One of the requirements for the masters of fine arts degree at the Warren Wilson MFA program is the teaching of a class. Mine had something to do with the use of details, specifically color, but that is irrelevant. C’s was on immediacy. Attendees wrote their critiques and feedback about the class afterwards, anonymously, which after reviewing, the program director sent on to the class-giver (or teacher, perhaps). I never went to C’s class — we were in different semesters/residencies — but yesterday, rummaging through some boxes of papers, I came across this feedback he received:
I go to your class. I sit down. You speak. I’m immediately transformed into a great novelist. I graduate. People love me and tell me I’m good looking. Now that’s what I would call immediate, breathless.Â