The MFA Reading List

One of the requirements for finishing an MFA is to compile a reading list. It’s basically just a list of titles, not a review of each (thank goodness), but it’s intended to show what influences you had and what pieces you studied over the course of your program. It’s paired with the author statement, in which you reflect on how your work has developed over the course of the MFA.

They’re supposed to be about 35–40 titles. I have 116 after I winnowed out the titles that didn’t really have a direct bearing on my work. Shush.

One thing you’ll note is that I tried to read as much literary or “reality-based” fiction as I did speculative fiction. I didn’t go into an MFA program just so I could keep writing the same things I’ve always written, and diversifying my reading was a big part in developing my craft. Also note that several are labeled “story cycles” — as I’ve mentioned before, a story cycle is a series of short stories with a continuing element tying them together in a progressive storyline. The Women of Brewster Place tied its stories together with a geographic location; Olive Kitteridge tied together around a single character — Olive herself — who appears to a greater or lesser degree in each story.

I suppose if I had to pick some favorites while setting aside the obvious classic rereads… The Awakening, Where the Crawdads Sing and The Women of Brewster…