On April 27th, the MFA class of 2017 gave a reading of their thesis work in the Gold Ballroom of the Mountainlair. This group of seven graduates—Whit Arnold (nonfiction), Kelsey Englert (Fiction), Megan Fahey (Fiction), Elizabeth Leo (Poetry), Kelsey Liebenson-Morse (Nonfiction), Sarah Munroe (Poetry), and Andrea Ruggirello (Fiction)—were described as having a “seriousness of purpose.” They entered the program with other graduate degrees. Some left families or jobs. But they all came to WVU because they wanted an MFA community and three years to dedicate to the craft of writing. They, like all incoming graduate students, asked questions, “Are chickens allowed in the city limits of Morgantown?” All of them naturally wondered, “Will I be happy?” As Mary Ann Samyn, Director of the Creative Writing program said, “Time answered what we could not.” We look forward to hearing from them in the coming years.
Whit Arnold aka “Ohio” shared a captivating and hilarious nonfiction piece about how quickly one could brandish a rifle if a burglar entered a family home. This came from his thesis, Confessions of a Tadpole.
Kelsey Englert aka “English” read fictional work from her thesis which explores family, violence, and love. Her prose was filled with both humor and conflict. She detailed the difference between a character working at a strip club versus bartending at a strip club and capturing fireflies and smearing them on the ground so only their glow-stain remained.
Megan Fahey aka “Lobo” read an excerpt from her short story collection. Megan’s humor, creativity, and music was—as always—present in her prose. Her story described a Myrtle Beach where one could find neon trampolines, spinning wheels of fire, a veritable wall of dancer legs, beach ball seals, and coyotes on ship decks.
Elizabeth Leo is a poet and gardener whose metaphors of plant cultivation contain beautiful music. She thanked the program for helping her find joy in life, which has run the gamut from roses to Wendy’s. Leo admitted, “I find it easier to talk about plants rather than people.” In doing so, she’s found her own way to bloom—from practicing winter tree identification to visualizing ceilings composed of flowers and brain ruptures.
Kelsey Liebenson-Morse read nonfiction work from her thesis titled, Passover Lane, a narrative chronicling her childhood in Key West. In her nonfiction work, Kelsey has explored veterans of war, family, and how people cope with grief through dog walking.
Sarah Munroe’s poems explore the love of god, childhood, family, the memory of a mugging, poppies in Oregon, and how the sky can mean home. She entered the program with a pixie cut and took a vow with Kelsey LM to grow her hair for the full three years. Her work included a parade of ships, a variety of doughnuts, releasing ashes, permanent autumn, and questions of the self at a dog park.
Andrea Ruggirello read from her novel Paper Children. In her work, one may find the ghosts of parents, characters taking possession of their own identities, and Staten Island (a much neglected literary landscape). The excerpt she read was in many ways a love letter to Staten Island, which she referred to as “The Forgotten Borough,” researched by and through her character Vito who wrote an essay about Staten Island’s attempted succession in 1963.
Congratulations to the MFA class of 2017! We shared tears, laughs, poetry, and prose. We wish you all the best in the years of writing to come.