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What I notice, as a man with no degree, is that lots of poets seem to have Master’s degrees. When I see that, I feel a little under-qualified to be a poet, and once looked at enrolling on a distance learning MA in Creative Writing. On paper it looked like I had a chance because I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies (despite the aforementioned lack of degree) and was writing publishable poetry.
However, when the rejection arrived it was quite clear from the condescending tone, and attached list of former students, that it was really a course for people who were already published and/or writing professionally. That is why the ambition to do a course has simmered for years without coming to anything. Rejection, I can take, but when I get one couched in sneeringly condescending tones, I take exception. I’ve had several over the years, and they always bring out the hidden Bolshevik I keep hidden in my soul. I really should be grateful, I suppose, because that memory is a powerful motivational tool.
Anyway, I will now return from the distant past and talk about Sunday. Having noted in the biographical notes of a magazine, that one of the poets had an MA in Creative Writing from the Open University, I thought I’d have another look. The Open University is, after all, the University set up to help people earn degrees despite a lack of formal qualifications. Or not. It seems that you “must” have an honours degree, preferably a 2:1. Many masters degrees are flexible, but the OU Creative Writing MA seems to lack any element of this.
Ah well, I don’t need one anyway, as I’m still getting published. Having said that, I’d better get a move on as I only got until, Wednesday to send my submissions for this month. It’s being going slowly, and I’ve been working on things for the Numismatic Society of Nottinghamshire and the September presentation. I’ve also been honing my snoozing skills and using the cricket as a rehearsal for watching the Olympics, if you want the whole truth.
Books, and more books
I have been a teacher for most of my life and due to circumstances I never got anything more than the barest of qualifications. I have spent a lot of time having to work with highly educated fools and under the authority of vacuous Principals who knew very little about children of any age from 5 to 18.
At least that’s my excuse.
Not an excuse, an accurate representation of what I saw when we used to work with groups from schools. 🙂
I learned a lot at University but none of it was connected with my degree which wasn’t very useful at all. It might have helped if I had done any work.
Useful or not, the possession of a degree opens many doors. O notice with my kids that you now really need to have a Masters to go for the better jobs. It’s a bit like an arms race. Soon you will need a PhD to stand out from the crowd.
Ignore those who would keep you down, Simon. Go forth with your own sense of self and determination, and you will succeed to whatever level you want to reach. Music works very much the same as writing. It is all in the spirit.
I don’t know if you are familiar with the Ferengi (the personification of extreme capitalism) and their “Rules of Acquisition” from Star Trek, but your post about those above sneering on those below and trying to keep them down made me think of one of the Ferengi rules. “Employees are like the rungs of a ladder. Never hesitate to step on one on the way up”.
Yes, I’m familiar with the Ferengi. 🙂 That rule seems to be one used by a lot of people.
I, too, am a nongraduate and have had similar experiences. Not quite as directly as you did, but Maine’s literary community made it clear I was not one of them. It’s the way of the world, isn’t it?
Strange really, as Shakespeare, Dickens and , Agatha Christie, for instance, seem to have manged without a degree. 🙂
The best answer is to write more and write better, which is what I did and what you seem to have done too.
Yes, yes!
When the Social Work training course run by my friend Wolf and on which I taught, having previously trained on it, became post-graduate we reflected that neither of us non-graduates would have qualified for a place
I once looked at a job which required two A Levels. A few years later I saw it advertised again, but now requiring a degree. Qualifications have been devalued over the years, and common sense and experience are completely over-looked. I do find it amusing that you could teach the course but you couldn’t have got onto it. And of course, you were also a crossword setter, which in my view requires a lot more intelligence than merely getting a degree.
Thanks a lot.