This Week in Fiction: Curtis Sittenfeld on Reluctantly Writing Fiction About an M.F.A. Writing Program

In “Show Don’t Tell,” your story in this week’s issue, a young writer named Ruthie, a student at an M.F.A. program, is waiting for a letter that will tell her if she’s received funding for her second year. It is, as her friend Dorothy says, “like a referendum on our destinies.” The hothouse environment of writing programs has, not surprisingly, been the subject of a number of stories and novels. What are some of your favorites? And what made you want to add to the supply?