Welcome to the Spalding MFA Alumni Association! Our association was formed in 2007 by a small group of MFA alumni including our emeritus director, Terry Price (F ’06), to continue the writing community created during their student days. More than fifteen years later, the MFA Alumni Association has grown into a distinguishing hallmark of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing—a commitment to lifelong learning and the benefits of an active, ongoing literary community. We are separate from the university’s alumni association, and membership is free to all who’ve graduated from the School of Writing, whether with the MFA or MAW degree or with a certificate. We’re over 800 strong now and growing.
Our primary goal is connection. We want to keep you connected:
- to the program
- to each other
- and to your art.
To encourage connection, we offer a wide variety of opportunities. You can see a round-up of our current roster at “All Things Alumni” on the Good River Review blog, and you can explore our offerings in more depth on this website. We are always looking to add more events and activities as alums come forward with ideas and a willingness to help. The possibilities really are limitless when you have a group as talented and creative as ours.
After graduating in Spring 2011, I got involved with the alumni association by serving as a PGRA during that summer’s residency in Italy. (What a hardship, I know!) I have continued to return to Louisville residencies as a PGRA, guest lecturer, and host of Writing at the Brown. From my home in Florida, I’ve helped organize virtual and in-person Homecomings as well as regional Alumni Gatherings across the U.S. And five years after graduating, I returned as a student for an enrichment semester that challenged me to work in new forms (and reminded me how exhausting being a student is!).
Through the many ways in which I’ve interacted with our community, I’ve come to appreciate the diverse, supportive, and far-flung alumni who give so willingly of themselves and their art. I’m delighted that my circle of alumni friends is so much larger than the writers I met during my semesters as a student. It is a pleasure and an honor to serve as the alumni association director, and I hope that your experience as an alum will be as varied and enriching as mine has been.
So, take a spin around our shiny new website and make yourself at home. Maybe you’re excited to jump in and start connecting with other alumni, or maybe life is taking you in another direction right now. Wherever your writing journey leads you, the alumni association is here to support you. There’s no expiration date on your membership––it’s never too late to jump back in! You are always welcome here.
If you have questions or ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Again, welcome to the MFA Alumni Association. We’re so glad you’re here!
with love,
Marjetta Geerling, ’11 W4CYA
Director, Spalding MFA Alumni Association
spaldingmfaalum.com 