The English Department in the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is infusing the state with creative inspiration. Starting in the coming fall semester, students working toward the master of fine arts (MFA) degree in creative writing will teach in high schools throughout the state.
James Harms, associate professor and coordinator of creative writing, says these writers will bring their methodology and expertise to the classroom setting and help public school teachers introduce students to the process of transforming language into art.
“Weve contacted every high school in the state, and we have received an enthusiastic response to the program. We will begin placing our MFA students in high school classes this coming fall,”says Dr. Harms.
The WVU Writers-in-the-Schools Program is a little different from other programs of its kind across the nation. WVU students are required to take a course in the teaching of creative writing. One of their assignments is to design and implement an approach to teaching high school students how to engage in imaginative writing.
The MFA degree in creative writing is only one year old, but three students have already graduated from the program. These students rolled over from the M.A. program in English, which formerly allowed students to substitute a creative project for the scholarly thesis requirement. Currently, 25 students are in the new program, which requires about two years and 45 credit hours to complete.
“The purpose of this program is to better serve the citizens of West Virginia and to help our students prepare for careers as teachers of creative writing,”Harms says.”We hope to expand in the future to include programs at hospitals, prisons, assisted-learning facilities and elsewhere.”
James Harms is the author of three full-length collections of poetry published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. His poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in Poetry, The Kenyon Review, The Antioch Review, Denver Quarterly, The Gettysburg Review, Triquarterly, Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review and many other literary journals.
He has been named a WVU Benedum Distinguished Scholar and the 1999 Professor of the Year for West Virginia by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for Support and Advancement of Education.