Photo: Jill Newton Moore
Founding Principles
These are the founding principles as agreed on in 1997
As is the custom at Goddard, we acknowledge and celebrate that CWC will be a “process.” We will continue to re-visit these principles each year during the conference and at our final community meetings. At the first annual CWC in 1997, we agreed on several principles to guide the Conference as it grows:
As is the custom at Goddard, we acknowledge and celebrate that CWC will be a “process.” We will continue to re-visit these principles each year during the conference and at our final community meetings. At the first annual CWC in 1997, we agreed on several principles to guide the Conference as it grows:
- CWC will continue the Goddard tradition of innovation by providing a place for writers to teach each other in a supportive, low-competition atmosphere. Our purpose is two-fold: to create an opportunity for Goddard MFA Alumni to work and nurture their writing lives, and to support the MFA program by providing a unique, ongoing community of writers for Goddard MFA alumni.
- CWC will reflect and draw from the deep talent the Goddard MFA program attracts and inspires. Many writing conferences are developed around specific teachers, “stars” who are well-known in the writing world. Many of us have benefited from those experiences and probably will continue to. The CWC will provide another kind of experience; we will come to learn from each other—because we know what magic can happen here, and because we trust one another for inspiration.
- CWC will operate separately from the MFA residency, with its own community meetings, leadership, and program. The conference will overlap with the residency informally around campus and at meals, as well as at readings and CWC workshops as coordinated with the MFA Faculty Lead. CWC participants will not participate in residency workshops or community meetings unless invited by the MFA Lead Faculty and will respect the need for current MFA students to have time with their teachers.
- CWC will be accessible in terms of cost and disability.
- CWC will be planned and organized each year for Goddard MFA Alumni by a steering committee of volunteers from the previous year’s conference.