eve amedeus

I owe juuuuuuust under $10,000 and have exactly -$10.91 in my bank account. Yes, that’s negative $10.91. [Sigh] And, I have no job.

I hate you, economy. I hate you, stupid bankers who’ve screwed the rest of us. I hate this situation.

I haven’t updated this goal in more than three years. A lot has happened. I graduated from college with a BA in history and English. I entered graduate school for creative writing with the intention to write poetry and ended up writing a memoir instead. I’ll be graduating with an MFA in January (knock on wood). I moved from Los Angeles to Pennsylvania to New York City and back to Los Angeles, where my parents live.

That said, I’ve continued to haphazardly write poetry in the margins of notebooks and on my hands in moments of inspiration, but I think I should read more poetry to be able to discern better what “good poetry” is… so that I’ll have an aesthetic.

Does anyone have a poem (or book of poems) that they would recommend? I’d like to read some from various sources to get a feel for what’s out there. Any (inexpensive) suggestions?

I’m more than halfway through my MFA year and it’s going well. I don’t know if I’ll get a published book out of it, but I will have completed one of my other goals on this list, “write a nonfiction book”. My MFA thesis is a memoir about my time in college. I hope to have it published, of course, but I’m completely cynical about what it takes to break into the publishing world, and I’m not hopeful.

Last semester (January-June 2009) I did a lot of critical reading and writing and worked on my creative thesis. In June I learned about publishing and teaching. This semester (July-December 2009) I’m continuing work on my manuscript and fulfilling an internship with Etruscan Press.

If all goes well, I’ll be graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in January 2010. Wish me luck!

After that, it’s on to a Ph.D. program, though I don’t think I’ll be studying writing. Or, I may teach English and writing for a while and pay off my loans (see my “get out of debt” goal) and go back to school for a Ph.D. when I have a better idea of what I want to study. I’m leaning toward psychology, but I don’t know what kind other than just generally.