel Harper, fiction; Lee Martin, fiction; Keith S. Wilson, poetry; Karen Salyer McElmurray, creative nonfiction; Lesléa Newman, writing for children & young adults; Kira Obolensky, playwriting; and Charlie Schulman, screenwriting.
If you’re interested in taking a full-residency workshop, email Karen Mann by September 5. We'll let you know if we’re able to seat you in a workshop by September 11. Workshop submissions are due Sept 27.
Post-master’s certificate in writing enrichment
For MFA and MAW alums, our Post-master’s Certificate in Writing Enrichment brings you back to your writing with a low-residency semester of creative writing study in any of the genres we teach.
The 15-credit certificate includes a 3-credit residency course on campus (our dates this fall are November 11-18) followed by a 12-credit independent study course, completed from home while you work one-on-one with a Spalding MFA faculty mentor. You can mix and match genres—for instance, you might study screenwriting during the residency but switch to fiction for the independent study. School of Writing alums received a $2,000 discount.
To find out more, inquire here no later than September 5. We'll let you know if we’re able to seat you in a workshop by September 11. Workshop submissions are due Sept 27.
Katy Yocom (F '03) is a member of the charter class of the Spalding low-residency MFA in Writing program. She now serves as associate director of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She is author of Three Ways to Disappear, a novel, and her short fiction and essays have appeared in numerous publications.