Q: Hi! Thanks for doing this interview. Could you introduce yourself to us?

A: Thanks for asking me to do it! My name is Matty Weaver and I’m a Winter 2024 graduate of the Alma College Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. I’m currently working as an adjunct instructor of English composition courses at Grand Rapids Community College. I wouldn’t be able to do this job without my MFA.

Q: Can you expand a little bit on your current role? Why did this appeal to you in the first place?

A: I’ve done a lot of teaching over the years, in various capacities. I worked at Apple and taught people how to use computers; I worked in information technology and as a technical writer. But when I was in high school, teachers named me “Most Likely to be an English Teacher.” That was something that always stuck with me, something that I thought I could be really good at doing. Getting my MFA from Alma College allowed me to do something that I’ve always wanted to do.

Q: When you were in the Alma MFA program, you concentrated your studies in non-fiction. What was it like working with faculty mentors in that concentration?

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A: It was really special. I primarily worked with Matthew Gavin Frank, Anna Clark and Leslie Contreras Schwartz — three writers who are all immensely talented, well-connected and incredible teachers. I think about my approach to writing from when I began the program to now and I can definitely tell a difference.

But I also have to say, I learned a lot from the community that was forged in the classroom. My classmates Mary Peterson and Joshua Zeitler; we learned so much together and we helped each other grow. That’s a big benefit to joining the Alma MFA program, I think — that sense of community. They help make growth fun and that’s something that is really important to me.

Q: You graduated from the Alma MFA during its first study-abroad residency, in Venice, Italy. What was Venice like, and how did that experience compare with the other residencies you had?

A: Venice was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime type of experience. But I really loved every residency we did; the winter residency that took place in Roscommon and the summer residency in Alma.

I really enjoyed the immersive aspect of it: being in a place away from home for a set length of time, only thinking about writing, lectures and community. It’s like a vacation from the real world. I found all of those places conducive for those kinds of activities for different reasons.

Alma was like the small-town college atmosphere that I didn’t get to experience for myself as an undergraduate. Roscommon, you’re in a cabin, in the cold weather, and feeling very secure in nature. Venice was this beautiful, old country, with lots of stories to tell. The locations were unique and wonderful. I made a lot of memories there.

Learn more about Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing program at alma.edu/mfa.