Luke Madden
By Jordan Beach
Luke Madden ‘18 always had an interest in a diverse range of subject areas, leading him to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and that program’s top award for an undergraduate student this year.
Following graduation in May, Madden, of Cumming, successfully applied and enrolled in Reinhardt’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.
“I have always been interested in a variety of subjects, and an MFA degree allows for a career in anything from publishing my own writing, to writing in a different field, to teaching or even a combination of the three,” said Madden.
Throughout his undergraduate years at Reinhardt, Madden was involved in a variety of opportunities including teaching children at Waleska United Methodist Church, serving as a resident assistant and performing at a number of student-led shows on campus.
“The MFA program looked like an exciting way for me to seriously pursue creative writing, something I really came to love during my college career,” he said.
His success as a writer has not gone unnoticed.
“Luke was one of the most motivated and best undergraduate writers I’ve had,” said Bill Walsh, coordinator of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. “When he made the request to enter the MFA program, it was simply the next step in his success and what will be his career as a writer.”
In the MFA program, Madden is working with novelist John Williams, who agrees with Walsh about Madden’s innate skills as a writer.
“John said is so pleased with this MFA writers he is working with, and Luke is one of those exceptional students,” Walsh said. “I’m very pleased to have him in the program.”
Madden is scheduled to graduate in summer 2020 from the program that graduated its first class earlier this year. He is looking forward to beginning the writings of his first novel, an assignment all MFA students complete during the course of the program.
“I’m really excited about working on my first novel. The MFA program pairs each student with a mentor, so we get individual attention, feedback and guidance with regard to our own major projects.”
While Madden has no specific plans following graduation, he is looking forward to whatever the future holds, with his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in hand.
