Ben Newell

Alumnus 

I earned
my MA  from a Baptist-affiliated school,
my MFA from a Catholic-affiliated school;
now, 52, I’m doing  freelance work for
a publisher of pornographic magazines;
my old professors would surely be appalled
but they’re on the tenure-track; they have the
luxury to be appalled, the luxury to have
standards, the luxury to tell friends/family
what they do, where they work—
Not that I’m ashamed of my job; we all have
to make a living and I’d be lying if I told you
I didn’t enjoy writing smutty stories teeming
with blowjobs and doggy and cowgirl
and reverse cowgirl with glass blown dildos
and cum flying all over the place—
I’ll do it as long as they let me, as long as they
need me, as long as they continue to produce
stroke mags in this increasingly digital world
I fancy myself a throwback, a dinosaur, a relic
of a simpler time, a better time when a person
with my academic credentials could actually
get a teaching job. 

 

Ben Newell dropped out of the Bennington Writing Seminars during his first semester, eventually resuming his studies at Spalding University where he earned an MFA. He makes ends meet (barely) working as a dishwasher and freelance writer.