All Roads Lead to Ashland (Ohio)

Ashland MFA in Creative Writing is a low residency MFA program. This means that during the academic year, our students take mentorship classes online, working on their writing projects 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 with renowned novelists, poets, and essayists—but only communicating by phone or zoom. Every July, though, students and faculty assemble on campus in person for a 2-week residency. It’s a nerd camp to beat all nerd camps. From 9am to 9pm each day for two weeks, students participate in classes, workshops, individual mentorship meetings, and attend craft talks and author readings and lectures. This year, our faculty and visiting writers include Measureless, Jonathan Geltner, Katie Hartsock, Tom Maltman, Rob Wyllie, J.C. Scharl, Fred Durbin, New Verse Review: A Journal of Lyric and Narrative Poetry’s Steve Knepper, and Ashland University President Jon Parrish Peede (who has previously guest-taught in this MFA program before coming to AU as President!). Also, we’ll have a reading event with two of the winners of the inaugural Ashland MFA Book Award—Joseph Hess (winner) and Joy Gaines-Friedler (2nd runner-up).

This brings me to the following point. Thanks to the generous support of the residency by the Ohio Arts Council, we have a series of craft talks and author events that are free and open to the public! You can find the full schedule and author bios on our website—and also just the schedule below. If you’re local(ish), please come along! It will be great fun! And bring friends! And introduce yourself if we’ve corresponded but never met before.

1. In what turned out to be one of my absolute favorite episodes of Christians Reading Classics podcast, I got to talk with Bradley J. Birzer about the Declaration of Independence (yes, a second episode on the Declaration!), the influence of the Classics on the Founders, and much more. I could honestly listen to Brad talk about Cicero and the Founders all day long. Also, if you listen to the end, the final two minutes of this episode gave me goosebumps as I listened again. So kind—and wise.

2. In my latest for Mere Orthodoxy I got to review a new book that offers a great introductory overview of Classical Education. I take issue, however, with the foreword—for reasons I explain in my review. Side note: as of this week, I have a shiny new title at Mere Orthodoxy—I’m now Managing Editor, and I’m excited to do this work!

3. Speaking of Classical Christian Education, I was privileged to talk with Soren Schwab on the Classical Learning Test podcast about Christians Reading Classics (the book) and the significance of reading good books for Christians in what appears to be an increasingly post-literate America.

4. Over for Institute for Family Studies, I wrote a non-political review/reflection about JD Vance’s new memoir: “Marriage, Faith, and Family: How JD Vance Became the Father He Never Had.” My main point: whatever you think of their politics, Vice Presidents are people too, and Vance’s family story reflects a lot of the research data about the importance of fathers for the flourishing of families.

5. Last but not least, for The Bad Moms Homeschool, I wrote about summertime road tripping with kids!