So I’ve started my graduate writing workshop in Oshkosh. What I hadn’t realized was that it is a combined undergraduate/graduate class. Actually, there are only two graduate students in the class, including myself. The rest are all undergrads taking this as an Intro course.
I suppose that it makes me a bit of a snob, but I never would have taken the class had I realized that my stories would be workshopped by Intro students taking the class as part of their GDR. I’m even using a book I used for a class in 1995 (and repurchased, because I didn’t feel like digging through the chaos that is our study) and a Best American Short Stories 2002 (which I repurchased as well, despite already owning a copy that is sitting out in plain sight, because I have a head full of cottage cheese some days, or perhaps another salad accoutrement).
But I’m glad that I did take it. I have definitely gotten some new insights in the first two classes and while it’s nothing that I haven’t learned in previous undergrad courses, I really like the instructor and it’s nice not already having a preset reputation within their English program. That having been said, I’m keeping the class. I really like the instructor. He reads the same stuff that I do and he notices the same stuff that I do. We’re reading ‘The Red Ant House‘ at some point, which is one of the best stories I read last year. Seriously. Go check into it. Find a copy of the Best American Short Stories 2002 (it has a red cover, I believe edited by Sue Miller) in the Anthology section of Barnes & Noble and just find a comfy chair by the fireplace (or by the cute boy/girl reading the art book) and take fifteen minutes or so and read that short story. It’s incredible.