Over the summer, I decided that science fiction writers are the first-responders of the web-based literary world.
Long before any other genre discussed the Internet, computer culture, or any of the reality-changing digital shifts in our lives, science fiction authors were already exploring these ideas in novels.
However, these brave writers rarely have the support they need in creative writing programs. The Creative Writing MFA Blog has been discussing this problem lately, and Anna Mendoza had this advice: "Sadly, magical realism, science fiction, horror, and fantasy are genres that have been taken over by hacks and pulp writers to such an extent that colleges and universities are generally suspicious of a writer who professes to write such material; in fact they may expect the work to be bad before they even look at it."
The readers rallied with some excellent suggestions, so check out the comments section for new ideas about programs you can explore. I was especially interested in the MFA "genre fiction" concentration at USC. This semester, Shelly Lowenkopf is teaching the genre course--this editor and novelist has a great blog as well.
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