What We’re Protecting
At Antioch, writers are encouraged to do more than complete an assignment. They are challenged to take their work seriously, share it with others, and help new voices reach the world.
Spell Check began with a conversation in an Antioch University MFA workshop. Screenwriting alum Caitlin Buxbaum shared a story about misspelling “forty” while reflecting on turning 40. That moment opened a broader discussion about aging, identity, mistakes, and the ways people grow into themselves.
The conversation did not end when the workshop did.
Working with MFA faculty member Colette Freedman, Buxbaum developed the idea into an anthology of 33 personal essays inspired by misspelled words and the lessons attached to them. Seventeen contributors are Antioch students, faculty, staff, or alums. The book debuted before a sold-out audience at Sunny’s Bookshop, owned by MFA Screenwriting alum Sanaz Tamjidi.
What began with one writer’s experience became a platform for many.
That progression reflects the culture of Antioch’s MFA community. Faculty mentorship is close, practical, and rooted in the belief that creative work belongs in conversation with the wider world. Students and alums do not simply develop their individual voices. They create opportunities for one another, build literary communities, and turn workshop discoveries into published work.
Antioch’s autonomy allows creative programs to resist narrow definitions of academic success. A finished manuscript matters. So do the relationships, communities, and public conversations that can grow from it.
This is how we keep Antioch, Antioch: by creating space for writers to find their voices, strengthen one another’s work, and bring more stories into the world.