John Rember

Mfa in a Box: a Why to Write Book John Rember

Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize Short List, and 1st Runner Up - Reference Category (2011)

Midwest Book Awards, Finalist - Reference Category (2011)

Nautilus Book Awards, Silver Winner - Writing/Creative Process Category (2011)

Part craft talk, part philosophical tome, part memoir, MFA in a Box is not so much a book about how to write as it is about whyto write. In chapters that explore the relationships between the writer and love, grief, place, family, race, violence, and other topics, Rember helps writers dive deep into their own writing. He tells them how they can breathe down there and how they can get back.

"A big part of writing involves grappling with the terrors and discouragements that come when you have writing skills but can't project yourself or your work into the future," says Rember. "My hope is that MFA in a Box will help writers balance the despair of writing with the joy of writing. It's a book designed to help you to find the courage to put truth into words and to understand that writing is a life-and-death endeavor--but that nothing about a life-and-death endeavor keeps it from being laugh-out-loud funny."

"More than an advice book with a catchy title... Rember engages his readers in some of the issues every writer faces...not as problems to be overcome but as issues to be understood. - The (Portland) Oregonian

"Witty, audacious, and wise." Robin Metz, author of Unbidden Angel, and winner of the Rainer Maria Rilke International Poetry Award

"The essential truths about excellent writing." -The Judges of the Hoffer Awards