Graduate writing students at The New School participate in an ongoing colloquium of visiting writers, editors, writing teachers, publishers, and literary agents. This Writer's Life Colloquium reflects the wide range of cultural activity at The New School and the belief that students benefit from exposure to many voices and genres. The Writer's Life Colloquium carries 1 point of credit each term. Examples of events embraced by the Writer's Life Colloquium are the public readings co-sponsored with PEN, the Academy of American Poets, and the Poetry Society of America, and the public craft seminars like Fiction Forum. The Writer's Life Colloquium also involves special readings, craft seminars, teaching lectures, publication discussions, and visiting writer residencies arranged exclusively for the MFA candidates. Active participation in the colloquium consists of attendance at a minimum of eight events.