MFA Lore: A Substack bestseller
Delivering the essence of an MFA in Creative Writing… minus the tuition!
Who’s Aimee Liu?
Hi there! I’m Aimee (my mother wished we were French). I’m a veteran author, ghostwriter, and creative writing advisor. For the best 15 years of my life I taught in Goddard College’s MFA program. There I discovered the unstoppable power of creative writing to bring people together, to heal troubled souls, to forge a deep sense of belonging, to awaken passionate spirits, and to produce astonishing works of art.
Our MFA community of faculty, staff, and students was one of the most inclusive, accepting, and resilient I’ve ever known. The pandemic rang the death knell for our program, and the whole college closed soon after, one of so many casualties in higher education today. But here at Substack I realized that I can keep the flame of creativity and community burning with my students and new subscribers at MFA Lore. So that’s what I’m trying to do: offer the essence of the MFA experience through our posts, live events, and community gatherings, but without the tuition!
More background: my fiction includes the novels Glorious Boy, Cloud Mountain, Flash House, and Face, which have made various bestseller lists and been published in more than a dozen languages. This work circles themes related to my Asian-American heritage, which is also one of the core themes here at MFA Lore.
I’ve also written a couple of groundbreaking books on eating disorders, Solitaire and Gaining The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders. And chances are, you’ve read at least one of the nonfiction bestsellers I’ve ghostwritten but cannot name.
I have an MFA from Bennington Writers, and I’m represented by Inkwell Management Literary Agency. I’ve also written for a wide variety of publications, including Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Solstice Literary Magazine, and Poets & Writers.
NEW Offer for PREMIUM Subscribers!
Become a Premium Subscriber today, and I will offer MFA-level feedback (aka 1 Packet Letter) on 1-5 pages of creative work and your next query letter. My approach is to identify Strengths and Opportunities in your work. I’m here as an advisor to help you develop your story and your craft.
What is MFA Lore?
My goal is to create an engaged MFA Lore community of creative writers by sharing the professional insights and graduate-level knowledge I’ve gleaned over more than 30 years of publishing and teaching creative writing at the MFA level. Every other month I host virtual gatherings of paid subscribers to discuss the most urgent writing issues facing us all. I also post occasional installments from my memoir-in-progress, an exploration of the multi-generational fallout of my father’s experience as a Chinese-American immigrant.
MFA Lore now consists of 4 newsletter sections:
MFA Core offers weekly graduate-level creative writing tips and insights that I’ve shared with MFA students over my years of teaching. Paid subscribers will have full access to the deep-diving craft posts that drop each Saturday, plus occasional Writers in Conversation, with writers, editors, and agents I’ve met over my 40-year career in the book business. Here’s a popular post from MFA Core:
Metaphortography Prompts is the newest addition to MFA Lore. Every Monday you’ll receive one of my “photopaintings” twinned with a literary metaphor or writing prompt to launch your work week! Here’s a sample:
Writer In The World is a collaborative site for MFA alumni & faculty– to share words and wisdom each Wednesday about everything we are doing in the world. Here’s a popular post from WITW:
East-West Legacy features occasional posts about Asian-American history through the lens of the discoveries I’m making as I write about my biracial family heritage. Here’s a popular post from East-West Legacy:
* Important! You can choose which section to receive, if you don’t want them all. See instructions at the bottom of this page.
MFA Lore Subscription Tier benefits!
FREE subscribers receive free MFA Core posts and previews, plus all new Writer In The World, Metaphortography Prompts, and East-West Legacy posts.
PAID Subscribers receive weekly MFA Core posts for paid subscribers, as well as free and archived posts in all sections, AND are invited to join in our community chats, Zooms, and LIVE events about writing and publishing.
PREMIUM subscribers have all the benefits of Paid Subscribers, PLUS you are invited to share 1-5 pages of creative work and your query letter for MFA-level feedback.
* For more about my life and books, please visit my website: aimeeliu.net
* Also check out my stories at authoraimeeliu.medium.com
Here’s what MFA Lore subscribers say:
To select which newsletters you receive, do this:
We all get way too many emails, and I do not want to burden you with any that don’t interest you. So please go to your Substack "Settings," click “Subscriptions” and Aimee Liu’s MFA Lore, then under “Notifications,” you can control which newsletter sections you receive.
Just click the toggle next to any you do not want, so it’s gray [OFF]. But be careful not to turn off the top/main toggle for Aimee Liu's MFA Lore — unless you want to unsubscribe entirely!
