In the process of fleeing Calgary, I reached out to friends and colleagues in the city, asking for any leads on work, especially writing and teaching. My first official post-MA job was a position teaching English literature and creative writing in a private high school here in Toronto.

How did you get your first post-MA job (and what was it)? That was 2008, a terrible year for me in general shortly after my rejection letter showed up, my marriage ended, a friend was seriously injured, and I ended up just packing up my books and leaving with my cats is despair. The next year, when I applied to the same program, I did not get in. After applying to a PhD program and successfully getting in during the second year of my MA, I was forced to turn down the offer (and four years of funding) when I was unable to defend in time (due in part to my own struggles finishing the project, and also because my advisor was on sabbatical, living in another province, and actively attempting to leave the department at the time as well). However, for a whole variety of reasons, this didn’t happen. I initially intended to move directly from an MA into a PhD. Read more about Natalie at her website and find her you finished your MA, what did you plan to do next? She earned an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Calgary.

Natalie Zina Walschots is a music writer, poet and editor based in Toronto.

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