Creative Writing Jobs 2009-10

Weather, Travel and the MLA!
'''The view from MLA: What's it like & how are you feeling? '''

Happy: 3 ("It's an honor just to be nominated!" Ha ha ha.)

Suicidal: 1

In Between: 1

Confident: 1

Confused: 1 (The interviews went so well that I have to assume ALL of their interviews went well. So my "good" feelings may not be merited.) Update: one rejection is in.

Just got back to NYC, and boy am I tired. The interviews ranged from horrific to sublime (well, ok, not THAT extreme) but the air was collegial and the coffee was mostly free. And you'll all be happy to hear that my wardrobe choice seemed to be appropriate. Now it's time to wait, wait, wait.

How are you getting there?

1: Automobile from Northeast Ohio Region (441 miles).

2: Aeroplane from the Louisiana Territory.

3: Train from NYC. Trying to decide whether to shell out extra bucks for comfort of Amtrak, or brave the NJT/SEPTA system.


 * C: If you actually want to get there, I strongly recommend NJT/SEPTA.


 * C: Take the Chinatown bus! (Indeed. It will bring you down, baby. It will bring you down to Chinatown.)


 * C: Please explain! You've had some problems with Amtrak, I guess? And every time I take the Chinatown bus, I swear I will never again take the Chinatown bus.


 * C: Whenever I've taken Amtrak anywhere, it is late. Amtrak has to yield to freight trains, so arrival times seem to be sort of a best guess scenario.


 * C: Amtrak is EXTREMELY unreliable, especially in the Northeast Corridor. You'd be better off riding a donkey.

4: Driving from NYC. (Hey driver, want a gas buddy? When are you going? I am going Monday morning, early. I have to be there by 10:20). A: I went Sunday. Sorry.

5: Flying SF to NYC on the 27th—arriving 4:30 pm—then wondering how to get from JFK to Philly. Any advice?

A: Yes. Budget: Take the AIR TRAIN (terminal train) to the E train to the city. EITHER: Chinatown Bus: http://www.chinatown-bus.org/ or go to Penn Station and take Amtrak (see above discussion 1.5 hours to Philly, $44-$150) or New Jersey Transit (http://www.njtransit.com) to Septa (Penna commuter rail, $12.50) (2.5 hours).

I've heard that the "Bolt Bus" is great and has WiFi and is only $20. So if you're going back to NYC... http://www.boltbus.com/

[So, there are only 4 people going to MLA this year? Fantastic. Shouldn't have to wait for the elevators.]

Right, I forgot: LEAVE EXTRA TIME FOR CROWDED ELEVATORS.

Any suggestions for good ethnic, vegan, or vegetarian food within walking distance of convention hotels?

This place, Vietnam, was good a few years ago: http://www.eatatvietnam.com/welcome.php

No. This is Philadelphia; set your ethics aside for a couple of days and head to Pat's Steaks. Then at least you can die happy.

C: Happy travels, and good luck to everyone at MLA.

Good luck out there!

Has Anybody Heard From...?
North Central (Fiction)

MLA interviews were scheduled on 12/18 as noted below.

'''Bennington? (cw / lit)'''

Deadline is not until Jan 18. [Where is this deadline posted?] Here:

'''University of Mississippi? (Fiction)'''

Seriously. Does anyone have even a shred of intel about this U of Miss job? Any reason to think it's a bogus search, or budget-challenged? Maybe they have impossibly high expectations and tossed all applicants on the "not my cup of tea" pile?

MLA Grapevine: spousal hire, done deal. :(

So the search was a sham?

Yes, the search was a sham. Tom Franklin (3 books, wife is a professor in the dept.) has been a writer-in-residence there for several years. Now they're moving him to tenure-track, and in order to do that, they had to advertise the post, even though they had no intent of actually looking for anyone else.

Fine, but they should have to pay all the applicants' postage back to them.

Thank you so much for clarifying what happened. When I researched the job months ago, I wondered why Tom Franklin didn't already have the tt position. Makes perfect sense now.

I'm cool with this outcome, or as cool as I ever am after being suckered. Franklin is a top-notch writer and his wife (Beth Ann Fennelly) is a hot-shot poet. They're both Southerners, barely 40. Stands to reason Ole Miss would want to lock them down for the duration. And I have to say it's very decent of the SC not to torture any sham candidates with pointless interviews and wasted campus visits- though, I suppose they still may do so, for equal op HR purposes. Now, if they'd like to talk about filling that open writer-in-residence slot, I'm all ears...

'''Cornell? (Poetry)'''

'''Davidson? (Visiting Poet)'''

Does Davidson have a position? I've never heard of this. It was on the AWP.

A: Was listed early--an upper-mid-to-senior level position--50k for 1 semester, several books--

'''Stanford? (Fiction)'''

C: As to Stanford, two Jones Lecturers (post-Stegner Fellows) I know knew nothing about the job before it was posted, which at least indicates there's no inside candidate.

'''Kent State? (Poetry)'''

C: Got a letter saying online materials were received and that they will contact folks they are interested in in January.

'''University of Southern California? (Creative Nonfiction)'''

Columbia (MFA /undergrad fiction/undergrad nonfiction)

C: Best guess is Columbia jobs will go to rock star candidates, but you never know.

'''Arizona State? (Fiction) '''(Any rumors on this one?)

George Washington U./Jenny McKean Moore (Creative Nonfiction)

A: I have not. And I'd like to know what that means. (Obviously, no MLA. Straight to campus interviews? AWP? It's awfully late this year for interviews, and will probably come AFTER other job offers...)

C. Some of these schools may call for MLA interviews as late as Tuesday next week. The above jobs had to be SWAMPED with applications and writing samples. Some may need to delay their search because of the volume of applicants. None of them can afford to wait for AWP. Stanford most certainly has a superstar lined up for the TT position. USC may also have a superstar. Mississippi and Arizona are the real unknowns. Thoughts, anyone?

Confession Time: How Many?
'''N.B.: To those of you who are reporting multiple genres, would you please specify in which genre(s) you have your interviews? And please give the breakdown, i.e. "Poetry/CNF, 4 MLA interviews (3 poetry, 1 cnf)'''"

FICTION:

Whatever Wanda (Fiction, 1 book, MFA): 2 apps, 2 dossier requests, 2 interviews {wow, aren't you pretty!!!!}

Careful Cat (Fiction: 1 book forthcoming, MA, PhD-ABD): 5 apps; 1 dossier request; 1 rejection; 1 MLA interview.

Boris the Blade (Fiction/Noir) three books, one forthcoming, one under contract, MFA, 10 apps, 1 req for docs, 0 interviews, 3 presumed rejections, 6 unknown/ pending.

Satisfied Sue (Fiction: 2 books under contract, MFA, PhD): 9 applications, 2 req. for dossiers/samples, 2 MLA interviews (so far, some still pending)

Anxious Allison (fiction writer 2 books): 24 applications; 6 requests for "more info"; 6 MLA interviews; 1 rejection; 8 places that have scheduled interviews with people other than yours truly; 9 places still pending  {C: Chin up, Ally! No need to be feeling anxious with 6 interviews...} A: Thanks, anonymous supporter!

Happy Hannah (Fiction, one book) MFA, 7 job apps, 4 requests for dossiers, 3 MLA interviews

Fearsome Flo (Fiction, 2 books) MFA, 19 apps, 8 dossier requests, 6 MLA interviews

What happened to the happy Fiction ABD with no book and 6 MLA interviews? A: 3 Comp/Rhet + 3 Lit (Phone interviews were fiction post-docs. I have since posted the MLA interviews on appropriate wikis.) Thanks for the clarification!

FICTION/NONFICTION:

Middlin Marge: (Fiction/non, PhD, no books): 24 applications, 2 dossier requests in fiction, 1 MLA interview, 1 phone interview possible still.

Seafarin' Sammy (Fiction/non, PhD-ABD, 1 book accepted for publication): 20 applications, 4 dossier requests, 1 phone interview, 2 MLA interviews.

Popular Pete (Fiction/Nonfiction: 1 book, MFA) circa 20 applications; 8 requests for more info, 0 phone interviews (thank God), 1 in-person interview, 5 MLA interviews.

Some Other Guy (Fiction/Nonfiction) : 1 book under contract, PhD): 45 applications, 9 dossier requests, 1 phone interview (nonfiction), 6 MLA interviews (3 fiction, 2 nonfiction, 1 open genre). (C: Hey, play the game!) (He has 7 interviews; he doesn't have to play.)

PurpleProse (NF/2 books fiction/MFA & PhD): 16 apps, 1 dossier request, zip phone interview, zip MLA interview, waiting on Yaweh

Half-Hearted Hannah (NF / 2 books / MFA) 11 apps, 2 doss requests, 3 phone interviews, 1 reject, 6 song-of-silence

POETRY:

Upset Ursula (Poet: 2 books, MFA, PhD-ABD): 23 apps, 0 requests for more info, 0 phone interviews, 1 MLA interview

Never-again Nelly (poet, one book) MFA and PhD, 12 applications. 0 requests and 0 interviews

Woebegone Wanda (Poet: 1 book): 24 applications, 5 requests for more info, 1 phone interview, 0 MLA interviews.

So-So Sam (Poet: 2 books) 24 applications, 2 MLA interviews, 1 phone interview, 1 "finalist" status.

Sad Stewart (Poet: 2 books - poetry & nonfiction, MFA, PhD): 23 applications, 5 requests for "more info," 0 phone interviews, 1 MLA interview.

Eager Eddie (Poet: 2 books) Ph.D. 24 apps. 2 phone interviews. 0 MLA interviews.

Hopeful Hilda (poet, 1 book) PhD (candidate) and MFA, 17 apps. 1 dossier request, 0 phone interviews, 2 MLA interviews.

Zillch Zelda (Poet: 1 book, Ph.D) 8 aps. , 2 dossier requests, ZED interviews.

Panicked Pamela (Poet/1 book/mere MFA): 12 apps, 3 dossier requests, zilch interviews

Disgruntled Doug (Poet/3 books/PhD and MFA): 15 apps, nada anything at all.

Belchin' Billy Collins (2 poetry books) MFA, ABD, 13 apps, 4 dossier requests, 2 finalist, 1 MLA interview, 1 campus visit/interview, waiting on 2 schools.

Selective Sylvia (Poet/1 book, 2 under contract/MFA & PhD ABD): 9 apps, 2 dossier requests, 1 phone interview, 1 MLA interview (declined), waiting on 5 schools

C: Care to say why you declined your interview offer?

Whoopee Willy: (Poet: 1 book; 1 book forthcoming; MFA; PhD): 32 apps, 4 dossier requests, 3 phone interviews, 6 MLA interviews, waiting on 3 schools.

POETRY/NONFICTION:

Celeste the MFA (Poet/NF) 2books: 25 apps, five dossier requests, six MLA interviews, waiting (perhaps under delusion) to hear from eight other schools.

Tenure-Track Tony (Nonfiction/Poetry) MFA, 4 books, 7 apps, 1 request, 0 phone, 0 MLA

Dierdre Don't-Eva-Wanna-Do-This-Again (Poetry/NF, 2 books) MFA/PhD, 22 apps, 2 requests, 2 phone interviews, 5 MLA

Helpful Interviewing Wiki-ggestions
As a way to help us all, how about offering up typical CW interview questions one might hear at an MLA/AWP/Phone or even campus interview?

1. How does your background in (poetry * fiction * nonfiction) help you in the first year writing classroom?

2. What class would you most like to teach, and how would you organize it?

3. How do you teach introductory poetry (or fiction or nonfiction)?

4. How would you teach a [fill in the blank] survey course?

5. Tell us about your current creative writing project.

6. How does your academic background influence your creative writing?

7. How will you make time to write with a 3/3 [4/4] course load?

8. Your primary field is (thus), but we teach all genres in intro to CW. How do you teach (thus)?

9. Describe a typical workshop.

10. How do you handle a student who thinks a creative writing course is an easy 'A'?

11. How do you work issues around diversity (race, class, gender, etc) into your workshop?

12. Recite a poem from memory (Pepperdine notoriously asked this one year--can't imagine it happening twice, but fun trivia.)

13. What texts would you use in a [fill in the blank] course? (I have been asked to name specific texts more than once.)

14. Please take us through the first day of your creative writing workshop.

15. How do you work with a student whose writing project you have no interest in?

16, Is teaching your calling?

17. How do your workshops differ from traditional, typical writing workshops?

18. What is the role of literature in the creative writing classroom?

19. What are the principal differences between an introductory CW class and an upper level (or grad) one?

20. How would you grade a creative writing piece?

21. Why do you want to teach here? OR Have you ever been to ______ (city where the job is)?

22. What are your strengths as a teacher?

23. What was the most challenging aspect of teaching?

24. We run/want you to help run a reading series. Who would you invite?

25. We have many interdisciplinary students that might take your class. How would you speak to those students?

26. What's a problem you're still trying to figure out in your teaching/writing?

How about some questions that candidates might want to ask during that awkward moment toward the end of the interview (aside from the ones you can't ask, like "How much are you going to pay me?" and "Who hates who in your department")?

A: Questions of that sort are not appropriate at this time.

1. What are the students like?

2. Have you considered a grad program/lo-res program (if there isn't one)?

3. Could a professor plan a study abroad program to __?

4. When is the current poet/fiction writer going to retire?!?!?

Fer reals:

1. How do you see the department growing and changing?

2. How does the School of Humanities or the university as a whole see creative writing?

3. Would there be an opportunity for me to ________?

4. What is the decision-making time-frame for your search?

5. How many students are in your undergraduate creative writing major? How many cw students are in your graduate program?

6. Do you cw workshops always make?

A: Remember that your questions are typically at the end of the interview and, thus, are what you'll be leaving the committee with. So be wary of questions that can potentially end your conversation on a down note. Like the above, "How does the university as a whole see creative writing?" Or: "What's the relationship between creative writing and literary studies in the department?" Maybe there's some bad blood or long history that one or more of your interviewers is sore about---and now you've poured salt on a wound.

'''Can we add some questions concerning etiquette during interviews/campus visits here? For instance:'''

Q: Which is the preferred address during interviews and campus visits, Dr so and so or first name?

C: I'm wondering about this too.... Anyone have tips? Also, what if you have committee members who are Dr.'s and members who are not?

C: Call everyone 'Professor Muckity-Muck' until they indicate otherwise. Anyone can be a doctor, but only the privileged few are 'Professors." In one interview everyone introduced themselves with just their first name, so that's what I used from that point forward. (I'd been sent a list of full names and research areas earlier, so I assume they assumed I'd read it.)

Q/C: Can't you still be Professor with an MFA? Not just anyone can have a PhD... I also wonder if addressing the members of the committee as "Professor so and so..." would make you appear more like a student than a colleague... I would agree to follow the cue of the committee.

A: During a campus visit, I think it's fine to address most people (except for the dean) by first names. There will be exceptions--very senior faculty members, or anyone who seems very formal. But I was encouraged to call everyone by their first name during my campus visit.

Q. Is it bad etiquette to ask if a university in a very expensive city offers some kind of housing subsidy or perhaps housing for professors?

A: I don't think MLA is the time to ask that--you should wait till you have a job offer and/or are entering into negotiations.

C: You can discuss this with the dept chair during your campus interview, should you get one. Usually you'll have a half hour to talk about things like salary, housing, moving expenses, and to ask general questions like that--questions that you'd do well to refrain from asking in the MLA interview.

C: Agreed with above posters--there's also usually a confidential visit with the HR folks as part of any campus visit, where you can ask about maternity leave, benefits, etc.

'''Q. What are some good conversation starters for those potentially awkward lunches and dinners during campus visits? Specifically, what "hot topics" would make for good-yet-safe banter? What blogs are full of up-to-date writerly issues? What journal articles are "must reads"?'''

A. Here is the advice one of my mentors gave me before a campus visit (it's rather general, but I found it quite helpful): "You basically need to convey in a positive way what it would be like for you to be a colleague working with people at [XYZ university] on a day-to-day basis. Be professional without being aggressive or boring. Make concrete (informed) statements about projects you might want to initiate while you also convey your sense of what the unit/program in question is already doing. Do your homework on colleagues and their teaching/research. Let them know by the nature of your interactions during the interview what they might count on you to do to maintain (and expand) their programs and related activities. Ask questions that show your interest in what is going on already and what you see possible in the next three, five, and ten years. If it seems appropriate, ask about relations among other (cognate) units."

C: I don't know if anyone reads the often scandalous and profane Rate Your Students. But one of their postings today might be of use to Interviewees!

C. The article is extremely useful. Thanks!

Who is using this Wiki:
...on Christmas?: 3

AGE

under 30: 3

30-35: 5

36-40: 6

41-45: 5

46-50: 3

over 50: 2

Poet: 52

Fiction Writer 35

Creative Non-Fiction Writer: 11

Multi-Genre: 20

Creative Nonfiction/Fiction: 8

Fiction/Poetry: 4

Creative Nonfiction/Poetry: 6

Creative Nonfiction/Fiction/Poetry:

Fiction/Creative Nonfiction/Playwriting: 1

Fiction/Creative Nonfiction/Screenwriting/Journalism: 1

First Time on Market: 22

Unemployed and looking for job: 17

Have job and looking for new one: 27

'Have short-term gig, looking for TT: 30

Gluttons For Punishment: 4

Now what?: 1

PhD: 48

MFA: 41

Terminal MA: 3 

First book in progress: 19

First book under contract: 6

First book published: 27

Second book under contract: 8

Multiple books published: 33



For writers who identified as "Have job and looking for new one," why do you want to leave your current position?

Not tenure-track: 15

Didn't receive tenure:

Want a different geographical location: 3

Want a lighter teaching load: 6

Want to work in a more high-profile school/department/program: 3

My department/program is not very collegial: 5

Am going on the market to improve conditions (ie, salary, trying to get a spouse hired) at my current school: 5

Current job is in a different sector: 2

Would really like to teach what I studied for more than once every decade: 1



Job Offers
Poetry

George Mason: It's over (grapevine)

Fiction

Western Michigan - Thisbe Nissen - MFA (Iowa) - 2 novels, 1 collection short stories. (Job was initially for Spring 2010, but new hire will not begin employment until Fall 2010)

Non-Fiction

New College of Florida (Spring 2010 Writer in Res) Wendy Call - 1 nonfiction book under contract (This is posted on her website so it is public info.)

Playwriting/Screenwriting

Open Genre

Campus Visit Requests
Poetry

Fiction

USD

Non-fiction

Play/Screenwriting

Open Genre

University of Dayton -- Herbert W. Martin Fellowship in Creative Writing and Diversity-- (12/23, by email and phone); Campus Interview sometime in February. They will bring three people in.

Interview Requests
Please include school, date, interview location, and method of contact. [NOTE: Please list in chronological rather than alphabetical order.]

Poetry

George Mason-- 1 (11/5) campus visit scheduled for November

TCU--(Has informed a group of 8 finalists, from which they will choose 2-3 to bring to campus, but they will not be interviewing at MLA)

St. Lawrence University (one year VAP) -- 1 (11/30, email) MLA interview; 1 (12/1, email) Phone interview; 1 (12/1, email) MLA Interview

University of Wisconsin, Green Bay -- 4 (12/7, phone call) Phone interview

Pennsylvania State York -- 1 (12/7, email) MLA interview

UNCG -- 2 (12/10, phone call) MLA interview;

Nebraska Wesleyan University-- 5 (12/11, phone call) Phone interview

University of Massachusetts, Lowell -- 4 (12/13, phone call) MLA interview

College of Charleston -- 4 (12/14, voice mail and email) MLA interview 1(12/18, email)

Mesa State College --2 (12/15, phone call) Phone interview

West Chester University -- 2 (12/16, phone call) MLA interview

University of Nevada, Reno -- 3 (12/17, phone call) MLA interview, 2 (12/18, phone call) MLA interview

U. of Oregon -- 1 (12/17, email), 1 (12/18, email) phone interviews in early January

Q. Did anyone get an MLA interview for Brooklyn College? Or any sort of interview whatsoever for Brooklyn College?

Fiction

Western Michigan

Cleveland State University- (2) (12/3, phone call) schedule MLA interview

Rhodes College (2) (12/4, phone call) schedule MLA interview

Columbia (Lectureship) (12/4, phone call) schedule interview (See discussion below.)

Kansas State (2) (12/4, phone call) scheduled MLA interview

Ithaca College (1) - (12/8, email) schedule telephone interview

St. Louis university (2) 12/9 phone call schedule MLA interview

UNLV - (2) 12/9 email, follow up phone call MLA interview (pre-scheduled & non-negotiable except in case of "sudden illness or accident")

Denison U (3) (12/9, phone call) MLA interview (they plan to interview 12)

Univ of San Diego (6) (12/9, phone call) MLA interview (Do any of the interviewees know how many people they plan to interview at MLA?)

Murray State (1) (12/9, phone call) MLA interview

Reed College (6) (12/10, email) MLA interview (NOTE: position is fiction/nonfiction.) (Additional discussion moved below.)

Willamette U (1) (12/10, phone call) phone interview

Shippensburg University (5) (12/14 phone call) MLA interview need to send official transcripts

Butler (VAP) (3) (12/14 email) MLA interview

Hollins (12/15) campus interview

University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa (12/16, phone) MLA

Non-Fiction

Ohio U (11/23, phone & email) MLA interview

Fontbonne U (11/30, email) phone interview (2), held 12/8

New College of Florida (12/4 email) phone interview, held 12/7 (Note: position is "prose")

Murray State (12/9 phone call) MLA interview (2)

U of Alabama - Tuscaloosa (12/15 phone call) MLA interview

Dartmouth (12/15 email) MLA interview (2), (12/17 email) MLA interview (1)

U of San Francisco (12/15 or 16 phone call) MLA interview (4)

Playwriting/Screenwriting

Ursinus College (12/8 phone call) MLA interview (2)

RISD (12/10 phone call) MLA interview (3)

Open Genre

University of Dayton -- Herbert W. Martin Fellowship in Creative Writing and Diversity-- (12/2, by email); phone interview Dec 17 or 18 (2)

Shepherd University (12/3, phone call) MLA interview (3)

Lebanon Valley College (12/2, phone call) MLA interview

High Point- (12/3, 12/4, email) Phone or Skype interview Dec. 10 &11

Eastern Michigan University - 2 (12/7, interview request by email)

Point Loma Nazarene University - (12/9 email)

DePaul (12/16, phone) MLA (3)

Eastern Illinois University (12/17, phone) MLA (3)

North Central College -- 3 (12/18, email) MLA

Departments Requesting More Documents
[NOTE: Please list in chronological rather than alphabetical order. This wiki has always used chronological order.]

PLEASE include method of contact.

Poetry
U. Nevada-Reno - 2 (10/2), 2 (10/19), 2(10/20), 4 (10/28), 2 (11/6), 3 (11/12) writing sample & dossier (See below about interview.)

George Mason-- 1 (11/5) campus visit scheduled for November

Houston - 2 (11/5) writing sample & dossier.

TCU - 5 (11/6) writing sample & dossier.

UNCG -- 4 (11/16), 3 (12/1) writing sample & dossier. (email)

Fiction
Western Michigan conducted a preliminary round of interviews in late Sept./ early Oct. w/ campus visits taking place this week (10/22) (Note that this position starts in January 2010) (first round of interviews were via skype; 2 finalists were invited to campus for interviews; expected to make offer in early november) Q: Is this search over? Has offer been extended? A: an offer has been extended. negotiations ensue. Q: Who did they offer the job? A: Thisbe Nissen - offered and accepted. Job will begin Fall 2010.

Rhodes C - 4 (10/28) writing sample; 1 (11/4) writing sample; 1 (11/5) writing sample

Kansas SU - 5 (11/4) writing sample & dossier; 3 (11/12) writing sample & dossier

U. Nevada-Las Vegas - (10/28) copy of book (email); 1 (11/6) copy of book (email)

Texas Tech University- (11/9) writing sample, letters of reference; 1 (11/10) writing sample, letters of reference

Columbia University (Lectureship) - (11/11) copy of book, syllabi, resub of cover ltr & CV (email)

Shippensburg University (11/15) writing sample and 3 letters (5)

Ithaca C - (11/16, email) writing sample & teaching statement (4)

Hollins - (11/19, email) writing sample due before the 30th of November.

Willamette - 3 (11/20, email) writing sample; dossier incl. syllabi/evaluations, etc.

Denison - 6 (11/23, email) writing sample, dossier; said they would contact for MLA interview by 12/14

University of San Diego - 6 (11/24, email) 3 letters of rec. (email does not specify how many recs)

Butler (Tarkington Visiting Position) (3) 12/1 email; writing sample, 3 letters of rec, evidence of excellent teaching

St. Louis U - (12/2, email) dossier, incl. transcripts (8)

University of Alabama at Birmingham - (12/11 email) (2) ; letters and writing sample

Non-Fiction
Dartmouth - writing sample and dossier (11/5) (3)

USF - 5 (11/20, email) writing samples

University of Alabama at Birmingham - (12/15 email); letters and writing sample

Playwriting/Screenwriting
Ursinus -3 (11/19-email) sample, transcripts and list of courses able to teach

Open Genre
DePaul - 11 (11/19) writing sample, transcript, & dossier. (email) Committee is meeting on 12/15 and deciding on MLA interviewees then

&lt; Moved High Point conversation down below to the "Questions/Comments about Specific Job Listings" section, because, so far, they've only responded with a "receipt of application" general e-mail. &gt;

North Central College - 9 (11/25) writing sample & dossier. (email) "three letters of recommendation, along with a sample of creative work" (email)

University of Dayton -- Herbert W. Martin Fellowship in Creative Writing and Diversity-- (12/2, by email) writing sample/ letters/syllabus & scheduled an interview. (2)

Rejections
POETRY

George Mason 1 (letter 11/20). 1 (11/23). 1 (letter 12/1) polite generic rejection saying finalists already chosen, over 150 applicants

DePaul University 2 (letter 11/25), 2 (email Dec. 3)

University of Nevada - Reno: 4 (email Dec 15)

FICTION

Pomona (letter 11/9/09) - they've winnowed 60+ applicants down to a "handful for interviews"

Univ. San Diego (12/2) - "We received an impressive number of applications ..." (email). 6 (letter 12/4). (letter 12/5) (2) (lettter 12/7) (2) (email 12/30)

Cleveland State U (letter 12/7)

DePaul U (e-mail 11/17)

Willamette (2) (email 12/14)

Saint Louis U (e-mail 12/21)

NON-FICTION

Dartmouth (letter 11/16) (3)

Ohio U (email 11/30) (3)

OPEN GENRE

DePaul U (email 11/17) (17) (email 11/19) (3) (email 12/03).- generic email. Didn't mention "careful consideration," and I admire their restraint.... They also mentioned there were an "unprecedented number of inquiries." They received over 400 applications.

Ursinus Visiting Job -- email 11/23

Job Listings 2010-11
Note: It might be helpful if folks put the location of where they found the listings next to the actual school names above (e.g. AWP, Chronicle, HR site, etc.)

Tenure-Track Positions
Fiction


 * Arizona State University
 * Cal State - Fresno (HigherEd)
 * Carroll College (MT) (Chronicle)
 * Cleveland State University
 * Columbia University (Chronicle Higher Ed) (Undergraduate Writing) (AWP Joblist)
 * Columbia University (MFA Writing) (AWP Joblist)
 * Denison University
 * Hollins University (primary field = fiction, but also asking for strong pubs. in poetry)
 * Ithaca College (Higher Ed)
 * Kansas State University
 * Rhodes College (Deadline November 6th)
 * Saint Louis University (Review of Applications begins Nov. 18; open until filled)Link
 * Seton Hill (HighereEd) "genre novelist"
 * Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
 * Stanford University (tenured Associate Professor)
 * Stephen F. Austin State University (HigherEdJobs) w/ strong secondary in nonfiction/poetry
 * Texas Tech
 * University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa (TT, review of apps begins Oct 15)
 * University of Alabama-Birmingham
 * University of Michigan-Flint (Higher Ed) Ad says: "Expertise in fiction or narrative forms preferred."
 * Minnesota State U - Mankato (HigherEdJobs)
 * University of Mississippi (MLA)
 * University of Nevada, Las Vegas (TT, open rank)
 * University of Northern Colorado (HigherEd)
 * University of San Diego
 * Warren Wilson College
 * Western Michigan University (Jan 2010)
 * Willamette University

Poetry


 * Brooklyn College (HR listing)
 * College of Charleston
 * Cornell University (MLA)
 * George Mason University (HR listing)
 * Kent State University Link
 * Mesa State College
 * Nebraska Wesleyan University
 * Northern Kentucky University
 * Penn State York
 * Saginaw Valley State University
 * Texas Christian University
 * University of Houston (AWP as of the October listings)
 * University of Massachusetts, Lowell (JIL)
 * University of Nevada Reno (AWP)
 * University of North Carolina--Greensboro (AWP)
 * University of Oregon
 * University of Tampa (Chronicle Higher Ed)
 * University of Wisconsin--Green Bay
 * West Chester University (Chronicle Higher Ed)

Non-Fiction


 * Bemidji State University (HR listing)
 * Dartmouth College
 * Emerson College (MLA)
 * Fontbonne U (MLA) "professional writing, journalism, and composition"
 * Ohio University (again)
 * SUNY Oswego (Chronicle Higher Ed)
 * University of Alabama-Birmingham (again)
 * University of Alaska--Fairbanks (again) (HR listing)
 * University of San Francisco
 * USC link to listing please? also: which USC?
 * Western Illinois University (Higher Ed) -- email notification of search cancellation (budget) 12.9
 * Wheaton College

Playwriting/Screenwriting


 * RISD

Open Genre


 * Bath Spa University, UK (Chronicle) "environmental non-fiction and/or novels with environmental content"
 * Bennington College (2 positions) (Higher Ed)
 * City College, CUNY (MLA JIL)
 * Creighton U (NE) (MLA JIL)
 * Depaul U (MLA JIL) (NOTE: 3rd year of search)
 * Eastern Illinois University
 * Eastern Michigan University
 * Flagler College SEARCH CANCELLED (by letter 12/21)
 * High Point University (MLA)
 * Lebanon Valley College
 * Malone University (Chronicle)
 * North Central College
 * Point Loma Nazarene University (fiction or non-fiction)
 * Pomona College (endowed Disney chair) source: http://www.pomona.edu/adwr/academicdean/facultyjobs.shtml
 * Rhode Island School of Design (play-writing and script-writing, but also fiction and/or hybrid forms)
 * Shepherd University
 * University of Dubuque (creative writing, TT)
 * University of Melbourne, Australia (lecturer) (Chronicle)--PHD in Creative Writing and scholarly pubs required.

Visiting Positions
 Poetry 
 * Columbia College (Chicago) (JIL)
 * Missouri State University (Higher Ed jobs)
 * St. Lawrence University (one year)
 * University of Connecticut (Prof. in Residence) (1-3 years, 1 semester per year)

 Fiction 
 * Amherst College
 * Butler University
 * Columbia (Lectureship in Discipline)
 * Murray State University (Visiting Professor in Residence: Fiction and/or Non-Fiction)
 * New College of Florida (Writer in Residence, Spring 2010 semester)
 * Quinnipiac University (MLA JIL) ("specialization in creative writing, fiction writing preferred")
 * Reed College
 * University of Central Oklahoma (Edmund)

 Non-Fiction 
 * George Washington University -- Jenny McKean Moore
 * Norwich University (Higher Ed Jobs): "Creative nonfiction or advanced writing." -- One-year Appointment as Visiting Instructor/Assistant Professor of English. Possible renewal for a second year.

 Playwriting/Screenwriting 
 * Ursinus College

 Open Genre  Q: Where was this posted? I don't see it on their HR site or on the MLA site? A: Here -
 * Gettysburg C (Higheredjobs)
 * Louisiana State University: "The Southern Review Resident Scholar" -- Two-year Appointment

Fellowships
Post-Book: Post-MFA, pre-book pre-job market:
 * Princeton University -- Hodder Fellowship
 * Radcliffe
 * University of Louisville, Axton Fellowship in Creative Writing (Fiction) (deadline Dec. 1st)
 * Williams College, Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation and Post-MFA Fellowships [FYI from the Williams website: "MFA candidates must be recent recipients of the degree; only those with degrees granted in 2009, or to be granted in 2010, are eligible to apply."]
 * Wisconsin
 * University of Dayton -- Herbert W. Martin Fellowship in Creative Writing and Diversity
 * P-Town (deadline Dec. 1st)
 * Gettysburg (Deadline Jan. 29th, nine-month appointment, signif. mag. pubs etc--)

Questions/Comments about Specific Job Listings
Please post your new questions at the top.

POETRY
'''Q: Oregon? Anyone know if they're done making phone interview offers?'''

'''Q: Just saw that Reno offered at least one MLA interview today. Are there others who received a dossier request, have NOT received a rejection, but who have also NOT been offered an interview? Just trying to gauge whether I'm still in the running or not...'''

A: I received a call today for an MLA interview; so, 12/17 was not the only day. Perhaps you will receive, or have received, a call today.

A: They'll be calling, as far as I can tell, as late as Monday.

A: I DID end up getting one today (question-asker, here)...

A: Congrats!

Q: did those who got the rejection email from Reno receive a dossier request as well, making this, essentially, the second round of cuts?

A: For me, yep: I received a dossier request, and a rejection notice today.

A: Ditto, above.

A: I received a dossier request and haven't heard a peep. {that's what they call "good news" in waiting.}

A: I did not receive a dossier request, and became a reject today.

 Q: Saginaw Valley, where you at??

'''Q: Cornell? Reno? Oregon? Anyone know if they are going to interview at MLA--or anything about where they are in the search process? '''

A: I know that 2 people at Oregon were looking at my webpage yesterday (12/13), so I assume they're in some kind of process of reviewing candidates.

A: I called the admin assistant at Oregon today (12/17) who said they were meeting this afternoon, but she had no idea if they were interviewing at MLA. Frustrating. Reno called today (12/17) with MLA interviews. Cornell? Anyone? Bueller?

''' Q: What about Brooklyn College? Any news out there? '''

C: Oh, My dream job... It will just be the most impossible job to get! I'm sure it will be someone with far more of a name than most of us sweating it out on this Wiki, I'm afraid... I'll be curious to see who gets it.

C: True... It'll be amazing for whoever gets it.

-- A friend received a letter from Brooklyn College stating that s/he was not going to be interviewed at MLA, but that the search committee was keeping this particular candidate on their backup list. It asked for the candidate to call or write the chair to affirm that s/he would like to stay on this backup list. I suppose that this means they've made their calls for interviews, but that may not necessarily be the case. The letter was received Thursday, December 10 via regular USPS mail.

C: The people who interview with Brooklyn probably are not checking sites like these. They already got a sweet job and just looking to move to New York City.

Wouldn't they have also sent rejections to those who didn't make the cut?

'''Q: Anybody heard anything about Northern Kentucky, West Chester, or Charleston? Their deadlines were relatively early, weren't they?'''

NKU requested secondary materials in late November.

I don't have first-hand knowledge, but I've heard that NKU has also scheduled phone interviews.

C: West Chester has another search going on (in Ethnic American Lit.) and on that field's wiki, contributors report MLA interviews scheduled on 12/7. Not sure how helpful this is, but at least it's nice to know that this department has searches going forward.

C: Yeah, I was wondering about College of Charleston. I got their HR I am/am not a white mail check-off card weeks ago, and just yesterday I received--a visitor's guide?!? If I'm visiting, I hope they intend to let me know! : ) Anyone heard anything concrete?

A: Charleston made interview offers on 12/14 (see above.)

'''Q: Kent State:  Is there a more robust listing than the one that's linked to from this page? I've looked everywhere and haven't been able to find one. It's not clear what documents they want candidates to upload. On the final application page it just says "cover letter," "other doc," "curriculum vitae," and "reference doc." Anyone have more info?'''

A: Go to http://jobs.kent.edu and search for posting number 991014.

'''C: This market is so different from last year's.  I feel like there was a lot more communication from departments last year, more dossier requests, more news by now. The wait is killing me!'''

C: Last year most of my communication was "Job has been cancelled." So, I'm fine with not hearing yet.

Q: For the St. Lawrence Visiting job, what is your current status if you don't mind sharing?

Q: For people asked for materials from Greensboro, would love to know how many books you have, if willing to share?

C: UNCG's deadline hasn't yet passed, right? Wasn't postmark deadline 11/20? They are quick, they are!

C: I don't mind sharing and am curious about the others--I got a UNCG dossier request and only have one published book.

C: In case it's also of use, I have one book and have NOT yet been asked for more materials.

C: I have one book and was asked for a dossier.

Q: Is there anyone with "special" insight on the UMass Lowell position in poetry?

A: Seems possible, given short posting time etc, that it is a position created with their visiting writer, who is the spouse of a fulltime Eng dept person, in mind?

'''Q: MLA This Year: In the ads for Eastern Michigan, Reno, Brooklyn, Oregon, Houston, Cornell, and Greensboro, not one of them specified that they'd be interviewing at MLA. Does anyone know what the deal is? Will any of them be interviewing at MLA? I'd love specifics if anyone knows....'''

'''Q: If schools  are interviewing at MLA, how late might they be contacting people? I can't afford to go unless I'm interviewing, and am hoping not to get that last-minute call on xmas eve I've heard about...'''

A: Usually committee chairs call (or email) to set up MLA interviews between December 1st and Dec. 21st. I.e., now (Nov. 30th) would be early--on average--to get an interview invite. Last year, the latest call I heard about (for an MLA interview) was on the 19th or 20th of December, so....hold tight.

Q: Related the one above--Is it kosher to email the SC Chair and just ask whether they'll be interviewing at MLA?

A: I'd sit on my hands for the time being--there's no sense in pestering a SC Chair who probably has his or her hands full.

C: Actually, I think it's fine to write a brief email asking. There's no harm in it.

'''Q: Reno: Would the person who said no interviews have been scheduled yet please clarify the source of the info? I.e. is it someone in Reno's department who is setting the record straight? Or someone who definitely knows the score?'''

I posted about it because someone I know told me they had an interview. I thought it would be germane to the conversation.

'''Q: I'm sorry--I'm confused. Does the above reply mean that Reno HAS scheduled MLA interviews? It sounds like it...but earlier someone wrote to say that was misinformation--so--does your friend have an interview there, or not, or are you unable to verify either way? Or--since you use the past tense--as in "had" an interview--does this mean your friend had a campus or phone interview with them? I.e. I know George Mason is skipping MLA and going straight to campus visits--is that the case here?'''

A: I don't know anything about who posted the information, or refutation, of the Reno interview, but I would say it's not something to worry about either way. I know that, just the day before the post for the MLA interview went up, I got an e-mail from Reno asking for more material, so it's doubtful that they asked for more material from a candidate one day and then scheduled all of their MLA interviews the following day. It seems almost certain that 1) the post about the interview was misinfromation, or 2) Reno is scheduling interviews one at a time rather than all at once. Either way, if they requested more materials from you, I'd say it's very likely that you're still in the running for an interview.

C: In the future, contributors to this wiki should abide by the rather simple, unspoken (now spoken) rule--only post information that you received first-hand! If need be, someone can add a "gossip" or "heard it through the grapevine" category below the "General Questions about the Job Market" section.

'''Q: Well, I don't mind reliable gossip--I just can't make heads or tails of the Reno gossip--did someone get an "off the record" interview with Reno, or not? '''

C: I can't speak to the Reno situtation (that wasn't me), but please note: a new "gossip" category has been created. Please use this space to post any second-hand stuff/gossip. The whole point of the wiki is to share basic but accurate information and to give us job candidates one small peek at where a school is at in their job search process--something that's nice to know in this twisted, drawn-out, keep-you-in-the-dark job process.

A: I have first-hand knowledge of this search. No MLA interviews have yet been scheduled.

'''Q: Dear fellow poets, I fear that I'm reading the job announcements a bit too hard, for I'm finding it difficult to match my qualifications with exactly what's stated in the descriptions. For instance, if an announcement states that the successful candidate will be asked to teach graduate students AND undergraduates, does that mean that you should already have experience doing that at a prior institution? What if you've only taught undergraduates so far? (I'm thinking that perhaps that piece of language is code for "We are searching for a senior faculty member--emerging writers need not worry about this one."'''

A: Yes, I'd say that you are reading job announcements too closely. If they say you will be asked to teach graduate students, that just means that you should be comfortable with that, and that you should be prepared to answer a question about teaching graduate students in your interview. In general, I'd say that you shouldn't worry about matching your qualifications "exactly" to what the ad asks for. If you have in the appropriate genre, have the degree, and a solid publication record, then apply.

'''Q: Is anyone /Has anyone been in the situation of having worked at a non-teaching job pending book publication, and now that the book has been released, searching for a teaching appointment? Are there any tips to share about making this career leap? '''

A: To clarify: I've been working in university admin since graduating from my MFA program. I have some past teaching experience on my C.V. but it's not like I've been a member of a department.

A: Try and get a few more years of teaching expereience, if at all possible: visiting gigs, Ph. D, adjuncting, etc. If you're making a real living, thus working f-t, even adjuncting one class a semester will strengthen your Vita. Very hard to be a competitive candidate w/ just an MFA, a book, and 1-3 years of T.A.-ing.

'''Q: Does anyone know if Houston's listing is for this year, or last year?? On their HR website the due date for app stuff is listed as Oct 1 2008, not 2009. Anyone?'''

'''Q: How did you find this Houston listing originally? It's not on MLA or Chronicle. '''

A: It's in AWP

A: I sent my application in during August. ..

A: They just re-posted their listing on AWP this month to say apps accepted until November but they started reviewing materials Oct. 1

A: I know someone there. They're well into their search.

A: I can confirm that.

A. Houston is running two separate searches. The first set of campus visits will be over this week. And the second search is expected to resume once this one is over--i.e. before the year is up/and into the new semester.

A: [Just FYI: I sent my app in late (about 11/5) and received an email 11/17 that they would ask for more materials (if they wanted them) in mid(?)-November; hasn't happened. I wonder if the later position of the staggered two-position search is still in the offing, though?, as there seems to be very little activity on their side, given what's on the board here. (Frustrated sigh.)]

Q: Has Houston started their campus visits yet?

Q: Would the Houston candidate wh was called for an interview mind sharing with us how many books he or she has--for curiosities' sake?

A: I wasn't called for an interview, but got a dossier request. I have three books.

'''Q: University of Oregon--wasn't this listed as awarded to Geri Doran in last year's wiki? Is this a whole new position? '''

A: I think Geri Doran got a visiting writer position.

A: No, Geri is on their permanent faculty. This is a whole new position.

A: I thought she was their visiting writer for 2 years? The UO website has her bio listed as "visiting professor"- how do you know she's permanent?

A: The chair of the dept. at Oregon sent a letter soliciting applications for the job from select candidates, and in it she wrote, "Having hired poet Geri Doran last year, we are close to our goal of having three faculty members in each genre, with Garrett Hongo and Geri Doran in poetry and David Bradley, Laurie Lynn Drummond, and Ehud Havazelet in fiction."

Q: Does this (above answer) mean that Oregon is going to select their candidates from a shortlist of solicited poets?

A: I think not. It's pretty normal for competitive MFA programs to ask more senior writers at other institutions to recommend candidates who might be interested in the position listed, thus the letters. It's meant to broaden and strengthen the application pool--not close it entirely in this case. Plus these letters go out to far more folks than actually apply for the jobs in the end (at least in my experience, I've gotten a few and ignored them as I was not on the market at the time).

A: In my experience, most MFA programs will solicit applications (this year, for ex., Oregon, George Mason, Houston), and many of these applicants often make the MLA & campus shortlists; however, unsolicited apps may yet have a chance, because, among other things, universities are always attempting to appear fair and open.

'''Q: Are Green Bay and Nebraska on AWP? I see them on their home sites--but otherwise can't find them listed. Also--can't find St. Lawrence at all--the university employment page says there are no academic jobs in English--what's up with that?'''

A: Wisconsin-Green Bay and St. Lawrence job ads are posted on the JIL. Nebraska Wesleyan on the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Q: What is does JIL stand for?

A: The MLA Job Information List. See here. You'll need a password and username, which most schools supply for their graduate students. If not, you'll have to join. On a related note, does anyone think it's odd that this year many of the listings are hard to find, only cropping up on the JIL, etc.? Normally everything appears on AWP and/or the Chronicle, and this year that's just not the case. The listings seem haphazard, scattershot, HR sites don't exist or aren't updated, etc.

A: Yes. I think it's very odd since there's a sort of understood agreement among writers that AWP is the go-to listing. Do you think folks are cutting ad-costs due to the economic state of affairs? Or that folks avoiding AWP have inside candidates?

'''Q: Did anyone find it super-weird on the U of Nevada Reno online application that they asked you for "minimum salary desired"? What did you put down?'''

A: 25K in poker chips.

A: It seems to me like western schools do this more than others.

A: Western state schools, in particular, as part of statewide hiring process; that is, one would be asked the question if applying for any state job in that state in any field.

A: Yes, I found it strange as well. I think I said $48,000. I actually called the department (anonymously) to ask whether the question was serious, and they said yes.

A: I said 60,000.

'''Q: George Mason--I heard they are interviewing before MLA this year. Has anyone heard anything back from them yet?'''

A: Haven't heard back yet. The ad itself said "Review of applications begins October 1, & selection to be made about December 1," which means they are indeed not interviewing at MLA. Most of the ads this year haven't specified anything at all about MLA, which is unusual. Most years nearly all the ads specify that they'll be interviewing there. I think due to budget issues we'll see more phone interviewing this year.

A: Yeah--but GM is going to do a real campus interview as opposed to phone, I'm pretty sure, so I'm interested to know when calls are made...

[Moved the formerly above re. wild speculation to the Gossip/Speculation section below.]

Q: George Mason- someone noted above in the departmental requests section that campus visits have been scheduled for November. Does that mean visiting candidates have already been notified, or just that the calendar dates for the visits have been determined?

A: They have contacted finalists and have begun arranging visits.

A: See above. Visits taking place this week & next.

'''Q: George Mason - did they do phone interviews, or just invite people? I'd be curious to know if finalists are male or female, how many books, etc.'''

A: (see above)

'''Q: Green Bay's guidelines say that a Ph.D. or dual MA/MFA is required. Does this mean that those of us with only an MFA shouldn't apply?'''

A: Yes, they want a Ph.D. The ad says a dual MA/MFA "considered." They definitely want someone with additional literature credentials--an MFA alone isn't enough in their eyes. Sorry!

A: Hey, don't take the answer above as law. Some folks on here just want to get rid of any competition. You Should apply anyway!

A: Looking at Green Bay's faculty, all (except for one person, who seems as though she's been there for awhile) have a PhD. Advisers/profs have always told me that you should only apply to the jobs that you are qualified for. A search committee's first goal is to weed out applications. Because Green Bay's job ad wording is pretty specific, they will likely breeze right past someone who cannot even handle close reading. One less application (or one more application) is not going to make the competition any less tight--this current job market, with the carry-over of last year's budget cuts, hiring freezes and cancellations, is going to be brutal regardless. You're better off perfecting the job letters for the schools that you are qualified for; jobs that are open to either terminal degree (MFA or PhD).

A: Forgive me, but the previous response seems pretty ridiculous to me (as do the previous respondent's old advisors). What does it cost you to apply? A few dollars in postage? As the ad says, ya gotta be in it to win it. Apply. Let them "breeze right past" you or whatever; you never know -- they just might be intrigued enough to ask you to interview. The only way you can be certain they won't is if you don't apply.

R: I concur -- just apply, apply, apply. Apply to all jobs -- just keep sending out as many letters as possible. Just keep throwing mud at a wall and see if anything sticks! And I would not even worry about polishing the letters for each particular job. Just get your letter there and they will probably be very intrigued. Despite the job listings' various particulars, schools likely have no idea what they want and you should just get your name out there and tell them who you are and why you are IT. Apply, apply, apply.

A: MFA-holding candidates--especially ones with actual publishing credits--should apply. An MFA with publishing trumps a PhD with no publishing credits in many searches, especially at larger institutions or places with eyes on having a writing program themselves.

Q: For those of you who got a request for more materials from Reno, how much of a time lag was there between when you sent your apps in and when you got the request?

A: I got my request a week later--but if it's been longer for you I would not sweat it--reviews of aps. seldom happen in a terribly organized fashion.

A: My request was also about a week later.

A: Ten days.

A: About a week.

A: I think it was a week.

'''Q: Folks who have served on search committees: Any idea of a typical number of aps. to weed down to for a) dossier requests and b) initial interviews? '''

A: One TT job with a 3/3 load, NE - 300 applications, 30 dossier requests, 6 interviews.

A: One TT job with 3/3 load: 200 applications, 10 MLA interviews, 3 campus visits.

A: One TT job with a 3/3 load, NE - 100 applications, 20 dossier requests, 8 phone interviews, 3 campus visits.

A: One TT job with a 2/2 load, Midwest - 100 applications, 15 MLA interviews, 3 campus visits

'''Q: I know this has been asked above, but I really feel I need some help!! What are typical questions asked in Poetry interviews?''' See the list being created above. Did you feel you needed a million quotes to hand? No. Did you have to discuss current scholarly research? Yes, but only when the job had a specific academic field attached to it, such as poetry and Postmodern Literature. Did you have to give examples of workshop exercises? Yes, have some ready to discuss. Your influences? Occasionally they asked about influences and who you would teach in workshops. What was it like? Most questions will focus on how you teach poetry. Use of concrete examples is helpful. Sometimes they ask about past teaching challenges and how you overcame them. '''I have only interviewed for academic/scholar positions thus far. I would really appreciate knowing what to prepare for, I feel like I'm sitting around with piles of books everywhere, but not much direction other than to design syllabi. Thank you. '''Do indeed write a sample syllabi in order to mentally prepare yourself. They will ask things like, "Describe a typical workshop." You will want to discuss how you interact with students, how you encourage students to interact, how much you critique during the workshop, and how much you let students critique. Often your answer to this question will inspire them to ask numerous (seemingly) off-the-cuff questions that last the entire interview.

FICTION
Q: Does anyone know what the teaching load at North Central is expected to be?

Q: Does anyone else recollect seeing the Ithaca fiction job advertised as a 2/2 courseload, or was I imagining things?

'''Q. For the sake of our collective sanity, can those of us who applied to Warren Wilson post when the ack of apps arrive via email? Please post them below.'''

'''Q: I'm a little concerned that I haven't received an ack of app from Warren Wilson. I applied via email on Nov. 20. Is there anyone else who hasn't received an ack of app who applied before or around that date?'''

A: I know it's easier said, but I wouldn't sweat the non-acknowledgment from WW just yet. (I sent email app 12/5 and so far no ack, either.) They strike me as the sort of outfit that would handle the process... organically. Following their own unique timetable etc, and definitely not the kind of place to send an automated blast to multiple applicants. I worked in the writing dept office of a similar MFA program as a grad student, where the organnizational system seemed maddeningly chaotic and random on the surface but was ultimately thorough and conscientous, with a lot of personal attention. Anyway, I think that if you applied by email, and didn't get a bounceback or daemon message, it's safe to assume your app was received, and too that WW has their spam filters adjusted appropriately to prevent folks from falling through cracks, especially given that email was their stated preference for receiving apps. If that helps.

A: I applied Dec. 10, and haven't heard anything either.

A. I applied Dec. 14 by email and haven't heard anything. My assumption is that the person opening emails may only be opening and printing (if they print them) ten emails a day. I believe that person started opening those emails on December 15th. So it may take two more weeks to get a reply if 150 people applied. This is just a guess, though...

To the above poster, are you thinking about emailing them to make sure it arrived? I'm considering it. A: Hmmmm, well, no one is there until January anyway, right? I just checked and I applied on Dec. 1. Now you've got me nervous!

'''Q: Has anyone heard anything about or from Warren Wilson? Did anyone who applied via email get an ack of app? '''

A. I applied via email and received an ack of app (I'm the same poster from below).

Q: '''Has anyone heard anything from/about Texas Tech? I got an email request for more materials, then silence. And I don't see that anyone on the wiki has heard from them. Is their search canceled? '''

'''Q: Anyone know and/or hear anything about Stanford University's Asso Prof Fiction position? Thanks! '''

'''Q: Ok, I'm officially obsessed. Does anyone know if the following schools plan to do MLA interviews? What's the latest we think they'll call to schedule an interview? Amherst, Arizona, Ole Miss, Stanford, Warren Wilson, Northern Colorado, Fresno. '''

A: Friday - some schools still have finals this week.

A. According to Warren Wilson's website, they do phone interviews after MLA and then schedule campus visits. Also, review of applications just began today.

'''Q. The Warren Wilson job is listed on this page as tenure track, but the job ad describes it as a full-time "continuous contract position". I'm assuming this is more of an instructorship, yes? Anyone have any additional info on this?'''

A. It's not an instructorship. The entire school abolished tenure. Instead of tenure, you get reviewed every three years. I'd say it's like a tenure-track job where you don't get to leap from assistant- to associate- to full-professor. Instead you get reviewed, get a raise, and a pat on the back. In a worst case scenario, you might get fired if you suck. More likely, they'll tell you where you need to improve. It does leave one feeling a little uneasy to not have the security of tenure. A big plus is that abolishing tenure keeps crazy people out of English departments. By the way, I think I found this info buried on the president's web page.

A. Warren Wilson sent an email ack of application (12/16) that explained their search process (which appears lengthy, so it may be a while before the applicants hear from them again).

C. To the above poster, how long did it take to receive the ack of application? I haven't received an acknowledgment yet, and I'm getting nervous.

A. I applied around a month ago and got the ack yesterday, so I'm assuming they're simply contacting people in the order they received the apps.

A: Amherst is not doing MLA. They will contact finalists in February.

A: Northern Colorado is not going to MLA. They will do phone interviews with finalists in late January/early February.

Q: What does one do in happy (if unlikely) event that a job offer comes in before other schools have made decisions?

A: Call the school you are waiting to hear from and ask where you stand, Negotiate for time from offering school, and/or make a tough choice. Life's full of excitement.

'''Q. Has anyone heard from Alabama (the Tuscaloosa one) for the fiction position? '''

A: I received an email from the search chair asking for a clarification about my application (12/10).

A: I received a Human Resources postcard asking where I learned about the position. That's it. (12/14)

A: Same here, HR postcard (which I feared was a rejection letter) and nothing else. Anyone know if they're interviewing at MLA?

A: I scheduled an interview for Alabama's nonfiction position, and was told they have a suite to interview for both fiction and nonfiction positions, so yes it seems they are interviewing at MLA.

A: The Fiction and Nonfiction job searches have different committees and chairs so we can expect Fiction calls soon. Bite your nails now?

Q: Has anyone heard anything from Shippensburg U? The ad said they "may" interview at MLA.

A: See above. Interviews scheduled.

'''Q: Sort of a climate evaluation question for the folks who scored interview and/or doc requests from Rhodes, if you don't mind sharing.. Are you MFA or PhD? (Sorry, I know that sounds a bit like "human or Cylon," not meant as such.)'''

A: I have an interview and am an MFA.

A: I received a request for more docs but not an interview and have both an MFA and a PhD (almost).

A: I received a request for more docs but not an interview and I have a PhD.

A: I have an interview and (will) have a PhD.

C: Thanks. I had a feeling they would skew toward PhD, glad to know they aren't totally shunning the MFAs.

'''Q: Does anyone know anything about Arizona State? Like, a) will this search actually happen this year, and/or b) are they interviewing at MLA?'''

Q: Is this [Columbia Lectureship] an MLA interview?

A: It is not. They apparently realized that it would not make sense to interview an NYC resident in Philadelphia. I wonder if they are not streamlining their process to avoid an avalanche of applications and expenses. They have their pick of the billion terrific underemployed writers in New York, so why should they send an entire committee to MLA and then pay someone's moving expenses if they can get a ton of qualified local candidates? But that's just a theory. They do have 3 positions to fill; they could easily fill them with any number of people who are already adjuncts there. I mean, look at this list: http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/art/app/arts/writing/faculty.jsp?facStatus=2 I don't think all of those people are active (Zadie Smith and Jonathan Lethem are both full prof's at NYU now!) but that's quite a bullpen they've got in terms of overqualified, talented adjuncts.

C: All adjuncts do not want to be full professors and there are adjuncts and there are adjuncts.

A: I was only suggesting that they're not at a loss for great candidates, nothing about the intentions of those particular people.

C: Are they doing the interviews over the phone or on campus? And is it after New Years? They are also hiring a tenure-track fiction writer - so will they do those interviews in New York, too?

A: On campus, but it doesn't sound like a "campus interview" in the classic sense. I have no idea what they're doing with the TT jobs.

'''Q. Did anyone receive anything other than a rejection from Pomona? The original job posting only asked for a CV. No one has mentioned that they received a request for a dossier or writing sample.'''

A: I imagine that's because Pomona's going to hire a superstar, and the susperstars aren't on the wiki board stressing out like the rest of us. I mean, they're replacing DFW!

C: Yeah, we should be handicapping that particular job, not applying for it. Let's see your wagers.

Q: The Alabama-Birmingham job was posted as "pending approval" and is as of 12/3 not posted on the school's HR site. Anyone know whether it's been approved or not?

I believe it has been approved. The "pending approval" jargon appears in most of UAB's job ads.

Q: Does anyone know if either of the Alabama jobs are interviewing at MLA?

Alabama-Birmingham generally interviews 10-12 people at MLA. Only VAPs do phone interviews.

A: Alabama-Birmingham's dossier request email advised they would not attend MLA, but instead conduct late January phone interviews and February campus visits.

'''Q. Did UAB happen to mention how many applications they received? Also, would those who received the dossier requests mind sharing how many books they have published? '''

A: One book out, one book under contract

'''Q: Rhodes college asks for "Letter, C.V. and dossier containing three professional references." Does that mean the NAMES of three references or the actual letters of recommendation? '''

A: If they're asking for a dossier, that means actual letters.

A: Definitely letters.

'''Q: Anyone know where I can find info about applying for the Reed Writer-in-residence position? I couldn't find it at the Reed site. '''

A: It's up on the JIL

Q: Anyone know the teaching load of the Ithaca job?

A: According to Ithaca's HR department, a typical load is 3-4.

A. Yes. It's 3-4.

'''Q: What is up with North Central College posting its listing on AWP on 11/9 and saying that applications must be postmarked by 11/13? Does that mean inside candidate?'''

A: An inside candidate is always possible, but that ad was posted somewhere else (can't find it now--Higheredjobs, Chronicle, or MLA) in September. They might just be trying to get more applications. Not sure.

A: North Central C has been on the MLA JIL since week one, I think.

'''Q: I applied to Columbia's listing for a lecturer, and now want to apply for the new listing for an Asst. Prof. Any reason why I can't send in the same letter? I don't know how to revise it otherwise.'''

A: Perhaps the only reason would be that the person they are looking for to take the Assist Prof position would be rather over qualified for a Lecturer position.

NON-FICTION
Reed College Discussion moved from above:

nbsp; Also, from their email, it seems they plan to interview 15 (!) people at MLA) Q: has anyone received a time slot for their interview yet? And from experience, can any say if the number of slots available for MLA interviews equals the number of people interviewed? I can't imagine they'd really interview 15 writers. Why is that so number so surprising? Some schools in the past have interviewed up to 20 writers. (Those were the available slots. That doesn't mean they plan to fill them all!) A: 12/14 -- have an interview but haven't been assigned a slot yet. Q: If you've already given them a list of available times, but had to schedule other schools at those times, because they've taken forever, what is the protocol for revising available times? A: I nudged department's secretary politely yesterday 12/14. I assume when/if they get back to me I say that I'm no longer available at those times, and here are 3 times I AM available. C: Thank you for the "polite nudge" interview times are finally scheduled.

'''Q: Dartmouth College - IS THIS LISTING LEFT OVER FROM LAST YEAR? NOT ON CHRON OR DARTMOUTH SITE.'''

A: Dartmouth search is new--see AWP listings. They canceled a fiction search last year due to budget, but reinstated a search this year for CNF.

'''Q: USC -- IS THIS LISTING LEFT OVER FROM LAST YEAR? NOT ON CHRON OR USC SITE?'''

Q: Where is that RISD job listed? A: JIL/ADE

'''Q: Where is the Alabama-Tuscaloosa job listed? (I only managed to track down a listing at the school website after I saw it listed here; they posted it 9/30 and say review begins 10/15? Sounds like they have an inside candidate and are just going through the motions.) (Oh, wait -- there it is, on AWP.  Posted 10/13 with a 10/15 deadline!  What do you make of that?)'''

A: I agree - sounds like a legal requirement/ghost job.

A: Probably just late budget approval. They lost their two most recent junior colleagues (both women).

'''Q: Really? Who were they? Where did they go?'''

Q/A: Are you asking about the Birmingham or the Tuscaloosa job? I don't know anything about Birmingham, and re Tuscaloosa I know that their fiction position opened when Kate Bernheimer got the Lafayette Louisiana writer-in-residence job that was vacated by Rikki Ducornet. Don't know who they lost in nonfiction.

A: The Tuscaloosa job had a very short lead which is why it is possible they have a candidate in mind. The Birmingham job has a much more standard lead time between announcement and application due date. Also, Bernheimer is both writer-in-residence and associate professor, in other words, they combined two roles to save money.

A. That is not true that a position being called Writer in Residence and Associate Professor means two jobs were combined to save money. One title indicates role, the other level of hire. From what I heard it is a terrific position.

A: Tuscaloosa does not have a candidate in mind, and last time I talked to them they had not received many apps for the nonfiction position. The fiction position is to replace Bernheimer who is at ULL. The nonfiction position is new. The other junior colleague they lost, Joyelle McSweeney, was replaced by Peter Streckfus a couple years ago.

Q: George Washington Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Washington: How competitive is this position (guesses welcome)...?

A: In this job market - very.

Q: Has anyone heard anything about the GW position?

'''Q: For the folks who got rejection emails from Ohio U:  Did any of you apply last year? Anyone score an MLA interview with them last year before the search was canceled? (Word is they extended interview invites last December but had to shut down their search just a few days later!)'''

'''Q: Did anyone on here actually score an interview with Ohio U?  I find it strange that no one has reported as much yet, given how many CNF writers there are on here. What is Ohio up to?'''

A. Ohio is interviewing ten folks at MLA.

'''Q: Those nonfiction writers who got a request for more materials from USF, do you mind sharing how many books you have or what your second genre is (I believe they expressed preference for candidates who could teach in two)? I was hoping to at least get as far as a materials request, but, alas, no, and I'm curious about what they're looking for. (To be fair and share: I have two books plus one more under contract, 12 years teaching experience, MFA. But my 2nd genre after nonfiction is poetry and they already have a ton of poets on faculty. I'm beginning to be very discouraged about ever landing a tt job!)'''

A: Two books, second genre Fiction.

A: one book out, one book under contract (both NF). second genre: translation of poetry and fiction

Q: To the candidate who got an interview at Dartmouth, do you mind sharing your credentials, and also what your "adjacent area of research" is?

A. Two books, two under contract.

Q: Just curious:  How does one have two books under contract simultaneously? Are these both with academic presses? And is there an "adjacent area of research"?

A. Your curiosity suggests you're up for this job, too, I think? I'd rather not say adjacent; we should keep this anonymous, right? But as for having two books under contract, there's no puzzle there. It's quite common. A lot of publishers like to lock in a writer with whom they work well for as many books as possible -- sometimes because they think the writer is a sure seller, other times because multi-book deals are the only way an editor can squeeze a living wage for her writers out of her bosses. Other times, one's interests are split between publishers. An editor pal of mine has on her list a prominent writer she says is four books in hock.

C: Ah, so a multi-book contract with one publisher. Don't know why I didn't think of that; I was trying to imagine one-book contracts with two separate publishers. Still, multi-book contracts are pretty rare in non-fiction; you're much more likely to get a contract, say, for one novel and one collection of short stories. As for the "adjacent," I'm really not sure how revealing that information would unmask you, unless the area is one you have, somehow, monopolized. In which case I very much doubt you'd be teaching.

Q: How about your teaching experience? Can you share that, please?

A. Tell us more about yourself, Curious George.

C: Well, I'm a Taurus, kinda shy until I get to know you, I like puppies, long walks on the beach, bananas, and guys in big yellow hats.

Q: Ditto for Alabama and USF.

'''Q: In a request for a dossier via e-mail the chair of the search said the committee is "very interested" in my candidacy. I see from these boards that this university has requested interviews and I have yet to be contacted. My question is -- is it possible that the school is no longer "interested" or the committee is slow to send out interview requests? I ask because how could my candidacy go from being a "very" interesting prospect to a possible rejection based on my transcripts (all As PhD) and letters? I mean the CV and writing sample had them at "very interesting," but my transcripts and letters did me in? Are my letters bad? Did the search suddenly get flooded with triple-book publishing PhDers? What gives? I have books published, multiple journal publications, awards, international presentations, seven years of teaching experience in the field, an MFA and a PhD. I'm a little stumped... '''

A. It is most likely that the school is no longer interested. Sorry. But don't fret. It's unlikely your letters or transcripts did you in. The original dossier request was a form letter. They probably sent out 20 or more dossier requests and reduced MLA interviews down to 8 to 12 individuals, so "Yes" they were very interested. But this is a very tough market. You are indeed competing against other individuals with more teaching experience, more books, more awards, and perhaps better credentials or better letters. They may have evaluated your transcripts and decided you hadn't taken the kind of courses they were looking for. If you have any Bs, then they may have considered that a red flag. If you are worried about your letters, have them sent to a trusted mentor for evaluation. That way the letters will remain confidential, and your mentor can make recommendations from there.

OPEN GENRE
Q: For those of you who got interviews at DePaul, what's your primary genre?

A: fiction

'''Q: Any news about Eastern Illinois University and North Central College? Both plan to be at the MLA. NCC has already made requests for more documents.'''

A: Eastern Illinois started offering interview slots on December 17th.

A: NCC's deadline to receive those docs was Friday the 14th, I believe. So they may not have even started to read the samples. It seems like they're making it very last minute.

C: Oh, boy! I'm impressed. As promised, NCC is sending out MLA requests by email a mere four days after their supporting documents deadline!

Q: Did anyone on here apply for the Managing Editor position at The Missouri Review, and, if so, have you heard anything?

A. I applied! I wrote them about four weeks ago. They said they were still reviewing applications and would be contacting people shortly. Haven't heard from them since. I've totally given up on it. It's unclear if it was an MLA interview or phone interview or campus visit. It seemed like a job that had an inside hire, since the due date for the applications was two weeks after the job had been posted.

A. This position has been filled.

C: High Point Info from the Comp Job Board - "The department chair told me that they received over 300 applications for this job and that "applications are still coming in." He said they are hiring for 2 other positions, and that the department has received over 800 applications total for the 3 positions."

Q: For those who received an interview request from Shepherd, what is your primary genre?

A: Fiction. A: Nonfiction.

More High Point Discussion moved from above.

''C: I want to second this "where's the info" comment. Person who posted about the phone interviews: please be specific--where is "see below" and where is this information coming from? Info based on speculation or info that is vague is not helpful, and it adds to everyone's stress!'''--I know for a fact that they scheduled a phone interview with a friend of mine around 12/2 or 12/3.

A: (To above two comments): My apologies! There is a category below that says "open genre" and has HP dossier requests--I read it quickly and thought it was interview requests--that's why I wrote "see below"--because I did not want to list the info. twice. So here is the deal: The info. comes from a friend--who does indeed have a phone interview--they were asked 12/3--just as the friend listed above was, too. So it looks like HP has scheduled 2 interviews up to this point--unless of course we are talking about the same friend. Now--someone below asks that we (me and above respondent) not provide second hand info--perhaps I should have put the info under "gossip" instead--but the source is legit and so the info. seemed useful--I know I'd want to know the facts as long as they were indeed facts--regardless of where they came from. I do know of another school not let listed as having called someone for an interview--but as I stand corrected I'll wait for them to put that info. down when they feel like it. I.E. point taken;)

C: I'd like to know reliable information. Not everyone is posting.

Q: Things are still a little fuzzy here and would love to get this figured out: HPU asked for a CV and cover letter as the initial documents, and no one has reported any requests for "additional materials." The reports about HPU that have been posted here have all been concerning "acknowledgment of application"--unless that data is wrong. If so, let's please fix it. And, for the poster above: please ask your friend to start posting contributions to the wiki their self. First-hand information is the goal of this wiki--a goal which was hashed out and established with the earlier Reno interview confusion. Thanks!

C: I've had a couple situations before where the universities, interviewed me, brought in for a campus interview, and then asked to see my writing once they were deciding between the final three candidates. It's not unheard of to do interviews without seeing more documents.

Q: Does anyone have any special knowledge of High Point job, or heard anything back from them?

High Point University 2 (11/19), 1 (11/20), 1 (11/23) '''ack. of app.''' (email), 12/11 ack. of app

C: Acknowledgment of application does not constitute a request for more documents---that's probably why someone removed the post.

C: Right. Acknowledgment of application is not a request for more documents.

Q: So...some received the email acknowledgement, and some received a request for more documents? Does anyone happen to know how many people have been asked to send more materials?

A: My understanding is that the numbers/dates listed above for High Point are purely an "acknowledgment of application received" and NONE of these are a request for additional materials. Correct the data, if I'm wrong! What is confusing is the comment, "To be clear about this..." which makes it sound like some people are reporting additional document requests.

Q: Does anyone know the teaching load for the DePaul job?

A: Pretty sure it's 3/3.

A: It's on a quarter system. The load is 2/2/2.

Q: Does anyone know how to compute an equivalent load between semesters and quarters?

A: 3+3=6 or 2+2+2=6

Q: So a 2/2 semester load would be the equivalent of a 2/1/1 or a 2/2/0, even though you'd have one or two light quarters?

A: It would be somewhat dependent on how many preps you have and the size of classes, but very generally, yes.

A: Seems to me the equivalent of a 2/2 is 2/2/2. Two semesters = 30 weeks, roughly, of instruction; three quarters = 30 weeks of instruction. You're carrying two courses for the same amount of time.

A: 2/2/2 is approximately equivalent to a 2/3 load. It's more than 2/2 because of the increased number of preps and the three grading cycles. (Most instructors assign the same amount of writing in a quarter as in a semester.)

'''Q: The number of rejections tallied yesterday (9!) seems to indicate that DePaul really did get an unprecedented number of applications. Do you think that's because the market is so bad otherwise, or because they didn't specify a preferred genre, or both? Also, would any of the aforementioned 9 care to share their genres, so we can see if there was some kind of pattern at work here?'''

A: Poetry: 1

A: DePaul is not looking for a poet, those were basically rejected immediately. They are looking for a prose writer.

C: This is not true. At least two poets (using this wiki) were asked for additional materials.

'''Q: O.K., I didn't get a rejection email from DePaul yesterday, and I didn't get a request for more materials today. What do you suppose that could mean? (I did apply last year, so maybe they're just recycling my letters/writing samples and not telling me?)'''

A: Same here. I guess it means it takes the DePaul folks time to weed through the assured 300+ applications they got for an open-genre position in a big-city school. Patience. I'm trying to have patience.

A: I'm also in limbo, here. Limbo people, be sure to tell me if you get out of limbo--k?

C: (Moved down from above, concerning DePaul's request for more materials):

Q: My god, how many of these (dossier requests) did they send out? 30?

C: 7 seven dossier requests is nothing. 30 requests total is very possible. Remember: this year, school's have the pick of the litter, especially when there are 400+ applications (as someone else noted)!

A: 400 applications could easily lead to 50-60 dossier requests. In English lit positions, 60+ dossier requests is not at all unusual.

'''Q: Any info on Eastern Michigan? Anyone heard anything? Are they interviewing at MLA? How many people applied to this one? '''

A: I called the English Dept. The secretary said the will indeed be interviewing at MLA and should be emailing interviewees soon (if that helps anyone). Please Post if/when contacted. Thanks. A: As noted above, I received an interview request by email today, 12/7. They are interviewing at MLA on 12/28-29.

Q: For the North Central College folks who were asked for more materials, would it be possible to know what genres you are working in? Poetry - Fiction/Non

'''Q: Gettysburg asks for a young writer with significant magazine pubs. What about a young writer with a book under contract but not a full-time teaching position yet? '''Definitely apply.

'''C: For the Shepherd University interviewees: Please subtly inquire about how often you will be teaching in your area of expertise. I interviewed with them several years ago and lost interest in the job when the interviewer announced that he hadn't taught in his area of expertise for fifteen years. He went on to say that he'd been teaching a lot of composition. If you get the job, try to get them to state how often you will teach in your area of expertise in your contract.'''

General Questions about Job Market Preparedness and Job Materials
'''Q. During MLA interviews, did anyone else get a question on how their MFA program prepared them for their first job and how the new hire should be "fully professionalized"? This question was hard to answer. I'm curious to hear what other questions were hard to respond to.'''

'''Q. Has anyone had to give a creative writing job talk where you"talk" about our approaches to creative writing for 20 minutes. If you have, please share your thoughts on how to conduct such a job talk.'''

C: Was this posted by the same genius who said that only women and writers of color would be considered for George Mason (when they interviewed three white men, and hired a white man), and that it'd go to someone from Wash U (when no one from Washington University would ever get an interview w/ GM?) If so, keep it coming--we're all happy to see them self-select out of this process by merely opening their mouth, no? 

Do share more of your wisdom about "gals": 

"A. Everyone is wearing the exact same uniform--the black-gray-navy-brown suit. If that's formal, then "yes," it's formal. Sometimes women over 50 can pull off a skirt, blouse, and scarf ensemble, especially if they are overweight (sorry to be so blunt about it). Now and then a gal will wear a black skirt instead of slacks, but even most of the women wear slacks. If you are relatively thin, then a suit is best. If you are not thin, there's a little bit of leeway. Still, a suit is best, no matter what weight you are."

'''Q: I'm a New York secular Jew interviewing at 2 Christian Colleges/Universities (one Catholic, the other Jesuit). My work is often has Jewish themes and is full of graphic sex, so I'm assuming they are looking to add diversity to their roster (or they didn't read my writing sample). I want to know if I'll feel comfortable there as a "non-believer" (as our President would call me). Is it appropriate to ask, and if so, how should I phrase the question?'''

A: Well, there is a difference between a "Christian" and a "Catholic" school, but it sounds like you are interviewing at "Catholic" schools. I wouldn't bring it up in any formal setting, especially the initial interview. Generally those schools, though not all certainly, are rather "secular" and hire a diverse faculty. If a school has had issues with such things, you can usually discover that with a quick Google search. When you get to the campus visit stage, perhaps you can ask someone on the side or at dinner if you have real concerns. I'd think you could feel that out in your visit though. You may want to do a little more investigation of various school missions though - your question shows a lack of familiarity the traditions of the colleges (i.e. Jesuits are Catholics).

A: I am a secular Jew and have taught at three different Jesuit universities as an adjunct fiction lecturer. Each time, when being interviewed, I asked, "Are there any literary themes or genres that the university wants its instructors to avoid?" and each time I was told I had absolute freedom to teach just as I'd teach in a secular school. And in all cases, that turned out to be true. My sense, without knowing the specifics of the traditions, is that Jesuit education explicitly aspires to inclusivity and challenging received belief systems, i.e. that it is very close to a liberal arts ideal. It's worth asking the question in an interview - and I'd say if you get reassurance that it's not an issue, you can trust that.

Q. Here's an awkward situation: If you are interviewing at MLA with a university you interviewed with three years ago and many of the same profs will be present at the new MLA interview, should you announce you've met and interviewed with them before?

A. Good question, one I'm facing as well. I say by all means remind them ONLY if you've got three years more stuff to sell yourself with. How are you different and better and more ready for the job now?

A. Okay...what if you definitely remember two of the interviewers, but you aren't sure about the third person who was there last time. This was five years ago, not three. Last time there were three women. This time there are four women. So that third interviewer may indeed be the same third interviewer from before, but you just aren't sure.

A: I always go with "Nice to see you," which may mean, "Nice to see you again," or "Nice to meet you."

'''Q: Related to the campus interview question a few spots down--what is an example of a "curveball question" that people have been asked during interviews? (Yes, I realize the definition of a curveball is that it's unexpected, but still. I want examples). Related to this: What are some strategies for hitting a curveball out of the park?'''

A. The dean may quiz you on your knowledge of the school, especially if it's a small private school. So be prepared for any questions that pertain to the school's value system. Many a dean will ask, "Why do you want to work here?" or "Why do you want to work at a liberal arts college?" Your response should fit the school's ethos. Most deans will ask what questions you have. Have some questions ready. Proving that you've researched every aspect of the school, including obscure policies and the school's history, will win the dean over. If you fumble and sound like you're uncertain about the school's value system or how the school perceives itself, then you won't impress the dean. Others out there, please join in with your dean experiences. In some cases, the dean does all the talking. In other cases, the dean makes YOU do all the talking, which is awkward. In the case where the dean makes you do the talking, it's hard to know what you are supposed to say.

A. "How would you defend the teaching of creative writing to administrators or other departments that feel it doesn't belong in the university?"

'''Q: I don't have a business suit and there's no time to purchase one. Can I wear slacks and a nice cardigan to my interview (I'm female)? Any colors to avoid?'''

A. Do whatever you can to buy a suit. The search committee at MLA will DEFINITELY remark on your clothes if you wear a cardigan. You will look ill-prepared for the job market. Almost everyone at MLA wears black. If you have to wear slacks and a blazer, then buy a black or black-gray ensemble of some kind. Honestly, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage without the suit. There will be department stores in downtown Phillie. You might have to get something there.

A: I was just about to ask the same question. IMHO, I think slacks and a sweater are fine. Others?

A: If you're the job candidate, then you have to dress like a job candidate. Suit. If not a suit, then a jacket/blazer. Better to be overdressed or to be dressed nicer than the people who are interviewing you.

A: Yikes (original questioner here). I'm not saying I'd roll up in a cosby sweater and jeans. But seriously, long trousers, good shoes, and a decent blouse/cardigan are not good? Thanks for the advice--this is my first visit to MLA. Is it ultra-formal?

A. Everyone is wearing the exact same uniform--the black-gray-navy-brown suit. If that's formal, then "yes," it's formal. Sometimes women over 50 can pull off a skirt, blouse, and scarf ensemble, especially if they are overweight (sorry to be so blunt about it). Now and then a gal will wear a black skirt instead of slacks, but even most of the women wear slacks. If you are relatively thin, then a suit is best. If you are not thin, there's a little bit of leeway. Still, a suit is best, no matter what weight you are.

A: I second the above. This is my second year interviewing at MLA and every interviewee wears a suit, men and women. In fact, you can pick us out because we are the only people in suits. Slacks and a sweater would be very out of place and pretty much scream "grad student." You need to consider that you are investing in a lifelong job, so take an hour and go buy one.

A. Think of it as an interview with the CIA. You wouldn't wear a cardigan. Oh, and one more thing: You need a professional-looking black wool coat, or some other coat that is extremely professional looking. And has anyone mentioned a briefcase. You need a briefcase that looks professional. Again, black is preferred. If you wear make-up, keep your make-up understated.

A: As someone who has actually served on several search committees, I think all of this conformist formality is ridiculous -- ESPECIALLY in a creative field. We have hired people who dressed neat but did not wear suits, or all black, or carry leather briefcases. I can't necessarily give a cardigan-and-slacks combo the thumbs-up without seeing it (and the person wearing it), but we have hired men who came in wearing blazers, turtlenecks and corduroy slacks, women who interviewed in blazers, silk blouses and wool slacks, etc. As long as you look neat and professional, we're only going to be paying attention to what you have to say. Seriously. Fomenting fashion hysteria, as above, is ludicrous and, frankly, shameful.

A. The above comments were not meant to foment hysteria. The black suit, black coat, black briefcase advice is merely advice from the professors at the R1 school I attended. I, for one, will be one of the conformist drones. Conformity got me my last job. Conformity will get me the next. My fear is that any other wardrobe might invite raised eyebrows and snide remarks.

C: Black suit + black coat + black briefcase = undertaker. Does that strategy -- doing exactly what everyone else does -- help you get published, too, conformo? I rather doubt it.

A: In the ongoing wardrobe situation, I did a little straw poll. Nearly everyone said to wear a suit, but when I made a friend come over to help me try on clothes, she picked the slacks/cashmere sweater/knee high boots/jacket combo as being sophisticated and just artsy enough.

A: I think the key is to feel formal/professional, but still like you. Seriously--this is not a business or a law interview. I think allowing your clothing choices to reflect your personality a bit is just fine, within reason. They're looking for a writer, a colleague, and a dynamic teacher, not a droid. Keep in mind these are *real people* on the search committees. I personally wear a skirt suit that's not black or navy. I feel like myself in it, rather than an MBA grad.

A: I think women in general have more leeway. I've been horrified by men interviewing at MLA with sandals and socks on, old sweaters, dirty pants, unkempt hair. I've never spotted a woman at MLA dressed horrifyingly for an interview (the only thing to watch for would be too much visible cleavage, I'd imagine, or too short of a skirt). I've gotten 2 jobs (one visiting, one TT) with a black pantsuit (I usually wear black as an east coaster) and funky accessories (cool heels, red bag/briefcase). There's no reason why a woman couldn't wear nice slacks, heels and a cute black cardigan with a funky necklace, scarf, or brooch. Knee-high boots are definitely worn at MLA, but I also think they can look a little dominatrix for the more conservative (or southern) schools if they have heels. Better to be more conservative than less, generally, unless you're sure the school is uber-casual. You can get cheap nice pants/skirt suits at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc. for ~60$ on sale. If you invest in one, see if you can get one with skirt and pants to the same suit.

C: Report from the battlefield:  Most of the people loitering around in hotel lobbies while awaiting interviews are NOT wearing black suits; the black-suited minority DEFINITELY look much more anxious.

A: I wore a nice sweater and trousers to interviews a few years ago and got hired. I often wear a nice sweater and trousers to teach. I sometimes wear a skirt or dress. I never, ever wear a suit. As a member of a search committee, I can say that what you are wearing makes little difference-- unless it stands out as being weird, clearly inappropriate, or otherwise strange. Good taste in clothes can't hurt, but it doesn't really matter to me in the least if you have a black coat or briefcase! Wear what you'd wear to teach. Be comfortable, but not excessively casual. Look neat and professional above all. Personally, since faculty never wear suits where I teach, I find that suits (for both men and women) look too formal (but I don't mind if you wear a suit, unless it makes you stiff and formal too.) Same advice as above for campus visits.

Q: Any tips for setting up a campus interview?  Questions to ask, etc.?

A. Study the school, the program, and the department, and ask questions that arise from your research. Be prepared for the weirdness of the visit with the dean. The dean may ask curveball questions, and you will need to impress him/her with how well you can hit his/her curveballs out of the ballpark while throwing some well-informed curveballs of your own. With the chair of the department, your questions will be pragmatic and focused on the department, your role in the department, the future of the department, etc.

A. Ask about the town/city/area--don't be afraid to ask basic questions about what it's like to live there. Remember that at this stage you're auditioning each other, so let them sell you on the whole package, so to speak. This also gives you a chance to talk about non-school-related things, which I think can be nice for everyone. If you get the job, some of these people are likely to be part of your social life, so try to strike a balance: don't be overly familiar, but as much as possible try to relate to them like colleagues.

Q. To nonfiction writers, how would you finesse the following situation: 'After doing a lot of research about a particular school, you suspect that they are teaching creative nonfiction as if it's merely feature writing or expository writing: A little research peppered into a personal narrative and viola!''--creative nonfiction. This might become CNF some of the time but not all of the time. Artfulness and universality seem to be absent from course descriptions. Craft and skill are also absent from course descriptions. Likewise, the high standards of poetry and fiction are absent from course descriptions. Instead, non-English-majors are encouraged to write what they "call" creative nonfiction. When the "How do you teach creative nonfiction" question surfaces, you know there may be a conflict between how they are teaching it and how you teach and define CNF. How do you respond to "How do you teach creative nonfiction" when you suspect they've mis-defined the genre as something much simpler than it really is?'''

C: I wouldn't worry about what they are doing now--since they are planning to hire an expert in the field. Sounds like you have the opportunity to Wow them with some of your ideas--I'd tell them what you do that works. Also--personal experience has taught me that catering to what I think folks want to hear doesn't work as well for me as being honest--I received a post at a place that is essentially formal institution by talking about my emphasis on free verse--probably because I provided diversity--and a different way of teaching from what was already in place. There is something to be said for standing out as a wren among swans, or vice versa.

'''Q: On bringing a sample syllabus--I have one, but the way I taught the class back then is not the way I'd do it now. Do I bring the syllabus as originally taught, or change it to reflect how I'd teach it today? Alternatively: Can/should one bring a syllabus for a class they have not yet had the opportunity to teach?'''

A. Bring a syllabus that reflects your current teaching. Also, it can't hurt to bring a syllabus for a class you'd like to teach, particularly if the original job ad listed the class as something the department wanted; in such a scenario, however, it would be best to talk about the class in detail if/when they ask about it during the interview. Don't offer them the syllabus unless they ask for it at the end of the interview.

A: I disagree. Offer the syllabus. I'd change it to reflect how you'd teach the course today, but label it clearly as such.

'''Q: A search committee asked me to bring supporting documents to the interview but didn't specify what they wanted - any suggestions? '''

A. Everyone out there, please add to the following list. Bring (1) syllabi in your area of expertise, (2) exercises you use in class, (3) a few writing samples, just in case they ask for them, (4) student evaluations

'''Q: Has anyone out there made the jump from teaching secondary school to teaching at the university level? Or perhaps sat on a committee that included a person trying to move up, so to speak? How would I go about this? I have one MLA interview scheduled (I've applied for two jobs), and I'm starting to sweat. Lest I get dismissed out of hand, I do hold an MFA, have won a significant award, and have published gobs of work (I'm a playwright with 9 full-length plays, 21 one-acts, and 3 collections of 10 minute plays published). I have eight years of teaching experience in my field, but not at the university level. '''

A: Be prepared to talk about what experience you have (teaching, writing) that can translate to the uni classroom, but don't necessarily expect this to come up. How would you adapt (so and so) for a graduate seminar? etc. Most likely, the questions will anticipate that you're ready and able to teach in a uni--and for a preliminary interview, this stuff won't necessarily come up. One interview with only two applications is great odds: be confident. The committee has already seen something they like, so don't worry about how they'd talk themselves out of your candidacy at this point.

A: I've been in this situation. Having taught secondary school means that you have a rich background--and field experience--in teaching methodologies. Don't know what your formal education may have been, but if you have an MAT or even if you just took a few grad-level courses for pub school certification, you will have studied and practiced how to teach reading and writing. Talk about which teaching practices have been most effective for you in the classroom and how you might apply some of them at this new post. The SC already knows that you've been teaching outside the uni environment, so don't freak out so much about that fact. For the past 8 years, you've been providing students with the tools to think and write critically within a field of humanistic inquiry. And you've been writing and publishing your own work, too, which proves that you can definitely balance work/writing responsibilities. Damn, now I'm getting envious!

'''Q: This year, more than ever, potential employers are requesting that cover letters and CVs, etc., be submitted online. At the college I am teaching at, the secretary told me that they had no letterhead available, for instance, in Word, so I made what I think is a crucial mistake and submitted my online cover letters this year without letterhead. Of course, in my cover letters, I state almost right away where I am teaching, BUT -- I've just realized I should have probably scanned each and every application so that I could have sent the applications on letterhead. Would any of you agree with this? Disagree?'''

A. For what it's worth, I don't think they expect letterhead for the online subs. Your address at the top of the letter should show where you teach. If you omitted this address because you usually use letterhead, well, that's bad but may not be that big of a deal. Also, state in your cover letter where your current teaching gig is. I could be wrong about this, but I don't think so. Others please chime in.

A: Hold up (wait a minute): Why would you apply for a new job on letterhead from an institution that you're looking to leave? It seems like you would only use letterhead if you were writing in an official capacity as a faculty member from your school, i.e., on official business on behalf of the institution. A job search doesn't really fit into that logic. But am I off base? I've never used letterhead for any of my searches.

A. When I was a grad student, I was told to use the English Dept. letterhead by the professors in the department. Maybe we are over-thinking this. Last time I was on a search committee, I don't recall looking at the letterhead at all.

A. I asked the question and now I realize I've been confusing things further. Yes, I was also told to use the English dep't letter head when I was a grad student -- and now that I've got a VAP, I simply thought to use their letterhead. But I see the possible lack of logic here. Is it best, then, to simply have your address at the top? And if so, I've always used my home address -- is that right? Thanks, all, for guidance!

A: I currently have a TT job and have, when I've been affiliated with an institution (even as a VAP or graduate student), sent out my cover letters on their letterhead. It does seem counter-intuitive, but I do think letters on letterhead look snazzier, from the search committee perspective (I've sat on one before). It makes the candidate 'feel' more official, affiliated, slightly less desperate somehow, etc. This could just be me, I realize. Most schools have a template you can download, or at least a seal you can download to make your own letterhead if the dept won't give you actual paper. With the electronic uploads though, I wouldn't worry about it. Most of the programs spit the letters into some other format anyway, so unless you upload a pdf, the formatting/header with the school seal and other stuff gets lost anyway. I actually like that part of electronic apps--it levels the playing field aesthetically.

A: You should use company letterhead only when you're writing on company business. Applying for a job at another company is NOT company business. I have a TT job, and would not dream of using university letterhead for a job application at another institution. (The search committee can easily check I'm on the faculty, as claimed, via my current university's web site.) Write a letter with your home address at the top. And make sure it's not hotel paper stolen from a place you stayed last summer!

'''Q: Can the person a a couple spots down who talked about "receiving grooming in the area of cover letters" please elaborate? What was problematic about your old letter, and what did you change/improve in the new version? Any other cover letter-related thoughts also welcome. '''

A: Check all dead authors' names for spelling again even after you, your office mate, and the job advisor have proofed the letter. I'm still ashamed.

A. The above comment is from someone else. As for the "problematic old letter," there was no "old letter." I'd never written an academic cover letter before. I was in a PhD program where three Associate Professors taught us how to write cover letters, how to interview, and how to write teaching philosophies. As for the cover letters, here's some advice cobbled from the profs, from being on search committees, and from experience at MLA. I apologize in advance if this advice is old news for many people: (1) Your letter should not exceed two pages, single-spaced. If it exceeds two pages, you are doing something wrong; (2) You should write a paragraph for every significant thing listed in the job ad. If the job is looking for someone to teach fiction workshops, comp, and literature, then write a paragraph for each; and (3) Describe your teaching of fiction/poetry/creative nonfiction as specifically and as coherently as possible; rewrite this paragraph until it's perfect. This last point is extremely important. Many writers describe their teaching poorly. That is, they say the same old thing everyone else says: I teach in a workshop format; I encourage students to participate. If you can effectively describe how you teach, why it's effective, and how it's different from other workshop instructors, then you'll get brownie points. Sorry, my advice doesn't seem very helpful. If I could workshop a cover letter--which we did for several weeks with the profs--then I could illuminate problems much more clearly. The real grooming occurred in those cover-letter workshops, which can't be replicated here.

C: I'm not the person who asked the question--but this is actually a very concrete and helpful response. Thank you!

Q: Thank you notes or no? (I did mean after MLA.)

A: Yes, after any interview (in-person MLA and phone interviews).

Q. Really? You should send thank you notes after MLA interviews? A few years this wasn't the case, but things may have changed. Definitely send them after campus visits. Please clarify if notes should be sent after MLA interviews.

A: Yes--after MLA send thank you emails, since many folks won't return to campus for weeks during break. You can just email the committee chair and ask them to relay your thanks to everyone else, send a group TY email, or send individual emails. With MLA there are often last minute substitutions as to who's actually in the room with you, so usually I'll just send an email to the chair. After a campus visit, I do emails and handwritten notes. Also, after sitting on my first search committee a few years ago I discovered a key to phone interviews (which are happening a lot this year, and tend to be particularly awkward): a few of the candidates who got a bit tongue-tied during the actual interview or didn't get to elaborate on something they said sent us (the search committee) follow-up emails elaborating on some of their answers. This was actually great and really strengthened their candidacies. I highly recommend this tactic if you feel like you need to follow up a bit on a less than excellent phone interview. Keep in mind too, that at some schools (like ours) we were required to ask all the candidates (in the interest of fairness) exactly the same questions, so if the questions sound canned at either an MLA interview or phone interview, it doesn't mean the committee isn't interested in you--only that they're working under certain constraints.

C. Thanks! That clarification helped a lot.

'''Q: This question was asked above in one of the poetry sections. Could I ask it again for fiction or open genre committee members? As follows: Folks who have served on search committees: Any idea of a typical number of aps. to weed down to for a) dossier requests and b) initial interviews? '''

A. Every year the batch of applicants is so different that the numbers will be different. For instance, four years ago I was on a fiction search committee that received 60 applications for a 3/3 TT position at the level of associate professor. Only 11 applicants were truly qualified. All of the qualified applicants had at least one book and at least six years of teaching experience. All 11 received dossier requests. This year, however, many search committees may dump any candidate who doesn't have two books, particularly for a 2/2 job. So there may be 150 applicants and only 25 with two books and teaching experience. Those 25 will get dossier requests. In my experience, committees over-value books over individual publications. They'll pass up a great candidate with no book but excellent writing samples and numerous journal publications and, instead, interview the mediocre writer with two mediocre books.

C: And God help you if what you write/create doesn't lend itself to or result in book publication.

C: Take nothing for granted. While I generally agree with the posts above and below about books trumping degrees etc, I have three books out- two with major NYC house, one with a respectable minor- and a new one forthcoming in 2010. So far, no interview or doc requests. On the other hand, I have an MFA, not a PhD, and only 3.5 years teaching exp. at relatively weird and/or obscure schools.

C. To the above poster with 3 books, you should have several interview requests with your credentials. For what it's worth, here's what may be going wrong: (1) You haven't applied to enough jobs. With three books you should get interviews from 25% of the jobs you apply to, but in this market your odds may be lower, especially if your CV is thin on teaching and awards; (2) You may not be writing an academic cover letter. I received grooming in the area of cover letters, and it helped immensely. I had 15 interviews the last time I was at MLA, and I attribute those interviews to my cover letter; (3) Your teaching experience may be in something other the creative writing. I don't think you have much of a shot if your three years of teaching are in, say, composition. Too many of us have several years of creative writing teaching under out belts; and (4) Your books are genre novels. Your books should be literary fiction, commercial fiction with a literary influence, or highly praised commercial fiction. If your books are nonfiction, they should have literary merit. That said, I hope you get an interview. With three books, you certainly deserve it.

C: Why does the above poster "deserve" anything? Isn't the person applying to be a professor not an author? Perhaps they are a terrible teacher or incompetent at academic service? Publications of books is not the only thing that college or universities consider when hiring, nor should it be. Some of my best teachers have been rarely published and certainly the worst professor I had was the most widely published and famous.

C. Agreed. Delete "deserved" and change to some other encouraging word. Yes, teaching may be an issue. Service, however, is rarely discussed in cover letters or interviews, though it may get mentioned in reference letters, which brings me to one more point: (5) The above poster may have a toxic reference letter in his/her dossier.

A: Sorry, I neglected to include some useful info above in interest of keeping it brief. I have a fair idea as to what my CV negatives are, some of them, but had hoped my plus column would tip the balance. I'd be glad to hear what folks on the board think, though. My teaching experience is solid: mostly MFA and undergrad fiction workshops but also two undergrad contemporary Lit classes, a film studies class, and two comp classes. Student evals are good, my classes are always full. All three schools have been off the beaten path, comparable to W. Wilson and New College; current position is non-TT at unnamed art school one tier below RISD, teaching mix of c.w. and Lit. My books have done well but not spectacularly so. I've won a couple of minor awards. None of my books are out of print, at least, and have so far pub'd in seven languages. However. They are generally classified as Literary Noir- ding ding ding- pub speak for mid-list crime fiction not written by a butcher. Red flag number one, right? Most bookstores stock them in general fiction, but I've seen them segregated into the Mystery area more than once. I know some committees balk at the least whiff of genre, but come on.. how bad is it? Do I stink, people? I mean, it's not like I'm churning out soft-core sci-fi here. My books have strong reviews, jackets carry nice blurbs from superstar names, dossier has non-toxic even glowing letters from refs who are not my mom, not even former professors but actual writers currently publishing and holding tenured jobs. Potential red flag number two is bad math, not sure how bad it is. My degree is ten years old but I have only three years teaching experience, or 3.5, somewhat scattered apart. I had two one-semester VAP jobs at opposite ends of the country, soon after first book and fresh out of grad school. This was 2000-'01 or so. Common wisdom at the time held that tenure system was on the way out. I wasn't fond of migrating every nine months, so I went to work as a newspaper editor. Published two more books and a dozen short stories on the side, got tired of trying not to piss off advertisers and went back to teaching in '07.. at an art school. So.. what's the prognosis? How bad are those red flags? Am I crazy, or is my plus column strong enough? In this market, I'm treating that art school job very gently, as if it were a tiny blue robin's egg I found on the sidewalk. The contract is renewable, at least, and I'm teaching in my area of specialty. Sorry for the overly long post. Killed some time, anyway. I haven't checked my email in almost an hour. Thanks for the responses and support, by the way. Much appreciated.

A. I suspected you were a genre writer when you said you had three books and no interviews. Once you've been labeled as "noir," then a search committee will say, "Well this person should be teaching genre fiction, not our workshops." They can be pretty snooty that way. Your best shot is at jobs that have a genre fiction component. You are a long shot for any other job teaching fiction UNLESS they want a genre writer and just haven't listed it. If, however, your writing samples are strong and have literary merit, then you might get a "pass" from a few search committees, particularly a committee with a noir-lover on it. (There are many noir-lovers in English departments). The skimpy teaching and the long time away from teaching aren't great, but they are not deadly. I think if you had ten years of teaching, you'd be in much better shape right now; you'd have at least one interview, maybe more. That said, here's what you should do: (1) In your cover letters, start highlighting how you teach fiction with an emphasis on how you teach "literary" forms of fiction.Drop the names of the short-story authors you teach. Prove that you can teach literary fiction in the workshop. Remove any content from your letter than mentions "noir" unless a job asks for a genre writer; (2) Get the three writers of your letters of reference to highlight the literary merits of your writing and play down (or not even mention) the genre aspects of your writing. Get several of them to observe your teaching so they can comment on how well you teach. Letters from writers are worthless if they don't mention your teaching and personality. In fact, a letter that exclusively praises your writing is a red flag because committees will think something must be wrong with your personality (i.e., you're crazy) or teaching if these aren't mentioned; (3) Start publishing in literary journals! I think a genre writer can indeed get a TT job if you have numerous journal publications that prove you can do more than write noir. (4) Get a gig with a low-residency program if you don't already have such a gig. This way you can continue teaching, cultivate relationships, meet more people, and prove to snooty search committees that you can teach. By the way, the "off the beaten path" schools don't matter. No one will look at a brilliant CV and excellent writing samples and say, "Awe shucks, he has ten years of teaching at New College. Guess we can't hire him." What's more important is getting experience teaching graduate students so that you can list it on your CV and cover letter. Hence, get a gig with a low-res program to prove you can teach grad students. Good luck! Don't give up. The last job I left wanted someone to teach genre writing, and I think the market for genre writers is growing.

C: You might want to repost your question under the appropriate subject in the Chronicle Forum. The answers from very experienced chairs and search committee members have been very helpful and straightforward.

A: Thanks for the insight and suggestions. I had downplayed the noir problem in my head, and was sure that the time away from teaching was the worst of my sins. I think my letters of rec are good, at least. The one good thing about being ten years removed from grad school, two of my recommenders are former classmates, the other is a former student. So they have all seen me in a classroom, and have firsthand knowledge of my personality, strengths etc. In my cover letter and CV, I instinctively avoided the word noir, partly because I suspected it would be a flag, partly because I don't think of myself that way. Kind of the way friends of mine who have been tagged as feminist writers or language poets don't always identify as such. Not that I think I can keep it secret for long. A google search of my name brings back the word noir in the top 20 results. But my teaching statement would likely benefit from a stiffer academic tone, and I'm sure I failed to directly address my ability to teach "literary fiction," though I find myself mildly disgusted that I should have to do so. Does anyone honestly think George Pelecanos could look at a student's flawed "literary short story," or poorly written poem, for that matter, and NOT be able to tell you what's wrong with it?

A. Sorry to say this, but I feel much better about a fiction workshop in the hands of a literary fiction writer than a genre writer. Also, I would trust a genre workshop in the hands of a genre writer. I may be alone in such snobbery, but I don't think I am.

A: I also think those letters of recommendation may not be doing you much good. Former classmates and students don't have with a committee the clout or merit that colleagues and mentors do. I.e. tenured faculty. People on search committees want, after all, to find future colleagues. Maybe try to get some faculty members or your department chair to sit in on your classes to get an idea of how well you teach, and then to cover this and other professional accolades in recommendation letters. Also: they'll probably have served on job committees before, and will recall the letters that best served the candidates who were offered the position.

C. I concur with the above letter of recommendation comments. Any deviation from the norm when it comes to references letters is a red flag. Former classmates and students--definitely a deviation from the norm. Get letters from current colleagues in creative writing, preferably colleagues with national reputations. The best reference letters I've ever seen were written by fairly famous poets. Sadly, those letters were lovely lies, but nice letters nonetheless.

C: Thanks for the comments. To clarify, my former classmates are tenured faculty at respected writing programs; each has three or more books published and they are both fairly well known within the academic literary crowd. Surely they qualify as respectable colleagues. Meanwhile, my former student is a TT assistant prof at a good school with two books pub'd; wouldn't his letter be of more use than generic student evals? I coud have supplied letters from famous authors who know my work but but barely know me personally (perfect examples of the lovely lies type letters) but I tend to think most SCs are not suckered by these.

C. Yes, committees love to be suckered. If they see a big name and a glowing letter, they get starry eyed. They don't stop to reflect that the author of the letter is a professional writer by trade. None of this matters, however. Back to your letters. With your clarification about the letter authors, I think your letters will be "okay" but not "great." Your letters still aren't from colleagues who have worked alongside you when you were a VAP. You need more letters from current colleagues. A combo of personal references and colleague references would be much stronger than what you currently have.

C. One more thing (Boris, I presume): You OWN this job: Seton Hill (HighereEd) "genre novelist." Should be a perfect fit.

A: Only my wife calls me Boris. But thanks, that Seton Hill posting had slipped my radar. Their job description does call for an MFA with strong pubs specializing in crime fiction. Deadline hasn't passed yet and job starts in June '10. I guess it's not too late for one more app, after all.

C. Good! Good! Go for it!

'''Q: Just a curiosity question - as a fiction writer, it is certainly difficult to get a book contract, but there seem to be a million opportunities for poetry chapbook publications. Do poetry chapbooks "count" the same way as "books"? Or is there some other kind of math going on?'''

A: The math is books from nationally recognized presses count for more than chapbooks. If you're a performance poet, the criteria is different.

A: Nothing counts as much as a book from a major NY press with strong reviews and blurbs. Many poetry chapbooks indicate nothing more than that this person wrote ten poems. A lot of 'chapbooks' committees see are basically five sheets of folded paper with a heavier stock cover, and the name of some ad-hoc press; i.e., they're not different than self-publishing.

A: If you are silly enough to let a super small / unknown publisher print a chapbook of poems, and perhaps esp without an ISBN, then you are in trouble. However, countless profs tell me two reputable chap pubs = 1 reputable full length po pub. And FYI a chap, in most people's minds, is about 20-30 pages, which means about 15-25 poems. Chaps are also NOT easy to get published--it is not like going down to Kinkos and saddle stapling away the evening, i.e. there is an editorial process. Good grief! Plenty of reputable chap presses out there publishing real, oh, mini books of poems (and they are books, not "poems I wrote last month and slopped together like I did in highschool." However, it's also fair to say that if you have 2+ chaps and no book, someone might wonder why you don't have a book. Still, chaps seem perfectly viable to me, esp given the publishing climate for poetry. What happens when chaps go online, like many journals? Double doom for some of you? It might happen.

'''Q: Not sure if this should go in the 'no more white boys' conversation below. Pretty sure it doesn't qualify as a req for more documents. Just wondering if anyone else received a request from Rhodes to fill out an ethnicity/gender disclosure postcard? Of course this sort of thing is part of standard drill with online app systems, so all in all the card was not so strange, but I was surprised to see a box asking for the applicant's age- not sure that's exactly legal.'''

C: Asking age is definitely not legal. But, age discrimination laws only work in favor for older individuals. If Rhodes wants a more advanced person for this position, then they might use age to weed out applicants who are "too young."

C: The Rhodes form is for statistical purposes and it clearly states that your name and the information collected is not revealed to the search committee. I don't know if this makes a difference for the legality of it all. But it is worth noting that the search committee is not supposed to see the forms about your race, ehtnicity and veteran status either.

'''Q: This is a very general question about job searches. Do you personally submit an application to place that you feel is basically never going to hire you, assuming that the job announcement does not explicitly exclude you or is rather vague? (For example, the Bennington job.)'''

A: You're going to get a lot of different responses to this. Most people will say (as they have here on this wiki)--apply to everything. I do not apply to positions where the department is looking for a specific someone who is definitely not me (for example, jobs that ask for a specialization in some fancy new genre, such as "digital arts"--as the Eastern Michigan job ad asks for). But, positions with "vague" job ads--you should certainly apply to.

A: Even if the job is a long shot, at best, you might get an MLA interview, and then you get some interview practice.

A: Do it. I applied to a large city job last year that I knew I wouldn't get and they sent me a letter saying they'd hang onto my CV in case anything came up. I thought that letters like that were always BS, but they actually asked me to pick up a creative writing class this coming semester. I happen to live in the same city, though, which apparently was a requirement for their informal search.

'''Q: University of Mississippi asks for student evaluations. Does anyone know what form those should take? A list of pertinent quotes? Copies of a certain number of the complete evaluations (filled out on the last day of class by students anxious to go to lunch)?'''

A: I typed up a breakdown of average scores for various criteria (part of my department's evaluation method), followed by a list of pertinent quotes.

A: I've been given two different responses: one was to send all of the evaluations from a class or two (at my school, on the cover page it states how many evaluations are in the packet, so the committee would know you are sending all of them); the other was to send ten individual student evals from a variety of classes, all positive, but with lots of specific language about your teaching (in other words, pick the evals that are detailed and positive). I was a grad representative for a CNF hiring committee recently and the top candidate had sent evals from all of the students in two or three particular courses with specific lines (detailed and positive) highlighted.

'''Q: (Follow up) My evals are all very good, but tend to be of the "circle the number" kind rather than the "write pithy lines that will get your professor hired in the future" kind. I also have a set from a workshop I taught outside of academia ( Grub Street) which are more articulate, but not necessarily representative of the population I'd be hired to teach. Thoughts? '''

A: Send both kinds of evals--the standardized evals will give one kind of info and the handwritten evals will give another. Maybe one class-ful of each?

'''Q: I got a request for a dossier and I'm fretting about what all that entails, since they don't specify. I've heard wildly conflicting opinions. '''

A: If they don't specify that they want a sample syllabus, teaching philosophy, transcripts, etc. then I just have the dossier service send letters.

'''Q: Isn't that a little bare-bones? I had understood that when asked for a dossier, you should submit all of the above, plus copies of student evaluations. What is the protocol here?'''

A: No. Generally speaking, when they ask for a dossier, they mean letters and perhaps transcripts. If they want things like syllabi, teaching philosophy and evaluations, they ask for them.

A: Never send evals, syllabi, sample lessons, reviews & essays, teaching statement until specifically asked. "Dossier" means recs &/or transcripts. It's the rare school that wants to see all these things from all 300-ish applicants, and over-zealous sending can get a person ruled out immediately; it smacks of a) poor instruction reading & b) desperation. Would that AWP would regularize the process so we weren't all left muddling through. Somebody create a panel!

A: You can always ask the person who requested the dossier what he or she would like included in it, just to be sure.

'''Q: I already submitted a 10 pg. writing sample electronically as part of an application, but now they want additional materials from me, including a 25 pg. writing sample. So should I submit the same work but add to it, or should I submit something else entirely, or...'''?

A: I'd send your best work. Period.

A: Agreed, but remember:  Published always trumps non-published. If you have 25 pages of published work, send that. Only send not-yet published work as a last-last resort.

Q: When a writing sample is requested, is it a good or bad idea to submit a sample of poems photocopied from the magazines in which they appear?

A: Since photocopied work tends to look sloppy (tough to line it up on the page)--I'd suggest a clean set of poems. Also--they have your CV so they should be able to tell what's published where without the reminder. That's just a common sense answer--perhaps folks who have actually served on committees might disagree?

A: I've been told by a few people that it's better to send (photo)copies of the published work. If you can scan the magazine page to PDF it can often end up crisper, and that way you'll have electronic versions you can readily email/upload.

A: For what it's worth, I usually send a clean set of poems, and if they've appeared in magazines I've indicated the info in the footer, as I don't expect committee members to start trying to match it to my CV. So many journals are so oddly shaped that I think it would be quite difficult to make it look neat--esp. if you have work in tabloid journals like APR, or larger sized journals like The Southern Review or Ninth Letter. If they're from your book though, that would be easy to photocopy neatly (and you could include a color front and back cover and acknowledgments page--I've done that before too).

A: This may be a case where the protocol is genred. For poets, it's often considered tacky to photocopy from magazines. Make the majority of your writing sample recently published material, and trust that they can match the poems to the top of your Vita's pub list.

'''Q: I have a chapbook with multiple stories coming out. How do I present this on my CV? It isn't a book obviously, but it isn't a journal either. Make a new category? (Every bit helps, right?) '''

A: Do you have your CV divided into types of publication? Mine just has "publications" as a general category--I include both books and individual poems in journals. (And I got a TT job, if that makes any difference...)

'''Q: I've heard that it's better to find out who's chairing the search committee, and address the cover letter to that person (instead of "To The Search Committee.") What's the best way to find out who is the chair? Or is this even necessary? And if not, what's the best version of "To The Search Committee" to use? Does any of this matter?'''

A: I'm sure that it's a good idea to find the SC chair's name, but I think "To the Search Committee" is a perfectly reasonable way to begin a letter, and in the long run this particular detail is not going to make a difference in how the committee evaluates your application.

A: It seems to me that if they don't list a specific "send to" name in the posting, then they don't want you to know who the SC Chair is, and thus wouldn't want you to address your letter to said person, even if you could suss out who it was.

A: Having served on search committees in fiction I can assure you that you should not use the chair's name if the listing states to send your letter & materials to "Search Committee." This is not what you were asked to do; why not do as asked in this case? The idea of asking for things to be addressed to the committee generally is to communicate to you that this letter will be screened by a committee of equals. The search chair is usually acting primarily as the moderator of the other committee members and, even more so, as a liaison to the rest of the department and with candidates, and generally has no more voting power. Not even always seniority. You do not know the relationship of the search chair to the other committee members and listing her/his name on the letter might alienate someone else on the committee who has a lot invested in the search, someone who, say, doesn't like the search chair (seriously). All committee members are screening your letter. (At a later time, when you are contacted, or if you feel like contacting the search chair independently of your letter, sure, use her or his name.)

'''Q: Since the search committee usually involves English Department people who aren't creative writers, do any experienced people have suggestions for how applicants should frame themselves in their application letter? In my own case, I'm someone who will be pursuing creative and scholarly projects both (I have both a creative MFA and a lit crit PhD) -- should I emphasize this in the letter, or would this be repellent in some way? '''

A:  Tread carefully with this. The more you can find out about a school's listing, program, and search committee, the better off you'll be. You shouldn't hide your accomplishments--definitely let people know about both--but if you're applying to teach, say, in an MFA program where it's mostly MFA writers, emphasize your creative training and accomplishments in the bulk of the letter. If you're applying to teach in a CW PhD program you might emphasize both equally (CW and lit crit); ditto for an undergrad program where you'll be expected to wear many hats and teach lit. That being said, you'd ostensibly want to be somewhere anyway where you can do both (right?), so if they're put off by your lit crit training, would you really want to work there long-term?

Q: Does anyone know if any of these non-fiction openings would be congenial to applicants whose major emphasis is a different genre, but who also have non-fiction publications?

A: It totally depends on the school and the situation for the particular job. I say apply and let them turn you down. Don't eliminate yourself as a candidate for them. I currently have a TT-job and the listing was for someone working in two genres. I only work in one. I got the job anyway, and it turns out the Dean had tried to make the department squish two searches into one position. The thing I learned from this (and the last job search committee that I sat on) was that often the program/department/faculty have less say over how the ad is worded then they might like (which might not be the case in this situation, but who knows what the committee will be amenable to; anecdotally, schools seem to have a tough time finding CNF hires, so why not toss your hat in the ring if you have some solid pubs in CNF?).

A: While I agree that you might as well apply -- it doesn't cost you anything -- I can say, having served on several search committees at a couple of different institutions, that if someone is advertising for a nonfiction job, they want a nonfiction writer, not a fiction writer with a few nonfiction publications. Conversely, if they're advertising for a fiction job, they don't want someone whose primary emphasis is nonfiction but who might have a few fiction pubs. So yes, you can apply for such a job, and you might as well if you can spare the postage, but rest assured, you will not get it -- especially not in this market. I have no idea what this "anecdotal" evidence is, but I can tell you that the last time we ran a nonfiction search, we literally received hundreds of applications. (Haven't you noticed that there are far fewer nonfiction openings these days than fiction or poetry?) Almost all of them were from people who primarily wrote nonfiction; the few exceptions quickly found their way to the "no" pile. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

'''Q: This is really my first full-year on the market.I half-heartedly tried last year but all eight positions I applied to were canceled due to budget cuts.I graduated from an MFA program in 2007 with a focus on creative nonfiction.I’ve built some lit journal publications, including a book scheduled to come out next summer from a major national press.Though I was a TA in grad school and a managing editor on the program's magazine, the market was so bad that I had to take a 9-5 office job that’s only loosely tied to education. I’m worried that the gap and my time out of the classroom will hurt.And I’m seriously wondering if a PhD is the way to go, which my heart isn't into—a creative writing doctorate even though I have a book?A lit doctorate heavy on theory?Perhaps I should look for a visiting gig?I’ve always been told the work overshadows the degree in creative writing, but a good number of openings are asking for PhDs now.I’m careful not to get my hopes up, and I’m realistic about all that’s involved with a teaching position and of course how competitive things are, but despite all that, I really love the classroom and academia.Again, I'm young and inexperienced in this.I guess I don’t have a true question, but any advice for someone in my position, or the many others like us?'''

A: I think, if you're mobile, visiting gigs are perfect for someone in your position. I got a fancy year-long visiting gig at a place that (at the time) would never have hired me TT, and it meant that the next year, I got way more interviews since I had the 'fancy' school on my c.v. and an extra year of teaching. I'm convinced that this also helped me get my current (TT) job. Also, any other teaching experience you can get in the meantime will help you. Can you teach a local workshop once a week in the evenings at a non-profit center or as an adjunct? I'd be reluctant, if I were on a hiring committee, to hire someone who hadn't logged at least some hours in the classroom as the instructor of record, with good student reviews. Also, what about post-MFA fellowships--have you looked into these (like the GWU, Colgate, UNC Chapel Hill, and Louisville situations)? These switch genres and do rotate through CNF). Congrats on the book!!  Addendum:  Poster #3 makes excellent points too!

A: Try to avoid investing more time in a PhD at all costs. The market can't sustain those already graduated and you will spend 5-8 years spending money, working on material you don't care much about, and not increasing your real skills. If you can't live without teaching, look for other outlets. Humanities PhD's are a vestigal organ, and very few of us will ever make a living off the years we could have spent writing instead. (But I'm not cynical at all.)

A: The first answer here, seems to me spot-on. But I'm not so jaded on the Ph.D.. Here's why: 1) It couldl double your possibilities on the market (many schools still will not look at MFAs) 2) If you choose a top-five program then you may very well be in a place where you are one of several writers who had books published with good presses before applying. 3) It would give you time to write a second book (and 2 books seems scarily the norm for the current competition) 4) I've known plenty of folks to breeze through in 1 1/2 to 3 years (hell, but possible). 4) You may have the opportunity to teach a better variety of courses in your field in a Ph.D. program (particularly if you already have a book). 5) It can't make your writing or teaching worse to read a lot of great literature in a craft-oriented program. 6) Theory? What's that? Ph.D.s in top writing-programs pretty much scorn theory. Al of which is to say--I view my own Ph.D. experience as invaluable--not the drudgery alluded to at all--and I culled infinite wisdom (and network connections!) from the Pulitzer and National Book Award writers I studied with. All that said, though: If your heart's not in it then--well ;that's the key, isn't it. Hard to be happy doing something you don't want to do--regardless of benefits.

A: Bottom line: if you look at AWP's annual report on the job market, there's a spike in 04? 05? of around 160ish T-T CW jobs. Those days will likely either a) never come again, or b) not come again for a long, long time. Schools can essentially ask for whatever they want and receive a wealth of applicants who have that and more, so that even if the minimum requirements are an MFA and one book, one is up against 2- & 3- & 4- book poets with Ph.Ds and many years' experience in teaching. If serious about teaching, then fellowships, visiting gigs, and especially Ph.Ds will be useful, if not essential. Whether the MFA should be a terminal degree is, alas, an utterly different question than whether or not it IS. (Of course, other things can and do trump uber-qualification--a splashy debut book, an inside candidacy, a spousal hire, an early major prize--)

A: The schools that are expressing a preference for Ph.D.s are doing so because they are smaller, with smaller English departments and higher teaching loads, and they need people to teach lit classes as well as writing classes (and probably comp classes, too). In my humble opinion, that makes these jobs far less desirable; the more desirable jobs -- with lower teaching loads, and a requirement to teach only creative writing (and, frankly, at more prestigious schools/programs) -- care much more about your publishing record than your degree. In many cases, they hire well-published faculty who have nothing higher than a BA.

C: This previous comment about hiring "well-published faculty who have nothing higher than a B.A." is completely naive. Bottom line: you want to teach in an M.F.A. program, then you better have, at the very least, an M.F.A. of your own, along with a record of "teaching excellence." The 2/2 job is not some magical position where you're granted all the time in the world to write and publish--you are joining an English Department, where you will be expected to participate in the everyday administrative and committee tasks within the Department (and sometimes within the larger Humanitites or Arts & Sciences school division) in addition to teaching and mentoring both graduate and undergraduates. Being well-published (unless you are a Toni Morrison) does not give you a free pass or lighten your potential workload.

A: I don't think the commenter is naive at all; there are, indeed, people on faculty at MFA programs who only have B.A.s.  Then again, they tend to be superstars -- winners of Pulitzers and/or National Book Awards, authors of runaway bestsellers (you think anyone would have turned away Frank McCourt?), etc. There are plenty of well-published writers teaching with MFA's or terminal MA's -- many more, I would bet, than Ph.D.'s. Ph.D.'s, after all, tend to publish less, and what they do publish tends to be with academic, not mainstream/commercial, presses. What is important is that you publish -- well, frequently, with highly-regarded presses and to good reviews. As for this business about the 2/2 job not requiring any work: Who said that? I read and re-read all the comments, and no one even hinted at that. What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?

A: Perhaps this previous conversation should turn into a good old M.F.A. v. Ph.D. debate (that's always a fun one). Answers #3 and 4 (up above) seem pretty credible and practical. To claim that Ph.D.'s publish less seems grossly mistaken (publishing with an academic/university press is not any less notable than a mainstream/commerical press; though, maybe we're talking the differences between a poet and a fiction/non-fiction writer).

A: As someone wrote here, it seems poets inhabit their own universe with its own rules, but in the world of creative/literary prose, publishing with an academic/university press is, unfortunately, less "notable" than publishing with a mainstream/commercial press. To think otherwise would be, as someone else (?) wrote, "completely naive."

A/Q: I'm a CW PhD who does not scorn theory, and there are many of us out here. I'm curious though, which do people consider the "top" (5, let's say) CW PhD progs? I'd say Denver, Houston and Utah are definitely in there. Others that would make your list? I don't find any official rankings online; does anyone know if/where they exist?

A: Atlantic Monthly had an article some years back with their rankings--very thorough breakdown, US New World Report did them farther back--10 plus years? Then there was the infamous, recent, PW rankings--all sets were inflammatory for schools that did not make it to the top--legitimately so. Nevertheless those rankings--whether just or not--do tend to stick in the pool of consciousness--Iowa, UVA, Houston, Brown. Johns Hopkins, Utah, FSU--all these stick in my memory from differennt reports--wondering what this question has to do with theory? Hmm. Anyway--I imagine the top five shifts around quite a bit--and depends entirely upon individualized perceptions of students who attended the programs.

A: Yes, I was just responding to two different comments above in the same breath, as it were. I was asking about PhD rankings, however, not MFA rankings, which is what you've given. I do see the Atlantic Monthly article. I wonder what criteria they used for those rankings. Anyway, I'm as interested in people's individual perceptions of CW PhD programs (and it can be a fun momentary distraction to compile these lists). I certainly don't take these rankings as gospel, though.

A: Utah, FSU, Houston, and Iowa all have Ph.D. programs, right? Misouri's program used to be hot--don't know how it fares since some big names left. If you search the Atlantic Monthly "Best of the Best" it's got a long discussion of the criteria used to rank programs--ditto U.S. News WR--I have not read the PW article but I bet it's ranking-rationale is discussed, too. ..

'A: Iowa's creative writing program doesn't offer a Ph.D. (Iowa's English Department, however, does have a creative-dissertation option), but Houston, Florida State, Utah, Denver, and Missouri have strong CW Ph.D. programs, and the University of Georgia and the University of Southern Mississippi (home of the Mississippi Review and the Barthelme brothers) also come to mind.

A: It should be noted that the English PhD at Iowa has absolutely no affiliation with the MFA program (Iowa Writer's Workshop). The two programs aren't even in the same building. Also, Missouri is a good program, though it takes a full 4 to 6 years to complete. I've heard of people who finished in 3 years, though not without a lot of difficulty. Also, Missouri waives tuition, so there's no need to go into debt. Teaching (being a graduate instructor for about $14,000) will cover the rent ($400/mo) and other living expenses.

A: Surprised no one's mentioned U of Southern California in the top PhD-granting programs. Agreed re: FSU, Houston, Utah. Denver's strong in poetry, but not so much in fiction. U of Ohio claims to have been the first PhD-granting CW program in the country, and is pretty strong in nonfiction. Nebraska, too, is if not in the top five then certainly the top ten— with Prairie Schooner, the summer writers' conference, and the NU Press.

'''Q: Is it a general expectation that the writing sample be from one's published work, or are committees open to newer work as well? I have a couple of books published, but like everyone else, I'm sure, I'm most excited about my manuscripts in progress (one is under contract, one is not), and would prefer to lead with that material. Have people found any reason to not just go with what you feel is your own strongest material, regardless of publication status?'''

A: You sound like a prose writer, yes? I think for poets, it's pretty easy to stick a few poems from each collection into a 10 or 20 page sample. That being said, it's easy for me to be infatuated with my new work, but it often takes a while for me to figure out if it's really good. With the published stuff, I know it's at least passed muster with others. Is there a way you might include both? Or include a sample of published work, but a 1-page description of the new project with it? You can always read new new work at a job talk too. But if the new work is somehow stylistically super-different than your earlier work (and again, this seems to happen more with poets) and is indicative of the type of stuff you see yourself writing for a while, you might send that if it's a better match with what the faculty at an institution produce (e.g. if you're a narrative poet that's gone experimental/language-esque and are applying for a job at Buffalo).

A: This might be too touchy-feely, but when I sent in writing samples (for the TT job I eventually got), I sent in the work that I felt was my truest--meaning it best represented the kind of poet I think I am--and that included both published and unpublished work. Another poet in my department later told me that the piece she liked best was the one I've had the most trouble getting published. It was definitely the "riskiest" work I sent. This is all just to say that no, I don't see a reason not to go with what you think is your strongest material, and publication status might be somewhat secondary. To people who have served on search committees: If you are really impressed with a candidate's writing sample, does its publication status influence your assessment of it?

A: I can't speak for poets -- it sounds like they have their own universe with its own rules -- but as far as fiction and nonfiction are concerned, you absolutely should NOT send anything that hasn't been published. No one -- especially in this market -- will read an unpublished manuscript. Whoever and wherever they are, they are getting hundreds of applications, the vast majority of which will contain writing samples that have been published. You're much better off sending a "weaker" work that has been published than a "stronger" work that hasn't. If you must, you can talk about your as-yet-unpublished work in your cover letter, but don't dwell on it too much; you might inadvertently start to raise questions about why it hasn't been published yet.

'''Q: Along the lines of the above question--how do people with multiple works negotiate writing about them in that one paragraph (if you abide by that standard, and if you don't, can you say why)? Do you focus evenly on each book or more on one if it seems to relate to the style of institution you're applying to, etc.? '''

A: I have multiple books (more than 2), so I have two paragraphs on my work that deal with the issues and themes my work tackles, and how these have evolved (along with my style) over the course of my projects (including my most recent). At a certain point sticking to the 'one-paragraph on your work' format becomes unrealistic--especially based on the stats listed above for those of us on the list with both writerly and academic interests, rich employment histories, and multiple book publications.

A: Two paragraphs is too many. No matter how much you've published, you shouldn't devote more than a paragraph to it. Really. If it's been published, they'll read it (assuming you send it along), and your work will speak for itself; if it hasn't, they're not going to want to read more than a couple of sentences about it. Use the space to talk about teaching, and let your work speak for itself.

A: A bit late to talk about covers--but I've always had 2 paragraphs to discuss books--have had lots of interview requests and have a job now--so I'd not say it's off-limits strategy.

Q: '''Is it appropriate, if committees ask for more information (dossier, writing sample, etc.) to email to ask them if the application is complete or to make sure the materials arrived? '''

A: It's not advisable--folks are terribly busy--but if you must then email the secretary and not the search chair. Secretaries tend to be very sweet about complying. Another strategy: Send a SASE in the form of the post card with your materials (you may need to have these placed with your dossier service)--that way all folks have to do is put your postcard in the mail to acknowledge receipt.

A: I've always gone by 'no'; if you are worried about the arrival, ask for a signature upon request when mailing, or tracking. I know it's stressful feeling like it's out of your hands, but it's normal to NOT hear back from a department after a dossier request until they schedule interviews.

Q: When committees call for a "writing sample" but don't specify how many poems/pages, should you send a copy of your published book?

A: Yes

A; This is not a simple yes or no question, and the answer will vary by genre, too. For poetry, if you have individual poems published in very prestigious magazines or journals, you'll definitely do better to send photocopies of your work with the publication name displayed prominently at the top or bottom of the page. If you do send a book, just be prepared to not get it back, or to get it back smudged/dog-eared, etc.

A: Really? I had both prestigious pubs and a book--got the current job after sending the book--and got back all books in mint condition.

A: I've gotten books back in all kinds of condition -- everything from mint (and probably unopened) to smudged/dog-eared (and even marked!).

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine," or "Plights & Gripes as Bad as Achilles"
For those of you who were here last year, does this forum seem more competitive in tone than last year?

A: Actually, I think it's very supportive and helpful. My non-academic friends are incredulous when I explain the wiki. "You mean, you help each other when you're both competing for the same job?" I'm glad I can meet others in the same situation.

A: The comment about overweight women having the "leeway" to wear a skirt & scarf was pretty patronizing. (Yes, but it can be dismissed as sad and stupid.)

A. I appreciate everyone's honesty and helpfulness, so thanks everyone.

With stats like this, I'm glad I can't do math: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/education/18professor.html?ref=us

Greensboro:

'''Q: I see they made an MLA interview request on 12/10. It's 12/15 and I haven't gotten a call, past a request for a dossier. Has the ship sailed?'''

A: Yes. I'm crying right there with you.

The market this year: 

Q: At this point, it's becoming very clear that I won't receive an MLA interview this year. Last year, my first year on the market, I was lucky enough to receive 10 requests in fiction/nonfiction and in some cases these positions had some first year writing attached. While there may very well be a variety of reasons, of course, I'm still trying to figure out to some extent what is happening. Is the market simply incredibly more competitive this year? In your estimations, are there about half as many jobs this year? Any comments from those with experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

C: Don't give up on interviews at MLA or interviews in general. Some schools will still call through next week. Certainly it is more competitive because of the lack of jobs last year and the economy this year (my state has cut another 6% from state schools after 11% last year), but there are still jobs that aren't interviewing at MLA and there will be some jobs that come later as well. Keep writing. (Almost all jobs will have composition attached - we all need to accept that is part of college teaching.)

C: I agree with the comments above--Don't give up just yet. However, keep in mind that the economy collapsed in October last year, causing many people to sit tight if they already had jobs. So, yes, there may be more people on the market than last year. Also, there may be fewer fiction/nonfiction jobs than last year. Next year may be a better year for your fiction/nonfiction emphasis.

Thanks so much to you both -- these comments are really helpful -- and encouraging on a bad day!

C: From the poetry perspective, most of the TT jobs, it seems, are *not* interviewing at MLA and have later deadlines than usual. Instead more places are scheduling phone interviews, or setting materials due dates for much later than usual (usual being mid-November), indicating that people won't see much action until post-MLA. What's not clear to me is whether or not these later searches are in danger of being canceled altogether. Many state schools that were in severe budget crises got some relief through 2011 via government stimulus money. I'd imagine they'd try to fill positions more quickly so they don't lost the lines, but that doesn't seem to be the case in poetry. As a 7-year veteran of the market with a TT job now, this seems like a strange/somewhat inexplicable year to me.

C: I feel your frustration. Last time I had applications out, in 2006, I got eight MLA interviews. In the intervening time I've gotten great teaching experience, published several short stories, been anthologized, finished and sold my second book (a novel) to a major publisher for Summer 2010. And this year I got one MLA interview. The market certainly feels crazy compared to my past experiences with it. It started strange, with the way simply finding job notices this year seemed like an easter egg hunt, when it the past all I'd really used was the AWP list. Anyway, don't give up. This year's weirdness is something a lot of people are commenting on.

'''Q: Is anyone else losing their mid here? Alternating between checking Wiki, AWP, the cell phone, the email, for new info. every hour on the hour--when they should be grading? Hounding friends for gossip? Asking and answering questions here that have already been asked and answered? Imagining scenarios of homelessness, dreaming they've turned into a massive pool of blood that simultaneously soaks the floor of two apartments--and of their dead father's looking at the mess, holding a feeble mop? '''

A: Yes--I imagine most of us are having similar feelings. Can't be 'cool as a cucumber' when news should be coming in, interviews scheduled (any second now!). But, trust me: last year was ten times worse! Take big breaths, go for a long walk, clean the house.

'''Q: I must not be the only one who's noticed that most of the on-line applications are run through the same software program. Can't there be a way to create a profile on the system, and therefore not have to fill out the same set of questions every time (address, demographic info, education,etc.)? Then we could have writing samples and CVs and recommendations stored there and just upload cover letters to individual schools!'''

A: This software is not like Interfolio, where it's a hub that takes and distributes information; it's a server side software that the schools buy and run. This means that it functions more like Microsoft word than it does Interfolio. However, it would be really nice if we could create a profile because it's time consuming. My browser remembers information so I usually only have to type the first letter of an answer and then hit return.

'''Q: Is this it? Are more jobs to come?'''

A: Barring any sudden deaths, yeah, this is probably it.

A: There might be a few more listings in November pre-MLA, and then there are the spring listings (which tend to be more adjunct/visiting positions). It's a weird year though and lots of places seem to be shunning MLA, and places might get late approval for new lines if the economy lifts, so who knows...

A: In this market, anything can happen. I personally know of schools and departments that have not yet had positions approved, but are likely to get them in the next few weeks. At this point, though, there will be very few of those -- at least until spring, when the visiting posts come out.

A: There are always a trickle of jobs, and as of November 5 we're not near the end yet. Real t-t jobs will still come out between now and MLA, and there are always an early Spring flurry before the AWP conference. It is true that post-February lots of things come out as VAPs.

Inside Candidates: General

--A: I think it's true, with very few exceptions, that all candidates hired this year—both inside candidates, and others—will be vastly overqualified to do the work of teaching creative writing, no matter which "chain gang" they're from. One search from last year is a case in point: though the hire (at a non-flashy 3/3 state school in a dumpy location) was from the same chain gang (not Iowa) as the chair of the search committee, the hire had 2 books of poetry, 1 of critical work, 5+ years as a visiting lecturer. I myself am from the Iowa c.g., have a lovely book + other exciting credits, but found it hard to be too vexed about the "insideness" of that hire. There're a lot of dues to be paid in most cases, and most inside hires will have paid them.

--A note on chain gangs, as mentioned below: the number of CW programs which offer serious funding has increased dramatically over the last 15 years; I think the hiring patterns tend to reflect this diversity somewhat (the existence of a "Wash U" chain gang being proof of this?)

--A note on white boys, of which I am one: the homogeneity of some English departments I've sent materials to astonishes me, and I'm not sure this cadre of lumberjacks & fly fishermen needs young white me in its retinue—

The lack of thoughtlessness of what constitutes "diversity" amazes me. To hire someone based on superficialities of skin tone reflects a simple-mindedness that also explains why a department would hire someone for a "non-flashy 3/3 state school in a dumpy location" who is so "overqualified." The university does not exists to subsidize poets. Some of us are excited and happy to teach multiple classes and teach students who don't come prepackaged to succeed, even at "dumpy" state schools. How frustrating that qualified and passionate teachers are overlooked for indifferent individuals from the same homogeneous programs.

--I think a "lack of thoughtlessness" is entirely necessary. As for the diversity thing...um...no one is hired primarily on the basis on their race. In a market where there are at least 300 applicants for 20 positions, a committee can choose among DOZENS of very good, qualified candidates. As for the "indifferent individuals" you mention, I have to say that I haven't met many people teaching poetry who could care less about it—most often, those who get published are zealots, at least about their own aesthetic, and quite often about poetry in general. Anyway, enough.

George Mason poet search thread:

A: Doesn't that mean it puts their top candidate in the catbird seat? She/he could still go to MLA--but from a position of power for having a job in the bag. Say the candidate gets a better offer--what's to keep her/him from breaking GMs contract? Then too--consider this: how many better offers are there to get this year? Folks vying for 2/2 jobs have all of--what--3 schools to choose from?

C: My guess is that that's precisely WHY George Mason did such a speedy search. "The school that runs AWP" knows exactly what it's doing: would you want to wait until MLA (or all the way til the AWP conference) to try and snag the candidate(s) of your choice? If you have the resources, why not fly them both out WAY before all of that, make your offer(s), and seal the deal before other schools even finish digging through their apps. Makes perfect sense. Do you really suppose somebody's gonna sign a contract with GM and then bother to go to Philly for an interview (or, worse, Denver) in the hopes of something better? No way. Signed, sealed, delivered. I wish more schools would go after the folks they wanted, and save us all the misery of the conference lobby fretting.

A: It will certainly be someone from the Iowa or Wash U chain gang. And if it's a male I'll eat my shorts. Other jobs which white boys need not apply for (cue protest here) are definitely Greensboro and probably Houston too. Big question is if Cornell is an inside candidate set-up.

C: Person above: are you saying that you think Greensboro and Houston have inside candidates in certain demographic categories, or are you making a general observation about the literary scene? Because the Poets & Writers rankings would seem to contradict you on several fronts. I don't want to over-determine the significance of that particular ranking (or, for that matter, the Whiting Awards list, which only included two women) but to imply that men are at a disadvantage this year is, well, c'mon.

A: No. I meant simply what I wrote.' Greensboro is definitely going to hire a woman, Mason almost definitely, and Houston I'm less sure about but suspect will do the same. Who knows what the general trends are. Certainly not Poets & Writer's. Don't waste your time with that; you might as well read tenny mags or Pregant Gourmet Bride and Stream or Guns & Ammo. Or real literature. And awards are a completely different thing. Personally, I think there's plenty of gender and racial skewing to go around. And guess what: it works all different ways. But it still exists. Anyone who has been on a search committee or on this job market knows that. Love Ya, Doofus.

A: Yes! I am wild!!! And I am speculative!!! I wildly speculate. Especially at bootayyy! But one does in fact have inside knowledge. As I said before, profiling works in all different directions, to the detriment and or benefit of all groups, at different times. You're right that academia is still old school prejudicial. But it's also old school early nineties-ish pc at times. And it would be hard to imagine a worse, more frightening way of hiring than matching judgment of aesthetic or pedagogical merit with nation-wide demographics. Anyhoo. Just you wait, dear, and see this year's hire. The doofus knows the inside doof. And the Doofus will have a doppio macchiato.

C: Ahh, poets....

C: All right out with it. Who got GM? Surely we're subversive enough to enviously bat around one teensy real name...

C: Last year final hires were posted on the job board. Since this is public information, don't see what it would be a big deal.

C: I am pretty sure it was a young-ish white guy, and that all three finalists were young-ish white guys, and that the "doofus [who] knows the inside doof" a couple of spots up has about as much inside information, and is as well-informed, as his semi-hysterical blatherings suggest.

'''Q: "Ahh, poets," indeed. Who knew there were that many of them out there? I certainly wouldn't have guessed that there would be more poets on the market than writers of prose, and yet the former seem to have taken over this wiki, at least. Why are there so many poets and yet so few poetry jobs? Isn't it irresponsible for graduate programs to keep churning out more and more degreed poets while the market for such poets continues to shrink and shrink? (It's not as if there's all that much for poets to do with such a degree beyond teach and write poetry, after all.) And what's with all the poets who also write (or at least dabble in) creative non-fiction? I would have guessed that the natural crossovers would be non-fiction/fiction and fiction/poetry; poetry and non-fiction don't seem all that compatible, at least not to me. What's up with that? '''

C: Can we keep this to job info and job-related gossip, not asinine musings?

C: Wow. Agressive response. Can we also keep keep our dialogue friendly and supportive?

C: Speaking as someone who did graduate work in poetry and has subsequently decided to shift to nonfiction, it's not unusual at all. Think of all the poets who've published memoirs and personal essays; the two forms seem to be highly compatible. Perhaps I am just lucky, but it was much easier (and cheaper) for me to land a contract for a nonfiction book than it was to send my poetry ms to a zillion contests.

C: I did a double dissertation, poetry collection and memoir. A cnf prof in my masters program said, point blank to the class that had several poets in it, that poets make better essayists because of their trained ears and sense of rhythm / sound. I'm not saying anything here either way, but I agree with the above person--my essays are getting, generally, taken up much faster than my poems; and this might be because there aren't enough strong essays out around 5,000 words. One more thing, too, that everyone is surely conscious of--if you can write in two genres pretty well, and have the pubs and awards to show for it, I think you have a leg up. Am I wrong?

A: Whatever you do, don't switch to History and Theory of Architecture, where there's like, one job every two years.

C: Texas Christian University (beware: potential inside candidate) 

A: Yes, sadly I must concur. Their ad. reads verbatim their visitor's impressive credentials. I sincerely wish schools would not entertain such hocus pocus. Very unimpressive and a waste of everyone's time. I mentioned this one job and the inside candidate to my chair as I think schools must consider how horribly unethical it is to advertise a job that for all intents and purposes is a done deal. TCU needs to have its feet held to the fire on this one!

A: But don't these decisions to publicize jobs come from on high?

A: Yes, as in the federal regulations on high. C: But this happens at many places (the inside candidate). I've been to a few on-campus interviews where I've only found out when I got there that there was an inside candidate (pre job-wiki). It's a well-known phenomenon. Also, on occasion, someone bests the inside candidate for the job--it's been known to happen. It's definitely a cruddy practice, but TCU isn't nearly the only school that does this, and they're legally required to list the job.

C: There's nothing on either TCU's English Department or Creative Writing web pages that indicates a potential inside candidate. What's this based on? Somewhere else here, someone mentioned taking a few seconds to figure this out via a Google search, but that approach hasn't yielded anything yet.

A: You are not looking close enough. On the TCU English faculty webpage, one creative writer has the title "Lecturer" not "Professor."

C: "Lecturer" may not necessarily mean the faculty member is a visitor. At most universities, the title of "lecturer" is often given to faculty who do not hold a PhD. This was the case for me until I earned my PhD. I was a lecturer, though I was full-time and not a visiting professor.

A: This regards this thread, and another. First, as frustrating as it is when an inside candidate gets hired somewhere, schools, departments and committees are doing nothing wrong by interviewing even when the inside candidate is the clear favorite for the job. Even if it weren't, as the person aboilve claims, a national law, it certainly comes from higher up in the administration, and for good reason. Not only do schools want to make sure as many qualified candidates as possible are being looked at, but they also need to gaurd against the real possibility that their inside candidate could take a job elsewhere. Secondly, I think it is very uncool to post a link to a specific person on this website. I think the spirit of the website is to help each other find jobs, and by posting a link to someone as an "inside candidate" could create resentment towards the person, or even harm that person's job search. I very much wish that whoever posted it would take it down.

C: Ok, I posted it. I took it down. Maybe even building a link is not cool either. I suppose if google can locate an insider in .04 seconds, it doesn't need to be here also. Apologies if anybody's feelings were hurt. I agree about the inside candidate stuff. It's easy to scoff at from the outside (I know people who interviewed for three of those jobs that are mentioned above from last year), but being an insider is hard too, since you've been hired at some capacity and are trying to prove yourself and stay on for a TT line while they're ferrying people onto campus and you're biting your nails. I feel worst for the folks sent to campus only to find out that there is an insider already there. And you're right (above) that the insider is back on the market too (out of necessity since their job is up) and they might leave so it's all legal and necessary and above board--and yet harrowing for all.

C: I agree that for the inside candidate whose job is honestly (and in the case, I must question the school's intent!) up for grabs, his or her life is a hell. However, many schools simply go through the motions of a search, when the truth is universities are free -- as are all employers -- to simply hire who they like. Visitors are very often just offered the job. This is not illegal.

Cornell:

Well, Cornell has expressed interest to at least one female candidate--suggesting they may not deem a whopping three TT gals as an inordinate amount consider having on faculty. Female queried was definitely an outside--and not an inside--candidate.

Oh, boy--I stand corrected on the inside candidate bit! Thanks (above respondent--GM thread)) for providing the link to the visiting prof.--if she doesn't get it I'll eat my hat.

I don't think it's cool to put folks' names on here, but links: why not? Also: maybe she won't get it since she earned her MFA there, and schools tend (right?) not to like hiring their own as it can appear too insular. Any other thoughts on that? Anybody out there get at TT job from where they got one of their degrees?

C: Inside candidates are tricky business--last year, 5 out of 6 schools hired insiders (Oregon, Case Western, Loyola U. Chicago, Washington College, Ohio State-Lima). UC-Denver could have hired a insider, but the possible insider got a job at Boulder, where he knew people anyway. But, at least, none of these people had degrees from the hiring institution.

C: "Maybe she won't get it since she earned her MFA there" (above): Not to name names, but the "lead poet" there also holds a degree from Cornell....right? (I'm not comp. savvy enough to get the link in here--but then again we all know who the lead poet at Cornell is, right?).

C: People I've been talking to have said that inside candidates are not a good sign. According to some, if the person a) is at least five years out of the degree, or b) has earned a degree elsewhere, then often schools do not see a problem with hiring an alum.

DePaul:

Q: Someone noted above that this is the "3rd year of a search" to fill this position. Is that a concern? Is there something dysfunctional about this department? Or, do they just keep losing their top candidates to other schools?

A: As someone who has been on a search committee, I bet it's fairly likely funding got pulled in the search process. Ours was pulled after a month and once we were ready to set up 8 MLA interviews. No funding for our position this year, but they say next, so who really knows. In this economy it's just freaking crazy and a miracle any committee makes it all the way through (wasting their weekends in campus file rooms...).

A: Is that a bad sign? A sign of ﬁnancial instability at the school?

A: "3rd year of search" is not true. DePaul hired last year in non-fiction and in previous years advertised visiting professor positions, not tenure-track.

Wiki Word Count
12/20, 2:23 pm EST: 25,256 (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydet: 25289)