I think mfa beards are an interesting phenomena.  I wish I could grow one.  I can’t.  Oh well.  Two of the five poets in my year have beards.  One of the five fiction writers has beards.  Four of the ten mfa students in my year are female.

And who exactly is this bearded MFAer?  Well, it’s Joshua Beckman.  I later learned Joshua Beckman doesn’t have an MFA which is why this photo essay is being published here and not in The New Yorker.