the practical writer HOW TO GET PAID119 POETS & WRITERSyourself without seeming super
boasty? How do you stay on track?
The way that you’ve been prepared
to talk about your work in a PhD
program is a bit different than when
you’re trying to present yourself as a
peer or a colleague.”
For writers of color, working in
academia can present a special chal-
lenge. On the one hand, diversity is a
watchword at many universities, and
professors say the MFA world is indeed
diversifying as writers of color who
gained prominence in the 2000s and
2010s filter into the teaching ranks.
Still, says Jordan, who is African
American, gatekeepers in publishing
and academia still tend to be white
people, some of whom cling to out-
dated notions of what it means to be a
writer of color.
“People should be able to write
about whatever they want to write
about, irrespective of what their cul-
tural background is,” he says. “I think
people are starting to realize that,
but I also think that there has been
some pressure put on writers of color
to write things that identify them as
writers of color in their work.”
Still, says Chang, who is Chinese
American, writers of color who can
navigate these expectations often find
the work rewarding. “If you’re a writer
of color, the world of academia can be
challenging because it evolved in me-
dieval times, and it’s slow to change,
but there are wonderful opportunities
where you can mentor younger people
who really need you,” she says. “That’s
what I would say to a person of color.
Yes, it’s not always a piece of cake to
be in academia as a person of color,
but it’s a place where you can make a
difference.”
No matter who they are, writers
shouldn’t see teaching as a cushy way
to pay the rent while they write poems
and stories, professors say. Thanks to
the free summers, university teaching
is probably the most writer-friendly
profession out there, but for ninemonths of the year, teaching is a full-
time job, and the rigors of the tenure
process can make it a nerve-racking
one as well. Because tenure-track
jobs are so coveted, MFA programs
can demand a great deal from their
faculty: exemplary teaching, hours of
committee work, and a steady record
of publication.
“There are a lot of people who get
into this work thinking it’s not work,
and those folks usually are not suc-
cessful,” says Jordan. “The people
you see who are doing well and have
had successful academic jobs and have
been publishing, they got that way by
showing up for work. I think that’s
something that’s really not talked
about enough.”PW.ORG/JOBLISTINGS
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