Almedia Knight-Oliver (she/her) is a poetry student in her third semester of our MFA program. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and was part of our first cohort. Almedia is beloved for her fantastic poetry and wise contributions to class discussions based on 86 years of life experience! She is a great inspiration and proof that there's no age limit to pursuing an MFA or higher degree. Below an interview with Aliyah Warwick, admin. of our English department and also a student in our MFA program:

Q: Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
A: I was born in a small town in Moselle, Mississippi. After my father died in 1942, my mother and her nine children, five boys and four girls ages fifteen months to thirteen years old, moved to Tawanta, MS. I lived there from age seven or eight until I graduated high school in April 1954 and moved to Brooklyn, NY, where I've lived until the present!

Q: What drew you to MIU’s MFA in Creative Writing Program?
A: MIU drew me after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 while I was suffering from insomnia, depression, isolation, and other unnamed problems. On December 26, 2020, the day after Christmas, and not a year yet practicing Transcendental Meditation, as clear as daylight, I heard my inner voice tell me the following words: “Go back to school and get an MFA (it didn't say in what art). You can even get a Ph.D. if you like.” I was so happy and immediately told my husband what I had heard. I asked if he would support my plan to go back to school, and the answer was “Yes,” and it still holds!

I immediately begin checking out colleges for courses in writing and found several, including the university my twin daughters attend and will graduate from in another year. I began thinking about my age. What college would give me a place in their MFA program at eighty-four years old? Then, I started Googling colleges with seniors programs and sent out applications for the new year of 2021.

One day in early 2021, after I'd been practicing TM for almost a year, I was reading my email of events from my TM center in Brooklyn, and low and behold, the next Advanced Lecture in January would be about Maharishi International University, which I ended up attending, and the rest is history!

I'm in my third semester of MIU’s Creative Writing Program and can't think of another college that would have welcomed and provided a space for me at eighty-six years old, a senior citizen who wants to learn and live every day and only die once.

Q: What kind of writing do you enjoy most?
A: I have been writing all my life but didn't know it; I prefer writing poetry and journaling because I free write and don't feel bound by craft and process. And yet, I want to learn art and technique and have learned more than I could imagine. Besides, the white paper doesn't laugh if I soak it with tears or say the silliest things when I don't have the answer. It never passes judgment on how I say something in my southern dialect.

Q: What is the primary writing project you hope to complete during the MFA?
A: I have so much that I hope to finish, but I would settle for an essay about the lack of space for the elders in our society. Also, I want to write about my name--why out of nine children I was not given a middle name, which was unheard of then. A name was significant during my time--I didn't know anybody, male or female, without a middle name.

Q: What inspires you?
A: After trying to be a mother, being a grandmother and a great-grandmother are some of the most inspiring experiences ever! It's inspiring to write about every one of my grand and great-grandchildren, seeing how they are creative and have minds of their own. Though I'm much older, I can talk with the younger ones about how being a parent is not easy.

Q: What is your favorite part of the MFA Program so far?
A: My favorite part of the MFA program is the residencies. The two weeks are jam-packed with fabulous guests, music, poetry readings by notable poets, workshops, and much more.

Q: What is your creative philosophy?
A: My creative philosophy is pretty simple: all the world needs is love and no greed. Love would solve the problems we are facing today.

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