I get emails from students at programs all over the country who want to transfer to Iowa, and in most cases their frustrations have absolutely nothing to do with the programs they're attending. They have to do with the growing pains that they're undergoing as writers and with the growing pains that our own genre is constantly undergoing.
John D'AgataI get emails from students at programs all over the country who want to transfer to Iowa, and in most cases their frustrations have absolutely nothing to do with the programs they're attending. They have to do with the growing pains that they're undergoing as writers and with the growing pains that our own genre is constantly undergoing.
John D'AgataI wanted to create an environment in which more than just personal essays could be represented, and in which stranger approaches to making essays could be celebrated.
John D'AgataAs frustrating as my time in grad school felt, it also helped tremendously because it challenged me to figure out what it was I thought I wanted.
John D'AgataWe approach nonfiction at a much different level than we approach fiction or poetry or drama: that there's almost no room for metaphor. We expect the "I" in any nonfiction text to be an autobiographical "I" when there is a history in the essay of the "I" being a persona.
John D'Agata