Yagnya Misra, Graduate Student in School of the Arts, Creative Writing
Hello, I am Yagnya Misra. I am from Bhubaneswar, in the state of Odisha, India. Welcome to #ISSOstories.
Which Columbia program/department are you in?
I'm doing my MFA - Master of Fine Arts - in Fiction at Columbia.
I'm doing my MFA Master of Fine Arts in Fiction in Columbia. Welcome to ISSO stories.
Well, I mean, coming to Columbia was like a dream. I mean, I was already enrolled in a PHD and I had no plans to come to America or New York. I mean, I had never been to New York in America, so New York and America was all from the media, from the movies, Hollywood movies. So, I mean, but while doing the PHD, I mean, I have done all kinds of writing: academic journalism, creative writing. And then I found that creative writing is the most challenging. And that's why I wanted to make a career in this one. But then it's not easy because in India we didn't have any creative writing courses. And I thought, okay, let me just try my writing. I mean, I wanted that freedom of, you know, creating and being the boss of your own work. So then I thought, how do I again go back to that world? And then I was applying to all universities and Columbia put me on the waitlist. I applied in 2021, Columbia put me on the waitlist, in 2022, and then again in ‘23 they again put me- they waived the application fee, put me again in the, what you call the wait list and then something, you know, interesting happened, which you call as destiny. I was shortlisted for a very important competition. There was an Alpine Writing Prize in 2023, and then I sent that information to the dean of the School of the Arts. And then, you know, the journey you can say started or you can say the idea, “Okay, I can go.” And then I'm just graduating most probably this October, so that's why I'm here in New York.
For fiction I write now short stories. I have a collection. So I am trying to write a novel.
My main hobby is watching like you can say soccer. That's how I relax. And I'm happy that, I think, I follow club football, what you call football in the rest of the world. And even next year will be having the World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, the football World Cup, and I hope to be here to watch it. So when you say hobby, I mean, obviously football is just, like, fun. When you're sick of reading and loaded, you go to soccer. But reading is like, that's the real hobby because without that, I mean, no degree can help you become a writer without reading.
So it's a rigorous program and I really like about that one. That it really made me work. So I wanted to read 3 or 4 books a week. And that way, I mean, weekends also you have to be reading, and then you have to write for your workshop 30, 40 pages. So it's like, I mean, I hardly got time to go to downtown, just two, three rides away in the subway.
Tell us about your journey to Columbia.
Coming to Columbia was like a dream. I was already enrolled in a PhD program and I had no plans to come to America or New York. I had never been to New York or America, so all I knew about it was from the media and Hollywood movies. Throughout my career I've done all kinds of writing such as academic, journalism, and creative writing. I found that creative writing was the most challenging. And that's why I wanted to make a career in it. It's not easy because in India we don't have any creative writing courses. So I thought – let me just try it. I wanted that freedom of creating and being the boss of my own work. Then I thought, how do I get into that world?
I was applying to all universities and Columbia put me on the waitlist. When I applied in 2021, Columbia put me on the waitlist in 2022. Then in 2023, they waived the application fee, put me again in the waitlist and then something interesting happened, which we call destiny. In 2023, I was shortlisted for a very important competition – The 2023 Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. I sent that information to the dean of the School of the Arts. And then the journey started or the idea of, “Okay, I can go.” I'm graduating most probably this October, so that's why I'm here in New York.
Reading is the real hobby because without reading, no degree can help you become a writer.
We’d love to learn more about your writing and your program.
For fiction, I now write short stories. I have a collection and I am trying to write a novel. It's a rigorous program and I really like that about it. It really made me work. We had to read 3 or 4 books a week. Because of this, on weekends I also had to be reading, and then I had to write 30/40 pages for my workshop. So I hardly had time to go downtown, which is just two, three rides away on the subway.
Do you have any hobbies?
My main hobby is watching soccer. That's how I relax. I follow club football (what you call football in the rest of the world). Next year, the U.S. will be having the soccer World Cup (football World Cup), and I hope to be here to watch it. I mean, obviously football is just fun. When I am sick of reading and loaded, I go to soccer. But reading is the real hobby because without reading, no degree can help you become a writer.