MFA vs. NYC? Great article about “America’s Two Literary Cultures” from Chad Harbach in Slate. (I read the full version a few weeks ago in n+1… print subscription required.) The MFA culture seems distinctly more literary; NYC more commercial. But the NYC school also engages more in comtemporary society and issues, which is probably why so many seem to be satires, such as Absurdistan or The Ask.

I’m not quite convinced these two schools are so far removed from one another as this article suggests — and it’s worth mentioning that most undergrads are still mainly studying the same “canon” works as were in vogue in the 1950s… well, except maybe Vachel Lindsay — but it’s still great that people are engaging with these questions. And it’s heartening to see an academically rigorous perspective turned towards contemporary literature. What school do your tastes tend towards?