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Alistair McCartney

@alistair.mccartney

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I'm a writer in Los Angeles, author of The End of the World Book and The Disintegrations, working on my 3rd book. I like to daydream.

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✨ This week, our Faculty Friday Spotlight goes to Alistair McCartney, Acting Co-Chair & Teaching Faculty of the Antioch University Low-Residency MFA Creative Writing Program!

📚 Alistair McCartney (Acting Co-Chair & Teaching Faculty / Fiction) is the author of 2 experimental novels, The Disintegrations: a Novel (University of Wisconsin Press, 2017) and The End of the World Book (University of Wisconsin Press, 2008.) The Disintegrations won the Publishing Triangle’s Ferro-Grumley award for LGBTQ Fiction. TEOTWB was a finalist for the PEN USA Fiction Award 2009 and the Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Debut Fiction Award 2009.

✍🏽 McCartney’s cross-genre writing has also appeared in journals such as Hotel, Light/Air, LIT, Fence, Nat.Brut, Vestiges, 3:AM, Animal Shelter (Semiotexte) and in Pilot Press’s Paul Thek and Forbidden Colours Anthologies. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he lives in Los Angeles.

🌎 A graduate of Antioch University MFA’s inaugural year, he has presented at institutions throughout the country, including CUNY Grad Center NYC, PEN Center USA, Teacher’s and Writer’s Collaborative New York, Cal Arts, UC Santa Cruz, and UW Madison. In 2019, he was Artist in Residence for Art Workshop International in Italy. He is currently working on a novel and a book of poetics.

🎓 Want to study with Alistair McCartney? We’re accepting applications and granting scholarships!

📅 Applications accepted on a rolling basis!

🔗 Learn more at the link in our bio.

#FacultyFriday #AlistairMcCartney #AntiochMFA #CreativeWriting #FictionWriting

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🚀 For almost thirty years, the Antioch MFA program has been Creating Space for writers to tell their stories. Our founder, Eloise Klein Healy, envisioned a unique program that uplifts writers and reflects our motto of "Community, Not Competition." For many students, receiving a scholarship through the Eloise Klein Healy Fund (EKH) made the difference between attending the program and growing as a writer, or not attending at all.

💜 We need your help. The majority of our students come to us with greater financial need. Please donate what you can. Your gifts make it possible for us to continue Creating Space for new voices to thrive.

✨ This year, our goal is to raise $25,000 from 100 donors, and MFA alum Li Quintana has generously agreed to match donations! Every dollar donated (up to $25,000) will be matched if donated by December 31, 2026.

🎉 Thank you to everyone who has already donated. Due to the generous support of 39 donors, we are already 87% of the way to our $25,000 goal! Go to the Donate to the EKH MFA Scholarship Fund or to link in bio to help us reach and exceed our goal!

#AntiochMFA #CreatingSpace #EKHFund #SupportWriters #CreativeWritingCommunity

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✨ Curious about what it’s like to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at Antioch from the student perspective? We’re accepting applications for December on a rolling basis!

🎤 Join us for Inside the MFA: Student Panel on Saturday, September 26 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, featuring recent Antioch MFA alumni in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Writing for Young People.

📚 Hear firsthand how alumni developed their voices, refined their manuscripts, and shaped their creative practice within Antioch’s supportive and rigorous MFA community. Panelists will share insights into their writing process, workshop experiences, faculty mentorship, creative community, and the growth that comes from immersing yourself in an MFA program.

✍🏽 This live virtual Q&A is an opportunity to ask questions, learn about the challenges and rewards of the MFA journey, and discover how Antioch helps prose writers deepen their craft and bring their work to life.

🎓 The panel will be facilitated by Teaching Faculty and Acting Co-Chair Alistair McCartney.

🔗 Register now at the link in bio!

#AntiochMFA #AntiochUniversity #CreativeWriting #MFA #WritingCommunity

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✨ We’re so excited to announce the lineup for our December 2026 Antioch MFA Residency!

📚 Some of the incredible faculty and guests joining us include Alistair McCartney, Cathy Linh Che, Colette Freedman, Janice Lee, and Dan Lopez!

✍🏽 We are accepting applications! Study Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Writing for Young People, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Literary Translation, or pursue a dual-genre concentration.

💻 You can attend the residency in person at our Los Angeles campus, online, or a combination of both. Scholarships are available!

🔗 Learn more about our faculty and program at the link in our bio.

#MFAProgram #MFAinCreativeWriting #CreativeWritingPrograms #CreativeWritingCommunity #LowResidencyMFA

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The idea of “defamiliarization” says that we sometimes become so adjusted to our world, that we eventually grow numb to it. Art can help us revitalize our view of the world, sympathize with the human experience, and connect with community.

In this episode of The Seed Field podcast, we interview novelist and @aulamfa in Creative Writing Acting Co-Chair Alistair McCartney, discussing the theory of defamiliarization and how this practice can be used in the world of literature and arts in order to create a more empathetic world.

“I would say what excites me about it is just when I first encountered the concept, the clarity of the concept. I was very immediately drawn into this notion that Shklovsky defines that the purpose of writing is to, as he says, to make the stone stony, is to impart the stone, the stoniness of the stone. And it felt like even though he clearly gets more complex about the concept of defamiliarization, or estrangement is a term people sometime- sometimes use in place of defamiliarization, I would say the simplicity and the clarity of the concept really struck me in terms of the function of writing.”

Listen to the full episode in the #linkinbio.

#AntiochLosAngeles #Defamiliarization #CreativeWriting #SeedFieldPodcast

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What an honor to be invited to give the commencement speech for the Antioch Los Angeles MFA graduates. Thank you, Rachel, Michel, Greta, Aissa, d, and Gale, for allowing me to share my process with you and writing into a little brighter life together. Thank you, Lisa, Alistair, Cathy, Colette, Natalie, Colleen, Daisy, and the rest of team for trusting me with this role.

“Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.” - Joy Harjo

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So nice to visit my old work family at @aulamfa Antioch’s MFA program during their summer residency. Thanks to @sunnysbookshop for the popup bookstore.

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Curious about pursuing an MFA focused on Poetry or Dramatic Writing? We’re accepting applications for June!

Join us for a live virtual Q&A panel on Zoom, Saturday April 11th, 10 AM PT, featuring current and graduating Antioch MFA students who are writing their manuscripts in these dynamic genres, and the faculty who teach them.

Hear firsthand how students are crafting powerful poetry collections, writing for the stage and screen, and shaping their creative practice within Antioch’s supportive and rigorous MFA community. Panelists will share insights on their writing process, workshop experiences, mentorship with faculty, and the unique creative growth that comes from immersing yourself in Antioch's unique writing program.

The panel will be facilitated by award winning faculty, Cathy Linh Che, Antioch MFA's core poetry faculty, and Colette Freedman, Dramatic Writing Teaching faculty.

Register at link in bio.

#MFAProgram #MFAincreativewriting #creativewritingprograms #lowresidencyMFA
#poetryMFA
#dramaticwritingMFA

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We’re so excited to announce the lineup for our June 2026 Antioch MFA residency! We are accepting applications! Study Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Writing for Young People, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Literary Translation, or do a dual-genre concentration. You can attend the residency in person at our Los Angeles campus, online, or a combination of both. Scholarships are available. Learn more about our faculty and program at the link in bio.

#MFAProgram #MFAincreativewriting #creativewritingprograms #creativewritingcommunity #lowresidencyMFA #writersofinstagram

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If Kyle MacLachlan is hiding in your house, car, closet, or woods, Alistair McCartney’s (@alistair.mccartney) poem is for you—today at Villain Era! 🖤🔪

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‼️ANTIOCH FRIENDS: I’m teaching a seminar next week on how to start your own writers group! 📝 Info below and link in bio.
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✍🏽Graduating from an MFA program is a huge milestone. Yay! Now you’re a writer in the real world! But it also comes with a loss: the thoughtful critique and encouragement from Antioch peers and instructors that fueled your growth while completing the program. Without the workshops, feedback, and built-in deadlines, it’s easy to lose momentum and feel unsupported.

✍🏽That’s where a writers group comes in. Creating your own circle of trusted readers not only keeps you accountable to your goals, it gives you a space to exchange ideas, celebrate wins, and stay connected to other writers. In essence, it’s how you continue to thrive and evolve as a writer.

✍🏽This seminar will guide MFA alums step-by-step through launching and sustaining a successful writers group of their own.

Tuesday, January 27th, 5pm PT. 🗓️
Link in bio! 🔗

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#antiochuniversity #antiochmfa #alumnicircle #writersgroup #writingseminar

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Hi from Indian Ocean! That's me in the blurry foto hanging from the statue. I swam out into the sea to visit the memorial statue of CY O'Connor here in Perth, Australia. He cretated Fremantle harbor in Perth and like William Mulholland in L.A. (another great Irish engineer !) moved vast amounts of water great distances. O'Connor was hounded by his critics to an early death by suicide on this very beach. It was an amazing experience to encounter this beautiful sculpture memorial in deep water with the shark chopper overhead. One of the most moving private art experiences I have ever had. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Y._O%27Connor

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