Q: Was the MFA the key?

 

Isaac: Yes! Riding from Penn Station in New York City, I finally stepped off the Amtrak train

in Montpellier, Vermont. A whirlwind of snowflakes slapped my face, and I breathed

in the fresh, cool air. Right away, I was pleased to meet a poet from the city (from

the Village, I thought), who was carrying a guitar. I don't recall how long we stood

in the snow, only that we taxied to Vermont College, where we were both hoping to get

MFA degrees in poetry. That evening, I felt like I was in the middle of a blizzard, probably

because I was uneasy. I didn't know what to expect.

 

Once at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, I quickly settled in, meeting the esteemed

faculty and pleased to greet and say hello to the friendly incoming students. Really, my goal was

to recover, shake the poetic dust away. No there was no Cave Cavem back then.

I loved my campus room, where I was alone and comfortable, at least for my first low-

residency stay. Orientation was exciting, informative. I listened closely to everyone's

personal introductions, took note of the MFA program rules, and all the responsibilities

I would have to fulfill. I was cool, was ready to go. For many years I'd browse in the Poetry

sections of book stores like the Strand, Gotham, the one at the World Trade Center.

Often someone beside me would ask, "Are you a poet?" and I's say, "just looking."

I couldn't bare to tell my story.

 

 

Isaac: I was a deligent student, very intense in regard to my mission. My first advisor

(the Director of the MFA program), was poet Roger Weingarden. He, like the others,

assigned me bundles of books to read and study. Some of those poets--Sharon Olds,

Heather McHugh, Kenneth Rosen, David St. John, David Bottoms, Stephen Dunn, to

name a few.  Roger's response to my submissions were insightful, and helpful. I read

the books assigned religiously. He wrote that sometimes my poems submitted were

"imaginative" and a few were "beautiful." Often they were "allegorical to a fault and sometimes,

surprisingly, to their credit." *

 

My second advisor, the late Jack Myers, was also a master teacher. He seemed

to like my submissions, and knew where I was going. One suggestion was that I often

tried too do two much with my "narrative and mythic" work. I got it,  Being imaginative

was one thing, losing "control" was another. Soon he was encouraging me to submit

to mainstream publications. Lastly it was a joy to feel (and get enthusiastic

encouragement) to do my graduating thesis on my favorite poet, Robert Hayden.

Reading my drafts, he felt my "fierce passion for Hayden's achievements."

 

Poet Mark Doty, was my final adviser, and was a perfect fit. He okayed my completed

thesis as well as "the New Black Poetry" class I taught to end the program. Before

students and faculty, I discussed  poets like Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks,

Elheridge Knight, Sterling Brown, Amiri Baraka, and Robert Hayden (of course).

I quoted top critics (their literacy and sociological input), touching on The Black

Arts movement and its controversies and debate. I thought my class was met with

enthusiastic and interest . Doty noted that my "lecture was insightful"..."carefully prepared"

and "illuminated." I remember a cheerful student response!

 

 

Isaac: As soon as I could, I submitted a poetry package of original poems to the

New York Foundation of the  Arts competition. A number of the poems were pulled

from "The Passion Killers," my final MFA manuscript. I quickly received notice that I'd won

one of the prestigous fellowships along with distinguished poets like June Jordan, Audre

Lorde, Philip Schultz (a Pulitzer prize winner in 1998, who I sat next too at the awards

dinner), Mollie Peacock, William Heyen, and Barry Goldensohm, among others.