# Cornell College MFA application personal statement

My name is Madison Scott-Clary, and I am an author, editor, and layout designer living in the Pacific Northwest. While I work in software development for a living, I originally studied music composition in school and have been writing prose from long before that. I began writing seriously a decade back with the creative non-fiction project \[adjective\]\[species\], a collection of essays investigating the furry subculture, then worked with the publisher Thurston Howl Publications to edit and produce the fiction anthology Arcana: A Tarot Anthology. From there, I published two collections of short stories, Rum and Coke: Three Short Stories from a Furry Convention and Restless Town, a collection of poetry called Eigengrau, a fictive memoir called ally, and a novel, Qoheleth.

I have complex thoughts on creativity.

Creativity is a force akin to a river. It is a thing to be managed and guided but never completely controlled. Sometimes it floods and dikes must be constructed to guide it properly on its path. Sometimes the flow ebbs and one must lean on one's reserves. And if the river of creativity is carefully channeled and the foundation beneath is strong, one could easily build a house beside it.

Moving through life has been a continual process of defining and refining my relationship to this force that is creativity, constructing healthy boundaries, working with reserves. My time in undergrad was focused on this. My time since then, both in writing and in my work life, has involved plenty more. Even my transition and growth into a mature adult has involved shaping that flow as I strive to better myself and express what is most meaningful to me.

With Restless Town, as a collection of short stories, I was able to address one topic at a time, explore it inside and out, and still maintain a satisfying arc throughout. With ally, I was able to explore how I got to where I am today, relying on creativity of form. With Qoheleth, I was able to interrogate concepts of self — both dissolution and multiplication thereof — that plague those moments of yearning for the void.

I am the house beside that river, and my walls are strong. However, they could always be stronger, the foundation always better reinforced. I can always strive to better both myself and my writing. I feel that this program will help me to better their construction, to allow my writing to mature, and to help me work all the more smoothly as I improve my skills. I look forward to learning and growing within the Cornell College MFA program.

