The NewPages Guide to Creative Writing Programs

The NewPages 

Guide to Creative 

Writing Programs 

A directory of graduate writing programs 

in the U.S. and Canada 

Check out the online version for links to the programs’ websites, 

updates, and more information: 

www.newpages.com/writers-resources/graduate-writing-programs 

NewPages 

Publisher: Casey Hill 

Editor: Denise Hill 

Managing Editor: Nicole Foor 

Publications Manager: Kirsten McIlvenna 

Review Editor: Katy Haas 

NewPages website: www.newpages.com 

The NewPages Guide to Creative Writing Programs. Copyright © 2015 by NewPages. 

Published by NewPages, P.O. Box 1580, Bay City, Michigan 48706 

Cover Design: Kirsten McIlvenna

Good Reading (and Research) Starts Here 

An Introduction to the NewPages Guide to 

Creative Writing Programs 

by Denise Hill and Kirsten McIlvenna 

This guide is meant to be a starting point to 

help prospective students find schools, or 

better yet, the school that will be their best 

match. It is a place to begin researching 

which schools seem most interesting— 

based on any number of factors: genre, 

type of program, length of program, costs, 

approaches, faculty, and many other criteria. 

For teachers, this guide is a tool for 

best practices in advising students and 

discovering other programs beyond 

their own. Who’s teaching where? What 

universities offer what type of programs? 

Who’s on the leading edge for innovation in 

higher learning in creative writing? 

As a print resource, this guide is only a 

start. We recommend using it alongside 

our truly-meant-to-be exhaustive online 

guide to creative writing programs (www. 

newpages.com/writers-resources) which 

includes separate listings for both graduate 

and undergraduate programs. Here you will 

find even more information for many of the 

programs and up-to-date links directly to the 

academic sites. If we’re missing any links 

you think we should have, please just let us 

know! 

As much as we value this guide in 

print copy, we realize changes happen 

continuously and our job is to keep the 

information updated. Therefore, a PDF 

version of this publication is available online 

and will be kept current with new editions 

noted. Simply visit www.newpages.com/ 

cwprograms to download your free copy. 

Over the past decades, NewPages has 

come to be known as the most reliable 

source for quality curation of all things 

literary: publications, calls for submissions, 

conferences, workshops, seminars, 

academic writing programs, and so much 

more. Our “guides to” are popular because 

our work in this arena is trusted. We 

have established and work diligently to 

maintain positive relationships with editors, 

publishers, and faculty and their academic 

institutions. 

We do not “rank” any of the programs 

we list. Instead, we see our role as more 

integral in helping network connections 

between readers/writers and publications, 

between students and prospective 

programs, and so on. We don’t push, 

we don’t prod, we simply provide. That’s 

NewPages. Our motto “Good Reading 

Starts Here,” means ‘reading’ for whatever 

kind of research you are doing to engage in 

the greater literary community. 

By all means, see for yourself. Thumb 

through this guide, mark it up, share it with 

others, visit our full online resources, and 

judge whether or not we are true to our 

motto. If you find something that catches 

your attention, makes you seek additional 

information, and link out from our site, then 

not only have we done our work, but you’ve 

done yours: seeking out quality information 

to guide your own interests and decision 

making from a quality and valued resource. 

3

Alphabetical 

Antioch University Los Angeles..........................................7 

Arcadia University...............................................................7 

Ashland University..............................................................8 

Augsburg College...............................................................8 

Bard College.......................................................................9 

Butler University.................................................................9 

Cedar Crest College.........................................................10 

Chatham University..........................................................10 

Columbia College Chicago............................................... 11 

Columbia University School of the Arts............................ 11 

Converse College.............................................................12 

Eastern Oregon University...............................................12 

Eastern Washington University........................................13 

Goddard College..............................................................13 

Hamline University............................................................14 

Hollins University..............................................................14 

Holy Names University.....................................................15 

Lesley University..............................................................15 

Mills College.....................................................................16 

Murray State University....................................................16 

Naropa University.............................................................17 

National University............................................................17 

New Hampshire Institute of Art.........................................18 

The New School...............................................................18 

New York University..........................................................19 

New York University (low-res)...........................................19 

Northern Michigan University...........................................20 

Northwestern University...................................................20 

4 

The NewPages Guide to Creative Writing Programs 

Table of Contents 

The schools listed alphabetically in the front of the publication are the 

NewPages sponsored listings; a complete list of schools organized by 

location appears on page 35. 

Oklahoma City University.................................................21 

Pine Manor College..........................................................21 

Rosemont College............................................................22 

Rutgers University - Newark.............................................22 

Sarah Lawrence College..................................................23 

School of the Art Institute of Chicago...............................23 

Seattle Pacific University..................................................24 

Seton Hill University.........................................................24 

Spalding University...........................................................25 

Stony Brook Southampton................................................25 

University of Arkansas at Monticello.................................26 

University of California, Riverside-Palm Desert Center....26 

University of Guelph.........................................................27 

University of Idaho............................................................27 

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign..........................28 

University of Nebraska Omaha.........................................28 

University of New Hampshire...........................................29 

University of North Carolina at Greensboro......................29 

University of North Carolina Wilmington...........................30 

University of South Carolina.............................................30 

University of Tampa..........................................................31 

University of Wyoming......................................................31 

Vanderbilt University.........................................................32 

Vermont College of Fine Arts............................................32 

Washington University St. Louis.......................................33 

West Virginia University....................................................33 

West Virginia Wesleyan College.......................................34 

Western State Colorado University..................................34 

NewPages Complete List............... 35 

Links to all programs at www.newpages.com

Online Programs 

National University............................................................17 

University of Arkansas at Monticello.................................26 

Low-Residency Programs 

Antioch University Los Angeles..........................................7 

Arcadia University...............................................................7 

Ashland University..............................................................8 

Augsburg College...............................................................8 

Bard College.......................................................................9 

Cedar Crest College.........................................................10 


Converse College.............................................................12 

Eastern Oregon University...............................................12 

Goddard College..............................................................13 


Lesley University..............................................................15 

Murray State University....................................................16 


New Hampshire Institute of Art.........................................18 


Oklahoma City University.................................................21 

Pine Manor College..........................................................21 

Seattle Pacific University..................................................24 

Seton Hill University.........................................................24 

Spalding University...........................................................25 

University of California, Riverside-Palm Desert Center....26 

University of Nebraska Omaha.........................................28 

University of Tampa..........................................................31 

Vermont College of Fine Arts............................................32 

West Virginia Wesleyan College.......................................34 

Western State Colorado University..................................34 

Residency Programs 

Butler University.................................................................9 


Columbia College Chicago............................................... 11 

Columbia University School of the Arts............................ 11 

Eastern Washington University........................................13 


Hollins University..............................................................14 

Holy Names University.....................................................15 

Mills College.....................................................................16 


The New School...............................................................18 


Northern Michigan University...........................................20 

Northwestern University...................................................20 

Rosemont College............................................................22 

Rutgers University - Newark.............................................22 

Sarah Lawrence College..................................................23 

School of the Art Institute of Chicago...............................23 

Stony Brook Southampton................................................25 

University of Guelph.........................................................27 

University of Idaho............................................................27 

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign..........................28 

University of New Hampshire...........................................29 

University of North Carolina at Greensboro......................29 

University of North Carolina Wilmington...........................30 

University of South Carolina.............................................30 

University of Wyoming......................................................31 

Vanderbilt University.........................................................32 

Washington University St. Louis.......................................33 

West Virginia University....................................................33

Summer 2015 residency in Vienna 

Pan-European MFA in Creative Writing 

A low-residency program in three European cities 

Scholarships available 

mfa.cedarcrest.edu


Antioch University Los Angeles 

MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

Website: www.antiochla.edu/mfa 

Address: 400 Corporate Pointe, Culver City, CA 90230 

Program Director: Steve Heller, MFA, EdD 

Phone: (310) 578-1080 

Email: admissions.aula@antioch.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA 

Type of Program: low-residency 

Length of Program: 2 years (4 semesters, 5 residencies) 

Genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young adult, mixed 

genre, dual-genre 

Enrollment: 150 

Total Credits Required: 48 semester credits 

Application Deadlines: February 15, August 15 

Scholarships: yes (see website) 

Assistantships: no 

Core Faculty: Steve Heller, Jenny Factor, Bernadette 

Murphy 

Associate Faculty: Dodie Bellamy, Francesca Lia Block, 

Gayle Brandeis, Jim Daniels, Tananarive Due, Hope Edelman, 

Richard Garcia, Christine Hale, Jim Krusoe, Alistair McCartney, 

Carol Potter, Sharman Apt Russell, Erin Aubrey Kaplan, Alma 

Villanueva, Terry Wolverton 

Publishing/Editing Courses: yes (see website) 

Literary Magazine: Lunch Ticket 

Recent Visiting Writers: Mary Gordon, Rick Moody, Lin 

Oliver, Natasha Tretheway, Tobias Wolf 

Program Description: In Antioch University Los Angeles’ 

unique low-residency program, students explore the important 

role of the writer in society, reading works by diverse and 

socially-conscious authors. The MFA in Creative Writing program 

is comprised of on-campus residencies—which include classes, 

readings, and workshops—complemented by a five-month, 

online project period during which students live and write in 

their home communities. Antioch University Los Angeles offers 

specialized fields of creative writing study in the following 

genres: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, and Writing for 

Young People. Our distinguished instructors are all actively 

published writers who serve as dedicated mentors throughout 

the program. Scholarships are available. 

Arcadia University 


Website: www.arcadia.edu/mfa-creative-writing.htm 

Address: 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA 19038 

Program Director: Prof. Joshua Isard 

Program Dontact: Prof. Joshua Isard 

Phone: (267) 620-4886 

Email: isardj@arcadia.edu 

Degrees offered: MFA 


Length of Program: 2 years 

Genres: fiction, poetry 


Total Credits Required: 39 

Application Deadlines: March 1st, and then rolling after 

that as space is available 

Scholarships: no 

Assistantships: yes (see website) 

Core Faculty: Joshua Isard, Genevieve Betts, Paul Elwork, 

Dorian Geisler, Katherine Hill, Tracey Levine 

Publishing/Editing Courses: no 

Literary Magazine: Marathon Literary Review 

Reading Series: yes (see website) 

Recent Visiting Writers: Tom Franklin, Brad Watson, 

Alice Thompson, Marie Lamba, Alan Warner, Lauren Grodstein 

Program Description: Arcadia University’s low-residency 

M.F.A. program in Creative Writing, the only one of its kind in 

the Philadelphia area, is distinctive in that it incorporates both 

a dynamic online environment and a study abroad experience. 

The course emphasizes online workshops; personal attention 

from faculty; studying abroad, with a residency in Edinburgh, 

Scotland; and the preparation of both a book-length manuscript 

and a plan to publish it. 

Links to all programs at www.newpages.com 

7


Ashland University 


Website: www.ashland.edu/graduate/mfa 

Address: 401 College Avenue, Ashland, OH 44805 

Program Director: Stephen Haven 

Program Contact: Wendy Hall, Administrative Director 

Phone: (419) 289-5957 

Email: mfa@ashland.edu 



Length of Program: 4 semesters and 3 summer sessions 

Genres: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction 

Enrollment: 72 maximum in summer sessions, 48 during year 


Application Deadlines: September 1 priority deadline 

for Spring Semester – rolling admissions through December 

31; February 1 priority deadline for Summer/rolling admissions 

through July 1 for Summer/Fall 



Core Faculty: Jill Christman, Angie Estes, Steven Harvey, 

Stephen Haven, William Haywood Henderson, Mark Irwin, 

Daniel W. Lehman, Thomas Larson, EJ Levy, Joe Mackall, 

Celeste Ng, Robert Root, Ruth L. Schwartz, Porter Shreve 


Literary Magazine: River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction 

Narrative 

Press: Ashland Poetry Press 


Recent Visiting Writers: Garrett Hongo, Laura Kasischke, 

Alicia Ostriker, Cheryl Strayed, Judith Kitchen, Kristen Iversen, 

David St. John, Rosanna Warren (see website for additional 

visiting writers) 

Program Description: Ashland University offers degree 

tracks in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction with a cross-genre 

option. The program is characterized both by an insistence on 

high aesthetic standards for the creation of new literature and by 

an emphasis on a supportive community of writers. Following the 

University’s century-old tradition of “Accent on the Individual”, the 

MFA at AU provides writers a nurturing and challenging atmosphere 

for developing their craft, with a student-teacher ratio of no greater 

than 5 to 1 in each course. 

8 

Augsburg College 


Website: www.augsburg.edu/mfa 

Address: 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454 

Program Director: Cass Dalglish 

Program Contact: Kathleen Matthews 

Phone: (612) 330-1778 

Email: matthewk@augsburg.edu 




Genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, 

playwriting 


Total Credits Required: 44 for MFA; 48 with 

Concentration in Teaching or Translation; 52 with Concentration 

in Publishing 

Application Deadline: ongoing until the program reaches 

enrollment caps for each genre with new cohorts beginning each 

July 



Core Faculty: Nicole Brending, Stephan Clark, Cass 

Dalglish, Jack El-Hai, Heid E. Erdrich, John Gaterud, Christina 

Lazaridi, Sarah Myers, Cary Waterman, Steven Wingate 


Press: Howling Bird Press 

Reading Series: www.augsburg.edu/mfa/readings/ 

Recent Visiting Writers: Ed Bok Lee, Christina Lazaridi, 

Benjamin Percy, Sue William Silverman, Deborah Blum, 

Kristoffer Diaz, Alex Lemon, Helene Wecker, Bill Wheeler, Pam 

Houston, Ken Rance, Carson Kreitzer 

Program Description: Come to the Twin Cities and be 

a part of a vibrant literary community where you’ll engage the 

world thoughtfully, deepen and broaden your artistic sensibilities, 

and enjoy individual attention with a 5:1 student to faculty 

mentor ratio. The Augsburg MFA in creative writing is a two-year 

low-residency program with tracks in fiction, creative nonfiction, 

poetry, screenwriting and playwriting and concentrations in 

translation, teaching, and publishing. Students enrolled in the 

MFA’s publishing sequence are the editors of a literary press 

that sponsors a national writing competition and publishes a 

book-length collection of prose or poetry each year. 

See display ad on page 61. 



Bard College 

Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts 


Website: www.bard.edu/mfa/ 

Address: Bard College MFA, 30 Campus Road, PO Box 

5000, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504 

Program Director: Arthur Gibbons 

Program Contact: Elizabeth Marshall 

Phone: (845) 758-7483 

Email: mfa@bard.edu 



Length of Program: 26 months (3 summers) 

Genres: any, but most suited to poetry, short fiction, sound, 

internet, and mixed-media writing 



Application Deadlines: January 15 



Core Faculty: Anselm Berrigan, Robert Fitterman, Paul La 

Farge, Ann Lauterbach, Anna Moschovakis, David Levi Strauss, 

Matvei Yankelevich 

Visiting Faculty: Trinie Dalton, Renee Gladman, Carla 

Harryman, Fiona Maazel, Tracie Morris, Fred Moten, Dana Ward 


Literary Magazine: Conjunctions 

Recent Visiting Writers: Tim Griffin, Ben Lerner, Maggie 

Nelson, Roberto Tejada, Lynne Tillman 

Program Description: Bard MFA is a nontraditional 

school for interdisciplinary study in the visual and creative arts: 

film/video, music/sound, painting, photography, sculpture, and 

writing. Students are in residence on campus for eight weeks 

during three consecutive summers, with two winter sessions 

of independent study completed off campus. Each summer, 

students meet one on one with faculty from all six disciplines. 

This interdisciplinary context is ideal for writers, as it allows them 

to explore issues common to the other arts while they address 

those specific to writing. The program is most suitable for writers 

working with poetry, short fiction, sound, internet, and mixedmedia 

writing. 

Butler University 

MFA in Creative Writing 

Website: www.butler.edu/mfa-creative-writing/ 

Address: 4600 Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208 

Program Director/Contact: Hilene Flanzbaum 

Phone: (317) 940-9860 

Email: hflanzba@butler.edu 


Type of Program: residency 

Length of Program: flexible, 3 years average 


Enrollment: 60 total, 15 per year 


Application Deadlines: March 15 (for Fall 2016) 



Core Faculty: Dan Barden, Hilene Flanzbaum, Chris Forhan, 

Andrew Levy, Alessandra Lynch, Susan Neville, Michael Dahlie, 

Allison Lynn 

Visiting Faculty: Lili Wright, Porter Shreve, Dan Wakefield, 

Greg Schwipps, David Shumate, Ben Winters, Alix Lambert 


Literary Magazine: Booth 

Reading Series: Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series, 

conversations@efroymson 

Recent Visiting Writers: D.A Powell, Jeffrey Eudenides, 

Alicia Ostriker, Mary Kay Zuravleff, Karen Russell, Tomaz 

Salamun, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Tim 

O’Brien, D. Nurkse, Cheryl Strayed, Jesmyn Ward 

Program Description: The MFA is a 36-hour studio MFA 

that includes ten three-credit courses and six hours of formal 

thesis work with an advisor. We offer programs in poetry, fiction, 

and nonfiction, as well as electives in screenwriting, young adult 

fiction, poetic form, literary editing and publishing, and teaching 

creative writing. We offer top-flight, full-time faculty, nationally 

recognized visiting faculty, and one of the finest visiting writers 

series in the country. We operate a MFA-run literary magazine 

and other publishing enterprises, and also offer teaching and 

service opportunities through an array of programs. 


9


Cedar Crest College 

Pan-European MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

Website: mfa.cedarcrest.edu 

Address: 100 College Dr, Allentown, PA 18104 

Program Director: Fred Leebron 

Program Contact: Robert Wilson 

Phone Number: (610) 606-4666 x3474 

Website: mfa.cedarcrest.edu 




Genre(s): fiction, nonfiction, poetry, dual-genre 



Application Deadlines: April 1 for summer start, August 1 

for fall start, December 1 for spring start 



Core Faculty: Robert Antoni, David Bezmozgis, Jeffrey 

Greene, Aleksandar Hemon, Jake Lamar, Fred Leebron, 

Gwyneth Lewis, Dinaw Mengestu, Jayne Anne Phillips, Kathryn 

Rhett 


Program Description: With 15-day summer residencies 

held exclusively in European cities—Dublin, Barcelona, 

Vienna—the Cedar Crest College low-residency MFA in Creative 

Writing offers writers the inspiration of place as they hone their 

craft with accomplished faculty mentors. The study of how 

location leads to artistic inspiration complements our workshops 

and one-on-one tutorials grounded in shaping the written word. 

Our students join an international community of authors with 

study in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. 

We understand the irony faced by all writers: To carefully hone 

your craft, you need periods of solitude, spent refining and 

reflecting upon your work. But you also need periods of intense 

interaction with a supportive and knowledgeable community 

of writers who provide valuable feedback and guidance. The 

Cedar Crest College Pan-European MFA in Creative Writing 

provides you with both. During the year, craft your writing where 

you live or where your travels take you, while receiving monthly 

guidance and feedback from a faculty-mentor. For our summer 

residencies, take in the rich artistic history of European cities 

during intensive and inspiring residency workshops and tutorials. 


10 

Chatham University 

MFA in Creative Writing (res & low-res) 

Website: www.chatham.edu/mfa 

Address: 1 Woodland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 

Program Director: Sheryl St. Germain 

Program Contact: Erin Hutton 

Phone: (412) 365-1190 

Email: ehutton@chatham.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, BFA 

Type of Program: residency, low-residency 


Genres: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, writing for children, 

travel writing, nature writing 



Application Deadlines: January 15 for early admission, 

otherwise rolling admissions 



Core Faculty: Sheryl St. Germain, Sheila Squillante, Sherrie 

Flick, Lori Jakiela, Heather McNaugher, Kathy Ayres, Sally 

Alexander, Jonathan Auxier, Joy Katz 

Visiting Faculty: BK Loren, Scott Russell Sanders, Pam 

Houston, Dinty Moore, Ann Fisher Wirth, Janisse Raye, Robert 

Hass, Barbara Hurd 


Literary Magazine: The Fourth River 

Reading Series: Summer Community of Writers 

Recent Visiting Writers: BK Loren, Sean Thomas 

Dougherty, Aaron Smith, Terrance Hayes, Toi Derricote, Mary 

Karr, Geraldine Brooks 

Program Description: Chatham University’s MFA, 

focusing on place-based writing and social outreach, is the 

premier graduate program for students interested in creative 

writing and innovative community programs. No other MFA 

program offers concentrations in travel writing, food writing, 

teaching, publishing, or nature writing in addition to a primary 

genre focus (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or children’s 

writing), or the ability to have a dual-genre focus. We are also 

the only MFA program to offer a hybrid program with both full 

and low residency options. 




Columbia College Chicago 


Website: www.colum.edu/CreativeWriting 

Address: Department of Creative Writing, 600 S. Michigan 

Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605 

Program Director: Matthew Shenoda, chair 

Phone: (312) 369-7611 

Email: creativewriting@colum.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, BA, BFA 


Genres: poetry, fiction, nonfiction 

Enrollment: 300 (undergrad); 10-14 per MFA genre 

Application Deadlines: May 1 (undergraduate); January 1 

(graduate) 



Core Faculty: Jenny Boully, Nami Mun, Tony Trigilio, David 

Trinidad, Matthew Shenoda, CM Burroughs, Garnett Kilberg 

Cohen, Don De Grazia, Patricia Ann McNair, Joe Meno, Sam 

Weller, Audrey Niffenegger, Samuel Park, David Lazar, Lisa 

Fishman, Aviya Kusher, Shawn Shiflett, Alexis Pride 


Literary Magazine: Columbia Poetry Review, Court Green, 

Hotel Amerika, South Loop Review 

Reading Series: The Department of Creative Writing Poetry 

and Nonfiction Reading Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Kate Greenstreet, Mary Ruefle, 

Carmen Gimenez Smith, John D’Gata, Chuck Klosterman, 

Ruth Ellen Kocher, Adrian Matejka, Chris Offutt, Kwame Dawes, 

David MacLean, Jill Talbot, Chris Abani 

Program Description: Our intensive graduate programs 

are small, vibrant and supportive communities for growing as a 

student, honing your craft as a writer, and obtaining experience as 

an educator. Developed by poets for poets, the Master of Fine Arts 

in Poetry is a small, intimate graduate experience that encompasses 

a wide breadth of poetic traditions. The two-year program fosters 

close working relationships with our accomplished, award-winning 

faculty and a supportive environment in which to grow as a poet 

and as a student of poetry. Columbia’s three-year Master of Fine 

Arts in Nonfiction features intensive study of nonfiction writing in the 

center of Chicago’s historic and lively cultural scene. It’s a small, 

intimate program that ensures close attention from experienced, 

well-published faculty as you produce a book-length manuscript to 

complete your degree. 

Columbia University School of the Arts 


Website: arts.columbia.edu/writing 

Address: 415 Dodge Hall, MC 1804, 2960 Broadway, New 

York, NY 10027 

Program Director: Sam Lipsyte 

Program Contact: Bill Wadsworth 

Phone: (212) 854-4391 

Email: writing@columbia.edu 



Length of Program: 2-3 years 

Genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, joint course of study in 

literary translation 






Core Faculty: Donald Antrim, Susan Bernofsky, Lucie Brock- 

Broido, Nicholas Christopher, Stacey D’Erasmo, Timothy Donnelly, 

Deborah Eisenberg, Richard Ford, Lis Harris, Richard Howard, 

Margo Jefferson, Heidi Julavits, Binnie Kirshenbaum, Dorothea 

Lasky, Victor LaValle, and more (see complete list online) 

Visiting Faculty: Paul Beatty, Jonathan Dee, Geoff Dyer, 

James Fenton, John Freeman, Rivka Galchen, Edith Grossman, 

Laura Kipnis, Hari Kunzru, Erroll McDonald, Sigrid Nunez, Darryl 

Pinckney, Richard Rodriguez, James Wood 


Literary Magazine: Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art 


Program Description: The Columbia University School 

of the Arts MFA Writing Program, offering concentrations in 

Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry, and a joint course of study in 

Literary Translation, is highly regarded for artistic diversity and 

for its outstanding faculty of acclaimed writers and editors. The 

rigorous approach to literary instruction requires 60 credits 

over 2-3 years of study. Extracurricular programming includes 

the Creative Writing Lecture Series, Nonfiction Dialogues, 

student reading series, Our Word: Writers of Color, and events 

to introduce students to editors and agents. Internships, 

scholarships and teaching fellowships are available. 



11


Converse College 


Website: www.converse.edu/mfa 

Address: 580 East Main Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302 

Program Director/Contact: Rick Mulkey 

Phone: (864) 596-9678 

Email: rick.mulkey@converse.edu 




Genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry 



Application Deadlines: February 15 for Summer 

Residency/Fall semester; October 1 for January residency/ 

Spring Semester 



Core Faculty: Denise Duhamel, Robert Olmstead, Leslie 

Pietrzyk, Albert Goldbarth, Suzanne Cleary, Rick Mulkey, Marlin 

Barton, Susan Tekulve, Richard Tillinghast, Dan Wakefield, Jim 

Minick, Cary Holladay 

Visiting Faculty: C. Michael Curtis, Bruce Covey, Keith Lee 

Morris, Jenny Bent, Susan Ludvigson, Terra Chalberg 

Literary Magazine: South85 Journal 

Recent Visiting Writers: Allison Joseph, Pam Durban, 

Brock Clarke, Elizabeth Cox, Dorianne Laux, Jillian Weise 

Program Description: The MFA in Creative Writing is a 

two-year co-educational low residency program designed for 

serious, independent writers seeking advanced instruction in 

poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction through a non-traditional 

course of graduate study. The program’s emphasis on the 

mastery and understanding of writing skills and contemporary 

literature and craft, through the master-writer and apprentice 

mentoring relationship, offers students a stimulating and 

individually tailored curriculum of courses and projects. 

Eastern Oregon University 


Website: eou.edu/mfa 

Address: College of Arts and Sciences, One University Blvd, 

La Grande, Oregon 97850 

Program Director: Jodi Varon and David Axelrod, codirectors 

Program Contact: Jodi Varon or David Axelrod 

Phone: Varon: (541) 962-3525, Axelrod: (541) 962-3633 

Email: Varon: jvaron@eou.edu, Axelrod: daxelrod@eou.edu 




Genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, wilderness writing 

Enrollment: 5-7 students per workshop 


Application Deadlines: March 15 



Core Faculty: David Axelrod, Susan Denning, Justin 

Hocking, Christopher Howell, Carter Sickels, Jon Raymond, Jodi 

Varon, Lidia Yuknavitch, Christine Holbert 

Visiting Faculty: Jennifer Boyden 


Literary Magazine: basalt 

Reading Series: basalt Reading Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Anthony Doerr, Molly Gloss, 

Peter Rock, Jess Walter, Mathew Dickman, Kim Barnes, 

Danielle Duellen, Carl Adamshick, Michael McGriff, Crystal 

Williams, Keetje Kuipers, Robert Wrigley, Kerry James Evans, 

Travis Mossotti, Vanessa Veselka 

Program Description: Innovative, intense, intimate. The 

new low-residency MFA in Creative Writing combines the rigor and 

energy of small, focused workshops (5-7 students working with 

faculty mentors) in the heart of Northeast Oregon’s Grande Ronde 

Valley. This year we offer a new track unique to our geography, 

Wilderness Writing, that combines our access to research scientists, 

the Starkey Experimental Forest, and Oregon’s largest wilderness 

area. If you value close working relations with peers and mentors, a 

strong program identity, a self-directed program, and the real West 

over the resort town West, then join us in the low residency MFA 

program at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. 

12 



Eastern Washington University 


Website: www.ewumfa.com 

Address: 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd #259, 

Spokane, Washington 99202 

Program Director: Jonathan Johnson (interim); Gregory 

Spatz (sabbatical Fall 2014) 

Program Contact: Kathy Minnerly 

Phone: 509-828-1434 

Email: kminnerly@ewu.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, BA 



Genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry 



Application Deadlines: February 15 



Core Faculty: Gregory Spatz, Jonathan Johnson, 

Christopher Howell, Natalie Kusz, Samuel Ligon, Rachel Toor 

Visiting Faculty: John R. Keeble, Shawn Vestal, Jess 

Walter, Melissa Kwasny 

Publishing/Editing Courses: yes 

Literary Magazine: Willow Springs 


Recent Visiting Writers: Jane Smiley, J. Allyn Rosser, 

Lee Gutkind, Marilynne Robinson, Thomas Lynch, Tobias Wolff, 

Jacqueline Mitchard, Stuart Dybeck 

Program Description: The Inland Northwest Center for 

Writers offers an intensive, two-year, pre-professional course 

of study with an emphasis on the practice of literature as a fine 

art. The program is intellectually rigorous and includes course 

work in the study of literature from the vantage point of its 

composition and history. The student’s principal work is done in 

advanced workshops and in the writing a of a book-length thesis 

of publishable quality in fiction, literary nonfiction, or poetry. 

Goddard College 


Website: www.goddard.edu/mfa-creative-writing 

Address: 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, VT 05667 

Program Director: Paul Selig 

Program Contact: David De Lucca 

Phone: (802) 322-1619 

Email: david.delucca@goddard.edu 



Length of Program: 4 semesters 

Genres: fiction, poetry, playwriting, memoir, screenwriting, 

creative nonfiction, speculative fiction, young adult fiction, 

graphic novel, scriptwriting 



Application Deadlines: early December and late May; 

exact dates vary 



Core Faculty: Kyle Bass, Ryan Boudinot, Deborah Brevoort, 

Kenny Fries, Beatrix Gates, Elena Georgiou, Bhanu Kapil, 

Susan Kim, Aimee Liu, Rogelio Martinez, Victoria Nelson, 

Richard Panek, Rachel Pollack, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, Darcey 

Steinke 


Literary Magazine: Pitkin Review 

Reading Series: Playwrights’ Enrichment Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Lynda Barry, Kathryn Davis, 

Damien Echols, Nikky Finney, Todd Haynes, Tom Lutz 

Program Description: In the Goddard College Creative 

Writing program, students work with faculty advisors to 

develop rigorous individualized study plans for finding and 

strengthening their creative voices and creative professional 

lives. The first low-residency writing program, the Goddard 

MFA supports students writing fiction, poetry, memoir, plays, 

screenplays, graphic novel scripts, and nonfiction. The faculty 

are professional, working authors and also devoted, effective 

teachers. Students can gain editing experience with the studentrun 

Pitkin Review literary journal, and residencies include 

publishing workshops. The Goddard MFA includes the unique 

and rewarding teaching practicum, in which students teach 

creative craft in workshop, community, and college settings. 


13


Hamline University 

MFA in Creative Writing (res) 

MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults (low-res) 

Website: hamline.edu/cwp 

Address: 1536 Hewitt Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104 

Program Director: Mary Rockcastle 

Program Contact: Annie Bigley, Admission Counselor 

Phone: (651) 523-2900 

Email: gradprog@hamline.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, BFA 

Type of Program: residency (BFA, MFA in Writing), lowresidency 

(MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults) 


Genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, picture book, early 

reader, middle-grade/young-adult fiction, graphic novel, comics 

Enrollment: 125 (MFA), 65 (MFAC) 

Total Credits Required: 48-60 

Application Deadlines: MFA in Writing: Feb. 1, Nov. 1; MFA 

in Writing for Children and Young Adults: April 1, Oct. 1 



Core Faculty: Swati Avasthi, John Brandon, Marsha Wilson 

Chall, Kelly Easton, Laura Flynn, Patricia Weaver Francisco, Emily 

Jenkins (a.k.a. e. lockhart), Deborah Keenan, Liza Ketchum, Ron 

Koertge, Mary Logue (see online for complete list) 

Visiting Faculty: John Colburn, Mary Logue, Jim Moore, 

Marilyn Nelson, Juliet Patterson, Matt Rasmussen 


Literary Magazine: Water~Stone Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Kate DiCamillo, Toi Derricotte, 

Jamaal May, Brenda Miller, Marilyn Nelson, Ben Percy, Jon 

Scieszka, Wells Tower 

Program Description: At Hamline, you’ll benefit not only 

from being a part of the only university in the U.S. with three fine 

arts programs in creative writing and an award-winning national 

literary magazine, but also from the cultural and literary bounty 

of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Hamline students experience a 

world-class education in the process and craft of writing taught by 

award-winning practicing writers. Our faculty have published more 

than 250 books and won the highest awards given for excellence in 

writing for children, young adults, and adults. Our alumni go on to 

publish, teach, and work in the literary publishing industry. 


14 

Hollins University 

Jackson Center for Creative Writing 


Website: www.hollins.edu/jacksoncenter/ 

Mailing Address: PO Box 9603, Roanoke, VA 24020-1603 

Physical Address: 8009 Hill House Court, Roanoke, VA 

24019 

Program Director: Thorpe Moeckel 

Program Contact: Hollins University Graduate Center 

Phone: (540) 362-6575 

Email: hugrad@hollins.edu 




Genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction 






Core Faculty: Carrie Brown; R. H. W. Dillard; Cathryn 

Hankla; Jeanne Larsen; Thorpe Moeckel; Elizabeth Poliner; T.J. 

Anderson, III; Pauline Kaldas; Marilyn Moriarty; Julie Pfeiffer 

Visiting Faculty: Rebecca McClanahan, spring 2015 


Literary Magazine: The Hollins Critic 


Recent Visiting Writers: Eduardo C. Corral, Lydia Davis, 

Mark Doty, Rebecca Dunham, Cornelius Eady, Nick Flynn, Alice 

Fulton, Joy Harjo, Ben Lerner, Francine Prose, Will Schutt, Lyrae 

Van Clief-Stephanon, James McBride, Rebecca Lee, Michael 

Parker, Li-Young Li, George Saunders 

Program Description: Our intensive two-year studio/ 

hybrid MFA program helps you find your way in an atmosphere 

of cooperation and encouragement. We support college 

graduates who want to concentrate on craft and on reading the 

way writers do. The 24 students in this highly regarded program 

work successfully in poetry, short fiction, novels, and creative 

nonfiction—and between genres, too. We’re known for our 

strong sense of community and our lively co-curricular program. 

Our faculty take time to work with students. Hollins alums have 

a remarkably high record of publication: this is a program for 

people who really want to write. 



Holy Names University 

Master of Arts in English: The Writer’s Craft 

Website: www.hnu.edu 

Address: 3500 Mountain Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 

Program Director: Anne F. Walker, PhD 

Program Contact: Stacy Johnson 

Phone Number: (510) 436-1195 

Degrees Offered: MA 



Genres: creative writing, professional writing, teaching writing 



Application Deadlines: rolling (no deadlines) 



Core Faculty: Anne F. Walker, PhD; Nina Handler, MA; 

Kathy Garlick, PhD 


Literary Magazine: Between the Lines 

Recent Visiting Writers: Sonia Nazario, Belo Cipriani, 

David Goldweber 

Program Description: In The Writer’s Craft you will find 

time to write, workshops, one-on-one interaction with faculty, 

exposure to a variety of writing genres, literary events, time 

dedicated to understanding promotion and handling of your 

work, and engagement with other serious writers. You will find 

community. All of this is in the vibrant literary milieu of the San 

Francisco Bay Area. The program is newly re-imagined and 

online applications are free. 

At the center of our program are classes designed to foster 

community. In these classes students work closely with their 

cohort to support and develop one another’s writing. English 

108 A, B, and C (generally in the fall and early spring of the first 

year) are designed to help students understand one another 

as colleagues and concurrently focus individual paths through 

professional writing pertinent to their specific interests. The 

Writer’s Project (generally in spring of the final year) provides an 

opportunity for students to join together to workshop final thesis 

projects in an atmosphere of collegial and faculty support. 

Lesley University 


Website: www.lesley.edu/mfa-creative-writing 

Address: 29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 

Program Director: Steven Cramer 

Program Contact: Graduate Admissions 

Phone: (617) 349-8300 

Email: luadmissions@lesley.edu 




Genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for stage & screen, 

writing for young people 



Application Deadlines: 9/1 for January/spring residency; 

3/1 for June/fall residency 



Core Faculty: Erin Belieu, Jami Brandli, Barry Brodsky, Jane 

Brox, Sharon Bryan, Teresa Cader, Rafael Campo, Leah Hager 

Cohen, Pat Lowery Collins, David Elliott, Tony Eprile, Laurie 

Foos, Susan Goodman, Joan Houlihan, Rachel Kadish, Hester 

Kaplan, Michael Lowenthal, Bill Lychack, Chris Lynch, Rachel 

Manley, Cate Marvin, Kyoko Mori, Ronan Noone, Pamela Petro, 

Kevin Prufer, Christina Shea, Kate Snodgrass, Justin Torres, 

Sinan Ünel, A.J. Verdelle, Sara Zarr 



Recent Visiting Writers: Nikky Finney, Jack Gantos, 

Louise Glück, Vivian Gornick, Tom Perotta, Theresa Rebeck 

Program Description: Ranked #4 among low-residency 

MFA Programs by Poets & Writers, and the only such 

program located in a major U.S. literary city, Lesley offers five 

concentrations: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Writing for Stage 

and Screen, and Writing for Young People. Our graduates have 

published books, been featured in prestigious journals, won 

major literary prizes and fellowships, had theatrical productions, 

and found teaching positions in numerous schools and colleges. 

The faculty are celebrated writers and passionate teachers. 

The program’s Interdisciplinary Studies component nourishes 

students’ writing and aspirations to be working writers. 


15


Mills College 


MFA Book Art and Creative Writing 

MA in English and American Literature 

Website: www.mills.edu/english 

Address: 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613 

Phone: (510) 430-2240 

Email: grad_eng@mills.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA (in Creative Writing, Book Art and 

Creative Writing), MA (in English and American Literature) 


Length of Program: MFA in Creative Writing/MA in 

Literature: 2 and 3 year programs, MFA in Book Art and Creative 

Writing: 2.5 year program 


Enrollment: 100 graduate students in all programs combined 

Total Credits Required: 11 or 12.5 

Application Deadlines: December 15 



Core Faculty: Elmaz Abinader, Diane Cady, Julie Chen, Ajuan 

Mance, Cornelia Nixon, Sarah Pollock, Patricia Powell, Stephen 

Ratcliffe, Kathryn Reiss, Kirsten Saxton, Ruth Saxton, Cynthia 

Scheinberg, Juliana Spahr, Thomas Strychacz, Kathleen Walkup 

Visiting Faculty: Kate Brubeck, David Buuck, Tarah 

Demant, Rebekah Edwards, Kiala Givehand, Marisa Handler, 

Laleh Khadivi, Bula Maddison, Kim Magowan, Micheline 

Aharonian Marcom, Achy Obejas, Erin Peterson, Barbara Jane 

Reyes,Truong Tran, Kara Wittman, Stephanie Young 


Literary Magazine: 580 Split 

Reading Series: Contemporary Writers Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Anne Carson, LaTasha N. Nevada 

Diggs, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Eileen Myles, Joyce Carol Oates, 

M. NourbeSe Philip, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 

Program Description: Part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s 

vibrant literary community, Mills College offers innovative MFA 

programs in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and book art. Our 

graduate English programs tap into the Bay Area’s energy and 

are distinguished by their long-established reputations; innovation; 

outstanding faculty; intimate community of writers, scholars, and 

alumni; and commitment to a vision of the literary arts as socially 

transformative. Our graduate English programs enhance your 

creativity and give you the tools to engage the world around you. 

16 

Murray State University 


Website: www.murraystate.edu/mfa 

Address: Murray State University, Master of Fine Arts Program, 

7C Faculty Hall-Dept of English and Philosophy, Murray, KY 42071 

Program Director: Ann Neelon 

Program Contact: Nita King, Administrative Secretary 

Phone: (270) 809-4727 

Email: msu.mfa@murraystate.edu 






Total Credits Required: 49 credit hours 

Application Deadlines: October 1 for January residency, April 

1 for July residency 



Core Faculty: Ann Neelon, Carrie Jerrell, Blas Falconer, Tommy 

Hays, Riley Hanick, Gary Jackson, Karen Salyer McElmurray, Elena 

Pasarello, Dale Ray Phillips, Lynn Pruett, Jeffrey Skinner 


Literary Magazine: New Madrid 


Recent Visiting Writers: Kazim Ali, Mark Doty, Beth Ann 

Fennelly, Nick Flynn, Tom Franklin, Cristina Garcia, Max Garland, 

Ross Gay, Stephen Graham Jones, Davy Rothbart, Claire Vaye 

Watkins, Marcus Wicker, Padma Viswanathan 

Program Description: Our foremost goal is to facilitate the 

growth of writers. We strive to do so in a supportive atmosphere 

of shared inquiry, academic rigor and good humor. Our faculty 

are committed to engaging with students of all ages and working 

with them to discover creative perspectives and practices that are 

unconditionally their own. Our program, which is very flexible in 

terms of its pace of studies and also highly affordable for those 

residing in Kentucky as well as those who reside out of state, 

provides the necessary academic credentials for a writer to teach 

creative writing at the college or university level. It also provides a 

foundation in writing that can help prepare graduates for careers in a 

variety of fields such as writing, publishing, advertising, or teaching 

at the secondary level. Special features include internships on the 

staff of New Madrid (with the chance to break into book reviewing), 

supervised teaching opportunities and cross-genre options. 



Naropa University 

Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics 

MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics (res and low-res) 

Website: www.naropa.edu/academics/jks/ 

Address: 2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80302 

Program Director: Michelle Naka Pierce 

Phone: (303) 546-3508 

Email: JKS@naropa.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, BA 

Types of Programs: residency, low-residency 

Genres: poetry, prose, cross-genre 



Core Faculty: Anne Waldman (co-founder), Michelle Naka 

Pierce (school director), J’Lyn Chapman (program coordinator), 

Andrea Rexilius (SWP Coordinator), Junior Burke, Reed Bye, 

Bhanu Kapil, Andrew Schelling 


Literary Magazines: Bombay Gin, not enough night, 

Something on Paper 

Reading Series: What Where 

Recent Visiting Writers: Harryette Mullen, Alice Notley, 

Lyn Hejinian, Gary Snyder, Juliana Spahr, Joan Retallac 

Program Description: The Jack Kerouac School 

emphasizes innovative approaches to literary arts. Our 

programs problematize genre while cultivating contemplative 

and experimental writing practices. Each year, we invite more 

than sixty guest faculty to our internationally renowned Summer 

Writing Program, a four-week colloquium of workshops, lectures, 

and readings. This distinguishing feature fosters an intensely 

creative environment for students to develop their writing 

projects in conversation with a community of writers. Founded in 

1974 by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, the Jack Kerouac 

School consists of the undergraduate Core Writing Seminars, a 

BA in Writing & Literature, a MFA in Writing & Poetics, and the 

Summer Writing Program. 

National University 

MFA in Creative Writing (online) 

Website: faculty.nu.edu/blogs/mcw/ 

Address: 5245 Pacific Concourse Drive, Suite 100, Los 

Angeles, CA 90045 

Program Director: Frank Montesonti 

Program Contact: Frank Montesonti 

Phone: (310) 662-2159 

Email: fmontesonti@nu.edu 


Type of Program: online 

Length of Program: 20 months (min) 

Genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting 

Total Credits Required: 58.5 

Application Deadlines: rolling admissions, no deadlines 



Core Faculty: Frank Montesonti, Amina Cain, Colin Dickey, 

Michael Zimmer 

Visiting Faculty: Amanda Ackerman, Peter Bricklebank, 

Brandi Megan Granett, Sheyene Foster Heller, Howard V. 

Hendrix, Bryan Hurt, Marci Rae Johnson, Helen Kantor, Erin 

Keane, Cheryl Klein, Kristi Maxwell, Thomas Pendleton, Seth 

Sherwood, Carolyn Turgeon, David Womack 


Literary Magazine: The GNU 

Reading Series: no 

Program Description: The National University MFA 

program is a completely online program with no residency 

requirements. Students may focus in fiction, creative nonfiction, 

poetry, or screenwriting. We recognize that many students 

cannot attend even a low-residency MFA because of the 

residency requirements. Our MFA program allows students to 

have the workshop experience at home, guided by published, 

experienced faculty. The courses are conducted in electronic 

classrooms and are asynchronous, so you don’t have to be 

in the classroom at any certain time of day. We are friendly to 

genre fiction of literary merit and fiction for young adults. Our 

workshops are accelerated eight-week courses, and students 

take only one course at a time. Students may also take elective 

courses from the extensive course selections of our MA in 

English Literature program. 


17


New Hampshire Institute of Art 


Website: mfa.nhia.edu 

Address: 148 Concord St., Manchester, NH 03104 

Program Director: Monica Bilson 

Program Contact: Emily Bradley 

Phone: (603) 836-2151 

Email: graduateadmissions@nhia.edu 




Genres: fiction, nonfiction, hybrid/interdisciplinary 




Core Faculty: Tim Horvath, Eric Pinder, Mark Sleiter, Ryan 

Flaherty, Emily Bradley, Monica Bilson 

Visiting Faculty: Joni Cole, David Crouse 


Recent Visiting Writers: Kate Christensen, Lance Olsen, 

Paul Harding 

Program Description: Our Low-residency MFA in Creative 

Writing is situated within an art institute, inspiring opportunities 

for cross-pollination and hybridization of genres and art forms. 

In each ten-day residency, writers work alongside the MFA 

students in Visual Arts, Photography, and Writing for Stage 

and Screen. Whether you’d like to write traditional fiction or 

nonfiction or invent a new hybrid form, you’ll learn how different 

disciplines approach the creative process, participate in writing 

workshops and seminars with our award-winning faculty, and 

receive one-one-one feedback from mentors and peers. 

The New School 


Website: www.newschool.edu/public-engagement/mfacreative-writing 

Address: 66 W. 12th Street, Writing Program, Rm. 503, New 

York, NY 10011 

Program Director: Luis Jaramillo 

Program Contact: Lori Lynn Turner 

Phone Number: (212) 229-5611 

Email: lorilynnturner@newschool.edu 




Genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children 






Core Faculty: Jeffery Renard Allen, Susan Bell, Mark 

Bibbins, Susan Cheever, Jonathan Dee, John Freeman, Elaine 

Equi, Ann Hood, Shelley Jackson, Zia Jaffrey, Luis Jaramillo, 

Hettie Jones, James Lasdun (see online for complete list) 

Visiting Faculty: Robert Antoni, Catherine Barnett, 

Jennifer Michael Hecht, Dave Johnson, Jeff T. Johnson, Sarah 

Ketchersid, Sharon Mesmer, Kathleen Ossip, Andrea Pinkney, 

Susan Shapiro, Justin Taylor, L.B. Thompson, Frederic Tuten 



Literary Magazine: LIT Magazine 

Reading Series: The New School Writing Program Reading 

Series 

Program Description: In just sixteen years, The New 

School has established itself as one of the most discerning, 

informed, and engaged graduate writing programs in the 

country. It’s no accident that our alumni are among the most 

successfully published MFA graduates in the world, and have 

distinguished themselves as teachers, editors, publishers, and 

media professionals. In 2014, over 35 books were published by 

alumni and faculty of The New School. 


18 



New York University 

Graduate Creative Writing Program 

Website: cwp.fas.nyu.edu 

Address: 58 West 10th Street, New York, NY 10011 

Program Director: Deborah Landau 

Phone: (212) 998-8816 

Email: creative.writing@nyu.edu 

Degrees Offered: MA, MFA 




Total Credits Required: 32 units 




Core Faculty: E.L. Doctorow, Sharon Olds, Zadie Smith, 

Yusef Komunyakaa, Anne Carson, Nathan Englander, Jonathan 

Safran Foer, Charles Simic, Matthew Rohrer, Darin Strauss, Chuck 

Wachtel, Deborah Landau (director) 

Visiting Faculty: Catherine Barnett, Mary Gaitskill, Kimiko 

Hahn, Amy Hempel, Edward Hirsch, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, 

Nick Laird, David Lipsky, Rick Moody, Brian Morton, Eileen Myles, 

Joyce Carol Oates, Irini Spanidou, Craig Morgan Teicher, Hannah 

Tinti, Colson Whitehead, Rachel Zucker 

Literary Magazine: Washington Square Review 

Reading Series: cwp.fas.nyu.edu/readingseries 

Recent Visiting Writers: Sherman Alexie, Donald Antrim, 

Amy Bloom, Anne Carson, Lydia Davis, Stuart Dybek, Mark Doty, 

Joshua Ferris, Jorie Graham, Terrance Hayes, Marie Howe, Etgar 

Keret, Maxine Hong Kingston, Rachel Kushner, Dorothea Lasky, 

Jonathan Lethem, Patricia Lockwood, James McBride, Dinaw 

Mengestu, Lorrie Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, Sharon Olds, Claudia 

Rankine, Karen Russell, Tracy K. Smith, Gary Shteyngart, Colson 

Whitehead 

Program description: The graduate Creative Writing Program 

at NYU consists of a community of writers working together in a 

setting that is both challenging and supportive. Through innovative 

literary outreach programs, a distinguished reading series, special 

literary seminars with master writers, and the production of a 

high-quality literary journal, students participate in a dynamic 

literary community actively engaged in all aspects of the literary 

arts. Situated in the heart of Greenwich Village, students have the 

opportunity to enjoy America’s most literary terrain while working 

closely with some of the finest poets and novelists writing today. 


MFA Writers Workshop in Paris (low-res) 

Website: cwp.fas.nyu/edu/object/cwp.low.residency.paris 

Address: 58 West 10th Street, New York, NY 10011 

Program Director: Deborah Landau 

Phone: (212) 998-8816 

Email: creative.writing@nyu.edu 





Total Credits Required: 32 units 

Application Deadlines: October 15, March 15 

Core Faculty: Chris Adrian, Catherine Barnett, Mark Doty, 

Nathan Englander, John Freeman, Myla Goldberg, Aleksandar 

Hemon, Meghan O’Rourke, Matthew Rohrer, Helen Schulman, 

Darin Strauss, Colson Whitehead, Deborah Landau (director) 

Visiting Faculty: Anne Carson, Lydia Davis, Olena Kalytiak 

Davis, Timothy Donnelly, Geoff Dyer, Percival Evertt, Marilyn 

Hacker, Matthea Harvey, Edward Hirsch, Ann Hood, Marie Howe, 

Hari Kunzru, Nick Laird, Jonathan Lethem, Dinaw Mengestu, Eileen 

Myles, Leigh Newman, Julie Orringer, Robert Polito, ZZ Packer, 

Said Sayrafiezadeh, Elissa Schappell, Danzy Senna, Brenda 

Shaughnessy, Marisa Silver, Charles Simic, Zadie Smith, Craig 

Morgan Teicher 

Program Description: The MFA Writers Workshop in Paris 

constitutes an intimate creative apprenticeship that extends 

beyond traditional classroom walls. Over two years, students 

and faculty convene regularly in Paris for five intensive ten-day 

residency periods (held biannually in January and July). While in 

residency in Paris, students participate in a vibrant community 

engaged in all aspects of the literary arts, including workshops, 

craft talks, lectures, individual conferences, and manuscript 

consultations, as well as a diverse series of readings, special 

events, and professional development panels. 

During the intervals between residencies, students pursue 

focused courses of study, completing reading and writing 

assignments under the close supervision of individual faculty 

members. These ongoing dialogues with faculty are tailored to 

specific student interests; students are mentored by a different 

professor each term. 


19


Northern Michigan University 

MFA in Creative Writing, MA in Writing 

Website: www.nmu.edu/english/ 

Address: 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855 

MFA Program Director: Jennifer A. Howard 

MA Program Director: Russ Prather 

Phone: (906) 227-2711 

MFA Email: jenhowar@nmu.edu 

MA Email: rprather@nmu.edu 

Degrees Offered: MA, MFA, BA 


Length of Program: 3-year MFA, 2-year MA 




Application Deadlines: February 1 



Core Faculty: Jon Billman, Matthew Gavin Frank, Jennifer A. 

Howard, Austin Hummell 

Publishing/Editing courses: no 

Literary Magazine: Passages North 

Reading Series: Visiting Writers 

Recent Visiting Writers: Tom Bissell, Roxane Gay, Aimee 

Nezhukumatathil, Kwame Dawes, John D’Agata, Richard Ford, 

Tim O’Brien, Lan Samantha Chang, Elizabeth McCracken, 

John McNally, Nahid Rachlin, Jim Harrison, Donald Hall, Mary 

Clearman Blew 

Program Description: NMU, located on the Lake Superior 

shore of Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula, offers a threeyear 

MFA degree in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, 

as well as a two-year MA in writing, literature, pedagogy, or 

theater. Teaching assistantships are available, as well as travel 

opportunities, summer grants, and internships with Passages 

North. NMU grads have published work with Knopf and Penguin, 

continued on to literary and creative PhD programs, found 

full-time teaching positions, and started literary magazines. 

Marquette, Michigan, a bike-friendly town even in the snowy 

winter, is surrounded by some of the country’s most stunning 

forests and water. 

Northwestern University 

School of Professional Studies 

MA & MFA in Creative Writing 

Website: sps.northwestern.edu/program-areas/graduate/ 

creative-writing/index.php 

Address: School of Professional Studies, 405 Church St, 

Evanston, IL 60208 

Program Director: Reginald Gibbons 

Program Contact: Amy B. Danzer 

Phone: (847) 491-3051 

Email: sps@northwestern.edu, a-danzer@northwestern.edu 

Degrees Offered: MA, MFA 


Length of Program: varies 


Enrollment: about 100 

Total Credits Required: 10 (MA),18 (MFA) 

Application Deadlines: October 15; January 15; April 15; 

July 15 (approximate) 

Scholarships: no (see website for alternate options) 

Assistantships: no (see website) 

Core Faculty: Chris Abani, Eula Biss, John Bresland, Stuart 

Dybek, Reginald Gibbons, Golda Goldblum, Susan Harris, Miles 

Harvey, Juan Martinez, Michael McColly, Simone Muench, 

Naeem Murr, Ed Roberson, Shauna Seliy, Christine Sneed, S. 

L. Wisenberg. Other recent faculty include Steve Bogira, Ana 

Castillo, Cristina Henriquez, Christina Pugh, Megan Stielstra, 

and others 


Literary Magazine: TriQuarterly 


Program Description: The part-time Master of Arts/Fine 

Arts in Creative Writing program at Northwestern University 

offers scheduling flexibility to pursue your writing goals while 

balancing your professional and personal life. Core writing 

competency is developed through peer workshops, reading and 

discussing other authors’ works, literature courses, electives, a 

teaching practicum, and publishing internships. 

20 



Oklahoma City University 

The Red Earth MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

Website: www.okcu.edu/english/redearthmfa 

Address: 2501 N. Blackwelder Avenue WC 248, Oklahoma 

City, OK 73106 

Program Director: Jeanetta Calhoun Mish 

Program Contact: Dyan Shaw 

Phone: (405) 208-5127 

Email: mfadirector@okcu.edu 




Genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting 



Application Deadlines: rolling 



Core Faculty: Allison Amend, Lou Berney, Jeanetta Calhoun 

Mish, Kerry Cohen, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Kat Meads 


Literary Magazine: Red Earth Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Matthew Quick, Lori A. May, 

James Bernard Frost, Peter Meinke, Alan Michael Parker, 

Thomas Larson, Lan Samantha Chang, Chad Sweeney, Dawn 

Lundy Martin, Margo Rabb, Joy Harjo, Laura Moriarty, Ariel 

Gore, Tony Medina, Rilla Askew, Elise Paschen 

Program Description: Write. Read. Get skilled. 

The Red Earth Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing @ 

Oklahoma City University offers you the opportunity pursue 

your writing without sacrificing your life. Our program connects 

you with experienced creative and professional writers who 

will nurture your creative talent in workshops and individual 

instruction. We also offer skills-courses to enrich your writing 

career: Writing Pedagogy, Professional Writing, and Literary 

Magazine Editing & Production. 10-day residencies, twice a 

year. Four semesters you complete at home. 


Pine Manor College 

Solstice Low-Residency 


Website: www.pmc.edu/mfa 

Address: 400 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 

Program Director: Meg Kearney 

Program Contact: Tanya Whiton 

Phone: (617) 731-7697, (617) 731-7684 

Email: mfa@pmc.edu 


Genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for young 

people 





Application Deadlines: rolling admissions year round 



Core Faculty: Kathleen Aguero, Venise Berry, Laure-Anne 

Bosselaar, Amy Hoffman, Steven Huff, Randall Kenan, Robert 

Lopez, Laura Williams McCaffrey, Anne-Marie Oomen, Dzvinia 

Orlowsky, Iain Haley Pollock, Sandra Scofield, Sterling Watson, 

Dave Yoo, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Nicole Terez Dutton, 

Jedediah Berry 

Visiting Faculty: Terrance Hayes, Helen Elaine Lee, Dennis 

Lehane, M.L. Liebler, Grace Lin, Michael Steinberg, Jacqueline 

Woodson 


Literary Magazine: Solstice 


Recent Visiting Writers: Naomi Shihab Nye, Dorothy 

Alison, Phillip Lopate, Cornelius Eady, Nancy Willard, Stewart 

O’Nan, Walter Dean Myers, Stephen Dunn, Andre Dubus III 

Program Description: The Solstice Low-Residency MFA 

in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College is coeducational, 

inclusive, and affordable. Our program is designed 

to help students reach their full potential as writers through a 

demanding curriculum that balances the workshop experience 

with the study of literary craft, criticism, and theory. 


21


Rosemont College 


Website: www.rosemont.edu/gp/creative-writing-poetry-or-fiction/ 

Address: 1400 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, PA 19010 

Program Director: Carla Spataro 

Phone: (610) 527-0200 ext. 2346 

Email: cspataro@rosemont.edu 




Genres: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, novel, YA, dramatic 

writing 



Application Deadlines: rolling admissions 



Core Faculty: Liz Abrams-Morley, Anne Kaier, JC Todd, 

Richard Bank, BJ Burton, Blythe Davenport, Amy Punt, Janice 

Merendino, Carmen Machado 

Visiting Faculty: Charles Holdefer, Elise Juska, Curtis 

Smith, John Henry Fleming, Catherine Stine, Grant Clauser 


Literary Magazine: Rathalla Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Kevin McIlvoy, Steve Almond, 

Andrea Carter Brown, Michael Martone, Ethel Rackin, Kelly 

Simmons, Julianna Baggott 

Program Description: The mission of Rosemont College’s 

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is to empower students 

with real-life skills and experiences that will enable them to 

achieve their professional and creative goals as writers, and to 

become productive contributors of larger writing communities as 

authors, teachers, publishers, and readers. We have envisioned 

a program where the students have opportunities to work with 

established and accomplished writers, editors, and industry 

professionals, in a variety of settings that allow our students 

to blossom and discover their own unique voices as writers. 

Rosemont College also offers a unique Double Degree program 

where students can earn both an MFA in Creative Writing and an 

MA in Publishing. 

Rutgers University - Newark MFA 

Program 


Website: www.ncas.rutgers.edu/mfa 

Address: 43 Bleeker Street, Newark, NJ 07102 

Program Director: Professor Jayne Anne Phillips 

Program Contact: Melissa Hartland 

Phone: (973) 353-1107 

Email: rnmfa@andromeda.rutgers.edu 



Length of Program: 2 yrs full time/3 yrs part time 

Genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction 



Application Deadlines: November 1 - January 2 



Core Faculty: Jayne Anne Phillips, Akhil Sharma, Tayari 

Jones, Alice Elliott Dark, Brenda Shaughnessy, Rigoberto 

Gonzalez, Rachel Hadas, James Goodman, John Keene 

Visiting Faculty: Eduardo Corral, Cynthia Cruz 


Reading Series: The Writers At Newark Reading Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Edward P. Jones, Natasha 

Trethawey, George Saunders, James Salter, Ruth Otzeki, Marie 

Howe 

Program Description: The Rutgers-Newark MFA Program 

awards TA’s and PTL’s teaching Comp or Creative Writing, 

Capote Fellowships, and Chancellor’s MFA Mentors financial 

aid. See our website for pages on our award-winning faculty; 

the 16 writers featured each year in the Writers @ Newark 

Reading Series/MFA receptions; student honors/publications; 

application specifics (open Nov. 1, deadline Jan. 2); RU-N MFA 

Student Reading Series at Coffee Cave, Newark, and KGB Bar 

in Manhattan; and our Newark High Schools Writing Contest/ 

Reception/ Reading, hosted and judged by MFA students. 

Established in 1997, Rutgers Newark MFA, named one of 5 

Best New MFA’s in the nation by the Atlantic, offers a literatureenriched, 

muscular degree and a diverse, supportive community 

in an exciting, affordable urban setting. For information, please 

peruse our website. 

22 



Sarah Lawrence College 

MFA in Writing 

Website: www.slc.edu/writing-mfa/ 

Address: 1 Mead Way, Bronxville, NY 10708 

Program Director: Brian Mortan 

Program Contact: Emanuel Lomax 

Phone: (914) 395-2371 

Email: elomax@sarahlawrence.edu 



Length of Program: 2 years full time, 3 years part time 

Genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction (cross genre work 

encouraged) 


Application Deadlines: December 15 is the preferential 

deadline, rolling thereafter 



Core Faculty: Jo Ann Beard, Suzanne Gardinier, Michael 

Greenburg, Garth Risk Hallberg, Marie Howe, Thomas Lux, 

Brian Morton, Dennis Nurske, Stephen O’Connor, Victoria 

Redel, Nelly Reifler, Vijay Seshadri, Joan Silber, Scott Snyder 

Visiting Faculty: Melissa Febos, Kate Zambreno 

Literary Magazine: LUMINA Journal 

Reading Series: Weekly Community of Writers events 

Recent Visiting Writers: Tracy K. Smith, Ian Frazier, 

Dave Eggers, Philip Lopate, Frank Bidart 

Program Description: The Master of Fine Arts Program in 

Writing at Sarah Lawrence confers degrees in fiction, poetry, and 

nonfiction. Study at Sarah Lawrence includes weekly workshops 

and craft classes; a yearlong colloquium in which writers and 

publishing professionals talk with students about every aspect 

of the writing life; and biweekly, one-on-one meetings between 

student and workshop instructor. In these biweekly conferences, 

our faculty of distinguished writers engages with your work in 

depth and in detail, accompanying you every step of the way as 

you investigate the possibilities of your art. We know of no other 

writing program that offers this degree of mentorship. 


School of the Art Institute of Chicago 


Website: www.saic.edu/mfaw 

Address: 36 South Wabash Avenue, Ste. 1201, Chicago, IL 

60603 

Program Director: Ruth Margraff 

Program Contact: Amber Da 

Phone: (312) 899-5094 

Email: wprog@saic.edu 




Genres: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, screenplay, essay, 

collaborative projects 






Core Faculty: Sally Alatalo, Jesse Ball, Mark Booth, Janet 

Desaulniers, Calvin Forbes, Adam Levin, Sara Levine, Ruth 

Margraff, James McManus, Beth Nugent 

Visiting Faculty: Carol Anshaw, Rosellen Brown, Anne 

Calcagno, Kevin Coval, Mary Cross, Amy England, Abigail 

Elizabeth Geni, Matthew Goulish, Todd S. Hasak-Lowy, Beth 

Kathleen Hetland, Jill K. Magi, Jennifer Magnus, Richard 

O’Reilly, Elise Paschen, Bin Ramke, Jill Riddell, Deb Olin 

Unferth 


Reading Series: Writing Department Graduate Lecture 

Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: George Saunders 

Program Description: The two-year Master of Fine Arts 

in Writing (MFAW) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago 

(SAIC) distinguishes itself from more conventional writing 

programs in that it both questions typical genre distinctions and 

nurtures traditional writing approaches. MFAW students are 

immersed in an arts environment within the nation’s secondhighest 

rated MFA program, encouraging them to participate 

in an active community of artists, writers, and scholars. 

Collaboration is complemented by the program’s self-directed 

nature: students work closely with faculty advisors who are also 

prolific practitioners in their fields to create a course plan specific 

to their interests. 

23


Seattle Pacific University 


Website: www.spu.edu/mfa/ 

Address: 3307 3rd Avenue West, Suite 318, Seattle, WA 

98119 

Program Director: Gregory Wolfe 

Program Contact: Aubrey Allison 

Phone: (206) 281-2727 

Email: mfa@spu.edu 





Application Deadlines: rolling; apply before Nov. 15 for a 

spring start, before May 15 for a summer start 



Core Faculty: Robert Clark, Jeanine Hathaway, Paula 

Huston, Gina Ochsner, Jeanne Murray Walker, Lauren F. Winner 


Literary Magazine: Image 

Recent Visiting Writers: Carolyn Forché, David James 

Duncan, Dana Gioia, Patricia Hampl, Thomas Lynch, Marilyn 

Nelson, Josip Novakovich, Richard Rodriguez, Christian Wiman 

Program Description: The low-residency MFA at Seattle 

Pacific University is for apprentice writers who want to pursue 

excellence in the craft of writing and care about the relationship 

between faith and literature. For us, faith is not a shortcut or a 

warrant to produce didactic or sentimental work. We are inspired 

by a tradition of writing in which the highest standards of art, an 

open-eyed exploration of human experience, and a respect for 

transcendent mystery come together. That’s why our program is 

one of the most rigorous in the world. Our models are Augustine 

and Dante, Donne and Dostoevsky, Eliot and O’Connor. 

Seton Hill University 

MFA in Writing Popular Fiction (low-res) 

Website: setonhill.edu/fiction 

Address: Seton Hill University, Office of Graduate & Adult 

Studies, Greensburg, PA 15601 

Program Directors: Dr. Albert Wendland, Dr. Nicole Peeler 

Program Contact: Ellen Monnich 

Phone: (724) 838-4221 

Email: monnich@setonhill.edu 



Length of Program: 5 semesters, plus a graduation 

residency 

Genres: science fiction, romance, fantasy, horror, mystery, 

children’s, young adult 



Application Deadlines: On or near March 22 and 

September 23 each year 



Core Faculty: Dr. Albert Wendland, Dr. Michael Arnzen, Dr. 

Lee McClain, Dr. Nicole Peeler 

Visiting Faculty: Shelley Bates, Tim Esaias, Anne Harris, 

Scott Johnson, Felicia Mason, Barbara Miller, Heidi Ruby Miller, 

Patrick Picciarelli, Randall Silvis, Lucy Snyder, Maria V. Snyder, 

Jon Sprunk, Victoria Thompson, Tim Waggoner, Karen Williams 


Reading Series: Readings in Genre Fiction 

Recent Visiting Writers: Orson Scott Card, Tess 

Gerritsen, David Morrell, Stephanie Bond, Jonathan Maberry, 

Christopher Paul Curtis 

Program Description: Seton Hill’s unique onlinesupported 

residency program teaches writers to create, market, 

and teach the fiction that sells. It is designed for those authors 

who wish to write within the popular fiction genres such as 

romance, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery. Seton 

Hill’s program features a flexible online/residency format that 

allows students to earn a master of fine arts degree while 

working full-time, one-on-one mentoring by established writers, 

professors who are active and successful authors, a supportive 

writing community that continues after graduation, and the ability 

to write a full-length novel while earning a degree. 

24 



Spalding University 

MFA in Writing (low-res) 

Website: www.spalding.edu/mfa 

Address: 851 S. Fourth Street, Louisville, KY 40203 

Program Director: Sena Jeter Naslund 

Program Contact: Karen J. Mann 

Phone: (800) 896-8941, ext. 4400 or (502) 873-4400 

Degrees Offered: MFA in Writing (Spalding’s School of 

Liberal Studies offers a BFA; see www.spalding.edu) 


Length of Program: 4 semesters, plus a graduation residency 

Genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for children 

and young adults, screenwriting, playwriting 

Enrollment: about 70 per semester, fall, spring, summer 

Total Credits Required: 65 credit hours 

Application Deadlines: February 1 for spring and summer 

semesters; August 1 for fall semester 



Core Faculty: Sena Jeter Naslund, K. L. (Kenny) Cook, 

Robin Lippincott, Silas House, Greg Pape, Jeanie Thompson, 

Roy Hoffman, Dianne Aprile, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Lesléa 

Newman, Eric Schmiedl, and see www.spalding.edu/mfa for a 

complete list. 


Literary Magazines: The Louisville Review 

Reading Series: Spalding’s Festival of Contemporary 

Writing 

Recent Visiting Writers: Jacqueline Woodson, Barry 

Lopez, Ann Patchett, Yusef Komunyakaa, and more. For a 

complete list, see www.spalding.edu/mfa 

Program Description: Our 65-hour, brief-residency MFA in 

Writing combines superb instruction with unparalleled flexibility. 

Each semester of the program begins with a ten-day residency, in 

which students and faculty gather for an intensive workshopping 

and learning experience. At the conclusion of the residency, 

students return home to study independently with a faculty mentor 

for the rest of the semester. During the semester, each instructor 

supervises a small number of students, and each student’s program 

is highly individualized to meet each student at his or her level of 

writing. Students may customize the location, season, and pace of 

their studies. 

Stony Brook Southampton 

MFA in Creative Writing and Literature 

Website: www.stonybrook.edu/mfa/ 

Address: 239 Montauk Highway, Southampton, NY 11968 

Program Director: Julie Sheehan 

Program Contact: Adrienne C. Unger 

Phone: (631) 632-5030 

Email: adrienne.unger@stonybrook.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, Advanced Certificate 


Genres: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, scriptwriting, children’s 

literature. Students are encouraged to experience different 

genres throughout program. 


Application Deadlines: Jan. 15 for fall, Oct. 1 for spring 



Core Faculty: Melissa Bank, Star Black, Billy Collins, Jules 

Feiffer, Neal Gabler, Emma Walton Hamilton, Ursula Hegi, 

Kaylie Jones, Matt Klam, Patty Marx, Patricia McCormick, 

Daniel Menaker, Susan Scarf Merrell, Robert Reeves, Roger 

Rosenblatt, Julie Sheehan, Frederic Tuten, Lou Ann Walker, 

Meg Wolitzer 


Literary Magazine: The Southampton Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Susan Cheever, Julia Glass, 

Terence Hayes, Mary Karr, Heather McHugh, Susan Minot, Vijay 

Seshadri, Grace Schulman 

Program Description: At Stony Brook Southampton, we 

welcome aspiring writers who seek to create original work primarily 

in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. We offer guidance that is 

friendly, rigorous, professionally useful and hands on. Enrollment 

in our writing workshops is capped at twelve. Unlike most MFA 

programs, ours encourages students to take workshops in all 

kinds of writing, rather than being tracked upon acceptance into a 

single genre. We invite students to explore, in the belief that writing 

outside their genres informs their primary areas of interest. Beyond 

the familiar categories of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, 

we offer workshops in other forms of creative expression relevant 

to understanding and mastering a world constructed out of words 

and images. Recent course offerings have included graphic novel, 

children’s literature, and poetry with a bookmaking emphasis. 


25


University of Arkansas at Monticello 


Website: www.uamont.edu/Arts_and_Humanities/mfa/ 

Address: 562 University Drive, Monticello, AR 71656 

Program Director: Diane Payne 

Phone: (870) 460-1247 

Email: payne@uamont.edu 


Type of Program: online 


Genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry 



Application Deadlines: rolling 



Core Faculty: Suzanne Cope, Karen Dietrich, Sandy 

Longhorn, Peter Nichols, Diane Payne, Jessica Piazza, Adam 

Prince, Mark Spencer 


Literary Magazine: Gravel Literary Magazine 


Program Description: The UAM Master of Fine Arts in 

Creative Writing provides opportunity to talented and highly 

self-disciplined individuals to earn an MFA tailored to fit their 

lifestyles, interests, and goals at an affordable price relative 

to other MFA programs and to develop their creative-writing, 

critical-thinking, and literary analysis skills to an exemplary level 

through study under successful and dedicated writer-teachers 

from a range of backgrounds and aesthetic perspectives. 

The mission of the program is directly related to the mission 

of the university in that it enhances individuals’ abilities to 

think creatively and critically, to effectively communicate, to 

be technologically literate, to appreciate and contribute to the 

cultures of their communities and beyond, and to possess 

awareness and sensitivity to global issues. 


26 

University of California, Riverside – 

Palm Desert Center 

MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts (low-res) 

Website: palmdesertmfa.ucr.edu 

Address: 75-080 Frank Sinatra Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92211 

Program Director: Tod Goldberg 

Program Contact: Agam Patel 

Phone: (760) 834-0926 

Email: palmdesertmfa@ucr.edu 




Genres: fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry – students also 

work in a secondary genre, effectively as a minor, which includes 

the above genres as well as playwriting 


Application Deadlines: Aug. 1 (for fall enrollment), Feb. 1 (for 

spring enrollment) 



Core Faculty: Michael Birnbaum, Elizabeth Crane, Jill Alexander 

Essbaum, Gina Frangello, Tod Goldberg, Stephen Graham Jones, 

Kevin Jones, Joshua Malkin, Anthony McCann, Mary Otis, William 

Rabkin, Emily Rapp, Rob Roberge, John Schimmel, Mark Haskell 

Smith, Deanne Stillman, David L. Ulin, Mary Yukari Waters 

Visiting Faculty: see website for updated list 


Literary Magazine: The Coachella Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Jane Smiley, Dan Chaon, Dave 

Cullen, Steve Almond, Amy Gerstler, Geoff Dyer, Susan Straight, 

Phoef Sutton, editors from Simon & Schuster, Grove, Viking, 

Penguin, Other Voices, Dzanc, No Tell Books, Paris Review, 

New York Times, The Collagist, Los Angeles Times 

Program Description: The low residency MFA program 

at UCR-Palm Desert, the first such program in the University of 

California system, is unique in that it directly marries your academic 

pursuits with a real world emphasis on the next stage of your writing 

career—namely publication and production. Students work oneon-one 

with their professors during the course of seven quarters of 

online study and five intensive 10-day residencies at the beautiful 

Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, CA. The 

program was designed and is taught by writers for writers and is 

open to all genres of writing. 



University of Guelph 


Website: guelphcreativewritingmfa.com 

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 187, Station E, Toronto, ON 

M6H 4E2, Canada 

Physical address: University of Guelph Master of Fine Arts 

in Creative Writing, (at The University of Guelph Humber) 207 

Humber College Blvd, Toronto, ON M9W 5L7, Canada 

Program Director: Catherine Bush 

Program Contact: Meaghan Strimas 

Phone: (647) 459-1331 

Email: mstrimas@uoguelph.ca 



Length of Program: 2 years, full-time 

Genres: creative nonfiction, drama, fiction, poetry 




Core Faculty: Dionne Brand, Catherine Bush, Judith 

Thompson, Karen Connelly, Russell Smith, Michael Winter 

Visiting Faculty: Aleksandar Hemon, Sheila Heti, Yann 

Martel, Lisa Moore, John Mighton, Shyam Selvadurai, Michael 

Ondaatje, Fransciso Goldman, Emma Donoghue, Heather 

O’Neill, A.L. Kennedy, Ben Lerner, Karen Solie, Dennis Lee, 

Margaret Christakos 


Reading Series: Speakeasy 

Recent Visiting Writers: Aleksandar Hemon, Sheila Heti, 

Yann Martel, John Mighton, Lisa Moore, Shyam Selvadurai 

Program Description: Since September 2006, the 

University of Guelph has offered an exciting Master of Fine Arts 

(MFA) Program in Creative Writing, located in the University 

of Guelph-Humber building on the north campus of Humber 

College in Toronto. Our stellar faculty includes Dionne Brand, 

Catherine Bush, and Judith Thompson as well as associated 

faculty Karen Connelly, Russell Smith, and Michael Winter, 

among others. We offer workshops in creative nonfiction, drama, 

fiction, and poetry. 

University of Idaho 


Website: www.uidaho.edu/class/english/mfaincreativewriting 

Mailing address: Department of English, PO Box 441102, 

Moscow, ID 83844-1102 

Physical Address: 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844 

Program Director: Bret Shepard 

Program Contact: Bret Shepard 

Phone: (208) 885-6156 

Email: bshepard@uidaho.edu 










Core Faculty: Robert Wrigley, Kim Barnes, Alexandra 

Teague, Mary Clearman Blew, Daniel Orozco, Brandon R. 

Schrand, Joy Passanante, Ron McFarland, Scott Slovic, Bret 

Shepard 


Literary Magazine: Fugue 


Recent Visiting Writers: Natasha Tretheway, Patricia 

Hampl, Mark Halliday, Tony Earley, Jo Ann Beard, Chris Abani, 

Linda Bierds, Benjamin Percy 

Program Description: While we require applicants to 

apply only in one genre, we encourage them to “cross-pollinate” 

once they are admitted. We believe the poet has as much to 

gain from learning the narrative pacing of prose as the prose 

writer does from the placement of a single word. We encourage 

students to experiment and to push themselves in new 

directions. But we also insist that they know where they fit in 

the continuum of writers of their genre, and that they understand 

and can speak to that tradition. 


27


University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 


Website: creativewriting.english.illinois.edu 

Address: Dept. of English, 608 South Wright Street, Urbana, 

IL 61801 

Program director: Jodee Stanley 

Program contact: Steve Davenport, Assoc. Director 

Phone: (217) 333-3979 

Email: sdavenpo@illinois.edu 

Degrees offered: MFA 

Type of program: residency 

Length of program: 3 years 



Application deadlines: December 5, 2014 


Core faculty: Philip Graham, Janice N. Harrington, Brigit 

Pegeen Kelly, Michael Madonick, Alex Shakar 

Publishing/editing courses: yes (see website) 

Literary magazine: Ninth Letter 

Reading series: yes (see website) 

Recent visiting writers: Sara Levine, Ladan Osman, 

Roger Reeves, Richard Siken, Alissa Nutting, Jamaal May, Peter 

Orner 

Program description: The MFA degree at the UIUC 

provides students with graduate study and professional training 

in the writing of fiction and poetry with our distinguished 

graduate faculty: Philip Graham, Janice N. Harrington, Brigit 

Pegeen Kelly, Michael Madonick, and Alex Shakar. The 

degree’s primary goal is to give writers time and space to work 

on perfecting their art. Upon graduation, students will have the 

skills necessary to teach writing and will produce a book-length, 

publishable manuscript. Students will also have the opportunity 

to gain experience in literary editing and publishing while 

working on Ninth Letter. 

28 

University of Nebraska Omaha 


Website: www.unomaha.edu/unmfaw 

Address: MFA in Writing/WFAB 301, 6001 Dodge St, Omaha, 

NE 68182-0324 

Program Director: Richard Duggin 

Program Contact: Jenna Lucas Finn 

Phone Number: (402) 554-3020 

Website: www.unomaha.edu/unmfaw 

Email: jlucas@unomaha.edu 



Genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, playwriting, young 

adult fiction 


Application Deadlines: October 1; May 1 (priority 

deadlines) 


Core Faculty: Pope Brock, Charlene Donaghy, Kate Gale, 

Teri Youmans Grimm, Amy Hassinger, Allison Adelle Hedge 

Coke, Michael Kinghorn, Patricia Lear, Michael Oatman, Tom 

Paine, Jim Peterson, Elizabeth Powell, Lee Ann Roripaugh, 

Catherine Texier, William Trowbridge, Charles Wyatt 

Visiting Faculty: Sherwin Bitsui, Rachel Cohn, David Allan 

Evans, Gabriel Fried, Andrew Hinderaker, James Jay, Allan 

Kornblum, Jude Nutter, Kristen-Paige Madonia, John Price, Ned 

Stuckey French, Therese Svodboda, Charles Harper Webb, 

Gabrielle Zevin 


Program Description: The University of Nebraska Omaha 

MFA in Writing is a low-residency creative writing course of 

study for writers like yourself who are committed to a literary life. 

The full program comprises four 16-week semesters and five 

10-day symposium-style residencies. During your tenure in the 

program, you will be absorbed in an intense study of one of five 

literary genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, poetry, or 

young adult fiction. All our students and faculty convene in the 

beautiful Lied Lodge and Conference Center in Nebraska City 

twice a year in Summer and Winter Residency. The Lodge is set 

in a 260-acre park with walking trails and a golf course. Included 

in your residency fee are individual guest rooms, three meals a 

day, dedicated classroom and workshop space, and after-class 

amenities that include a swimming pool, sauna, lounge, and 

social areas. 




University of New Hampshire 

MFA in Writing Program 

Address: Hamilton Smith Hall, 95 Main Street, Durham, NH 

03824 

Website: cola.unh.edu/english/program/writing-mfa 

Program Director: David Rivard 

Program Contact: Janine Auger 

Phone: (603) 862-3963 

Email: janine.auger@unh.edu 







Application Deadlines: January 15th 



Core Faculty: Charles Simic, Mekeel McBride, David Rivard, 

Ann Joslin Williams, Tom Paine, Sue Hertz, Andrew Merton, Tom 

Haines, Jaed Coffin 


Literary Magazine: Barnstorm 

Reading Series: The Writers Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Margot Livesey, Tom Perrotta, 

Jean Valentine, Tom Sleigh, Susan Orlean, Nicolson Baker 

Program Description: The MFA Program at the University 

of New Hampshire has a clear goal: to help you mold your gifts 

and passion for the art and to prepare you for the opportunities 

and demands that all writers will experience in a long career. 

What happens to you after you leave this program—how you 

will sustain yourself and your work—is one of our strongest 

concerns. This supportive community of students and faculty 

shares a belief that writing matters and that the best books of 

fiction, poetry, and nonfiction are made out of both the creative 

imagination and rigorous work. 

University of North Carolina at 

Greensboro 

MFA Writing Program 

Website: www.mfagreensboro.org 

Address: UNC Greensboro, 3302 Moore Humanities and 

Research Admin Building, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402- 

6170 

Program Director: Jim Clark 

Program Contact: Terry Kennedy 

Phone: (336) 334-5459 

Email: terry_kennedy@uncg.edu 




Genres: poetry, fiction 


Total credits Required: 36 




Core Faculty: Stuart Dischell, Holly Goddard Jones, Craig 

Nova, Michael Parker, David Roderick, Jim Clark 


Literary Magazine: Greensboro Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Lucie Brock-Broido, Joshua 

Ferris, John Irving, Tracy Kidder, Colum McCann, Robert Pinsky, 

Mark Strand 

Program Description: The MFA Writing Program at 

Greensboro is one of the oldest such programs in the country. 

During the early years, the University had among its faculty a 

number of noted writers, such as Allen Tate, Caroline Gordon, 

John Crowe Ransom, Hiram Haydn, Peter Taylor, and Randall 

Jarrell. They invited other distinguished writers to campus to 

read from their work and to meet with students; these writers 

included Robert Lowell, Robert Frost, Flannery O’Connor, 

Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, and Saul Bellow. In 1965, 

under the leadership of Robert Watson, creative writing offerings 

were formalized. Since that time, enrollment has grown, but 

the faculty has intentionally kept the program small, enabling 

students to have individual conferences with faculty. 


29


University of North Carolina Wilmington 


Website: www.uncw.edu/writers/mfa/ 

Address: UNCW Department of Creative Writing, 601 S. 

College Rd., Wilmington, NC 28403 

Program Director/Contact: Mark Cox 

Phone: (910) 962-3331 

Email: coxm@uncw.edu 




Genres: creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry 



Application Deadline: January 5 



Core Faculty: Lavonne Adams, Wendy Brenner, May-lee 

Chai, Mark Cox, Clyde Edgerton, Phil Furia, Philip Gerard, 

David Gessner , Nina de Gramont , Rebecca Lee, Beth Staples, 

Malena Mörling, Anna Lena Phillips, Robert Siegel , Emily L. 

Smith, and Michael White 

Visiting Faculty: Cristina García, Allan Gurganus, Elizabeth 

Kostova, ZZ Packer, Donna Tartt, Diana Hume George, Melanie 

McGrath, Terry Tempest Williams, David Wright, John Jeremiah 

Sullivan, Carolyn Forché, A. Van Jordan, Timothy Liu, Mary 

Ruefle, Gerald Stern 


Literary Magazine: Ecotone 

Literary Imprint: Lookout Books 

Reading Series: Creative Writing Reading Calendar 

Recent Visiting Writers: Hope Edelman, Jason Mott, 

Natasha Tretheway, Cynthia Huntington, Bob Reiss, Bill Roorbach 

Program Description: Our MFA program—an intensive, 

three-year studio-academic experience in the writing of fiction, 

poetry, and creative nonfiction—joins students who share a 

common passion and faculty members who provide critical support 

of their work. The faculty of the Department of Creative Writing 

view MFA students as colleagues-in-the-making, and consider it a 

privilege to teach in such a community. Our invitation to successful 

candidates to join our MFA community is regarded as an equal 

privilege. We do all that we can to mentor our MFA students to 

successful lives as writers; in return we ask that they contribute 

something of value to our writing community. 

30 

University of South Carolina 


Website: artsandsciences.sc.edu/engl/mfa-program-carolina 

Address: Department of English, University of South 

Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 

Program Director: David Bajo 

Program Contact: Liz Countryman 

Email: countrym@mailbox.sc.edu 










Core Faculty: Samuel Amadon, David Bajo, James Barilla, 

Elise Blackwell, Fred Dings, Nikky Finney 


Literary Magazine: Yemassee 


Recent Visiting Writers: Ian McEwan, Aleksandar 

Hemon, Jennifer Egan, Martin Amis, Marilynne Robinson, Teju 

Cole, George Saunders 

Program Description: The University of South Carolina 

MFA blends the camaraderie of a small program with the 

resources of a large English department. Students work closely 

with well-published and supportive faculty and interact frequently 

with both internationally acclaimed and emerging visiting writers. 

All admitted students receive substantial funding. Intensive 

yet collegial workshops comprise the program’s center, while 

students also receive world-class training in literary study with 

optional opportunities in pedagogy, editing, and outreach in a 

vibrant, inexpensive, and relaxed college city. 



University of Tampa 


Website: www.ut.edu/mfacw/ 

Address: 401 W. Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33606-1490 

Program Director: Steve Kistulentz 

Program Contact: Steve Kistulentz 

Phone: (813) 258-7409 

Email: utgrad@ut.edu 







Application Deadlines: November 1 for the January 

Residency; April 1 for the June Residency 



Core Faculty: Jessica Anthony, Sandra Beasley, John 

Capouya, Brock Clarke, Tony D’Souza, Erica Dawson, Mikhail 

Iossel, Stefan Kiesbye, Steve Kistulentz, Donald Morrill, Josip 

Novakovich, Jason Ockert, Jeff Parker, Alan Michael Parker, 

Jennifer Vanderbes 


Literary Magazine: Tampa Review, Tampa Review Online 


Recent Visiting Writers: Mary Biddinger, Robert Olen 

Butler, Michael Connelly, Beth Ann Fennelly, Arthur Flowers, 

Nick Flynn, Tom Franklin, Barbara Hamby, Hal Hartley, Eli 

Horowitz, Leslie Jamison, Denis Johnson, Miranda July, David 

Kirby, Ben Lerner, Susan Minot, Rick Moody, Benjamin Percy, 

Francine Prose, George Saunders, Carmen Gimenez Smith, 

Wesley Stace, Rebecca Wolff. 

Program Description: The University of Tampa lowresidency 

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program is 

designed to help poets, fiction writers and creative nonfiction 

writers advance their command of craft through exposure 

to literature from a writerly perspective and with supportive 

critique and mentoring. The two-year, four-term course of 

individualized study encourages the rich interplay of participation 

in an extended literary community, and it seeks to deepen 

the understanding of writing as an ongoing engagement with 

discovery and transformation. 



University of Wyoming 


Website: www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting 

Address: Dept. of English - 3353, 1000 E. University Avenue, 

Laramie, WY 82071 

Program Director: Jeff Lockwood 

Program Contact: Gwynn Lemler 

Phone: (307) 766-6453 

Email: cw@uwyo.edu 





Enrollment: 9 





Core Faculty: Andrew Fitch, Alyson Hagy, Harvey Hix, Jeff 

Lockwood, Beth Loffreda, David Romtvedt, Brad Watson 

Visiting Faculty: Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Joy Williams 


Reading Series: MFA Student Reading Series 

Recent Visiting Writers: Dinaw Mengestu, Sherwin Bitsui, 

Claire Vaye Watkins, Rachel Levitsky, Chris Cokinos 

Program Description: The University of Wyoming’s 

Creative Writing MFA program is an intensive two-year studio 

degree in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Special features include 

a flexible curriculum, cross-genre opportunities, opportunities 

for interdisciplinary study, and our Eminent Writers in Residence 

program, which brings distinguished authors to campus to work 

closely with our students. We have a deeply committed faculty, a 

lively visiting writers series, an incomparable natural setting, and 

full funding for students, including teaching assistantships with 

reasonable teaching loads, full tuition waivers, summer stipends, 

and support for travel and publication. 

31


Vanderbilt University 


Website: www.vanderbilt.edu/creativewriting 

Address: PMB 351654, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 

37205 

Program Director: Lorraine Lopez (interim) 

Program Contact: Margaret Quigley 

Phone: (615) 322-6527 

Email: margaret.quigley@vanderbilt.edu 




Enrollment: 12-15 

Total Credits Required: 42-48 




Core Faculty: Beth Bachmann, Kate Daniels, Tony Earley, 

Peter Guralnick, Rick Hilles, Mark Jarman, Lorraine Lopez, 

Lorrie Moore, Nancy Reisman 


Literary Magazine: Nashville Review 

Reading Series: Vanderbilt Visiting Writers 

Recent Visiting Writers: Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, 

Garrett Hongo, Aimee Bender, Maile Melloy, Frank Bidart 

Program Description: The Vanderbilt MFA—in vibrant 

Nashville, TN—is a highly selective, two to three year, intensive 

MFA program in poetry and fiction. Nine faculty teach 12-15 

students. All students fully funded with an annual stipend of 

$24,000 plus health insurance. Students work several hours a 

week in the Writing Studio during the first year and teach one 

section of undergraduate creative writing in the second year. 

We focus on one-on-one mentoring and encourage students 

to use their gifts as writers in community, working as writers in 

residence, at talented youth camps, and in prison workshops. 

We host an Outstanding Visiting Writers Series, and students 

have the opportunity to edit and publish the national online 

journal Nashville Review. 

32 

Vermont College of Fine Arts 

MFA in Writing, MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults (low-res) 

Website: www.vcfa.edu/writing, www.vcfa.edu/wcya 

Address: 36 College Street, Montpelier, VT 05602 

Program Directors: Louise Crowley (MFA in Writing), 

Melissa Fisher (MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults) 

Phone: (802) 828-8840, (802) 828-8896 

Email: louise.crowley@vcfa.edu, melissa.fisher@vcfa.edu 



Length of Program: 4 semesters 

Genres: creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, writing for children & 

young adults 

Enrollment: 120 (MFAW), 95 (WCYA) 



Core Faculty: (MFAW): Matthew Dickman, Douglas Glover, 

Rigoberto Gonzalez, David Jauss, Sue William Silverman, Leslie 

Ullman, David Wojahn. (WCYA): Kathi Appelt, Coe Booth, Uma 

Krishnaswami, Martine Leavitt, Rita Williams-Garcia, Tim Wynne- 

Jones. (See complete list on website.) 


Literary Magazine: Hunger Mountain 

Recent Visiting Writers: (MFAW): Julia Alvarez, Julianna 

Baggott, Stephen Dunn, Barbara Hurd, Sigrid Nunez, Richard 

Russo; (MFAWCYA): M. T. Anderson, Nikki Grimes, David 

Macaulay, Walter Dean Myers, Katherine Paterson, Don Tate. (See 

complete list on website.) 

Program Description: The MFA in Writing and MFA in Writing 

for Children & Young Adults programs are designed for students 

with serious interest in developing professional skills in writing 

poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and writing for young readers. 

VCFA’s internationally acclaimed writers and highly dedicated 

teachers attract students from all corners of the world to the rigorous 

and uniquely supportive community. An intensive 10-day residency 

in Vermont—or optional overseas residency in Puerto Rico and 

Slovenia (MFAW) or Bath, England (WCYA)—challenges and 

inspires students for the 6-month study ahead. While focusing on 

essential topics for a developing writer students engage in four 

semesters of study focused on their individual interests, such 

as emerging literary forms, exploration of the intersection of the 

literary and visual arts, translation (MFAW), or diversity in children’s 

literature (MFWC). VCFA offers many substantial scholarships to 

new and continuing students, including publisher-sponsored funds 

with right of first-refusal options (MFWC). 



Washington University St. Louis 


Website: english.artsci.wustl.edu/graduate/writing_program 

Address: Campus Box 1122, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, 

MO 63130 

Program Director: David Schuman 

Program Contact: Shannon Rabong 

Phone: (314) 935-7428 

Email: srabong@artsci.wustl.edu 




Genres: poetry, fiction, nonfiction 






Core Faculty: Mary Jo Bang, Carl Phillips, Kathryn Davis, 

Marshall Klimasewiski, Danielle Dutton, Kathleen Finneran, 

Edward McPherson 



Recent Visiting Writers: Martha Collins, Richard Powers, 

Kelly Link, Matthea Harvey, George Saunders 

Program Description: The MFA Program at Washington 

University in St. Louis is a two-year program where 20 to 25 

students are working toward MFA degrees in fiction, nonfiction, 

or poetry. Each year our reading series brings a diverse group of 

poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers to the department. In 

addition, the Hurst Professor program brings in six distinguished 

visitors each year to present their newest work, lecture on the 

craft of writing, and work one-on-one with our MFA students. 

Students teach creative writing courses in their second year. All 

students are fully and equally funded. 

West Virginia University 

MFA Program in Creative Writing 

Website: creativewriting.wvu.edu 

Address: 100 Colson Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506-6296 

Program Director/Contact: Mary Ann Samyn 

Phone: (304) 293-9730 

Email: maryann.samyn@mail.wvu.edu 







Application Deadline: January 15 



Core Faculty: Mark Brazaitis, James Harms, Ellesa High, 

Kevin Oderman, Mary Ann Samyn, Ethel Morgan Smith, Glenn 

Taylor 


Literary Magazine: Cheat River Review 


Recent Visiting Writers: Jaimy Gordon, Carol Frost, 

Randall Kenan, Dagoberto Gilb, Bill Olsen, Elizabeth Graver 

Program Description: Founded in 2001, West Virginia 

University’s MFA Program is located in the foothills of the 

Appalachian Mountains, along the Monongahela River. Our 

program offers specializations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. 

Workshop sizes are always small, usually capped at twelve 

students. In addition to taking five workshops, including one 

out of genre, students work one-on-one with faculty mentors 

in preparing their theses: a book-length work of fiction, 

nonfiction, or poetry. Students take additional courses in editing, 

professional writing, and literature, receive training in pedagogy, 

and teach composition and creative writing. Our program is 

home to the Cheat River Review, and we offer opportunities for 

outreach via the Appalachian Prison Book Project, the Bolton 

Writing Workshops, and partnerships with middle schools and 

senior citizen lifelong learners. 


33


West Virginia Wesleyan College 


Website: www.wvwc.edu/academics/gradprograms/MFA/ 

Address: 59 College Ave, Box 46, Buckhannon, WV 26201 

Program Director: Jessie van Eerden 

Program Contact: Jessie van Eerden 

Phone: (304) 473-8329 

Email: vaneerden@wvwc.edu 







Application Deadlines: Oct 1 for winter residency, Mar 1 

for summer residency (rolling admission) 



Core Faculty: Mark DeFoe, Devon McNamara, Richard 

Schmitt, Jessie van Eerden, Doug Van Gundy, Eric Waggoner 

Visiting Faculty: Gail Galloway Adams, Mary Carroll- 

Hackett, Sarah Beth Childers, Laura Long, Karen McElmurray, 

Sara Pritchard, Carter Sickels, Aaron Smith, Crystal Wilkinson 


Recent Visiting Writers: Maggie Anderson, Diane Gilliam, 

Terrance Hayes, Julia Kasdorf, Ann Pancake, Jayne Anne 

Phillips 

Program Description: Students join an extraordinarily 

warm community every summer and winter for an intensive 

ten-day residency that initiates an independent semester of 

apprenticeship completed off-site through correspondence with 

a mentor. Students work with a mixture of new and returning 

faculty, working one-on-one with a different mentor within their 

discipline throughout each residency and off-campus period. 

Located in central Appalachia, the program welcomes and 

fosters writing that explores place and identity, though that 

emphasis is secondary to fostering excellence in all writing. 

Interested students may substitute a residency in Ireland for one 

campus residency. Faculty-student ratio never exceeds 1 to 4. 

34 

Western State Colorado University 

MFA/MA in Creative Writing 

Certificate in Publishing (low-res) 

Website: www.western.edu/mfa 

Address: 600 N. Adams St., Gunnison, CO 81231 

Program Director: Dr. David J. Rothman 

Program Contact: Dr. David J. Rothman 

Phone: (970) 943-2058 

Email: drothman@western.edu 

Degrees Offered: MFA, MA, Certificate in Publishing 


Length of Program: MFA: 25 months; MA: 13 months 

Genres: genre fiction, poetry with emphasis in versecraft, 

screenwriting for film and tv, publishing 

Enrollment: 36 total in each yearly cohort 

Total Credits Required: MFA: 60; MA: 30 

Application Deadlines: rolling admissions with corresponding 

start dates for fall, spring, or summer terms 



Core Faculty: Concentration Directors: Russell Davis 

(Genre Fiction), Dr. David J. Rothman (Poetry), and JS Mayank 

(Screenwriting) 

Visiting Faculty: Michaela Herman-Roessner, Stacia Deutsch, 

Candace Nadon, Diane Pharaoh Francis, David Yezzi, Ernest 

Hilbert, Bob Shayne 


Literary Magazine: Western Press Books, Think Journal 


Recent Visiting Writers: Joe Haldeman, John Helfers, 

Diana Tixier Herald, Robert McBrearty, Jim Minz, Andy Zack, Kim 

Bridgford, Tom Cable, Natalie Gerber, Emily Grosholz, Dana Gioia, 

Simon Jarvis, Marilyn Krysl (see complete list online) 

Program Description: Set within the breathtaking landscapes 

and skylines of Gunnison County, the Western State Colorado 

University Low-Residency MFA program offers disciplined writers 

the opportunity to pursue their passion, network with noted writers, 

and realize a deeper understanding of the broader audiences 

we write for. Mentored by a dedicated and accomplished faculty, 

students establish the skills, networks, and industry knowledge 

needed to make their passion their career. Students engage in 

four semesters of rigorous online coursework that includes a 

combination of weekly online discussion, writing, and critiques with 

individual faculty mentors as well as weekly interaction with peers. 



NewPages Big List of Graduate 

Creative Writing Programs 

The following short blurbs come from the schools’ websites. For more 

description and a link to the programs’ websites, please visit: 

www.newpages.com/writers-resources/all-graduate-writing-programs 

Online Programs 

Lindenwood University 

Creative Writing :: MFA (online or in-class) 

This program focuses on the practice and study of creative 

writing. Our coursework, which includes craft classes, 

literature classes, and writing workshops in a wide range 

of genres, may be taken in the classroom, online, or a 

combination of both. 

Morehead State University 

Creative Writing Program :: MA (online) 

The Masters of Arts in English offers students a 

comprehensive overview of advanced literary study as well 

as courses in creative and technical writing and linguistics. 

National University 


he National University MFA program is a completely online 

program with no residency requirement. Workshop classes 

are conducted in electronic classrooms with fellow writers 

from around the country and the world. 

see more details on page 17 

University of Arkansas - Monticello MFA 

MFA in Creative Writing Program (online) 

UAM’s entirely online program offers workshops in creative 

nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. We offer our students a 

rigorous, yet flexible education with small classes and a 

quality education at an affordable price. 


Alabama 

Auburn University 

Creative Writing Program :: MA 

The Creative Writing Graduate track offers an in-depth 

education in the writing and revising of poetry, fiction and 

creative nonfiction. 

University of Alabama at Birmingham 


Our graduate students take a series of workshop classes 

to develop their skills as poets or writers of fiction or 

nonfiction. In creative writing workshops, the content of the 

course is literally generated by the students themselves. 

University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa 

Creative Writing Program :: MFA 

The program leading to the master of fine arts (MFA) 

degree in creative writing is a studio/academic course 

of study, designed to accommodate imaginative and 

intellectual diversity. All of our students are fully funded. 

see display ad on page 60 

UAM 


An engaging community of disciplined writers 

No Residency MFA Program 

Study Poetry, Fiction, & Creative Nonfiction 

Visit our website for more info: 

http://www.uamont.edu/arts_and_humanities/mfa 


35


University of South Alabama 


The Master of Arts degree program in English is designed 

to meet the needs both of students pursuing a M.A. to 

further their career and creative goals and of students 

pursuing an M.A. as they work toward the Ph.D. and a 

career in university teaching. 

Alaska 

University of Alaska Anchorage 

Creative Writing Program :: MFA (low-res) 

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of Alaska 

Anchorage (UAA) is a low-residency program in creative 

writing that emphasizes a literary approach to exploring 

and redefining relationships between people and place. 

University of Alaska Fairbanks 


The Master of Fine Arts program is a rigorous three-year 

residency combining in-depth study of literature with an 

intensive focus on fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and 

dramatic writing. 

Arizona 

Arizona State University 


At the core of the Master of Fine Arts program in creative 

writing at ASU are small classes, intimate workshops and 

three semesters of practicum—one-on-one mentoring 

tailored to address your writing needs. 

Northern Arizona University 


Students participate in writing workshops in fiction and 

poetry, undertake coursework in literary periods and types, 

and study critical theory. 

University of Arizona 


With workshops and craft seminars in fiction, creative 

nonfiction, and poetry, we offer intensive instruction in 

literary craft and the study of literature from a writer’s 

perspective. 

Wilkes University - Mesa 

Creative Writing Program :: MA, MFA (low-res) 

The Master of Arts in Creative Writing is a 30-credit, 

low-residency program that prepares students to be 

professional creative writers by examining: the personal 

life and habits of a writer; the craft, technique, and more. 

Arkansas 

University of Arkansas 


One of the nation’s oldest MFA Programs, and one of the 

“Top Five Most Innovative” (The Atlantic Monthly), we offer 

degree tracks in Fiction, Poetry and Literary Translation. 

University of Central Arkansas 


The Arkansas Writers MFA is a writing-intensive studio 

program in Creative Writing that will uniquely prepare 

graduates for careers in writing pedagogy and publishing. 

Assistantships with the Oxford American and Toad Suck Review, 

Porter Prize Literary Fellowship. 


California 

Antioch University Los Angeles 


In Antioch University Los Angeles’ unique low-residency 

program, students explore the important role of the 

writer in society, reading works by diverse and sociallyconscious 

authors. The MFA in Creative Writing program 

is comprised of on-campus residencies—which include 

classes, readings, and workshops—complemented by a 

five-month, online project period during which students live 

and write in their home communities. 


CalArts 


An innovative and interdisciplinary creative writing 

program, designed for writers who seek to experiment 

with form and content in the remarkable laboratory for art 

making that is CalArts. 

California College of the Arts 


In our distinctly flexible yet rigorous curriculum, you’ll 

engage in workshops that offer supportive yet instrumental 

critiques of your work in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction 

and cross genre writing. 

California Institute of Integral Studies 


The MFA program at CIIS offers an engaged, 

interdisciplinary curriculum in the heart of San Francisco. 

At CIIS, writers, visual artists, performance-makers and 

community-based artists work closely with a dedicated 

faculty of prominent artists and writers. 

36 



California State University, Fresno 


The M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing offers advanced 

degree training to talented students who wish to gain 

expertise in the writing of poetry, fiction or creative 

nonfiction. 

California State University, Long Beach 


We offer full-time programs in fiction and poetry. While we 

currently do not offer teaching assistantships, a wide range 

of teaching opportunities are available to our graduate 

students. 

California State University, Los Angeles 


The Master of Arts degree in English provides 

opportunities for advanced study in literature, criticism, 

language, creative writing, and composition and rhetoric. 

California State University, Northridge 


The Department of English offers a wide variety of 

courses and program in the fields of literature, language, 

composition and rhetoric, and creative writing. 

California State University, Sacramento 


Students in this concentration develop an ability to 

understand and express ideas through or in dialogue 

with literary forms; to write with a tone of authority; and 

to critique their own or each other’s works using the 

fundamental terminology of the craft. 

California State University, San Bernardino 


Cradled between Los Angeles and the snow-capped 

San Bernardino mountains, Cal State San Bernardino 

welcomes writers with fresh voices, expansive visions 

and evident commitment into a diverse and thriving arts 

community. 

Chapman University 

Creative Writing Program :: MA, MFA 

The dual degree combines the M.F.A. in Creative Writing 

and the M.A. in English. The dual degree combines 

the practice and study of creative writing with literary 

scholarship. 

Faculty MeMbeRs 

Recent & FoRthcoMing Visiting wRiteRs 

Allison Amend 

Lou Berney 

Kerry Cohen 

Quraysh Ali Lansana 

Kat Meads 

Jeanetta Calhoun Mish 

Lori A. May 

Matthew Quick 

James Bernard Frost 

Peter Meinke 

Alan Michael Parker 

Thomas Larson 

Lan Samantha 

Chang 

Chad Sweeney 

Dawn Lundy Martin 

Margo Rabb 

Joy Harjo 

Laura Moriarty 

Tony Medina 

Ariel Gore 

Rilla Askew 

Elise Paschen 

Jim Daniels 

Luke B. Goebel 

Cheryl Pallant 

LeAnne Howe 

www.okcu.edu/english/RedeaRthMFa 


37


Holy Names University 

Master of Arts in English: The Writer’s Craft 

In the Writer’s Craft you will find time to write, workshops, 

one-on-one interaction with faculty, exposure to a variety 

of writing genres, literary events, time dedicated to 

understanding promotion and handling of your work, and 

engagement with other serious writers. 


Loyola Marymount University 


The Creative Writing Emphasis offers a range of 

coursework in several genres and modes of writing: fiction, 

poetry, novella, prose poetry, memoir, constraint based 

writing, playwriting, and more. 

Mills College 


Part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s vibrant literary 

community, Mills College offers innovative MFA programs 

in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and book art. Our 

graduate English programs tap into the Bay Area’s energy 

and are distinguished by their long-established reputations; 

innovation; outstanding faculty; intimate community of 

writers, scholars, and alumni; and commitment to a vision 

of the literary arts as socially transformative. 


Otis College of Art and Design 


Founded in 2000, the Graduate Writing Program at Otis 

offers a Master of Fine Arts degree with concentrations in 

prose, poetry, and literary translation. 

Pepperdine University 


Pepperdine’s two-year MFA in Writing for Screen and 

Television trains students for a vocation as screenwriters 

and prepares them to become cultural leaders in the 

entertainment industry. 

Saint Mary’s College of California 

MFA in Creative Writing Program 

Founded in 1995, the MFA Program in Creative Writing is 

a two-year course of study leading to the M.F.A. degree in 

creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry. 

San Diego State University 


Inspired by our place in the world, the program provides 

a rich and diverse experience that goes beyond the 

classroom and beyond borders. 

San Francisco State University 

MA, MFA in Creative Writing 

The Creative Writing Program at SFSU offers three degree 

programs: BA in English with an emphasis in Creative 

Writing, MA in English with an emphasis in Creative 

Writing; and MFA in Creative Writing. 

San Jose State University 


The MFA program at SJSU is a dual-genre program that 

provides concentrations in fiction, creative nonfiction, 

poetry, and playwriting/screenwriting. 

University of California Davis 


One of the main benefits of our M.A. program is that our 

creative writers take literature courses right along with 

Ph.D. candidates; this means there are close relationships 

among students across disciplines. 

University of California Irvine 


The aim of the MFA Programs in Writing at the University 

of California, Irvine is the training of accomplished writers 

who intend to make writing their life. 

University of California Riverside 


The UCR MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the 

Performing Arts (CWPA) is one of the most diverse and 

vibrant multi-genre MFA writing programs in the country. 

University of California, Riverside – Palm 

Desert Center 

MFA Program in Creative Writing & Writing for the 

Performance Arts (low-res) 

The low residency MFA program at UCR-Palm Desert, the 

first of its kind in the University of California system, offers 

a full academic and professional immersion into the writing 

world. In addition to their creative work, students meet 

one-on-one with industry professionals to help guide them 

towards the next step of their careers. 


University of California San Diego 


Our cross-genre curriculum allows students to explore 

poetry and prose and encourages the exploration of writing 

that falls between or beyond genre categories. 

University of San Francisco 


Located in the center of San Francisco, USF’s Master of 

Fine Arts in Writing Program offers graduate students an 

intimate, personalized learning experience while taking 

advantage of San Francisco’s vibrant, eclectic literary 

scene. 

38 



University of Southern California 

Creative Writing Program :: PhD 

The USC Ph.D. in Creative Writing & Literature program 

is one of the few dual Ph.D. programs in the country that 

weaves the disciplines of literature and creative work into a 

single educational experience. 

Colorado 

Colorado State University 


The nationally ranked program offers a balance of intimate 

and intensive writing workshops with courses in literature, 

form and technique, and related electives. 

Naropa University 

Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics 

MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics (res & low-res) 

The Jack Kerouac School emphasizes innovative 

approaches to literary arts. Our programs problematize 

genre while cultivating contemplative and experimental 

writing practices. Each year, we invite more than sixty 

guest faculty to our internationally renowned Summer 

Writing Program, a four-week colloquium of workshops, 

lectures, and readings. This distinguishing feature fosters 

an intensely creative environment for students to develop 

their writing projects in conversation with a community of 

writers. 


State College of Western Colorado 


Taught by esteemed faculty members with years of 

experience as successful, currently publishing writers, the 

program aspires to help each student develop their art and 

become not only great writers, but great writers who get 

published. 

University of Colorado Boulder 


The program has grown and evolved over more than three 

decades, transitioning for example, from a two-year MA to 

a three-year MFA. Throughout these changes, we remain 

writers committed to our craft and our teaching. 

University of Denver 

Creative Writing Program :: PhD 

DU’s program in creative writing is one of the only writing 

programs in the country that focuses exclusively on 

doctoral study. All of the University of Denver’s graduate 

students in Creative Writing are PhD students. 

Western State Colorado University 


Western’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing 

focuses on writing for larger audiences: concentrations 

in mainstream as well as genre fiction; poetry with an 

emphasis in form; and screenwriting for Indies, Hollywood, 

and television. Residencies occur the last two weeks of 

July, high in the Colorado Rockies. 


Connecticut 

Albertus Magnus College 


At Albertus Magnus College, you can earn your MFA in 

writing in just two years—without sacrificing family time or 

making demands on the job that pays your bills. 

Fairfield University 


If you’re interested not only in writing your book but getting 

it published, then Fairfield’s MFA is the program for you. In 

the past two years our alumni have published 14 books, 

in addition to hundreds of articles, essays, stories, and 

poems. 


Southern Connecticut State University 


The M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Southern Connecticut 

State University is a full-residency, terminal-degree 

program, preparing students for careers as publishing 

writers, teachers, editors, and professionals in the 

publishing world. 

Western Connecticut State University 


We are proud to announce the establishment of the first 

MFA program in writing that offers the aspiring writer 

training in both creative and practical writing: food for the 

soul and food for the table. 

Washington D.C. 

American University 


Founded in 1980, the American University’s MFA Program 

in Creative Writing, offered through the Department of 

Literature, is a 48-semester-hour program that may be 

completed in two years. 


39


Florida 

Florida Atlantic University 


Students in the MFA program specialize in fiction, poetry, 

or creative nonfiction, pursuing half of their coursework in 

creative writing workshops and half in literature and theory 

seminars; they are also encouraged to take courses in 

translation and book arts. 

Florida International University 


The program has the simple operating philosophy of 

helping put talented writers across all genres in contact 

with their intended audiences. 

Florida State University 

Creative Writing :: MFA, PhD 

The program is now affiliated with FSU’s top-ranked 

schools of Film and Theatre. Our faculty includes 

professors who are not only dedicated to the craft of 

writing but who are also widely known as teachers of the 

craft. 

Nova Southeastern University 


Students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Writing program 

at the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences build 

backgrounds in both professional and creative writing. 

University of Central Florida 


The M.F.A. program welcomes writers of fiction, poetry, 

and creative non-fiction who wish to prepare for careers in 

writing, editing, and/or teaching. 

University of Florida 


Our aim is to cultivate good writers. When we are 

successful, you leave here capable of writing a better 

poem or story or novel than you might have written had 

you not come here. 

University of Miami 


The primary aim of the program is to nurture the 

individual’s writing talent; the secondary aim is to prepare 

students for careers in writing and teaching. 

University of South Florida 


USF’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program 

offers small classes, friendly fellow students, dedicated 

faculty, a lively reading series, and a supportive 

atmosphere. 

University of Tampa 


The University of Tampa low-residency Master of Fine Arts 

in Creative Writing Program is designed to help poets, 

fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers advance 

their command of craft through exposure to literature from 

a writerly perspective and with supportive critique and 

mentoring. 


Georgia 

Georgia College & State University 


The three-year Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing 

program offers workshops with award-winning faculty 

writers in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and memoir, 

and scriptwriting. 

Georgia State University 

Creative Writing :: MA, MFA, PhD 

George State University students enjoy the benefits of 

living and writing in Atlanta, an international city with a 

vibrant literary culture, and great art, music, and food. 

Kennesaw State University 

Professional Writing Program :: MA 

The Master of Arts in Professional Writing program 

(MAPW) is a professional graduate degree program that 

prepares candidates for a wide variety of writing-related 

positions in business, education, publishing, and the arts. 

Savannah College of Art and Design 


SCAD writing is rooted in nonfiction and encourages 

students to pursue their passions while mastering a 

diverse set of skills that enable them to write for any 

medium and professional environment. 

University of Georgia 

Creative Writing Program :: MFA, PhD 

We offer both the MFA and the PhD, each of which 

involves participation in a mix of writing workshops and 

graduate literature courses, culminating in the submission 

of a creative thesis or dissertation of publishable quality. 

Hawaii 

University of Hawaii at Manoa 

Creative Writing Program :: MA, PhD 

This program of study is designed to give students 

the opportunity to specialize in one of four areas of 

concentration while requiring that they do approximately 

half of their course work in other subject areas. 

40 



Idaho 

Boise State University 


The MFA Program in Creative Writing offers degree tracks 

in fiction and poetry, emphasizing the art and craft of 

literary writing and concentrating on the student’s written 

work. 

Univesity of Idaho 


Idaho’s three-year curriculum is ideal for those who 

demand rigorous instruction in fiction, poetry, and 

creative nonfiction. Our program—small by design—limits 

enrollment in graduate workshops to 10-15 students, which 

allows for an intimate and dynamic work environment, and 

full access to our award-winning faculty. Moscow, and its 

abundant wilderness opportunities, is an ideal place to 

focus on writing. 


Illinois 

Chicago State University 


Students participate in writing workshops in fiction, creative 

non-fiction, poetry. Additionally, students undertake 

coursework in African American literature and non-African 

American literature. 

Columbia College Chicago 

Creative Writing MFA - Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry 

Columbia College Chicago offers undergraduate and 

graduate degrees in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, 

with internationally renowned faculty in the USA’s 

largest not-for-profit private arts and media college as 

well as distinguished writers-in-residence, teaching 

instructorships, editorial opportunities, diverse reading 

series, annual literary festivals, a thriving literary 

community, and small classes. 


DePaul University 


The Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing program 

offers advanced training in the art and craft of writing 

poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. 

Illinois State University 


The Creative Writing Program at Illinois State University 

has a distinguished and national reputation for 

encouraging alternative and hybrid forms of writing while 

emphasizing the study of theory and creative writing 

pedagogy. 


School of Communication 


Our two-year MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage is 

founded upon these five principles : Art. Craft. Business. 

Vision. Community. 


School of Professional Studies 

MA/MFA in Creative Writing 

The part-time Master of Arts/Fine Arts in Creative Writing 

program at Northwestern University offers scheduling 

flexibility to pursue your writing goals while balancing your 

professional and personal life. Core writing competency 

is developed through peer workshops, reading and 

discussing other authors’ works, literature courses, 

electives, a teaching practicum, and publishing internships. 


Roosevelt University 


Join a program uniquely focused on the novel with 

specializations in narrative and the lyric essay. We’re a 

community of writers committed to our craft. 

School of the Art Institute of Chicago 


The two-year Master of Fine Arts in Writing (MFAW) at the 

School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) distinguishes 

itself from more conventional writing programs in that it 

both questions typical genre distinctions and nurtures 

traditional writing approaches. MFAW students are 

immersed in an arts environment within the nation’s 

second-highest rated MFA program, encouraging them to 

participate in an active community of artists, writers, and 

scholars. 


Southern Illinois University Carbondale 


The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a studioacademic 

program designed to assist talented students in 

developing their skills as poets or fiction writers. 

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 


The specialization in creative writing is designed for the 

student interested in pursuing the art of writing fiction or 

poetry. 

The University of Chicago 


The MAPH Creative Writing option is intended for students 

who plan to do a creative writing thesis project in fiction, 

poetry, or creative nonfiction. 


41


The University of Illinois at Chicago 

Program for Writers :: MA, PhD 

The MA degree is an ideal choice for those students who 

wish to continue their studies for professional development 

or for further academic work at the PhD level. 

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 


he MFA degree at UIUC provides students with graduate 

study and professional training in the writing of fiction 

and poetry with our distinguished graduate faculty: Philip 

Graham, LeAnne Howe, Janice N. Harrington, Brigit 

Pegeen Kelly, Michael Madonick, and Alex Shakar. The 

degree’s primary goal is to give writers time and space to 

work on perfecting their art. 


Indiana 

Ball State University 


The English master’s degree in creative writing is a 

flexible, innovative, two-year program that encourages 

cross-genre study through graduate workshops in poetry, 

fiction, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, and graduate 

literature seminars. 

Write Your Book. 

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing 

Join a community that includes 36 

graduates who published books in 2013. 

Concentrations are offered in fiction, 

nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children. 

Live the writer’s life in New York City. 

www.newschool.edu/writeyourbook5 

Butler University 


The MFA is a 36-hour studio MFA that includes ten 

three-credit courses and six hours of formal thesis work 

with an advisor. We offer programs in poetry, fiction, and 

nonfiction, as well as electives in screenwriting, young 

adult fiction, poetic form, literary editing and publishing, 

and teaching creative writing. We offer top-flight, full-time 

faculty, nationally recognized visiting faculty, and one of 

the finest visiting writers series in the country. 


Indiana State University 

Specialization in Writing :: MA 

For the culminating experience, creative writing students 

produce a thesis-length project—for instance, a novel or a 

collection of stories or poems. 

Indiana University - Bloomington 


The Creative Writing Program at Indiana University in 

Bloomington offers a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in 

fiction and poetry. 

Indiana University South Bend 


IU South Bend’s Master of Arts in English equips students 

with skills that are highly valued by employers and provide 

strong intellectual enrichment, including writing and 

analytical skills. 

Purdue University 


Established in 1987, the English Department’s graduate 

program in creative writing gives poets and fiction writers 

the opportunity to develop their work in a supportive 

atmosphere which values originality and a vital literary 

tradition. 

University of Notre Dame 


The program is a course of study with the flexibility for 

students to initiate a variety of literary lives through 

exposure to a range of aesthetics, a global literary 

orientation, course work in historical and contemporary 

literary forms, and interaction with visiting authors. 

Iowa 

THE NEW SCHOOL 

Equal Opportunity Institution 

Photo by Martin Seck 

Iowa State University 


This program emphasizes study in poetry, fiction, 

nonfiction, and drama that encourages writers to identify 

and explore in their stories and lyric impressions the 

complex influences of place, the natural world, and the 

environmental imagination. 

42 



The University of Iowa 

Creative Writing Workshop :: MFA 

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a two-year residency 

program which culminates in the submission of a creative 

thesis (a novel, a collection of stories, or a book of poetry) 

and the awarding of a Master of Fine Arts degree. 

The University of Iowa 


For the past forty years, the Nonfiction Writing Program 

has encouraged students to explore new approaches to 

creative nonfiction while also developing an appreciation 

for the deep history of the genre. 

University of Northern Iowa 


We pride ourselves on paying close attention to student 

writing, language use, and cultural analysis to help 

students prepare to work in a range of professions and 

countries. 

Kansas 

Kansas State University 


The Master’s in Creative Writing and Literature prepares 

students to be poets, novelists, essayists, short story 

writers, reviewers, editors, and teachers. 

Pittsburg State University 


In addition to the traditional Literature Emphasis, we offer 

a Creative Writing Emphasis, a Technical / Professional 

Writing emphasis, and an emphasis in Composition and 

Rhetoric. 

University of Kansas 


The Graduate Program in Creative Writing offers a threeyear 

MFA and five-year PhD in Creative Writing. Funding is 

available for the majority of graduate students via teaching 

and research assistantships. 

Wichita State University 


The Master of Fine Arts program at Wichita State 

University, now approaching its 40th anniversary, is a 

three-year, studio-academic program in fiction or poetry 

writing with students in full residence. 

Kentucky 

Bluegrass Writers Studio 

Eastern Kentucky University 


The mission of the Bluegrass Writers Studio is simple: to 

help our participants fulfill the dream of becoming better 

writers—with more focus, speed, and support than selfstudy 

can typically provide. 

Murray State University 

MA/MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

In the beautiful lakes region of Western Kentucky, 

something extraordinary is happening. Masters in their 

craft—some of the most widely respected novelists, poets 

and essayists working today—are guiding a group of 

talented and diverse writers in Murray State University’s 

high quality, low-residency, and very affordable MFA 

program. 


Spalding University 


The Spalding MFA offers an intellectually stimulating and 

emotionally supportive experience; unparalleled flexibility 

and individually tailored graduate study; a diverse and 

close-knit community of writers. Our 65-hour, briefresidency 

MFA in Writing combines superb instruction 

with unparalleled flexibility. Each semester of the program 

begins with a ten-day residency, in which students and 

faculty gather for an intensive workshopping and learning 

experience. 


University of Louisville 


The Creative Writing Program at U of L offers a variety 

of creative writing courses covering the major genres 

of poetry, fiction, drama and creative nonfiction at the 

graduate and undergraduate level. 

Louisiana 

Louisiana State University 


A three year program, we offer full funding and genre 

flexibility to all accepted students. Our faculty includes 

nationally recognized screenwriters and filmmakers as 

well as poets, fiction and nonfiction writers invested in our 

students’ success. 

McNeese State University 


Founded in 1981, the M.F.A. program in creative writing 

at McNeese State University is a three year, sixty hour 

curriculum culminating in the creative thesis, a book length 

manuscript with significant artistic merit. 


43


Masters of Fine Arts | Arkansas Writers MFA Workshop | University of Central Arkansas 

an innovative studio program 

emphasizing publishing and pedagogy 

Begin your writing career near the scenic Ozark 

mountains in Conway, Arkansas, just a short drive 

from Little Rock. Join an active literary community 

that includes The Oxford American and the Toad 

Suck Review literary magazines, the Arkansas 

Shakespeare Theatre and the Arkansas Literary 

Festival. Participate in master classes through an 

Artist-in-Residence program dedicated to bringing 

literary luminaries—including three Pulitzer Prize 

winners—to campus. Enjoy a high faculty-to-student 

ratio and hone your craft under the direction 

of writers who are committed to providing you 

with the knowledge and experience that leads to 

success in the 21st-century literary landscape. 

FACULTY 

Garry Craig Powell | Mark Spitzer | John Vanderslice | Stephanie Vanderslice | Stacy Kidd 

RECENT WRITERS IN RESIDENCE 

Neil Gaiman | Dave Eggers | Chuck Klosterman | Michael Chabon | Heather Sellers | Sharon Olds | Anne Waldman 

Dan Chaon | Jennifer Egan | CD Wright | Peter Carey | Michael Cunningham | Richard Russo | Kevin Brockmeier 

Arkansas Writers MFA Workshop 

Department of Writing 

University of Central Arkansas 

201 Donaghey Avenue 

Conway, AR 72035 

(501) 450-3344 

For more information and an online application: 

uca.edu/writing/mfa 

44 



University of Louisiana at Lafayette 


Home to students and faculty working in fiction, poetry, 

non-fiction, and drama, the Creative Writing Program is 

a vibrant playground of writers dedicated to exploring the 

craft and joys of writing. 

University of New Orleans 


Writing workshops and literature classes are combined in 

a curriculum designed to enhance both writing and critical 

reading skills in the genres of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, 

playwriting, and screenwriting. 

University of New Orleans 


Our innovative curriculum includes online classes in 

the Fall and Spring semesters and month-long summer 

residencies in Europe. 

Maine 

University of Maine at Orono 


The concentration in Creative Writing allows the student 

to focus on the writing of fiction, poetry and/or creative 

non-fiction and to prepare a creative thesis, in addition to 

receiving graduate-level training in literature and literary 

criticism. 

University of Southern Maine 

Stonecoast MFA Program (low-res) 

The University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast M.F.A. 

Program in Creative Writing combines the energy of a 

forward-thinking low-residency program with the solid 

educational excellence of the very best creative writing 

programs in the nation. 

Maryland 

Goucher College 


With its unique focus on a single genre and its strong 

professional emphasis on publishing, Goucher’s MFA in 

Creative Nonfiction has gained a reputation as the best in 

its field. 

Johns Hopkins University 


Students admitted to the M.F.A. program enroll in 

two years of course work, and produce a substantial 

manuscript either in the form of a novel, novel excerpt, or 

collection of fiction; or a collection of poetry. 

University of Baltimore 


In addition to an array of writing classes and workshops, 

we offer courses in book arts, small press publishing, and 

creativity. 

University of Maryland - College Park 


The MFA in Creative Writing provides a professional 

course of study for graduate students seeking to perfect 

their ability to compose poems, stories, and novels. 

Massachusetts 

Boston University 


The Creative Writing MFA is an eight-course, thirty-two 

credit program. After coursework is completed, each 

student must present a creative thesis of either ninety 

pages in fiction or thirty-five pages in poetry. 

Emerson College 


Our MFA program focuses on the actual practice of writing 

as well as its literary underpinnings. You are exposed to 

writing as an art form and as a professional pursuit. 

Emerson College 

Publishing & Writing Program :: MA 

The MA in Publishing and Writing program provides an 

overview of the publishing industry from writing and editing 

through design, production, promotion, and distribution. 

Lesley University 

MFA Program in Creative Writing (low-res) 

Ranked #4 among low-residency MFA Programs by Poets 

& Writers, and the only such program located in a major 

U.S. literary city, Lesley offers five concentrations: Fiction, 

Nonfiction, Poetry, Writing for Stage and Screen, and 

Writing for Young People. Our graduates have published 

books, been featured in prestigious journals, won major 

literary prizes and fellowships, had theatrical productions, 

and found teaching positions in numerous schools and 

colleges. 


Pine Manor College 

Solstice MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

The Solstice Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA 

Program of Pine Manor College is co-educational, 

inclusive, and affordable. Our program is designed to 

help students reach their full potential as writers through 

a demanding curriculum that balances the workshop 

experience with the study of literary craft, criticism, and 

theory. 



45


University of Massachusetts - Amherst 


The MFA Program for Poets and Writers is a selective 

three-year program and is dedicated to the creation of 

new and important writing. For almost half a century, it has 

been a place for writers to concentrate on their work and to 

write their books. 

University of Massachusetts - Boston 


Every student receives financial support for three years 

of community, focus, and opportunity. Teach undergrads, 

come to SUBMITATHON!, edit magazines, visit prisons. 

Our professors don’t want you to sound like them; they 

want you to write your best work. 

University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth 

Professional Writing Program :: MA 

Graduate students in the Professional Writing Program 

join a writing community where they engage in extensive 

writing and editing practice and receive a solid background 

in rhetoric and communications. 

Michigan 

Central Michigan University 


We offer undergraduate and graduate creative writing 

courses, including an M.A. in English with Creative Writing 

Concentration. 

Eastern Michigan University 


The curriculum emphasizes both creative process and 

critical reading practices, preparing writers to participate in 

contemporary writing culture and for a range of language 

and media-centered careers. 

Northern Michigan University 

MA, MFA in Creative Writing 

NMU, located on the Lake Superior shore of Michigan’s 

beautiful Upper Peninsula, offers a three-year MFA 

degree in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, as well as 

a two-year MA in writing, literature, pedagogy, or theater. 

Teaching assistantships and fellowships are available, 

as well as travel opportunities, summer grants, and 

internships with Passages North. 


University of Michigan 


The Helen Zell Writers’ Program is a two-year graduate 

program in creative writing leading to the Master of Fine 

Arts degree. Students concentrate in either fiction or 

poetry. 

Wayne State University 


We offer classes at both the graduate and undergraduate 

levels in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, writing for the 

theater, interdisciplinary genres, and poetics. 

Western Michigan University 


We offer Master’s and Doctoral degrees in three different 

areas of emphasis: Creative Writing, English Education, 

and Literature and Language 

Minnesota 

Augsburg College 


Come to the Twin Cities and be a part of a vibrant literary 

community where you’ll engage the world thoughtfully, 

deepen and broaden your artistic sensibilities, and enjoy 

individual attention with a 5:1 student to faculty mentor 

ratio. The Augsburg MFA in creative writing is a two-year 

low-residency program with tracks in fiction, creative 

nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting and playwriting and 

concentrations in translation, teaching, and publishing. 


Hamline University 

MFA in Creative Writing (res) & MFA in Writing for 

Children & Young Adults (low-res) 

At Hamline, you’ll benefit not only from being a part of the 

only university in the U.S. with three fine arts programs 

in creative writing and an award-winning national literary 

magazine, but also from the cultural and literary bounty 

of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Hamline students 

experience a world-class education in the process and 

craft of writing taught by award-winning practicing writers. 


Minnesota State University Mankato 


The M.F.A. program in creative writing meets the needs 

of students who want to strike a balance between the 

development of individual creative talent and the close 

study of literature and language. 

University of Minnesota 


This three-year program offers tracks in fiction, poetry, 

and literary nonfiction with advanced graduate-level 

coursework in writing, literature, and related fields. All 

admitted students receive full funding for the duration of 

the program. 

46 



Mississippi 

Mississippi State University 


Mississippi State’s Master’s Degree in English with a 

Creative Writing Emphasis is a 24 credit hour course of 

study with an additional 6 hour thesis requirement. 

University of Mississippi 


We specialize in what we do best, fiction and poetry, and 

supplement our specialities with creative nonfiction, screen 

writing, and eco-writing. Ours is a fully funded, three year 

degree. 

University of Southern Mississippi 


Between 35 and 40 students work toward M.A. and Ph.D. 

degrees in English with emphases in fiction or poetry, and 

each student completes a creative thesis or dissertation to 

fulfill requirements for the degree. 

Missouri 

Missouri State University 


You like to write, read and analyze, or perhaps you’d like 

to teach literature and language. An English degree from 

Missouri State will prepare you to do all this, and more. 

University of Missouri - St. Louis 


The methods of instruction are simple but effective: writing 

workshops in fiction and poetry; seminar classes on writing 

craft; assistant editorial work on our nationally distributed 

literary magazine, Natural Bridge. 

Washington University St. Louis 


This is a two-year program where 20 to 25 students are 

working toward MFA degrees in fiction or poetry. Each 

year our reading series brings a diverse group of poets, 

fiction writers, and nonfiction writers to the department. 

In addition, the Hurst Professor program brings in four 

distinguished visitors each year to present their newest 

work, lecture on the craft of writing, and work one-on-one. 


Montana 

University of Montana 


The University of Montana is one of our nation’s oldest and 

most prestigious writing programs, known for its individual 

mentorship, student publications and award-winning 

faculty. 

Southeast Missouri State University 


Those with special interests in composition will find 

courses in creative writing, practical and professional 

written communication, styles of writing, and rhetorical 

theory. 

University of Missouri 


The University of Missouri’s Creative Writing Program is 

known for its commitment to literary study as an essential 

component of literary production. The department offers 

the M.A. and Ph.D. in English, with a concentration in 

creative writing. 

University of Missouri - Kansas City 


UMKC’s MFA in Creative Writing & Media Arts is an 

exciting studio-research program that combines intensive 

workshops with literature and craft classes to foster 

discovery and mastery in creative writing. 

MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM 

RESIDENCIES AT CARLOW UNIVERSITY, PITTSBURGH, 

AND TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, IRELAND. 

LOW-RESIDENCY PROGRAM 

WITH CONCENTRATIONS IN FICTION, 

POETRY, AND CREATIVE NONFICTION. 

ONE-TO-ONE STUDY 

WITH FACULTY. 

COMPLETE YOUR MANUSCRIPT UNDER 

THE GUIDANCE OF DISTINGUISHED 

AMERICAN AND IRISH WRITERS. 

RECENT FACULTY, MENTORS, 

AND VISITING WRITERS INCLUDE 

PRIZE-WINNING AMERICAN 

AND IRISH WRITERS.* 

* Visit carlow.edu for a complete list of faculty, 

mentors, visiting writers, and speakers. 

CARLOW.EDU | 412.578.6000 | 3333 FIFTH AVENUE | PITTSBURGH, PA 15213 


47


Nebraska 

Creighton University 


The graduate English faculty at Creighton University are 

well-known for the high standards they set, for their high 

energy, and for their deep commitment to teaching and to 

the individual needs of each student. 

University of Nebraska, Kearney 


The Master of Arts in English program presents a variety 

of courses in World, British, and United States literatures, 

creative writing, and pedagogy. 

University of Nebraska, Lincoln 


The Graduate Program in English at the University of 

Nebraska offers an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, one 

of the few such advanced degree programs in the country 

to offer a creative dissertation option. 

University of Nebraska Omaha 


The University of Nebraska Omaha MFA in Writing is a 

low-residency creative writing course of study for writers 

like yourself who are committed to a literary life. The full 

program comprises four 16-week semesters and five 10- 

day symposium-style residencies. 

see more on page 28 

Nevada 

Sierra Nevada College 


The low-residency MFA in creative writing program at 

Sierra Nevada College is a challenging and inspiring 

two year commitment to each student’s own artistic 

development. 

University of Nevada, Las Vegas 


The Creative Writing Program at the University of Nevada, 

Las Vegas offers a dynamic and stimulating writing 

environment, shaped by the confluence of the desert’s 

natural beauty with the electrical brilliance of Las Vegas’ 

neon lights. 


University of Nevada, Reno 


MA Writing students may opt for intensive study in 

composition research and teaching or in creative writing, 

with cognate work in linguistics, literature, or literacy 

studies. 

New Hampshire 

New England College 


Our low-residency Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing 

program offers students a rigorous, individualized 

graduate education in Poetry and Fiction, with additional 

concentrated study options available in Translation, New 

Media, and Performance. 

New Hampshire Institute of Art 


Our Low-residency MFA in Creative Writing is situated 

within an art institute, inspiring opportunities for crosspollination 

and hybridization of genres and art forms. In 

each ten-day residency, writers work alongside the MFA 

students in Visual Arts, Photography, and Writing for Stage 

and Screen. 


Southern New Hampshire University 


Write the book you’ve always dreamed of writing as 

you earn your MFA Creative Writing degree in Fiction or 

Nonfiction at Southern New Hampshire University. 

University of New Hampshire 


The MFA Program at the University of New Hampshire 

has a clear goal: to help you mold your gifts and passion 

for the art and to prepare you for the opportunities and 

demands that all writers will experience in a long career. 

What happens to you after you leave this program—how 

you will sustain yourself and your work—is one of our 

strongest concerns. 


New Jersey 

Drew University 


Students hone and develop their talent, as well as gain 

knowledge of the craft and poetics of contemporary 

American writers, and writers from other eras and cultures. 


Fairleigh Dickinson University 


FDU’s low-residency model is ideal for students who want 

a more flexible academic schedule. The MFA degree is 

offered in five disciplines: Poetry, Fiction, Writing for Young 

Adults, Creative Nonfiction, and Literary Translation. 

48 



Rowan University 


In addition to taking four core classes required of all 

MA students, graduate students develop their individual 

interests in one of the following tracks: Composition 

studies, Creative Writing/Journalism, or New Media. 

Rutgers University - Camden 


Our unique multi-genre approach prepares our students 

not only to write poetry and prose but to teach at the 

college level. 

Rutgers University-Newark MFA Program 


The Rutgers-Newark MFA Program, located on the 

most richly diverse undergrad campus in the nation, is a 

18-minute train ride from Manhattan. Our award-winning 

faculty truly mentor our poets and fiction writers; our 

studio/research MFA offers workshops, thesis hours, and 

7 interdisciplinary elective courses to full (2 year) and part 

time (3 year) students. 


William Paterson University 


The master of fine arts (M.F.A.) program in creative 

and professional writing at William Paterson University 

provides a supportive academic environment focused on 

the production of high-caliber writing. 

New Mexico 

New Mexico State University 

Creative Writing Program :: MA, MFA 

Students electing this emphasis choose a major genre: 

poetry or fiction. Students must complete fifty-four hours 

of graduate-level course work, submit a creative writing 

thesis, give a public reading from the thesis, and pass an 

oral examination. 

University of New Mexico 


This three-year degree combines studio-based workshops 

in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction with craft seminars 

and coursework in literature, teaching pedagogy, and 

professional writing. 

New York 

Adelphi University 


An intimate program, Adelphi’s Master of Fine Arts 

in Creative Writing offers students the opportunity to 

specialize in four major genres: poetry, fiction, creative 

non-fiction and dramatic writing. 

MFA & PhD 

excellent funding 

◊ Teaching assistantships gauranteed 

for three years 

◊ $13,000 stipends for MFAs 

◊ $25,000 fellowships for PhDs 

◊ Scholarship opportunities 

highly selective 

◊ Only ten MFAs and two PhDs admitted 

each year 

international focus 

◊ MFAs receive travel funding, work 

on translation, and have the option 

to join the Peace Corps Master’s 

International program 

vibrant community 

◊ Affiliation with Black Mountain 

Institute, including City of Asylum 

program for writers in exile 

◊ Opportunities on Witness and Interim 

magazines 

full-time faculty 

Maile Chapman ¦ Claudia Keelan ¦ Donald 

Revell ¦ Douglas Unger ¦ Richard Wiley 

recent visiting faculty 

Wole Soyinka ¦ C.D. Wright 

Derek Walcott ¦ Christina García 

Russell Banks ¦ Robert Coover 

BLA 

at 

Beverly Rogers,Carol C. Harter 

OUNTAIN 

INSTITUTE 

apply online by 

january 15 

english.unlv.edu/creativewriting 


49


Bard College 


Bard MFA is a nontraditional school for interdisciplinary 

study in the visual and creative arts: film/video, music/ 

sound, painting, photography, sculpture, and writing. 

Students are in residence on campus for eight weeks 

during three consecutive summers, with two winter 

sessions of independent study completed off campus. 

Each summer, students meet one on one with faculty from 

all six disciplines. 


Binghamton University SUNY 


The areas of study include poetry, fiction, nonfiction,memoir 

and children’s literature. The program 

relies on writing workshops and the study of literature to 

encourage the development of the students as writers. 

Brooklyn College 


This small, highly personal two-year program in creative 

writing confers Masters of Fine Arts degrees in fiction, 

poetry, and playwriting. 

City College Of New York - CUNY 


For more than three decades City College has offered 

serious writing students a chance to meet one another and 

to work under the guidance of a legendary faculty. 

The College of Saint Rose 


This new full-residency, 48-credit program provides 

serious writers with the opportunity to work within their 

chosen genres—fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry—in 

workshops with an accomplished full-time faculty. 

Columbia University School of the Arts 


The Columbia University School of the Arts MFA Writing 

Program, offering concentrations in Fiction, Nonfiction and 

Poetry, and a joint course of study in Literary Translation, 

is highly regarded for artistic diversity and for its 

outstanding faculty of acclaimed writers and editors. The 

rigorous approach to literary instruction requires 60 credits 

over 2-3 years of study. 


MFA in Poetry & 

Poetry in Translation 

The world’s focus 

is on our faculty. 

Gerald Stern, Distinguished Poet-in-Residence 

Core Faculty: 

Sean Nevin, Director 

Ross Gay 

Aracelis Girmay 

Anne Marie Macari 

Jane Mead 

Mihaela Moscaliuc 

Alicia Ostriker 

Ira Sadoff 

Judith Vollmer 

Michael Waters 

Ellen Doré Watson 

Our faculty’s focus is on you. 

As a student in our low-residency program, you will work one-on-one 

with some of today’s most gifted and accomplished poets. Residencies 

are held in January and June on our idyllic campus just outside of NYC. 

For information about the application process and 

merit scholarships, contact the Office of Admissions 

at gradm@drew.edu or 973.408.3110. 

Caspersen School of Graduate Studies 

Drew University 

Madison, NJ 07940 

drew.edu/mfa 

50 



Cornell University 


The program offers two degree options: the M.F.A. degree, 

with concentrations in either poetry or fiction, and the Joint 

M.F.A./Ph.D. Degree, where candidates earn an M.F.A. in 

Creative Writing (focused on either poetry or fiction) and 

continue on for a PhD in English Language and Literature. 

Hofstra University 


Hofstra University’s M.F.A. program in Creative Writing 

offers concentrations in fiction, poetry, playwriting, or 

creative non-fiction. 

Hunter College - CUNY 


The Creative Writing MFA is a full-time, two-year program 

in which students work closely with the distinguished 

writers who comprise the faculty. 

Long Island University - Brooklyn 


This program offers a solid foundation and practice 

through courses in literature, writing workshops and writing 

process and technique courses designed for the aspiring 

writer. 

Manhattanville College 


With our unique, non-tracking curriculum, students 

have the opportunity to work in a variety of genres, to 

experiment with cross-genre writing, or to focus on a single 

genre with gifted teachers and mentors who are also 

award-winning authors. 

The New School 


In just sixteen years, The New School has established 

itself as one of the most discerning, informed, and 

engaged graduate writing programs in the country. It’s no 

accident that our alumni are among the most successfully 

published MFA graduates in the world, and have 

distinguished themselves as teachers, editors, publishers, 

and media professionals. 



Graduate Creative Writing Program 

The graduate Creative Writing Program at NYU consists 

of a community of writers working together in a setting that 

is both challenging and supportive. Through innovative 

literary outreach programs, a distinguished reading 

series, special literary seminars with master writers, and 

the production of a high-quality literary journal, students 

participate in a dynamic literary community actively 

engaged in all aspects of the literary arts. 



Low-Residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris 

(low-res) 

The MFA Writers Workshop in Paris constitutes an intimate 

creative apprenticeship that extends beyond traditional 

classroom walls. Over two years, students and faculty 

convene regularly in Paris for five intensive ten-day 

residency periods (held biannually in January and July). 


Pratt Institute 

Graduate Writing Program :: MFA 

The Pratt M.F.A. in Writing is a new and unique two-year 

program specifically designed to support and encourage 

intellectually rigorous and inspired writing practices that 

are philosophically, culturally and politically informed. 

Queens College - CUNY 


We are proud to be the latest MFA program in the City 

University of New York system and the only one in the 

borough of Queens. We offer degrees in poetry, prose, 

playwriting and literary translation. 

Sarah Lawrence College 


The Master of Fine Arts Program in Writing at Sarah 

Lawrence confers degrees in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. 

Study at Sarah Lawrence includes weekly workshops 

and craft classes; a yearlong colloquium in which writers 

and publishing professionals talk with students about 

every aspect of the writing life; and biweekly, one-on-one 

meetings between student and workshop instructor. In 

these biweekly conferences, our faculty of distinguished 

writers engages with your work in depth and in detail, 

accompanying you every step of the way as you 

investigate the possibilities of your art. 


State University of New York at Albany 


The area provides coursework in creative writing, including 

poetry, fiction, nonfiction prose, drama, and hypertext, as 

well as in various kinds of persuasive and argumentative 

writing. 

State University of New York at Brockport 


Students who come to Brockport for graduate studies 

in English work closely with a faculty of active writers— 

including scholars, critics, and writers of memoir, fiction, 

and poetry. 


51


Stony Brook Southampton 

MFA in Writing & Literature 

The MFA program in Writing and Literature at Stony 

Brook Southampton is committed to offering students the 

best of advanced training in writing, reading, and editing. 

The program welcomes talented writers whose writing is 

expressed in any form – from novels, poetry, and scripts to 

scientific, technological, and cultural analysis. 


Syracuse University 


The three year MFA program in Creative Writing gives 

promising fiction writers and poets an opportunity to 

practice their art with dedicated fellow writers. 

Univeristy at Buffalo - CUNY 

Innovative Writing Program :: MA 

Our MA Certificate invites you to view writing as an 

investigative, exploratory process in its own right. 

North Carolina 

East Carolina University 


The Master’s Degree in English with a Concentration in 

Creative Writing is an advanced degree with a specialty in 

the writing of original poetry, fiction, scripts and plays, or 

creative nonfiction. 

North Carolina State University 


NCSU has a first-rate faculty who believe that the 

workshops, though important, are not everything. The 

one-on-one in the office, the wrangling with manuscripts 

until they’re finished, the individual attention—that’s what 

makes this program different. 

Queens University of Charlotte 


The MFA program offers courses of study in fiction, poetry, 

creative nonfiction, and writing for stage and screen, with 

residencies in Charlotte, NC; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio 

de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile. 

University of North Carolina at Greensboro 

MFA Writing Program 

We are one of the oldest MFA programs in the country. 

With an emphasis on studio time in which to study the 

writing of poetry or fiction, students also develop their 

talents through small classes in the arts. Workshops and 

individual conferences with faculty are the core of the 

curriculum. 


University of North Carolina Wilmington 


Our MFA program—an intensive, three-year studioacademic 

experience in the writing of fiction, poetry, and 

creative nonfiction—joins students who share a common 

passion and faculty members who provide critical support 

of their work. The faculty of the Department of Creative 

Writing view MFA students as colleagues-in-the-making, 

and consider it a privilege to teach in such a community. 

Our invitation to successful candidates to join our MFA 

community is regarded as an equal privilege. 


Warren Wilson College 


The program is structured to meet students’ needs, to help 

them recognize specific strengths and address specific 

weaknesses in their work, and to encourage them to see 

themselves as active participants in the creation and study 

of literature. 

North Dakota 

University of North Dakota 


The academic atmosphere is intimate, class size for 

graduate courses is small, and students are encouraged to 

work closely with members of the graduate faculty. 

Ohio 

Antioch University Midwest 


Creative writing students focus on fiction or creative 

nonfiction, but often work with other genres and forms 

within the individualized study phase. As the final phase 

of graduate work, each creative writing student completes 

a thesis. 

Ashland University 


Ashland University offers degree tracks in poetry, fiction, 

and creative nonfiction with a cross-genre option. The 

program is characterized both by an insistence on high 

aesthetic standards for the creation of new literature and 

by an emphasis on a supportive community of writers. 

Following the University’s century-old tradition of “Accent 

on the Individual”, the MFA at AU provides writers a 

nurturing and challenging atmosphere for developing their 

craft, with a student-teacher ratio of no greater than 5 to 1 

in each course. 


52 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

SCHOOL OF THE ARTS 

WRITING 

MFA in Fiction, Poetry and Nonfiction 

Option for joint course of study in Literary Translation 

FULL-TIME FACULTY 

FICTION: Donald Antrim • Nicholas Christopher 

Stacey D’Erasmo • Deborah Eisenberg 

Richard Ford • Heidi Julavits • Binnie Kirshenbaum 

Victor LaValle • Sam Lipsyte • Ben Marcus 

Orhan Pamuk • Gary Shteyngart • Alan Ziegler 

POETRY: Lucie Brock-Broido • Timothy Donnelly 

Richard Howard • Dorothea Lasky • Mark Strand 

NONFICTION: Lis Harris • Margo Jefferson 

Richard Locke • Phillip Lopate • Patricia O’Toole 

Simon Schama 

TRANSLATION: Susan Bernofsky 

RECENT ADJUNCT FACULTY 

Paul Beatty • Jonathan Dee • Geoff Dyer 

David Ebershoff • James Fenton • John Freeman 

Rivka Galchen • Vivian Gornick • Eamon Grennan 

Edith Grossman • Mary Karr • Hari Kunzru 

Erroll MacDonald • Tom McCarthy • Darryl Pinckney 

Lynne Tillman • Brenda Wineapple • James Wood 

RECENT ALUMNI 

Sam Amadon • Elyssa East • Meghan Daum 

Rivka Galchen • Rachel Kushner • Kelly McMasters 

Dinaw Mengestu • Cecily Parks • Karen Russell 

Beth Raymer • Tracy K. Smith • Wells Tower 

Karen Thompson Walker • Adam Wilson 

Scholarships, 

financial aid and 

teaching fellowships 

available. 

Join a thriving School 

of the Arts community 

in New York, comprised 

of talented students 

and faculty across 

writing, visual arts, 

theatre and film 

disciplines. 

DEADLINE: 

JANUARY 6, 2015 

Visit 

arts.columbia.edu/np 

for more information. 


53


Bowling Green State University 


The MFA in Creative Writing gives a comprehensive and 

rigorous education in the professional writing, editing, and 

marketing of poetry and fiction. Artistic development, craft 

knowledge, and professional presentation are guiding 

principles. We offer support for all students. 

Miami University 


We have no more than 20 graduate students here at any 

one time, divided among our well-established poetry and 

fiction concentrations and a new track in creative nonfiction. 

Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts 

(NEOMFA) 


The NEOMFA is the only creative writing program that 

provides writers with the platform to hone creative skills, 

explore the finer details of the craft, and expand the scope 

of their creative energies across four universities in one 

single writing program. 

The Ohio State University 


The MFA at OSU is a fully funded three-year program, 

unparalleled in its commitment to the success of its 

students. The enthusiastic mutual support of current 

students and alumni is legion. 

Ohio University 


One of the first universities in the country to offer a Ph.D. 

in Creative Writing, Ohio University continues as home 

to a thriving, widely respected graduate program with 

concentrations in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. 

University of Cincinnati 


For graduate students, we offer an MA and a PhD. 

Students at all levels focus on either fiction or poetry and 

will soon have a third option in creative nonfiction. 

Oklahoma 

Oklahoma City University 

Red Earth MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

The Red Earth MFA in Creative Writing: Write in the middle 

of it all. A new kind of low-residency program. Two years, 

five residencies. Creative and professional development. 


54 

Oklahoma State University 


The BA, MFA, and PhD programs in creative writing 

focus on the vital relationship between fictional and poetic 

coursework in both writing and literary study. 

University of Central Oklahoma 


Students seeking the MA in English with a creative writing 

major pursue a program of study that includes both writing 

workshops and historically focused literature seminars. 

University of Oklahoma 


As the MA and PhD in English is a research degree as 

well as teaching apprenticeship, all students are expected 

to choose fields of specialization in which to focus their 

coursework and writing. 

Oregon 

Eastern Oregon University 


Innovative, intense, intimate. The new low residency 

MFA in Creative Writing combines the rigor and energy 

of small, focused workshops (5-7 students working with 

faculty mentors) in the heart of Northeast Oregon’s Grande 

Ronde Valley. If you value the real West over the resort 

town West, then join us in the low residency MFA program 

at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. 


Oregon State University 


This program features a nationally competitive pool of 

applicants in fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction, full 

funding for all our students through GTA positions, with full 

tuition waiver, and a vibrant Visiting Writers Series. 

Oregon State University - Cascades 


Our goal, quite simply: to think seriously about why we 

write how we do, whom we hope to reach by writing in this 

way, and how to do it better. 

Pacific University 


In a rigorous course of study and with an emphasis on the 

creative process, award-winning writers work closely with 

students to support and inspire emerging craft and voice. 

Portland State University 


Located in the center of one of the country’s most vibrantly 

literary cities, the Creative Writing MFA at Portland State 

University provides writers with opportunities for creative 

development with a core faculty of prominent authors. 



University of Oregon 


Students in our MFA Program work intensively with 

our faculty in regular individual tutorials and in small 

workshops. The Oregon MFA privileges the workshop, 

integrating concentrated time for writing with craft seminars 

and reading tutorials. 

Pennsylvania 

Arcadia University 


A low-residency program incorporating online workshops, 

one-on-one work with faculty members, and a residency 

spent abroad. Each student produces a manuscript length 

thesis as well as a plan to publish it. 


Bucknell University 


The English department at Bucknell encourages collegial 

relationships between professors and graduate students, 

as well as among graduate students themselves. 

Carlow University 


The MFA is a low-residency international program 

designed for students who want to be professional writers, 

to teach creative writing at the college level, or to enjoy 

the satisfaction of writing and reading in an individualized 

program. 


Cedar Crest College 

Pan-European MFA in Creative Writing (low-res) 

With 15-day summer residencies held exclusively in 

European cities—Dublin, Barcelona, Vienna—the Cedar 

Crest College low-residency MFA in Creative Writing offers 

writers the inspiration of place as they hone their craft with 

accomplished faculty mentors. The study of how location 

leads to artistic inspiration compliments our workshops 

and one-on-one tutorials grounded in shaping the written 

word. 


Chatham University 

MFA in Creative Writing Program (res & low-res) 

Chatham University’s MFA, focusing on place-based 

writing and social outreach, is the premier graduate 

program for students interested in creative writing and 

innovative community programs. No other MFA program 

offers concentrations in travel writing, food writing, 

teaching, publishing, or nature writing in addition to a 

primary genre focus (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or 

children’s writing), or the ability to have a dual-genre focus. 


Rosemont College 


The mission of Rosemont College’s Master of Fine Arts in 

Creative Writing is to empower students with real-life skills 

and experiences that will enable them to achieve their 

professional and creative goals as writers, and to become 

productive contributors of larger writing communities as 

authors, teachers, publishers, and readers. 


Saint Joseph’s University 


The graduate writing studies program combines a 

traditional literature-based master’s degree with a creative 

writing program by offering a wide variety of courses and 

providing students with a highly flexible, unique academic 

experience. 

Seton Hill University 

MFA in Writing Popular Fiction (low-res) 

Seton Hill’s unique online program—supported by 

intensive on-campus writers’ residencies—teaches writers 

to create, market, and teach the fiction that sells. It is 

designed for those authors who wish to write within the 

popular fiction genres such as romance, science fiction, 

fantasy, horror, and mystery. 


Temple University 


The writing component of the two-year M.F.A. degree 

features small, intensive workshops in poetry or fiction, 

supplemented in the second year by one-on-one tutorials 

with resident faculty. 

University of Pittsburgh 


Ours is a three-year degree providing students with 

the time and opportunity to produce a book-length 

final manuscript. Our graduate writing faculty have 

distinguished themselves nationally and internationally 

through numerous publications and awards. 

Wilkes University 

Creative Writing Program :: MA, MFA (low-res) 

To graduate from our Master of Arts in Creative Writing 

program students will produce and present a full-length 

text and support materials that demonstrate the mastery 

of requisite standards, processes, and procedures for 

bringing that project into its appropriate public venue. 


55


Rhode Island 

Brown University 


Brown University Literary Arts is place for collaboration, 

exploration and serious literary fun for innovators in fiction, 

poetry, digital language arts and cross-disciplinary forms. 

Rhode Island College 


Following coursework in Creative Writing, literature, and 

literary theory, graduate students complete a Master’s 

Thesis in Creative Writing under the guidance of one of 

four full-time faculty members, all of whom are published 

authors. 

South Carolina 

Converse College 


The MFA in Creative Writing is a two-year co-educational 

low residency program designed for serious, independent 

writers seeking advanced instruction in poetry, fiction, 

and creative nonfiction through a non-traditional course of 

graduate study. 


University of South Carolina 


The University of South Carolina MFA blends the 

camaraderie of a small program with the resources of a 

large English department. Students work closely with wellpublished 

and supportive faculty and interact frequently 

with both internationally acclaimed and emerging visiting 

writers. 


South Dakota 

University of South Dakota 


Because of the relatively small number of graduate 

students and the congenial atmosphere of the department, 

professors provide the support and guidance students 

need to be successful as graduate students and 

professionals. 

Tennessee 

Austin Peay State University 


Students benefit from small class sizes, classrooms 

equipped with smart technology and a diverse faculty 

whose members are widely published. 

56 

Sewanee School of Letters 


The School of Letters is a summers-only program that 

offers a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, focusing on 

fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. 

The University of Memphis 


The Creative Writing MFA brings together nationally 

recognized authors and a diverse, carefully selected group 

of students in one of the most culturally rich cities in the 

country. 

The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga 


The Department of English offers a Master of Arts degree 

with three concentrations: Literary Study, Rhetoric and 

Writing, and Creative Writing. 

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville 


Degree candidates hone their skills as writers and grow 

as artists through rigorous application of craft, under the 

tutelage of our distinguished faculty of Creative Writing 

and our impressive series of visiting writers. 

Vanderbilt University 


The Vanderbilt MFA—in vibrant Nashville, TN—is a highly 

selective, two to three year, intensive MFA program in 

poetry and fiction. Nine faculty teach 12-15 students. All 

students fully funded; annual stipend $24,000 + health 

insurance. 


Texas 

Baylor University 


A concentration in creative writing on the M.A. is possible 

by taking at least two courses in creative writing and 

writing a creative thesis. 

Hardin-Simmons University 


The MFA in English prepares students for further 

graduate work, teaching, creative writing, or other related 

opportunities. Depending on career goals, the student 

chooses from one of three degree plans: thesis, creative 

thesis, or non-thesis. 

Sam Houston State University 


Founded in 2010, the Master of Fine Arts program in 

Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing is a 48-hour 

workshop-based residency program with three areas of 

concentration: fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. 



Stephen F. Austin State University 


Each student develops a plan of study in consultation 

with the Director of Graduate Studies, who will be as 

flexible as possible in matching departmental standards 

and strengths with the student’s particular interests and 

abilities. 

Texas A&M University 


Graduate students in English at Texas A&M benefit 

from an innovative curriculum, excellent scholarly and 

pedagogical training, and a vibrant intellectual community. 

Texas State University - San Marcos 


Featuring a distinguished faculty, an endowed chair held 

on a rotating basis by internationally known writers, a 

unique adjunct thesis faculty who will read and comment 

on your complete thesis manuscript, and an extensive 

visiting writers series. 

Texas Tech University 


Our goal is a program that is flexible enough to allow 

at once for broad study of English for those wishing 

to prepare for a career in secondary teaching, and for 

sustained work in an area of the student’s choice. 

University of Houston 


As one of the leading cultural institutions in Texas and the 

Southwest, the Program offers poets, fiction writers, and 

non-fiction writers intensive training in both creative writing 

and literary studies. 

University of North Texas 


We offer a Ph.D. with a focus in creative writing and an 

M.A. with a concentration in creative writing. At UNT, we’ve 

fostered a thriving literary community enriched by our 

Visiting Writers Series and by our national journal, American 

Literary Review. 

University of Texas - Pan American 


The objective of this degree program is to prepare 

students for careers as writers, teachers at the college 

or university level, editors, literary translators, and other 

related professional careers. 

Need to light a fire under your 

writing practice? Here’s a match. 

GET 

LIT. 

The MFA in Creative Writing 

The low-residency MFA in 

Writing for Children & 

Young Adults 

The BFA in Creative Writing 

Home of the award-winning national 

literary journal, Water~Stone Review 

University of Texas at Austin 


The University of Texas at Austin offers two different 

M.F.A. degrees in creative writing: The Master of Fine 

Arts in English from the New Writers’ Project and the 

interdisciplinary Masters of Fine Arts in Writing from the 

Michener Center for Writers. 


57


University of Texas at Dallas 


Graduate students may choose a creative writing 

emphasis in their overall degree program, or they may 

take creative writing courses to fulfill requirements in the 

Aesthetic Studies track, or they may choose creative 

writing courses as electives. 

University of Texas at El Paso 


Taking advantage of our geographic and cultural space, 

we have developed a unique program that is bilingual in 

nature and seeks to include the many literary traditions of 

the Americas as the foundation for our students’ literary 

development. 

University of Texas at San Antonio 

Creative Writing Program :: Certificate 

The certificate is a 12 credit hour concentration available 

to degree-seeking students who have been admitted 

to any UTSA graduate program, as well as non-degree 

seeking graduate students who meet all the requirements. 

Utah 

Brigham Young University 


Our two-year program offers workshops in poetry, fiction, 

and creative nonfiction taught by award-winning faculty 

members. Opportunities abound to teach first-year 

and advanced writing courses, as well as complete an 

internship in the teaching of creative writing. 

University of Utah 


The Department of English offers two graduate degrees 

in Creative Writing: an MFA and a PhD that prepares 

students to pursue careers as teachers of writing. The 

creative writing faculty also sponsors an annual Guest 

Writers Series. 

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA 

low residency 

MFA In WRITING 

Live a 

literary life 

in a community 

of dedicated writers 

POETRY 

FICTION 

NONFICTION 

PLAYWRITING 

YOUNG ADULT 

www.unomaha.edu/unmfaw 

58 



Vermont 

Bennington College 


The Bennington Graduate Writing Seminars Low- 

Residency program can be seen as the response of the 

literary sensibility to the realities of modern life. It is an 

alternative time calculation, realistically reflecting the 

seasons and rhythms of a writer’s actual work habits. 

Goddard College 


In the Goddard College Creative Writing program, 

students work with faculty advisors to develop rigorous 

individualized study plans for finding and strengthening 

their creative voices and creative professional lives. The 

first low-residency writing program, the Goddard MFA 

supports students writing fiction, poetry, memoir, plays, 

screenplays, graphic novel scripts, and nonfiction. The 

faculty are professional, working authors and also devoted, 

effective teachers. 


Vermont College of Fine Arts 

MFA in Writing, MFA in Writing for Children & 

Young Adults (low-res) 

The Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Master of Fine 

Arts in Writing for Children & Young Adults programs 

are designed for students with a serious interest in 

developing professional skills in writing poetry, fiction, 

creative nonfiction and writing for young readers. VCFA’s 

internationally acclaimed writers and highly dedicated 

teachers attract students from all corners of the world to 

the rigorous and uniquely supportive community. 


Virginia 

George Mason University 


The master of fine arts in creative writing has three 

concentrations: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Admission is 

competitive. 

Hollins University 

Jackson Center for Creative Writing 


Our intensive two-year studio/hybrid MFA program helps 

you find your way in an atmosphere of cooperation and 

encouragement. We support college graduates who want 

to concentrate on craft and on reading the way writers 

do. The 24 students in this highly regarded program work 

successfully in poetry, short fiction, novels, and creative 

nonfiction—and between genres, too. 



Longwood University 


The MA program is designed as “An Education for the 

Working Writer” and will offer the rare combination of 

artistic and professional training to provide graduates 

with a very real edge with which to meet this market’s 

consistent demands. 

Lynchburg College 


Program strengths include eco-literature and writing; 

Appalachian and southern literature and writing; 

transnational literature; and gender studies. 

Old Dominion University 


In addition to taking workshops and craft courses with 

the MFA faculty, our students take courses with dynamic 

faculty who have expertise in American, British, and world 

literature, as well as literary theory, film studies, and 

rhetoric. 

University of Virginia 


Our Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program is a 

two-year graduate degree in fiction or poetry writing. The 

program is full-time and workshop-based, with a small, but 

aesthetically diverse group of students and faculty. 

Virginia Commonwealth University 


Nationally ranked three year program in poetry, fiction 

and duel genre with increased graduate teaching 

assistantships and new stipends ranging from $14,000- 

$22,000. 

Virginia Tech 


All students fully funded through Graduate Teaching 

Assistantships with annual stipends of $16,000. A threeyear 

program in fiction and poetry; funding package 

includes full tuition remission and health insurance. 

Washington 

Eastern Washington University 


The Inland Northwest Center for Writers Master of Fine 

Arts program is an intensive, two-year, pre-professional 

course of study with an emphasis on the practice of 

literature as a fine art. The program includes course work 

in the study of literature from the vantage point of its 

composition and history. 


Northwest Institute of Literary Arts 


59


Publishing & Editing :: MFA 

The Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, an organization 

of writers, sponsors the Whidbey Writers Workshop’s two 

low-residency MFAs: the MFA in writing and the MFA in 

Publishing and Editing. 

Pacific Lutheran University 


An innovative three-year, four-residency program provides 

a high-quality experience at a more leisurely pace, perfect 

for busy professionals and those who wish to take time to 

develop their work’s fullest potential. 

Seattle Pacific University 


The low-residency MFA is for apprentice writers who 

want to pursue excellence in the craft of writing and care 

about the relationship between faith and literature. For 

us, faith is not a shortcut or a warrant to produce didactic 

or sentimental work. We are inspired by a tradition of 

writing in which the highest standards of art, an openeyed 

exploration of human experience, and a respect for 

transcendent mystery come together. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA 

CREATIVE WRITING MFA 

english.ua.edu/grad/cw 

THE PROGRAM 

Bankhead Visiting Writers Series 

Supportive & egalitarian environment 

Innovative & flexible curriculum 

THE PLACE 

Lively local culture 

Burgeoning arts scene 

Home of Black Warrior Review 

THE PERKS 

Full financial support for all 

Creative writing teaching opportunities 

Prison Arts & Capote fellowships 

University of Washington 


Students participate in writing workshops in fiction and 

poetry, and undertake coursework in literary periods and 

types, and critical theory. 

Western Washington University 


Our courses encompass and explore multiple cultural 

traditions, allowing our graduates to cultivate skills in 

critical thinking, creative expression, close reading, 

persuasive writing, and effective speaking. 

West Virginia 

West Virginia University 

MFA Program in Creative Writing 

Founded in 2001, West Virginia University’s MFA Program 

is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, 

along the Monongahela River. Our program offers 

specializations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Workshop 

sizes are always small, usually capped at twelve students. 

In addition to taking five workshops, including one out of 

genre, students work one-on-one with faculty mentors in 

preparing their theses. 


West Virginia Wesleyan College 


Students join an extraordinarily warm community every 

summer and winter for an intensive ten-day residency 

that initiates an independent semester of apprenticeship 

completed off-site through correspondence with a mentor. 

Students work with a mixture of new and returning faculty, 

working one-on-one with a different mentor within their 

discipline throughout each residency and off-campus 

period. 


Wisconsin 

Mount Mary College 


Mount Mary University’s Master of Arts in English coed 

program blends professional writing instruction with 

graduate-level fundamentals to create a unique graduate 

program. 

University of Wisconsin at Madison 


Founded in 2002, the Graduate Program in Creative 

Writing offers a two-year Master of Fine Arts Degree in the 

areas of fiction and poetry. 

60 



University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee 


Create on the shores of Lake Michigan at one of America’s 

first graduate English programs to grant both the M.A. and 

Ph.D. with concentrations in Creative Writing. 

Wyoming 

University of Wyoming 


The University of Wyoming’s Creative Writing MFA 

program is an intensive two-year studio degree in poetry, 

fiction, and nonfiction. Special features include a flexible 

curriculum, cross-genre opportunities, opportunities 

for interdisciplinary study, and our Eminent Writers in 

Residence program, which brings distinguished authors 

to campus to work closely with our students. We have a 

deeply committed faculty, a lively visiting writers series, an 

incomparable natural setting, and full funding for students, 

including teaching assistantships with reasonable teaching 

loads, full tuition waivers, summer stipends, and support 

for travel and publication. 


University of British Columbia - Vancouver 

Creative Writing Program :: MFA (online) 

Take distance education classes online while remaining 

at home. Optional summer intensives on the Vancouver 

campus of UBC enable you to meet faculty and other 

students face-to-face, and provide a complement to the 

work performed online. 

University of Calgary 


We offer an M.A. or Ph.D. in English with a Creative 

Writing option. This means they will be taking literature 

courses as well as writing workshops. 

University of Guelph 


Our degree program offers workshops in fiction, creative 

nonfiction, drama, and poetry. Defining characteristics 

of the program include innovative plenary courses, a 

semester-long mentorship with a professional writer, 

and the opportunity to design and teach creative writing 

workshops in a downtown Toronto public school. 


Canada 

Concordia University 


Our program combines an advanced scholarly education 

in English literature with a creative thesis and courses in 

the art and craft of writing poetry, plays, and prose fiction, 

under the supervision of award-winning writing faculty. 

University of Alberta 


MA students can pursue not only literary studies but also 

interests in film studies and creative writing in either the 

thesis-based MA or course-based MA. 

University of British Columbia - Okanagan 


Students in the FCCS/IGS MFA can focus on the Visual 

Arts, Media Arts, Creative Writing, or Performance 

(Theatre). They can also combine those disciplines 

and other academic disciplines to form an individualized 

program of study. 

University of British Columbia - Vancouver 


Offering an unprecedented 11 genres for potential study, 

students work in a learner-centered, workshop-driven 

program which offers an exciting breadth of choices, 

award-winning faculty and a setting in one of the world’s 

most beautiful cities. 

at 

LOW-RESIDENCY 

MFA IN MINNEAPOLIS 

augsburg.edu/mfa 

• Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Screenwriting, Playwriting 

• Teaching, Translation, Publishing 

• Home of the Augsburg Howling Bird Press 

National Book Prize 

2015 Poetry Winner 

Forthcoming This 

Summer 

2016 Prose Contest 

Opens April 1, 2015 

HOWLING 

BIRD 

PRESS 

AUGSBURG COLLEGE • MFA in Creative Writing 

M I N N E A P O L I S • M I N N E S O T A 

www.augsburg.edu/mfa 


61


University of New Brunswick 


Our graduate program provides a friendly, supportive 

learning environment, with small class sizes and personal 

guidance from nationally acclaimed professors and 

supervisors. 

University of Toronto 


Internationally acclaimed writers, a multiplicity of cultural 

traditions, and an energetic publishing industry provide the 

environment for nurturing new talent. 

University of Victoria 


The two objectives are to create a publishable or 

producible body of work, as a Major Writing Project, in one 

of five genres (fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, film 

and poetry) and to train students in the teaching of writing 

at the post-secondary level. 

University of Saskatchewan 


The goal of the Masters of Fine Arts in Writing program 

is the training of a writer in the professional and creative 

aspects of the craft. To the study of poetry, fiction and 

playwriting, the program adds a variety of non-fiction 

genres. 

62 



The Only Low-Residency 

MFA IN FLORIDA 

A low-residency program designed to deepen your understanding of 

writing as an ongoing engagement with discovery and transformation. 

Concentrations offered in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. 

Request more information at www.ut.edu/mfa or call (813) 258-7409. 

PAST AND PRESENT GUEST WRITERS AND EDITORS INCLUDE: 

Michael Connelly, Arthur Flowers, Nick Flynn, Hal Hartley, Amy Hill Hearth, Eli Horowitz, Denis Johnson, Miranda July, Ben Lerner, 

Susan Minot, Rick Moody, Francine Prose, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Heather Sellers, Wesley Stace, Deborah Treisman 

TEACHING FACULTY: 

Jessica Anthony, Sandra Beasley, John Capouya, Brock Clarke, Erica Dawson, Tony D’Souza, Mikhail Iossel, Stefan Kiesbye, 

Steve Kistulentz (director), Richard Matthews, Kevin Moffett, Donald Morrill, Josip Novakovich, Jason Ockert, Alan Michael Parker, 

Jeff Parker, Corinna Vallianatos, Jennifer Vanderbes 


63


master of fine arts in creative writing 

place your voice 

chatham.edu/mfa 

Tracks in creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and writing for 

children & adolescents 

• An emphasis on nature, environmental, and travel writing 

encourages student to explore the world as part of their studies. 

Recent field seminars visited Costa Rica, India, Turkey, Vietnam, 

Iceland, and South Africa. 

• Opportunities to concentrate in travel writing, food writing, nature 

writing, publishing, or teaching. 

• Choose between a full-residency or low-residency curriculum, 

with the ability to move easily between the options. 

• Gain experience working on The Fourth River, Chatham’s national 

literary journal devoted to intersections of nature and culture. 

http://fourthriver.chatham.edu 

• Students may choose to teach creative writing in jails, prisons, 

and rehabilitation centers in the Words Without Walls program. 

• Fellowships available. 

• Recognized as one of “Five Innovative/Unique Programs” by The 

Atlantic Monthly and one of “Nine Distinctive Programs” by Poets 

& Writers. 

MFA FAculty 

Sheryl St. Germain, director 

Sally Alexander 

Kathy Ayres 

Mara Cregan 

Sherrie Flick 

Melanie Dylan Fox 

64 

Lori Jakiela 

Joy Katz 

Heather McNaugher 

Abby Mendelson 

Marc Nieson 

Sandy Sterner 

Sheila Squillante 

Recent And upcoMing VisitoRs 

Jimmy Santiago Baca Ander Monson 

Robert Hass 

Dinty W. Moore 

Pam Houston 

Naomi Shihab Nye 

Barbara Hurd 

Claudia Rankine 

Ted Kooser 

Janisse Ray 

Phillip Lopate 

BK Loren 

Pattiann Rogers

The NewPages Guide to Creative Writing Programs

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