The news is full of headlines about the rising costs of education. As college tuition spirals ever upward, soaring student debt has become a national concern. And many are discouraged from post-collegiate study purely because of the price tag.
So maybe this group of Orlando writers, poets and publishers has the right idea: The Litlando Creative Writing Conference, happening Saturday the 27th, bills itself as “the day-long literary equivalent of an MFA for the frugal and possibly deranged.”
There’s your first literary lesson: a perfect example of hyperbole.
It may be a slight exaggeration, but the organizers of Litlando have lined up a full day of lectures, workshops and panels that anyone seeking a master of fine arts in creative writing would envy.
A roll call of Orlando’s literati that includes podcaster John King, publishers Ryan Rivas and Matt Peters, bookstore owner Kim Britt, and several of our better writers and poets have all of the MFA bases covered and more – there will be discussions of poetry, postmodernism, and genre fiction; a how-to on performing your work; and, since the point of an MFA is to get published, after all, a panel of publishers to explain the connection between commerce and art.
Another thing Litlando has in common with graduating from a fancy school: exclusivity. Only 80 spots are being offered. At a tuition of just $25, there’s a certain degree of value in that.