What is Residency?

7:00 Breakfast
A buffet-style breakfast is provided by PLU Catering in the lounge at Harstad Hall.
Breakfast
8:30 Morning Craft Talk
The day begins with a morning craft talk from a member of the faculty.
Here is Judith Kitchen presenting “Stray Thoughts: From Facebook to Beckett and Beyond” in Xavier Hall.

10:00 Workshop
Following the morning craft talk, participants attend faculty-led genre and multi-genre writing workshops in the classrooms of the Hauge Administration Building.
Workshop
12:00 Lunch
Lunch is scheduled between workshops and afternoon classes and can involve the entire group but more often is a chance to have one on one time with other classmates and faculty.
Lunch
1:30 class
Participants choose from an array of afternoon classes that begin after lunch in the Hauge Administration Building. A sample day at our 2013 residency included:

  • Close Readings of Zadie Smith’s “Joy” and Natalia Ginzburg’s “Human Relations” – Dinah Lenney
  • Just a Shape to Fill a Lack: the Limits of Language and Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” – Ann Pancake
  • Four Great Poems: Close Readings of “Edward, Edward” (Anonymous), “To Autumn” (John Keats), “Diving into the Wreck” (Adrienne Rich), and “A Hill” (Anthony Hecht) – David Biespiel
  • Just Say It – Lola Haskins
  • Sentiment or Sentimental: Lightning or Lightning Bug – Lia Purpura and Suzanne Berne
  • All the Stuff in the Room – Gary Ferguson

Class-Lia-Suzanne
3:00 class
Another diverse block of afternoon classes follows a traditional snack break in which hors d’oeuvres and beverages are provided.

  • Poetry Master Class – Linda Bierds
  • On the Work of Jack Gilbert and Linda Gregg – Kevin Goodan
  • Monologues – John Holman
  • First Chapters – David Cates
  • Short-Form Prose Options – Jim Heynen

4:30 Graduate Presentation
Residency is peppered with graduate presentations and graduate readings. Presentations typically take place in the classrooms of the Hauge Administration Building and graduate readings are performed in Xavier Hall.
Graduate
6:15 Dinner
Dinner is usually a group affair, with occasional exceptions, and can take place in one of the more formal rooms or on the University Center Patio.
Dinner

7:30 Reading

The day is concluded with a reading from one or more faculty members and/or special guests. Kent Meyers read in Xavier Hall from a work he recently completed for Harper’s Magazine entitled, “An Ultimate Quiet: Astrophysics at the Center of the Nation”

…and was followed by Peggy Shumaker.