COW, in all her various activities

by Rachel King

MFA students at faculty at the Meet and Greet in August

The MFA graduate student organization, the Council of Writers (COW), is off to an excellent start. Already, we’ve had two informal readings, a meet-and-greet, and September and October meetings. Our first informal reading took place in the Monmarte restaurant at Hotel Morgan. It was well attended; MFA folk filled the entire rooftop/deck. Personally, I was impressed the first-years had the gumption to read. Our second reading took place at Rebecca Thomas’ spacious and beautiful South Park house, the same venue as the meet-and-greet. Another good turn-out for the second reading, despite the dark and stormy night. We ate and drank, read, and talked about life and writing. Sounds like paradise to me. The meet-and-greet, because of some miscommunication, seemed as though it might be a flop, but the first-years showed up eventually. Good thing, too; I was already brainstorming hazing activities. On the same day as the meet-and-great, COW took place in the annual South Park Yard Sale. We earned around 80 dollars, and we plan to make this an annual event. If you have any goods to donate, please contact Rebecca Thomas

Wow, I guess COW has accomplished quite a bit so far, in addition to our individual teaching, work, and class responsibilities. No wonder I’m a little tired. But it’s a joyful tiredness, a common feeling in grad school, at least so I’ve found.

The Book Sale/Bake Sale and Formal Reading will be our two main events during the month of October. The Book Sale/Bake Sale will take place in Colson on October 20th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Already, over a dozen MFAers have volunteered to bake. I guarantee Bizzy’s delicious baked goods will be sold before 10 am, so show up early! The Formal Reading will take place at 7:00 pm at ZenClay Cafe on Friday, October 28th. Kelly Sundberg, Justin Anderson, and Matt London are the featured readers. We will be showcasing a sample of their work in a specially designed pamphlet inside the reading’s program.

As for horizon-events, we are in the planning stages for a December Holiday Party, a 2013 literary journal, and visits from two nationally known poets in the spring. I shouldn’t disclose the poets’ names until their plans are firmed up, however?

If you want to be involved in any of this crazy joyfulness, come to our meetings, which take place the first Monday of every month. So far, this year’s COW has held all her regular, entertaining events as well as instigated some new, imaginative ones. A good balance of the traditional and experimental, I think, similar to the make-up of the kind of writing fostered in WVU’s MFA program. Coincidence? I think not.