Hi there,

For our final official hurrah (since it seems we needn’t register for courses in this way during the auditing focused research arts year) here is the reasoning accompanying my course preferences. I hope this rings as soundly to you as it does to me:

Novel writing (and short story + playwriting!) are going well. Last semester proved to be full of glorious (and generously instructive) failures, whereas this semester’s been full of solid progress, and a great deal of adventure (there is a short/long story turn(ing) into a play!). I can say with confidence that the courses I’ve selected and have had the great fortune of taking (thank you 1,000 times over) have made all the difference. I can also say that I’m clear eyed and certain about my needs for this forthcoming semester. This clear eyed confidence is based on the state of each fiction work’s draft and my critically self-reflexive assessment of the writing muscles I still need to build. And so, here’s my most-wished-for list:

Workshop = Lipsyte

I’d been advised by an alum (Kimberly King Parsons, who’d also urged me to apply to Columbia in the first place) to seek Lipsyte out for workshop even before I’d heard back about my application. As you may know, I stayed with prof. Furst for two semesters instead of putting prof. Lipsyte at the top of my workshop list for this fall semester, for instance. I am very very happy with that choice, for I’ve learned and integrated a great deal—as I knew I would. And now it seems it’s time to beg and plead (if needed) to study with prof. Lipsyte for this spring’s thesis workshop. As I noted in my note snippet (on the google form), I’ve had a deeply affirming conversation about the thesis workshop with prof. Lipsyte over email. I can absolutely understand why Kimberly urged me to seek his guidance. The way he toggles structure with attention to sentences (and the energy, propulsion, and inner-drive within sentences) is exactly what I need at this point in my fiction writing. The questions he poses when workshopping each submission are the questions I either pose myself or pose but have a difficult time answering, and so it would be tremendously helpful to have Lipsyte’s guidance throughout the semester as I sharpen my fiction-critical-thinking skillsets. If it would help, I would be more than happy to provide further justification.

Seminars = Vapnyar and Shteyngart

I’ve been sitting in on a few of Vapnyar’s current seminar sessions (Anatomy of a Scene) this semester. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from just four or so sessions and I am certain that I’d become a stronger writer by having access to the full class experience for her Structure seminar, complete with mini assignments and the feedback she provides. I’ve no issues with voice, creativity, or working with a range of characters, but I still very much struggle with structure—mostly due to my still novice status in this fiction writing ordeal.

I’ve also been delighted to find out that I love dark comedy, of which Shteyngart is a master. Who knew that I love and inherently write dark comedy? Certainly not I! But while I was in Kirshenbaum’s class this past Tuesday, I finally came to know this about my sense of humor and writing. I suspect there’s no way to write about Romanians’ or Romanian-Americans’ experiences without dark comedy. And so, especially for the short/long story that’s making its way into a play, a very funny play/a play with a lot of dark humor, studying with Shteyngart would prove fruitful (and I am strongly considering submitting that long story/play in for my thesis).

Lecture = Cohen

I’ve been in Cohen’s lecture this semester and have grown at least 20,000 new fiction-writing neural pathways…if not more! I’ve looked at the spring semester’s list of books and feel confident that I’d get a lot from writing furiously as Cohen anatomizes those novels, about half of which I’ve read*…but not read read in that way I would upon being in this lecture. Specifically, I’d get a lot of lasting knowledge about structure and the options available to me for all sorts of fiction writing projects.

*Together, this list of top-choice courses would bring me to 18-credits, but since I have read some of the Cohen list of books (ditto on the ones in Shteyngart’s seminar) I don’t think I’d have a difficult time managing the workload, even with the larger credit thesis workshop’s workload.

I know, I know, that there are a lot of students to please, and I am tremendously thankful for all of the course assignments gifts sent my way so far. Truly, I mean this every time. Please feel free to reach out with any questions (or concerns?): mb4993@columbia.edu

Kindly and in earnest,

Mădălina