Joel Stadler

And thank you for clearing that up. I am used to genre fiction getting the raw treatment, and do apologize if I read to much into things (distinctly possible). But yeah, overall it’s great that the gap is lessening between the two.

I have done no looking into MFA programs, but I am a recent college grad who majored in creative writing. I wish to be an author and am currently working on a book I would like to publish. I am also an avid fan of fantasy (and to a lesser extent scifi). I have encountered a lot of criticism against genre fiction and how it is “lesser” to “true literature” and so on.

I do agree with a lot of what this article says, and believe me, I am one of the people most in favor of getting rid of these ridiculous distinctions. However, this article still seems (to me anyway) to be setting up a bit of a dichotomy that I disagree with. Now sure, there are some mainstream novels that are of sub par quality. The are (and have been) some mainstream titles that were/are just bad (I’m looking at you 50 shades of gray and twilight). But after reading this, it sounds like the author is still distinguishing between lit and genre fiction, saying that we should be raising genre fiction to the intellectual level of literature (forgive me if I am misrepresenting the article). Especially when analogies likening the genre fiction to a kids meal, and the literature to the vitamins are used.

Also, I got the sense that a dichotomy was set up such that either you write to be an intellectual literary award winner, or you write to sell. Personally, I believe that most writers simply write because they want to, and if they can live off of the writing alone that would be ideal (I know that’s my dream).

Again, I just have to say that I think there is much less difference between so called “literature” and genre fiction. To a large extent, I think it is a meaningless and potentially harmful distinction that only serves to further lend credence to the lit snobs who look down on all us other writers.

But please, do not confuse my ranting with a total dislike of this article. I agree with most of the points raised, and I think only good can come from more open-minded and inclusive MFA programs. And I will not dispute that this article is well written.

So overall I would definitely say this is a very good article, but it did have a few key points I felt were not representative of fiction. And if I read too much into this and misrepresented the article I do apologize. But the bottom line is I feel like it is still (unintentionally or not) making distinctions between literature and genre fiction that I think are unfair.

I like Fairytail a lot. Personally I do not think it is that bland or repetitive (though everyone is entitled to their own opinions obviously). It does have fan-service issues. But the best thing I can say in its favor is: Erza Scarlet. Seriously, no question my favorite female character in all of anime. In my mind she more than makes up for the fan-service.

I thought Asterisk War was a fine show (not amazing). And I will acknowledge I am a sucker for most any shonen fighting anime. However I do recognize that this show has a lot of issues, and I understand why lots of people dislike it. I would highly recommend to anyone who thought the show had potential it didn’t live up to (and to anyone in general really), the anime Chivalry of a Failed knight. In my mind that show is just a better version of Asterisk War (though I haven’t seen season two yet so I can’t speak to that). Still, Chivalry of a failed knight is amazing.