COW Making Her MOO-oves
by Connie Pan

I’m sure you’ve heard of us, the MFA graduate organization, COW (short for the Council of Writers). We’re groundshakers. Last year, we stomped around town and hoofed it as far as Chicago all in the name of words and the fabulous Creative Writing Program here at WVU. This year is no different. It’s only November, and already, we’re shaking ground. Since August, we’ve had our meet-and-greet, three meetings, two readings, and two fundraisers. Sometimes, we raise funds at our readings; sometimes, we read while we raise funds.

AUGUST

Our first event of the year was the Second Annual MFA Rooftop Reading at the Montmartre on top of Hotel Morgan. The MFAs, new and old, braved the threat of lightning and rain to show the newbies what this program has. Some of the first years even had the gusto to show us their chops, and, let me tell you, the new batch of MFAs sound—and look hey, hey, hey!—good.

From there, COW hit it full throttle. In need of funds, we kicked off the semester by dragging all of our furniture, books, jewelry, hats, knick-knacks, whose-its and whats-its out on Rebecca Thomas’ porch for the South Park-wide garage sale. We raised twice the amount as last year, and we hope to continue that tradition next year. After we towed all the leftover goodies into the Thomases’ basement, we set up for our annual MFA Meet-and-Greet, where the new first-years got a chance to rub elbows, bump hips, and share conversation with the Creative Writing faculty and the second and third-year MFAs.

SEPTEMBER

(Planning, planning, planning. You’ll see why in October.)

OCTOBER

In addition to the garage sale, we’ve had two additional fundraisers. At a bake sale early in the month, we pushed goodies to the Mountainlair traffic and raised over eighty dollars. Not only was it lucrative, it was also fun heckling passersby: “Cookies make Mondays better;” “Buy a brownie, ace your test;” “Pumpkin! Come and get your pumpkin! Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin scones.” The entertainment alone was worth a dollar. After the winter, look for more bake sales and witticisms from us.

Our third fundraiser of the semester was the EGO / COW Book Sale / Bake Sale, where we join forces with the English Graduate Organization for a giant sale in Colson 130. This year, because of Hurricane Sandy, we extended the one-day-only book and bake sale to a week event, moving three tables into the hall for Colson class-takers and pursuers.

Our second reading was our Formal Fall MFA Reading at the Arts Mon. The event was emceed by our brave first-year MFA candidate in creative nonfiction, Hannah McPherson, whose thoughtful introductions put a warm spin on the night. She called everyone up by first retelling the reader’s pithy thought on writing and then added the formula: If __ wasn’t a writer, they would be __ . Hannah’s spin on the non-writing life doesn’t look too bad. As for me, if the writer thing doesn’t pan out, being Sherman Alexie’s personal assistant wouldn’t be too shabby.

THE FUTURE

Wowza. Thus far, it has been one impressive semester. I’m proud to be the COW President this year, and I’m ecstatic to have such a wonderful team backing the organization for the 2012-2013 school year. Vice-President Shane Stricker; Secretary Christina Seymour; Treasurer Rebecca Thomas; Publicity partners-in-crime, Sara Lucas and Jessi Kalvitis; and Journal Committee, Jessi Lewis and Rebecca Doverspike; COW would be nothing without your hard work and dedication.

With Fall Semester coming to an end, we have much to look forward to this Spring Semester. COW will be at AWP in Boston (look for us at table W7!), where not only will we be bragging about our ever-growing and fabulous MFA Program, but we will also be advertising the drop-date of our new literary journal, The Cheat River Review. A big THANK YOU to Jessi L. and Rebecca D. for getting what at times seemed like the-most-impossible-project-ever up and soon-to-be running.

And what are we so adamantly raising all this money for, you wonder? We’re looking to bring a creative nonfiction visiting-writer to campus. Something is in the works, but it seems a little premature to announce it before it’s officially arranged, huh? Until then, we’ll keep our lips sealed, and my fingers will refrain. We are also living in the wake of last year’s glory. COW was able to bring in two poets, Zachary Schomburg and Matt Zapruder, last spring, and we’re looking to live up to and continue that achievement. So far, it’s looking good!

Like I said, COW is making her moves, and we’re breaking ground in a lot of ways. If you would like to get in on this COW fun and CVliciousness, come join us at our meetings. We’ll be gathering Monday, December 3 from 3:30-4:00PM in the always-sexy Colson 223. We hope to see you there! To be up to date with all the COW happenings, check out WVU’s Creative Writing Website or follow us on Facebook