Farewell from the Editors 2024-2026
Dear Friends and Readers,
It’s a little surreal to be graduating. These two years seem to have flown by, but I have done so much during this time that I can hardly believe it. I transferred to American University from another grad program, and I was anxious about starting over in a new place. Now, I’m so grateful to have studied and worked here. I’m grateful to have been assigned to Café MFA so that I got to become friends with Hannah. Those first couple months were overwhelming and confusing, but we created Café MFA together.
American University gave me tools and opportunities to learn, write, edit, teach, and even publish. Professors gave me the encouragement to keep sending out my work, which led to my first poetry chapbook getting published (and I’m working on my second). I was able to write a whole novella in less than a year for my thesis! Editing for Café MFA and networking at events has given me a glimpse at what a professional career in this field is like. I’m excited (and nervous, but who isn’t) to be going out into the working world.
Lastly, a special thank you to Angela, who kindly took Café MFA’s socials and made them beautiful and engaging! I know you’ll do great as Café MFA’s next Editor-in-Chief. Hannah and I built the foundation for Café MFA so that future generations of graduates can take that foundation and build something they can be proud of too.
With much love,
Ashley Werner
Associate Editor 2024-2026
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Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Other Readers,
We are a month and a half past graduation and I’m just now getting around to writing this. While it’s true that I moved, started transitioning out of my job as a writing coach, and shifted to a new full-time job in communications all in the immediate aftermath of graduation - my delay in this comes much more from not being quite sure of what to say. How do you express your gratitude and love for an amazing two-year experience in just a few paragraphs?
However, what being in the MFA program at AU taught me is that it’s okay to not always have the perfect words. When I came into the program, I had a lot of self-doubt. I was just out of my undergrad and while I had received my BA in English with a concentration in writing, I was really questioning if I was cut out to be a writer at all. I knew I was a strong reader and strong editor, but I was pretty worried I’d fail to come up with an adequate story or poem in my first few weeks and would have to leave the program.
Clearly (and thankfully) that didn’t happen. This is partially because AU’s program and professors are so welcoming that they will keep encouraging you to try again and again until you get it. They will believe in you when you can’t believe in yourself. However, this is also because I found that if I really tried - if I sat down and just pushed myself to get a few words on the page - something would come out sooner or later.
And I learned it didn’t have to be perfect. As someone who is rather Type-A, this was a hard realization to come to. I wanted to always get it right on the first try - the right word, the right description, the right character decision. But writing - like most forms of art - is about imperfection. It’s about expression. The messiness of a first draft - or even a fifth - is what makes writing human. In a world that grows ever-increasingly into the land of AI use, the imperfect is important.
Café MFA wasn’t perfect either when Ashley and I took up the call. In fact, we came to work on Café in a time when its future - and its past - were pretty uncertain. There had been editors before us who had done incredible work, but somewhere in the string of COVID time, much of the magazine had been lost. Ashley and I worked together, through some uncertainty, to recreate Café MFA and lay a foundation for its future while also figuring out what we wanted to do as writers. While the work has never been perfect, and will likely never be, it has been a deeply important part of my life.
I’d like to first and foremost thank Ashely for being a steadfast support and thoughtful leader for this journal. When I’d get carried away with ideas, she was the one to really help me make the important decisions that brought the right ideas to life. Without her support, talent, and editorial guidance, Café MFA would not be what it is today.
I also want to thank Angela, who has been a wonderful addition to the team in the past year and who really created a space for us on social media so that we can reach wider audiences. She is a talented writer and compassionate teacher who I am deeply appreciative of. I am so glad that she will be taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief in the coming year alongside new Associate Editor, Piérre Ramon Thomas. Piérre is a wonderful poet whose creativity, lyricism, and knack for language will help take Café to new heights. I also want to preemptively thank the new PR chair, who I know will be a wonderful addition to the team when announced.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who has read and contributed to this blog in the last two years through trial and error. We would not be what we are without our community. Please continue to visit the site, attend Café MFA events, and contribute your stories, book reviews, and other pieces to our space. Your voices matter and we want to keep hearing them.
With love and deep appreciation,
Hannah Cornell
Editor-in-Chief 2024-2026
