MFA Writers

This week, we’re joined by YA author Caroline J. Trussell to talk about what it really means to write and publish beyond the debut. The conversation explores the pressure and possibility of a second book, the realities of building a career in YA, and why mental health and representation remain central to her work. We discuss the lasting influence of books you read when you are young, the importance of writing queer and neurodivergent characters into the center of the story, and what it’s like to pursue genre writing at Butler University MFA Program. Along the way, we also touch on the Iowa workshop debate, communities like Booth Literary Magazine, and how her latest novel, Liberated, embraces both strength and struggle as part of the same story.
Caroline J. Trussell is the published author of ENHANCED and has served in a number of creative roles throughout her career. She has previously written for multiple publications, including Her Campus and Folio Weekly. Caroline graduated from the University of Central Florida with a major in Writing and Rhetoric and is a current Creative Writing MFA student at Butler University. She is a mental health and chronic illness warrior and hopes to inspire others through discussing these topics in her work. Caroline resides in Indianapolis and hopes to one day teach students the craft of writing herself.
MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack, Hanamori Skoblow, and Brié Goumaz. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at ⁠MFAwriters.com⁠.
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— Donate to the show at⁠ Buy Me a Coffee⁠.
— Leave a rating and review on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠.
— Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.
— Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out ⁠our application⁠.
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Marisol Aveline Delarosa joins Jared to discuss what it means to be a nonfiction writer in a time that often feels chaotic and unkind. They talk about pursuing a second MFA in travel writing, building a creative life in New York City, and becoming her truest self by committing to a writer’s life. Marisol reflects on how writers meet the moment, balancing rage, fear, and joy, and what it means to bear witness through nonfiction.
Marisol Aveline Delarosa is a New Yorker who holds an MFA in nonfiction from The New School and she recently started her second MFA at Cedar Crest College’s Pan-European Creative Writing MFA program, where she is focusing on nonfiction travel writing. Marisol was chosen by Deborah Taffa (a former guest of ours here on the podcast) as the winner of the 2025 Bette Howland Prize for her essay titled, "Pursued by the Furies", which was published in A Public Space.
MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack, Hanamori Skoblow, and Brié Goumaz. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at ⁠MFAwriters.com⁠.
BE PART OF THE SHOW
— Donate to the show at⁠ Buy Me a Coffee⁠.
— Leave a rating and review on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠.
— Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.
— Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out ⁠our application⁠.
STAY CONNECTED
Twitter: ⁠@MFAwriterspod⁠
Instagram: ⁠@MFAwriterspodcast⁠
Facebook: ⁠MFA Writers⁠
Email: ⁠[email protected]

What does poetry look like when it starts with an equation? Brad Hoge joins Jared to discuss how his background in wetland ecology, biogeochemistry, and science education shapes the way he writes. Brad approaches poetry as a space for questioning and meaning-making. They discuss the challenges of writing about climate change, the psychology behind science denial, and how creativity lives at the center of both science and art.
Brad Hoge’s poetry appears in numerous anthologies and journals, most recently in the California Writers Club 2024 Best of the Best Literary Review, CWC Redwood Branch Anthology: Phases, The California Literary Review, CWC SF Peninsula Branch Anthology Fault Zone: Reverse, Consilience, and the CWC Redwood Branch Anthology: One Day. 
His photography has been published in Otoliths and Vision and Verse: A Fusion of Art and Poetry from CWC. He has also published four chapbooks, and was the managing editor for Dark Matter Journal. Much of his poetry uses metaphors from the sciences. He considers himself a retired wetland ecologist, even though he is currently teaching middle school English. 
He has taught at middle schools and high schools in Louisiana, Texas, and California. He has also been a children’s museum curator, a college professor, a restoration ecologist, a stay-at-home Dad, and the Director of multiple STEM programs. His broad range of experience has helped him mine many different fields for natural metaphor. His 2nd book of poetry, N = R* fp x nhime x fl x fi x fc x L (The Drake Equation) was published in 2020 by VRÆYDA Press. His first book, Nebular Hypothesis, was published by Cawing Crow Press in 2016. He is currently an MFA student at San Francisco State University and lives in the California Bay area.
MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack, Hanamori Skoblow, and Brié Goumaz. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at ⁠MFAwriters.com⁠.
BE PART OF THE SHOW
— Donate to the show at⁠ Buy Me a Coffee⁠.
— Leave a rating and review on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠.
— Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.
— Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out ⁠our application⁠.
STAY CONNECTED
Twitter: ⁠@MFAwriterspod⁠
Instagram: ⁠@MFAwriterspodcast⁠
Facebook: ⁠MFA Writers⁠
Email: ⁠[email protected]

In this instant classic episode, Wilson M. Sims and Jared talk about the step-by-step process of getting an agent, what they do (or know they shouldn’t do) when a story isn’t working, how MFA programs are like basketball drills, and approaching craft discussions in ways that are more flexible and time-varying than declarative and concrete. Plus, Wilson discusses making lasting connections with faculty and visiting writers and shares the realities of living on an MFA stipend and pivoting to part-time to maintain a day job.
Wilson M. Sims is a behavioral-health worker and policy strategist in the final year of his MFA program at Florida Atlantic University. His work is published in Longreads, The Florida Review, Witness Magazine, and Virginia Quarterly Review. He is the winner of the 2021 Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction, and his essay “Unknown Costs,” received a special mention in the 2025 Pushcart Anthology. Find him at wilsonmsims.com.
MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com.
BE PART OF THE SHOW
— Donate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee.
— Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
— Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.
— Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application.
STAY CONNECTED
Twitter: @MFAwriterspod
Instagram: @MFAwriterspodcast
Facebook: MFA Writers
Email: [email protected]

Self-proclaimed “protest poet” Komal Bukhari tells Jared what this title means to her and how, in her view, speaking truth to power is not an act of bravery—it’s a way of being. They also discuss Komal’s process, how she approaches the heavy themes of her work with patience to avoid burnout, and how MFA deadlines complicate this process. She also tells Jared about teaching creative writing versus English composition, how the MFA taught her it takes a hundred hours to finish a poem, and what it’s like moving from Pakistan to the small town of Carbondale, Illinois. 
Komal Bukhari is a Pakistani poet and MFA candidate in creative writing at Southern Illinois University. Her work explores theology, dissent, and the personal cost of defying patriarchal and religious boundaries. She writes about honor killing, blasphemy laws, and the politics of faith in Pakistan, often examining her own struggle to seek freedom within and beyond these systems. Her poem “Iconoclast” was featured by BBC Urdu, where she was named an emerging poet, and her poems have appeared in Pakistani anthologies. 
MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack, Hanamori Skoblow, and Brié Goumaz. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at ⁠MFAwriters.com⁠.
BE PART OF THE SHOW
Donate to the show at⁠ Buy Me a Coffee⁠.
Leave a rating and review on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠.
Submit an episode request. If there’s a program you’d like to learn more about, contact us and we’ll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience.
Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out ⁠our application⁠.
STAY CONNECTED
Twitter: ⁠@MFAwriterspod⁠
Instagram: ⁠@MFAwriterspodcast⁠
Facebook: ⁠MFA Writers⁠
Email: ⁠[email protected]