Coming Home

This past week at the Spalding University MFA residency in Louisville, KY, I was privileged to meet up with fellow spud, Stephanie Stuve Bodeen.  At some point during our time there, we both mentioned how it felt like "coming home"-- very much like the feeling we had when all ten of our spuds got together at the Anderson Center last April.

The Spalding University MFA program truly is a home to all the faculty, students, and returning alums, who share the literary heart.  In fact, at the start of every residency, program director Sena Jeter Naslund's first words are "Welcome home!"

I was there as part of the Writing for Children and YA faculty to give my lecture on the non-linear narrative form and to lead the creative thesis discussion for one of my graduating students.  Stephanie came to discuss her novel The Raft, which was the book-in-common for all W4CYA students, and to give a second presentation entitled, "After the MFA: A Cautionary Tale."  We also had the pleasure of meeting and visiting with Pam Muñoz Ryan, author of Esperanza Rising and other award-winning books for children and young adults, as well as talented author/faculty members, Lesléa Newman and David-Matthew Barnes.

What a wonderful week of teaching, learning, encouraging, inspiring, and celebrating!