Dennis Lehane and the case of the imploding MFA program

For those people wondering what Dennis Lehane is up to–and believe me, there are a great many–it might be of interest to note where he was, though not where he is at the moment. For the last few months or so, Lehane has been a faculty member of the University of Southern Maine’s fledgling MFA in creative writing. That changed when the founding director, B. Lee Hope, either quit or was terminated (depending who you ask) from her position. In protest, Lehane–along with six other faculty members–quit the program:

“It’s really one of the more depressing experiences of my life,” said Lehane, who had served as an instructor. “We built this thing and turned it into an extravagantly successful MFA program in two years.”

Lehane said one of the things that made the program special was the core of people, like Hope, who were dedicated to helping other writers.

From its inception the program was a challenge for both students and instructors, he said. Authors, many of whom were working for much less than they could make on a book, demanded a lot from their students and in return saw good results, he said.

This year the program will graduate 30 students, including many who already have had works published in some venue, he said.

Lehane said news of Hope’s departure caught faculty members by surprise and left some wondering about their relationship with university administration.

Indeed they would–those that are loyal might find things mighty uncomfortable, hence they feel forced to jump ship. Interestingly, Hope is still listed as the program’s director, but that may be due in part to her finishing out her duties until the end of the summer. And Lehane is still scheduled to appear at a reading on July 27 as part of Stonecoast’s summer series