He liked the attention and cash, but doubted that writing fiction could be taught. With intense alterations in publishing, though, the normally fraught relationship between writer and academy appears more rocky than typical, maybe even broken.

A year ago, N+1 Magazine persuasively schematized the trail to posting a novel as either “live in nyc” or “get an MFA” and argued that, regardless of the price in tuition and a place that is powerful the publishing ecosystem, MFA programs don’t have a lot of influence on the grade of composing students creates.