low residency mfa creative writing 2022

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MFA Programs Contact Form

Help us keep this database current. If you have updated information on one of the programs listed in the MFA database, let us know.

MFA Programs Database

• Help Keep This Database Current

Our MFA database includes essential information about low- and full-residency graduate creative writing programs in the United States and other English-speaking countries to help you decide where to apply.

Adelphi University

Poetry: Jan-Henry Gray, Maya Marshall Prose: Katherine Hill, René Steinke, Igor Webb

Albertus Magnus College

Poetry: Charles Rafferty, Paul Robichaud Fiction: Sarah Harris Wallman Nonfiction: Eric Schoeck

Alma College

Poetry: Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Jim Daniels, Benjamin Garcia Fiction: Karen E. Bender, Shonda Buchanan, Dhonielle Clayton, S. Kirk Walsh Creative Nonfiction: Anna Clark, Matthew Gavin Frank, Donald Quist, Robert Vivian

American University

Poetry: Kyle Dargan, David Keplinger Fiction: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Stephanie Grant, Patricia Park Nonfiction: Rachel Louise Snyder

Antioch University

Poetry: Victoria Chang Prose: Lisa Locascio

Arcadia University

Poetry: Genevieve Betts, Michelle Reale Fiction: Stephanie Feldman, Joshua Isard, Tracey Levine, Eric Smith Literature: Matthew Heitzman, Christopher Varlack, Elizabeth Vogel, Jo Ann Weiner

Poetry: Genevieve Betts, Michelle Reale Fiction: Stephanie Feldman, Joshua Isard, Tracey Levine, Eric Smith

Arizona State University

Poetry: Sally Ball, Natalie Diaz, Eunsong Kim, Alberto Álvaro Ríos, Safiya Sinclair Fiction: Matt Bell, Jenny Irish, Tara Ison, Mitchell Jackson, T. M. McNally Creative Nonfiction: Sarah Viren

Ashland University

Poetry: Aria Aber, Dexter Booth, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Adam Gellings, Tess Taylor, Vanessa Angélica Villareal

Fiction: Kirstin Chen, Brian Conn, Edan Lepucki, Sarah Monette, Nayomi Munaweera, Vi Khi Nao, Naomi J. Williams, Kyle Winkler

Nonfiction: Cass Donish, Kate Hopper, Lauren Markham, Thomas Mira y Lopez, Lisa Nikolidakis, Terese Mailhot, Kelly Sundberg

Augsburg University

Poetry: Jim Cihlar, Michael Kleber-Diggs Fiction: Stephan Eirik Clark, Lindsay Starck Nonfiction: Anika Fajardo, Kathryn Savage Playwriting: Alice Eve Cohen, Carson Kreitzer, TyLie Shider Screenwriting: Stephan Eirik Clark, Andy Froemke

Ball State University

Poetry: Katy Didden, Mark Neely Fiction: Cathy Day, Sean Lovelace Nonfiction: Jill Christman, Silas Hansen Screenwriting: Rani Deighe Crowe, Matt Mullins

Bard College

Mirene Arsanios, CA Conrad, Hoa Nguyen, Christopher Perez, Cedar Sigo, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Roberto Tejada, Monica de la Torre, Simone White

Bath Spa University

Poetry: Lucy English, Carrie Etter, Tim Liardet, John Strachan, Samantha Walton, Gerard Woodward Fiction: Gavin James Bower, Celia Brayfield, Alexia Casale, Lucy English, Nathan Filer, Aminatta Forna, Maggie Gee, Samantha Harvey, Philip Hensher, Steve Hollyman, Emma Hooper, Claire Kendal, Kate Pullinger, C.J. Skuse, Gerard Woodward Nonfiction: Celia Brayfield, Richard Kerridge, Stephen Moss Scriptwriting: Robin Mukherjee

Poetry: Lucy English, Carrie Etter, Tim Liardet, Gerard Woodward Fiction: Gavin James Bower, Celia Brayfield, Nathan Filer, Aminatta Forna, Maggie Gee, Samantha Harvey, Philip Hensher, Claire Kendal, Kate Pullinger, Gerard Woodward Nonfiction: Richard Kerridge, Stephen Moss

Bay Path University

Mel Allen, Leanna James Blackwell, Jennifer Baker, Sari Botton, Melanie Brooks, María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, Áine Greaney, Shahnaz Habib, Jessica Handler, Ann Hood, Susan Ito, Karol Jackowski, Yi Shun Lai, Anna Mantzaris, Meredith O’Brien, Lisa Romeo, Kate Whouley

Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College

Current Faculty: Poetry: Michael Dumanis, Carmen Giménez, Dana Levin, Randall Mann, Craig Morgan Teicher, Mark Wunderlich Fiction: Jai Chakrabarti, Monica Ferrell, Manuel Gonzales, Deirdre McNamer, Stuart Nadler, Téa Obreht, Katy Simpson Smith, Taymour Soomro, Claire Vaye Watkins, Toya Wolfe Nonfiction: Eula Biss, Jenny Boully, Saeed Jones, Sabrina Orah Mark, Shawna Kay Rodenberg, Hugh Ryan

Binghamton University

Poetry: Tina Chang, Joseph Weil Fiction: Thomas Glave, Leslie L. Heywood, Liz Rosenberg, Jaimee Wriston-Colbert, Alexi Zentner Nonfiction: Leslie L. Heywood

Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University

Poetry: Julie Hensley, Young Smith Fiction: Julie Hensley, Nancy Jensen, Robert D. Johnson Nonfiction: Nancy Jensen, Robert D. Johnson, Evan J. Massey

Boise State University

Poetry: Martin Corless-Smith, Sara Nicholson, Taryn Schwilling Fiction: Mitch Wieland (Director), Anna Caritj Creative Nonfiction: Clyde Moneyhun

Boston University

Poetry: Andrea Cohen, Karl Kirchwey, Robert Pinsky Fiction: Leslie Epstein, Jennifer Haigh, Ha Jin

Boston University—MFA in Literary Translation

Odile Cazenave, Margaret Litvin, Petrus Liu, Christopher Maurer, Roberta Micaleff, Robert Pinsky (advising), Stephen Scully, Sassan Tabatabai, J. Keith Vincent, William Waters, Anna Zielinska-Elliott

Bowling Green State University

Poetry: Abigail Cloud, Sharona Muir, F. Dan Rzicznek, Larissa Szporluk, Jessica Zinz-Cheresnick Fiction: Joe Celizic, Lawrence Coates, Reema Rajbanshi, Michael Schulz

Brigham Young University

Poetry: Kimberly Johnson, Lance Larsen, Michael Lavers, John Talbot Fiction: Chris Crowe, Ann Dee Ellis, Spencer Hyde, Stephen Tuttle Nonfiction: Joey Franklin, Patrick Madden

Brooklyn College

Poetry: Julie Agoos, Ben Lerner Fiction: Joshua Henkin, Madeleine Thien Playwriting: Dennis A. Allen II, Elana Greenfield

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Low-Residency MFA Mountainview Master of Fine Arts Fiction or Nonfiction

Go write your book:.

• Affordable tuition rates
• Each term begins with a weeklong residency
• Award-winning, nationally recognized faculty
• Only about 16 students per cohort
• Alumni have gone on to win major prizes
• Curriculum designed to help each student complete a publishable book

Low-Residency MFA Program Overview

Write the book you're meant to write, as you earn your Mountainview Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in fiction or nonfiction .

Our two-year, low-residency program allows students to live anywhere and work a full-time job. We never allow the number of students to exceed 65 total – about 16 per cohort – so our students develop close and sustaining relationships with faculty during our intensive weeklong residencies in the summer and winter .

During the rest of the year, our students work with faculty one on one, receiving thorough, regular editorial letters supplemented with video calls.

Our two principal goals:

• Create a close and vibrant writing community
• Graduate every student with an excellent manuscript in hand

Students choose to focus on fiction or nonfiction. Some choose specializations like young adult fiction and environmental writing.

Our full-time faculty members have won numerous awards, published books with major publishing houses and received international acclaim in every literary category from young adult to lyric essay to crime. Their work appears in such forums as The New Yorker, Harper's, The New York Times Magazine and Best American Short Stories.

Our alumni include a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Whiting Award winner, and numerous other authors whose work is published by major publishing houses. 

Our faculty members, often referred to as "mentors," work to help each student find a literary voice, master their craft and produce a book-length manuscript of high literary quality.

With a Mountainview MFA, you'll get:

• An award-winning, nationally recognized faculty
• Flexibility of schedule
• A curriculum designed to help each student finish an excellent, publishable book (see some of our many successful alumni below)
• A vibrant and supportive creative writing community
• Visiting agents and editors from the best agencies and publishing houses at each residency
• Faculty members who specialize in young adult literature and environmental writing
• Highly competitive tuition costs

Looking for a fully-online program? Check out our online MFA and our online MA in Creative Writing .

Start Your Journey Toward a Low-Residency MFA

Director of Mountainview MFA, Associate Professor

Benjamin Nugent, the director of Mountainview, and an associate professor of English at SNHU, is the author of “Fraternity: Stories” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), which was named one of the ten best books of 2020 by New York Magazine, and an Editor's Choice by The New York Times Book Review. His nonfiction has been published in Harper's and The New York Times Magazine, and his fiction received the 2019 Terry Southern Prize from The Paris Review.

Marcus Burke

Marcus Burke grew up in Milton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Susquehanna University where he played four years of varsity basketball. Burke went on to receive his MFA at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop where he was awarded a Maytag Fellowship, an Iowa Arts Fellowship, and upon graduation, a competitive grant in honor of James Alan McPherson from the University of Iowa MacArthur Foundation Fund.

Burke’s debut novel, “Team Seven”, was published in 2014 by Doubleday Books. “Team Seven” received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, was longlisted for the 2015 PEN Open Book Award and was one of the “10 Titles to Pick Up Now,” in O, The Oprah Magazine.

Rachel B. Glaser

Rachel B. Glaser is the author of the story collection “Pee On Water,” the novel “Paulina & Fran” and the poetry books “Moods” and “Hairdo.”

In 2017, she was on Granta’s List of Best Young American Novelists. Her fiction has been anthologized in “30 under 30” and “New American Stories.”

She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Amy Irvine is the author of numerous essays and four nonfiction books addressing environmental, Indigenous and feminist concerns. She is a contributing editor for Orion Magazine, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Outside, Orion, Pacific Standard, Best American Science & Nature Writing, and Best American Food Writing. Her first memoir, “Trespass”, received the Orion Book Award, and the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award. Her memoir, “Almost Animal”, will be published by Spiegel & Grau in Spring 2023. Irvine, a Mountainview MFA alumnus, lives, writes and teaches off-grid on a remote mesa in southwest Colorado.

Jo Knowles is an award-winning young adult and middle-grade novelist. Her young adult books include "Living with Jackie Chan," "Pearl", "Jumping Off Swings", "Lessons from a Dead Girl" and "Read Between the Lines." Her middle grade/tween novels include "See You at Harry's," "Still a Work in Progress," "Where the Heart is," and "Meant to Be" (coming 2022). Some of her awards include a New York Times Editor's Choice and Notable Book, an American Library Association Notable Book, an IndieBound Summer Top 10, Bank Street College's "Best Book" list, Amazon's Best Middle Grades, an International Reading Association Favorite, New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Top Title, two SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards, Kirkus's Best Teen Books, the PEN New England Children's Book Discovery Award and YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults. Her books have appeared on numerous state book award lists for schools and libraries.

Andrew Martin

Andrew Martin is the author of the novel “Early Work”, a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and a finalist for the Cabell First Novelist Award. He is also the author of the story collection “Cool For America”, which was longlisted for the 2020 Story Prize. His fiction has been published in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, The Yale Review, ZYZZYVA and The Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, and his essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Review of Books, Harper's, The New York Times Book Review, T: The New York Times Style Magazine and VICE. He has received fellowships from MacDowell and the UCross Foundation. He earned his MFA from the University of Montana and has a BA in English from Columbia University. He lives in New York.

Tracy O'Neill

Tracy O'Neill is the author of “The Hopeful”, one of Electric Literature's Best Novels of 2015, and “Quotients”, a New York Times New & Noteworthy book, TOR Editor's Choice and Literary Hub Favorite Book of 2020. In 2015, she was named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, long-listed for the Flaherty-Dunnan Prize and was a Narrative Under 30 finalist. In 2012, she was awarded the Center for Fiction's Emerging Writers Fellowship. Her short fiction was distinguished in the Best American Short Stories 2016, and earned a Pushcart Prize nomination in 2017. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, the New Yorker, LitHub, BOMB, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Believer, The Literarian, the Austin Chronicle, New World Writing, Narrative, Scoundrel Time, Guernica, Bookforum, Electric Literature, Grantland, Vice, The Guardian, VQR, the San Francisco Chronicle and Catapult. She holds an MFA from the City College of New York; and an MA, an MPhil and a PhD from Columbia University. While editor-in-chief of the literary journal Epiphany, she established the Breakout 8 Writers Prize with the Authors Guild.

Nadia Owusu '17

Nadia Owusu is a Ghanaian and Armenian-American writer and urbanist. Her first book, “AFTERSHOCKS”, topped many most-anticipated and best book of the year lists, including The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, TIME, Vulture and the BBC. It was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.

Nadia is the recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times, The Lily, Orion, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Catapult, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others. She lives in Brooklyn.

Lydia Peelle

Lydia Peelle is the Whiting Award-winning author of the novel “The Midnight Cool” and the story collection “Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing”, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice book which received an honorable mention for the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for The Orion Book Prize. Peelle is also a recipient of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" honor and the Anahid Award for Armenian American writers. She will be Writer in Residence at Vanderbilt University in fall 2021.

Rebecca Schiff

Rebecca Schiff is the author of the story collection "The Bed Moved" (Knopf 2016), a finalist for an LA Times Book Award in First Fiction and a Sami Rohr Prize.

Her fiction has appeared in Electric Literature, n+1, The Guardian, Washington Square and BuzzFeed, and it was anthologized in The Best Small Fictions 2017.

She lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Katherine Towler

Katherine Towler is author of a trilogy of novels: “Snow Island,” Evening Ferry” and “Island Light”. Praised by the Boston Globe as “luminous and moving,” “Snow Island” was chosen as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers title.

Towler is also the co-editor, with Ilya Kaminsky, of “A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith,” a collection of interviews with prominent American poets. Her memoir, “The Penny Poet of Portsmouth” was published by Counterpoint Press in 2016.

Robin Wasserman

Robin Wasserman is the author of the novels “Girls on Fire” and “Mother Daughter Widow Wife”, a finalist for the 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award. A former children’s book editor, she is also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than ten novels for young adults. Her nonfiction has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Tin House and The New York Times. Wasserman lives in Los Angeles, where she works as a TV writer, most recently as a co-producer on the forthcoming, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”.

Adam Wilson

Adam Wilson is the author of three books, including, most recently, the novel “Sensation Machines”. He is a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and a recipient of the Terry Southern Prize. His work has appeared in Harper’s, the Paris Review, the New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Bookforum, VICE and the Best American Short Stories, among many other publications. In addition to Mountainview, he teaches regularly in Columbia University's MFA program. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.

Many of our Mountainview graduates have gone on to success in the publishing world.

Notable alumni include:

• 2019 Whiting Award winner Nadia Owusu '17
• 2020 Edgar Award finalist John Vercher '16
• 2019 Pulitzer finalist Elizabeth Rush '11
• Raymond Carver Short Story Contest Morgan Green '21
• LA Times Book Prize for First Novel Kevin Keating '18
• Alumni published by Simon & Schuster, FSG, Bloomsbury, and other major publishers

Learn more about Mountainview graduates and what they've accomplished:

Kevin Keating '18

Since starting the Mountainview Low-Residency MFA, Keating has been awarded the Creative Workforce Fellowship, one of the most substantive awards for writers in the United States, and the Cleveland Arts Prize, the oldest award of its kind in America and a testament to the standard of excellence and quality of artists in Northeast Ohio. Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Rita Dove and Harvey Pekar. He has also been a featured speaker at the Miami Book Fair International.

David Moloney ’17

He earned his MFA from SNHU’s Mountainview Low-Residency program, where he won Assignment Magazine’s student writing contest. He was also awarded the Lynn Safford Memorial Prize.

His debut novel, "Barker House," was published by Bloomsbury in 2020. His work can be found in The Yale Review, Guernica, Lithub, Electriclit, The Common, Salamander, CrimeReads and GEN. He currently teaches writing at SNHU.

Elizabeth Rush '11

Her work explores how humans adapt to changes enacted upon them by forces seemingly beyond their control, from ecological transformation to political revolution.

Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the New York Times, National Geographic, the Guardian, the Atlantic, Harpers, Guernica, Granta, Orion, Creative Nonfiction, The Washington Post, Le Monde Diplomatique and the New Republic, among others.

John Vercher '16

John’s debut novel, Three-Fifths , launched September 10th, 2019, from Agora, the diversity-focused imprint of Polis Books and has received praise from Kirkus and starred reviews from the Library Journal and Booklist.

Three-Fifths was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune. In the U.K., Three-Fifths was named a Book of the Year by The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, and The Guardian.

Three-Fifths has been nominated for:

• The Crime Writers’ Association’s (UK) John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger (Shortlisted, 2021)
• The Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best First Novel
• Best Debut Novel (2019) for The Strand Magazine’s Critics’ Awards
• The Anthony Award for Best First Novel

Rights to Three-Fifths have been sold in France, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Mainland China, and the U.K.

In 2021, Three-Fifths was added to the curriculum of the course “Crime in American Film & Literature” at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. In addition, Wilton High School in Wilton, Connecticut added Three-Fifths to their curated collection of titles for their 2021 town-wide reading program.

His second novel, After the Lights Go Out, will be published by Soho Press June 7, 2022 and Pushkin Press July 2022.

Low-Residency MFA Courses & Curriculum

Our two-year program is built around one-on-one study between students and faculty, allowing you to write from home most of the year and be part of a supportive writing community during our twice-yearly weeklong residencies.

During these two years, students work toward completing their creative thesis, a book-length manuscript of publishable quality, turning in monthly submissions to their mentors, and receiving detailed feedback via correspondence and conferencing.

Each semester, students work with their individual faculty mentors in developing reading lists. Students read approximately two books a month, focusing their attention on craft analysis. Every part of the curriculum is designed to help students hone their writing craft and finish excellent theses.

Upon completion of the program, students will have earned a 60-credit graduate degree, which is considered ''a terminal degree'' in creative writing. The Mountainview MFA degree prepares students and qualifies them for applying for college teaching positions.

Required Texts for MFA Program

Complement your mfa with a certificate, frequently asked questions.

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Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing

Master of fine arts in creative writing and poetics (low-residency).

Our low-residency MFA provides the structure, support, and professional development you need to take your writing to the next level .

Program Overview

Naropa’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing is designed for writers ready to hone their craft and earn their Master of Fine Arts degree through rigorous, cross-genre study. Students who can’t relocate to our Colorado Campus can acquire a quality asynchronous education with in-person residencies.

Whether you have a novel in progress, are preparing for a PhD program, or looking to strengthen your prose, poetry, and hybrid writing, our low-residency creative writing MFA program provides you with resources, accountability, and inspiration that fit your schedules.

Naropa takes traditional low-residency MFA programs a step further with our history of experimental and innovative writing, critical study, and cross-genre publishing. Our unique cross-genre online writing courses, generative residencies, and one-on-one mentorship provide students with a writing community, no matter where they live.

Cross-Genre Curriculum

Unlike other Creative Writing MFA programs, our low-residency MFA is open-genre. This means that writers can work in fiction, poetry, prose, non-fiction, playwriting, and hybrid forms throughout their degree program. Students experiment with narrative structures and forms that fit their unique voices. Writers develop their unique style, critical ear, and vast knowledge of contemporary trends across literary genres.

One-on-One Mentorship

One-on-one mentorship and small online writing classes help writers develop their style, refine their editing skills, and publish their work. Each writer dedicates their final semester to a thesis manuscript. Working one-on-one with their thesis mentor and workshopping with classmates through written exchange, students finish their MFA with a completed manuscript in the genre of their choice.

Generative Residencies

Every semester, our Low-Residency MFA students gather in Boulder, Colorado, for enriching and energizing residencies. MFA students meet one-on-one with mentors, enjoy master classes with guest writers, attend readings, and bond with writers. Residencies also overlap with our spring and fall symposiums, providing students with a rich 4-days of community and inspiration. Each academic year culminates in a week-long writing intensive at Naropa’s Summer Writing Program. This annual festival brings over 60 artists, writers, and thinkers to Boulder, for workshops, readings, panels, and professional development.

Quick Facts

• Fifteen annual days of residency in Boulder, CO
• Open-genre curriculum
• One-on-one mentorship with accomplished faculty
• Unique Experimental Approach
• Participation in the Summer Writing Program
• Cohort model developing a strong sense of community among MFA students
• Several Scholarship and Financial Aid Opportunities
• Applications open for August 2024

Program Format

Naropa’s Creative Writing MFA is a rigorous, generative, low-residency two-year program with 4 writing residencies in beautiful Boulder Colorado. The program combines asynchronous craft courses with on-campus residencies. 

Annual fall and spring residencies allow writers to connect with other writers and faculty , deepen their craft, and participate in symposium readings and panels with other MFA students in Boulder, CO. Spring and Fall Residencies run from Saturday through Tuesday during the Spring and Fall JKS Symposiums.

The summer residency immerses writers in a full week of the Jack Kerouac School’s world-renowned Summer Writing Program . Here, students attend workshops, lectures, panels, and readings by numerous visiting writers to hone their craft, make connections, speak on student panels, and prepare for the next step in their writing career.

Course Spotlight

Craft of writing: rooting in the archive.

This course delves into the Naropa University Archive and its rich offerings to explore traditions, movements, and/or schools of writing that inform or extend the aesthetic vision of the Jack Kerouac School toward mindful writing. Possible recent historical examples include New American Poetry, the Beats, San Francisco Renaissance, the New York School, Black Mountain Poetics, the Black Arts Movement, and Language poetry, among others.

Degree Requirements

Unlike many online creative writing MFA programs, our asynchronous classes build community through writer-to-writer feedback and a structured curriculum.

Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing Requirements

26 credits of online asynchronous craft courses.

Students work one-on-one with a mentor, exchanging packets —consisting of letters, bibliographies, contemplative reflections, creative manuscripts, and critical essays—throughout the semester.

• WRI-631E Craft of Writing: Rooting in the Archive(6)WRI-648E Craft of Writing: Contemplative Experiments(6)
• WRI-678E Craft of Writing: Cultures & Communities(4)
• WRI-735E Craft of Writing: Contemporary Trends(6)
• WRI-755E Craft of Writing: Professional Development(4)

6 credits of MFA Thesis

6 credits of MFA Thesis (faculty mentorship on a book-length creative manuscript)

4 credits of the Summer Writing Program

Two eight-day summer residencies are completed at Naropa’s Boulder campus. Choose two of the following:

• WRI-751 Summer Writing Program(2)
• WRI-752 Week Two Summer Writing Program(2)
• WRI-753 Summer Writing Program(2)

4 credits of fall and spring residencies in Boulder, CO.

• WRI-789WE Fall Residency(1)
• WRI-791WE Spring Residency(1)

Why Choose Naropa?

Strong writing tradition.

Founded in 1974 by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics encourages experimental forms across genres , pushing for innovation inside and outside the classroom.

Career Readiness

Whether a student plans to teach, write, edit, or work in publishing, our low-residency program provides the framework they need to develop their professional skills alongside a vibrant and supportive writing community.

In-house Publishing

The Kerouac School’s student-run Bombay Gin literary journal publishes work from promising students and distributes it nationally through Small Press Distribution. Students interested in fine-craft letterpress printing can learn at Naropa’s Harry Smith Print Shop and Kavyayantra Press.

How this Program Prepares You

Professional dossier.

Graduates from our low-residency Creative Writing MFA emerge from the program with a solid record of written work . The pieces that make up their dossier are workshopped with peers and perfectioned with guidance from their tutor.

Critical Analysis

You’ll emerge from the program with critical analysis skills that go beyond reading between the lines of a written work. The program will teach you to recognize the role of intersectionality in the literary arts, looking at the wider spectrum that surrounds a piece, and identifying bias, assumptions and stereotypes.

Unleashing creativity

Our workshops, classes and Summer Writing Program encourage students to harness their creativity by exploring experimental forms . Low-residency students receive on-on one mentoring to help them develop their creative writing skills to the fullest, as well as feedback from their writing community, be it online or during their residency.

What You'll Learn

Highly developed writing craft.

Hone your voice in every step of the writing process.

Skill in Critical Analysis

Learn to discuss literary works through a variety of critical lenses.

Contemplative Writing Practice:

Use your writing practice as a tool for self-inquiry and discovery.

Social and Cultural Awareness

Recognize the role of race, class, and gender in literary history and works.

Career Preparedness

Graduate with a publishable manuscript and/or professional dossier.

Career Opportunities with a Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing

• Lyricist: write words for songs, matching melody and rhyme.
• Poet: use language to creatively express emotion, ideas and experiences.
• Proofreader: check written work for errors and inconsistencies.
• English Teacher: teach at the postsecondary level.
• Author: craft and publish original material.
• Editor: review and improve written work for publication.

Hear from a Graduate

Jackie henrion, faqs about the low-residency mfa in creative writing, what is a low residency mfa in creative writing, why choose a low residency mfa creative writing program, how long does it take to complete a low residency mfa in creative writing, how is naropa’s low residency mfa in creative writing different from other programs, what types of funding are available.

Funding includes the Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and Anselm Hollo Graduate Fellowships.

The fellowships are awarded annually to three incoming MFA Creative Writing and Poetics students (residency program). Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and Anselm Hollo fellowship recipients will receive full funding (tuition and fees), plus an additional $5,000 scholarship as well as a $4,500 stipend. Fellowship recipients may not simultaneously hold a Graduate Assistantship.

Additionally, partial funding is provided for students who have applied for and been offered graduate assistantships with the Naropa Writing Center.

Visit our Graduate Scholarship page to read more about funding, fellowships and scholarships for the Low-Residency Creative Writing & Poetics MFA and other degrees.

Learn More About the Program

Connect with your counselor

Olivia phipps.

Graduate Admissions Counselor

• [email protected]
• Schedule an Appointment
• Attend An Info Session

Ready to Apply?

Admission requirements.

Naropa University values both academic excellence and critical self-reflection . Our application process not only evaluates academic performance but also candidates’ openness and willingness to engage in contemplation.

Learn more about admission requirements and the application process for our Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA.

Graduate Students

Prospective students who have completed an undergraduate degree are welcome to apply to Naropa. When applying, candidates must submit a transcript of their undergraduate coursework, a statement of interest, a resume, two letters of interest and a creative writing sample. They may also apply for financial aid at this stage. Discover all admission requirements.

International Students

If you obtained your undergraduate diploma from a non-US university, we require additional documentation to review your application. Learn how to apply to Naropa as an international student.

Costs and Financial Aid

Naropa University students have access to several financial aid opportunities and scholarships – over 75% of our graduate students receive some sort of financial support to pursue their studies. Use our calculator to estimate your tuition, housing, materials and other costs.

Graduate Scholarship Opportunities

Interested in our Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA?

Read our blog or listen to our podcast, heartfire festival returns to naropa university, episode 92. andrew schelling: writing as a spiritual practice, womxn of naropa celebrates national poetry month, summer writing program from the archives, together in spirit, student support and resources, academic support, online student support, career services, financial aid, accessibility, related programs, mfa in creative writing, ba in creative writing and literature, request information, plan a visit, about naropa, events & community, user information, support naropa.

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Naropa campuses closed on friday, march 15, 2024.

Due to adverse weather conditions, all Naropa campuses will be closed Friday, March 15, 2024.  All classes that require a physical presence on campus will be canceled. All online and low-residency programs are to meet as scheduled.

Based on the current weather forecast, the Healing with the Ancestors Talk & Breeze of Simplicity program scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday will be held as planned.

Staff that do not work remotely or are scheduled to work on campus, can work remotely. Staff that routinely work remotely are expected to continue to do so.

As a reminder, notifications will be sent by e-mail and the LiveSafe app.  

Regardless of Naropa University’s decision, if you ever believe the weather conditions are unsafe, please contact your supervisor and professors.  Naropa University trusts you to make thoughtful and wise decisions based on the conditions and situation in which you find yourself in.

Low-residency MFA in creative writing

Our low-residency MFA community inspires and sustains a lifetime of creative work.

Concentrations in the MFA in creative writing

Children and young adults.

Work with Pablo Cartaya, Traci Chee, Joe McGee, Isabel Quintero, Jessica Rinker and Kathryn Reiss.

Creative nonfiction

Work with Lidia Yuknavitch, Gayle Brandeis, Brian Turner, Suzanne Roberts, Gina Frangello and Leta McCollough Seletzky.

Work with Rebecca Makkai, Lidia Yuknavitch, Alan Heathcock, Brendan Basham, Gayle Brandeis and Peter Mountford.

Work with Brian Turner, Faylita Hicks, Brynn Saito, Lee Herrick, Rick Campbell and Gailmarie Pahmeier.

By writers, for writers

Come lean toward our fire and tell us your stories, poems, essays. We’re listening.

Our program was built entirely by writers, to guide authors organically through the exploration of their craft and thorough preparation for a sustainable life of creation and publication. No other program nurtures a writer from line and sentence to essay, story, poetry collection or novel like ours does.

Our editing semester is a uniquely practical experience in crafting work which is both thrilling and publishable. Our gifted faculty are here because they want to launch unique, individual voices within a global dialogue; to see risks taken, new moves in language braved, and students grow into professional and artistic peers.

How does a low-residency MFA program work?

We’ve made this program so that people who are unable to walk away from jobs and families and service can still become masters of their craft . . . NOW.

Over four distance-learning semesters, and five total 10-day residencies,  students will focus on their chosen genre (fiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, or creative nonfiction) while exploring new territories of artistic expression.

Faculty meet with their students one-on-one during each residency to set plans, then work with them intensively throughout the semester providing written critiques. With a student-to-mentor ratio never greater than 5:1, students receive creative, focused, individualized feedback.

Each residency is a 10-day intensive period of workshops, seminars, readings and more, in which we explore the wide landscape of the writing life from practical tricks-of-the-trade to subtleties of conceptual nuance. Residencies are in early January and early August.  

Contact the director

June Sylvester Saraceno MFA-CW Program Director [email protected]

Apply to the low-residency MFA in creative writing  

Features of the low-residency MFA in creative writing

The editing semester.

Work a full semester one-on-one with an editor to make your manuscript polished – and publishable.

Approach your manuscript with greater objectivity, master the tools to shape its potential into a great reading experience on the page, and learn about the practical aspects of publishing from start to finish.

Writers in the Woods

Writers in the Woods presents intimate readings and workshops, open to all, with acclaimed authors in all genres.

The program has hosted scores of poets and writers from all over the country, including Carmen Maria Machado, Kaveh Akbar, Kim Addonizio, Rebecca Makkai, Nick Flynn, Tim O’Brien, Patricia Smith and many others.

Sierra Nevada Review

The Sierra Nevada Review is a biannual online literary magazine managed and edited by the MFA-CW students.

The magazine publishes poetry, short fiction, and literary nonfiction “that leans toward the unconventional, surprising, and risky. We appreciate experiments in form and content, and prefer works whose meanings deepen on repeated readings.”

Join us for our events

There are currently no events

We want artists who will write for the rest of their lives. If you are interested in adding your voice to this transformative conversation and intrigued by the possibility of working with teachers and peers who are passionate about the art they love, then please contact us — we look forward to meeting you.

15 Best Low Residency MFA Programs

Author: Natalie Harris-Spencer Updated: February 18, 2023

The best low residency MFA programs offer you a more cost-effective way to complete a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. The difference between a low residency and a fully remote program is that you’ll be expected to stay on campus for short periods throughout the year, giving you greater flexibility than if you’d have either been living on campus, or full-time in front of a computer screen.

What can you expect from the best low residency MFA programs?

These programs will force you to juggle your writing time around your day job , family, and cats, while still plunging you into that writers’ life you so crave. In many ways, they’re harder than the traditional brick-and-mortar school program, in that they give you a truer flavor of what it’s like to pursue a writing career with a million other things going on in your life. They’re also far more immersive than an online-only program.

You’ll be hit with a combination of remote and in-person learning. A typical school year comprises two semesters, of which there is usually a 10-day intensive residency on campus per semester (so, two residencies per year, for two years). The time in between residencies is remote i.e. spent from your writing desk at home, where you will be paired with a mentor or smaller groups of writers. In fact, the 1:1 mentorship is a huge benefit of a low residency MFA program ; you’ll get closer attention than you would if you were in a traditional college class.

The best low residency MFA programs will offer a variety of genres , including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, popular fiction, scriptwriting, literary translation, graphic novels and comics, and writing for young people, while some allow for a dual-genre path.

While MFAs are not cheap, low residency programs are certainly on the more affordable side. Read on for 15 best low residency MFA programs, listed in alphabetical order.

1. Antioch University

Offered by AU Los Angeles, Antioch University’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program is dedicated to the education of literary and dramatic artists, community engagement, and the pursuit of social justice. It offers two, 10-day residencies in June and December.

2. Bard College

Bard College offers MFAs for artists in a variety of disciplines, not just writing. Each summer session runs for eight intensive weeks (there is no winter residency), and does not follow the traditional semester schedule. Most students receive some amount of financial aid, making it an attractive option for candidates.

3. Bennington College

Bennington College is widely regarded as one of the best low residency MFA programs in the United States. Residencies take place in picturesque Vermont, and their prestigious faculty includes many multi-published authors and literary prizewinners. You can elect to pursue a dual-genre path. Bennington’s residencies take place in January and June.

4. Cedar Crest College

This pan-European MFA offers a single 15-day residency at the beginning of July that rotates between Dublin, Ireland, Barcelona, Spain, and Vienna, Austria, with new locations coming soon. Unlike other programs, you’ll only attend three residencies in total, and you won’t go to the university campus in Allentown, Pennsylvania. But…you get to travel to Europe.

5. Goucher College

The only program dedicated solely to nonfiction writing, this low residency MFA attracts applicants and faculty interested in pursuing narrative, memoir, personal essay, and literary journalism. Literary agents and editors attend the two 10-day residencies in Baltimore, Maryland, and there are sponsored trips to New York to meet top publishing professionals.

6. Institute of American Indian Arts

Now in its tenth year, the emphasis with this particular Creative Writing MFA is on Native writers, voices, texts, and experience, although applications are open to all. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it offer two 8-day residencies in January and July.

7. Lesley University

While the nine-day residencies take place in the “literary mecca” of Cambridge, Massachusetts, there’s also the opportunity for students to study abroad at a 12-day residency in rural Wales. Lesley has relationships with literary agencies and presses , so that you get a fast-track into publishing on submitting your thesis when you graduate.

8. Lindenwood University

Located in St. Charles, Missouri, Lindenwood University is unique in that there is no formal residency requirement: you can take classes fully on campus, online, or choose the low residency model. The program is more affordable than others due to its flexibility, and offers financial aid to teachers and candidates over the age of sixty.

9. New York University

Based on NYU’s campus in Paris, France, there are five, 10-day residencies held in January and July. This is one of the more expensive programs, with limited funding available. However, its faculty line-up is always incredible, and you’re paying for the prestige of Paris.

10. Pacific University

Based in Portland, Oregon, Pacific University’s MFA program places a strong emphasis on craft . It offers multiple full and partial merit-based scholarships to qualifying candidates. Residencies are in January and June.

11. Sewanee School of Letters

The model at Sewanee School of Letters in Tennessee is slightly different: you complete a single, six-week residency over the summer , which in turn is spread over the course of three to five summers, making it more affordable than other low residency programs.

12. University of New Orleans

Despite positioning itself as online MFA, the University of New Orleans is actually low residency, in that it offers a month-long residency every summer at various international locations, including Ireland and Italy.

13. University of Southern Maine (Stonecoast)

My alma mater . Stonecoast at USM offers two 10-day residencies in January and July, alongside a concurrent writers’ conference, in the picturesque town of Freeport, Maine. Its popular fiction program is especially popular with writers of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi, and its WISE program (writing for inclusivity and social equity) is at the heart of its ethos. In my humble opinion, it will always be one of the best low residency MFA programs.

14. Vermont College of Fine Arts

Another Vermont entry: proof that this beautiful state inspires creativity. Residencies are nine days and take place in December and July, with past residencies going further afield: Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Mexico, Rome, and Asheville, North Carolina. Literary translation and dual-genre paths are available.

15. Warren Wilson College

Established in 1976, Warren Wilson is the original low residency MFA program, introducing the format to North America and the rest of the world. Consequently, it’s on the pricier end, but there are multiple grants and financial aid available. It offers two, 10-day residencies in January and July near the wonderful town of Asheville, North Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Recommended reading

Here at Aspiring Author , we love recommending bestsellers and fawning over hot new releases. On this real time recommended reading list, you will find a list of top rated books on the publishing industry, craft, and other books to help you elevate your writing career.

When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II

The Author's Guide to Traditional Publishing: Navigating the Publishing Landscape

Repurpose & Publish Planner: Your Guide to Writing a Book with Your Existing Content

The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need

About the author.

Natalie Harris-Spencer

Related articles.

Why You Need an MFA in Creative Writing

What Jobs Can You Get With an MFA in Creative Writing?

How Long Does it Take to Get an MFA in Creative Writing?

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2022-2023 Graduate Academic Catalog

2022-2023 Graduate Academic Catalog > Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences > Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

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Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing

Certificate in Postgraduate Studies in Creative Writing

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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing is a low-residency program that allows students, with the oversight of a faculty mentor, to design their own concentrations in fiction, graphic novels and comics, poetry, nonfiction, writing for stage and screen, or writing for young people. The Lesley program embodies an axiom: life experience is the raw material for literature, but the writers we read and re-read have shaped their experiences — whether personal, intellectual, or cultural — into fresh aesthetic forms. Therefore, the best creative writers are passionately creative readers, thinkers, observers, and listeners, constantly re-examining their habits and premises.

Lesley's MFA in Creative Writing program focuses on preparing students to become such writers-adventurous artists and active professionals. At least two attributes distinguish Lesley's MFA in Creative Writing from other low-residency programs. First, the interdisciplinary component encourages students to expand their abilities as writers by widening the angles, and deepening the fields, of their vision. While the multi-genre expertise of our faculty mentors and visiting faculty will be the student's key resource, those with an interest in the visual arts will have the opportunity to work with faculty from Lesley University College of Art and Design; and those seeking to integrate their writing with such disciplines as art therapy, psychology, and education will have the resources of Lesley's Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences. Moreover, students develop a wide range of independent projects, including publishing internships, teaching assistantships, and other literary activities. Second, with its residencies taking place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lesley's program draws energy from one of the literary capitals of the United States. Many of our faculty members have for years thrived in this epicenter of writing and publishing. Their experiences make them uniquely astute advisors for student writers, who will need to understand the complexities and opportunities of contemporary literary culture.

Given these advantages, graduates of Lesley's program will be equipped to give themselves new challenges as they continue to write, explore new genres and art forms, and participate in a serious community of writers and artists.

The Residency

Over two years, students will attend a nine-day residency at the beginning of each of four six-month semesters. The residency will include workshops, seminars, lectures, and readings, providing a forum for intensive study, collaboration, and constructive critique of student work. In addition, students will be matched with faculty mentors to create individualized study plans that incorporate rigorous reading lists. After each residency, students work on their own, under the guidance of faculty mentors. Following the fourth semester, graduating students return for the final portion of a fifth residency to conclude the program, offering a craft seminar and giving an optional reading from their creative thesis.

Application Requirements

A writing sample is required as part of the application:

•    In fiction or nonfiction, approximately 20 double-spaced pages with a 12-point conventional font (e.g. Times New Roman)

•    In poetry, approximately 10 single-spaced pages with a 12-point conventional font (e.g. Times New Roman)

•    In writing for stage and screen, approximately 15-20 script pages with a 12-point conventional font (e.g. Times New Roman)

•   In writing for young people, approximately 10-15 double-spaced pages of middle grade or young adult prose, or 2-3 picture book stories with a 12-point conventional font (e.g. Times New      Roman). You may apply in one or more of these 3 areas of children’s literature.

•   In graphic novels and comics, 4-10 comic book/comic script pages or approximately 12 script pages in addition to a visual portfolio composed of 4–5 still images. Although these visual images may represent work in the comics medium, you may submit other types of work such as illustration, painting, photography, and graphic design.

How to Submit Your Writing Sample

• You'll submit your written personal statement, writing sample, and visual portfolio (Graphic Novels & Comics only) via SlideRoom.
• Create a SlideRoom account.
•   Submit your written personal statement, writing sample (all genres), and portfolio (Graphic Novels & Comics only) to "Master of Fine Arts: Creative Writing."
• For film/video/new media, your submission should not be more than 5 minutes long.
• Pay the submission fee ($5-$10).

 Your statement should consist of 750-1250 words, on double-spaced pages, answering the following questions:

1.    Discuss the work of a writer, in any genre, who has profoundly influenced your writing. Additionally, discuss several of the most memorable books you've read in the last year.

2.    What have you done creatively and critically to prepare for a master's program?

3.    What do you consider to be the strengths and weaknesses of your work?

4.    What are your goals for your writing, and what do you hope to accomplish in the program?

In addition to the writing sample and personal statement, you should include:

• Lesley application form and fee
• All official transcripts, including one from the institution that conferred your bachelor's degree
• Two letters of recommendation from individuals who have worked closely with you on your writing, or in a professional or academic capacity
• No standardized test scores are required.

Credits, Grades, and Graduation Requirements

Students earn 49 credits over two years: 24 credits in Creative Writing, 9 credits in Craft and Reflection, 9 credits in Interdisciplinary Studies, 3 credits in Craft Seminar Preparation, and 3 credits in Creative Thesis Preparation. Grades for each semester will be pass/fail, accompanied by a narrative evaluation by the faculty mentor. As a final, one-credit requirement for graduation, students return for the final portion of a fifth residency to present a craft seminar and give an (optional) reading of their work.

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Bluegrass Writers Studio Awarded Best Low-Residency Program of 2022

Published on September 20, 2022

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Credits Required:

Cost per credit:.

$1,124/credit

Time to degree:

As few as 5 semesters

On campus, some online

Master’s in creative writing curriculum 

You will work one-on-one with mentors both virtually and in person as you explore writing genres and engage in four, 11-day residencies in Pittsburgh and Dublin, Ireland. The residencies include workshops, masterclasses, and mentor conferences as well as opportunities to engage with visiting writers and alumni.

In a required practicum, you will work on a writing and reading plan and submit work for critique, review, and collaborative feedback. By the end of the program, you will produce a publishable body of work.

Choose the creative writing specialization that is best for you

Choose the creative writing area that best fits your career goals and personal aspirations. Each specialization provides you with the opportunity to hone the writing and storytelling skills for that area.

Develop your author’s voice and explore your creativity as you learn to write with a fiction focus. Choose from historical fiction, flash fiction, and young adult fiction. 

Creative Nonfiction

Explore memoirs, personal essays, short narrative work, and lyric essays as you find the voice and structure that best suits your story.

Understand the theories and treatment skills needed to work with a Explore your creativity, refine your voice, collaborate with other students and work with acclaimed and published poets to develop a publishable body of work.

GEORGIA HERTZ '23

“Writing - like any artform - can be a lonely path to tread, but it doesn't have to be done in isolation. Never have I felt such warmth and compassion from a group of writers as I have from my peers and mentors at Carlow University, both in Pittsburgh and in Dublin. We all delight in our growth as writers and we celebrate each other's successes with love, as if they were our own.”

PHILIP BORDER '22

“Every member of the poetry, fiction and CNF programs all feel like extended family members to me. They are always checking up on me to see what's new with my writing and to keep up on all of my forthcoming publications."

20: Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing Program’s 20th Anniversary Anthology

View or download our latest e-newsletter [pdf].

Tess Barry Program Director, MFA

Aimee Zellers, PhD Interim Associate Provost, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Joseph Bathanti Mentor, MFA

Richard Blanco Mentor, MFA

Evelyn Conlon Mentor, MFA

Carlo Gébler Mentor, MFA

Diane Glancy Mentor, MFA

Geeta Kothari Mentor, MFA

Gerry LaFemina Mentor, MFA

Brian Leyden Mentor, MFA

Karin Lin-Greenberg Mentor, MFA

Jean O’Brien Mentor, MFA

Lee Ann Roripaugh Mentor, MFA

Sarah Shotland Assistant Professor, Creative Writing

Judith Vollmer Mentor, MFA

Niall Williams Mentor, MFA

Enda Wyley Mentor, MFA

Contact admissions.

If you are interested in this graduate program, our Admissions team is available to help you with the next steps, including scheduling an on-campus visit or attending an upcoming event .

Support the Next Generation of Writers through our 20th Anniversary Scholarship Campaign.

Academic Catalog

Creative writing, master of fine arts (m.f.a.) bluegrass writers studio.

General Information

A studio-academic, terminal degree program, the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing equips students with the training necessary to become regularly publishing writers. Workshops, contemporary literature courses, and residencies focus on advanced craft, contemporary literature, publishing, the literary marketplace, and professional development.

MFA graduates are qualified for careers in college and university-level teaching, contract and freelance writing, digital content creation, editing, and publishing.

Graduates of the program regularly publish poetry and prose in national literary journals, publish their book-length works with regional and national presses, and have been named finalists or winners of several notable literary and scholarly awards such as The Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction, The Fulbright Scholars Program, The PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction, and others.

The program is regularly ranked among the top low-residency MFA programs in the country, and it has twice been named Best Low-Res MFA Program by Intelligent.com (2022, 2023).

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the MFA in Creative Writing program (Bluegrass Writers Studio) are required to submit a portfolio of work in their desired concentration (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction) to the MFA Program Director. The writing sample should consist of up to 15 pages of poetry or 20 pages of prose. The portfolio should also include a Statement of Purpose that addresses the applicant’s reasons for applying. Though applicants are not required to have completed an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in English or Creative Writing, it is recommended applicants with such preparation have either a minor in English and/or significant outside preparation or experience in literature and writing. In lieu of that, applicants should be prepared to complete additional hours to remove any deficiency in their preparations for graduate study.

Applicants must also meet the general requirements of the Graduate School. Applicants with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of less than 2.50 are required to complete the GRE and achieve satisfactory scores of 150 or higher on the Verbal and 4.0 or higher on the Analytical Writing sections of the exam. The MFA Program Director reserves the right to waive certain departmental requirements in the event that a writing sample is exceptional.

Program Requirements

CIP Code: 23.1302

Students must complete 48 hours in the program, including 12 hours of summer residency, as well as an approved creative thesis. Students must also deliver a craft presentation and thesis reading at their final summer residency.

Each fall and spring, full-time students register for one, asynchronous contemporary literature course (ENW 810, 3 cr. hrs.) and one synchronous workshop (ENW 820, 6 cr. hrs.) that meets live, online, one day per week. Each summer, full-time students attend two sessions of in-person, domestic or international residency (ENW 801, 3 cr. hrs. for each session)

The Bluegrass Writers Studio Domestic Summer Residency is held in Richmond/Berea/Lexington, Kentucky and begins, annually, the first Friday after the July 4 th holiday. Session one runs for 8 days. Session two runs for 7 days. A keynote address and reception is held at the mid-point of the residency.

The Bluegrass Writers Studio International Summer Residency is held in Lisbon, Portugal in partnership with Disquiet International. The first session begins, annually, in late June and runs for two weeks with several off-days built into the schedule. The second session begins the Monday after the end of the first session and runs eight days.

At both residencies, students can expect workshop choices in several genres and to learn from award-winning and best-selling visiting authors, resident faculty, and visiting writing industry professionals. Students can also expect to attend professional development panels, readings, receptions, and other events.

Topic must vary in each section. Course content is not to be repeated.

Exit Requirement

After completing 24 credit hours, students will submit a Thesis Prospectus in which they describe the book-length project they will complete for their creative thesis. They will also form their thesis committee which will consist of a Thesis Director and Second Reader they choose. The third and final member of the student’s thesis committee, the Moderator, is assigned by the program director. In conjunction with the Thesis Director, the student will set deadlines for drafts of the thesis and a final date by which the thesis will be submitted to the committee for scoring.  

Additional Exit Requirements

At their final summer residency, either domestic or international, the student will deliver a public presentation on craft and a public reading from their thesis, both of which will be followed by an oral defense proctored by a member of the resident faculty. Students may complete these requirements once they have filed their Thesis Prospectus with the MFA Program Director, completed a minimum of 39 credit hours, and been approved to do so by the MFA Program Director.  

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Creative Writing Currently: Introducing the New Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing at Hood College

Elizabeth knapp | september 2023.

Hood College is excited to launch the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing starting June 2024, a forty-eight credit program in fiction or poetry that includes four remote mentorship semesters and three ten-day summer residencies.

Q: How did you get the idea for the Low-Residency MFA at Hood College?

A: The day of my interview in May of 2008 (which was also the last day of classes), as I was walking across campus with my future colleagues, I said to one of them, “You know, this would be a lovely place for a low-residency MFA in creative writing,” and with that, the idea for the program was born. It’s been fifteen years in the making now.

Q: What’s unique about Hood College’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing?

A: There are several key features of our program that we think make it stand out:

First, we are the only low-residency MFA in the state of Maryland that offers concentrations in both fiction and poetry; second, our program includes summer residencies on Hood College ’s beautiful campus, which is within walking distance of downtown Frederick (and one hour from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore), with its lively historic district featuring great restaurants, shops, and a wonderful independent bookstore ; third, for the second of the three summer residencies, students have the option of attending the Prague Summer Program for Writers ; fourth, in addition to scholarships and other funding opportunities, we offer students the chance to help launch and serve on the staff of our new online literary magazine, Pergola ; fifth, our program focuses on literary publishing, and by the end of the program, students will be submitting their work to literary journals and magazines and may even be starting to publish it; finally, our program features dynamic permanent and guest faculty, including award-winning poets and fiction writers.

Students in the program will play an essential role in its development, and we look forward to welcoming writers from a variety of backgrounds and professions.

Q: Why did you choose to partner with the Prague Summer Program?

A: The nation’s oldest study-abroad program for creative writers in the English language, the Prague Summer Program has been on our radar since the inception of our program. Now operating as an LLC, the Prague Summer Program had been affiliated for many years with the University of New Orleans and then Western Michigan University. As a PhD student at the latter, I attended the PSP in the summer of 2005 and served as a teaching assistant for the poet Anne Marie Macari , so I have first-hand knowledge of the program’s outstanding faculty , including two MacArthur Fellows and a National Book Award Winner in Fiction. In addition to the option of a three-week second summer residency through the PSP, we’ll also be offering teaching assistantships in the program.

Q: What is your program’s philosophy?

A: Central to our program’s philosophy is the idea of balance—between writing and the demands of everyday life, between periods of solitude and social interaction—as well as the presence of a diverse and cohesive literary community. The latter in particular is essential to our identity as a program, as we believe that while we may write in solitude, we work together as a community to bring our art into the world.

The idea of balance is also central to the way we’ve structured our program. Our ten-day summer residencies are designed to immerse students in activities and subjects central to the writing life and to foster a sense of community and fellowship with other writers. At the end of the residency period, students return to their individual writing lives reenergized and recommitted to the practice of writing. They then commence a period of concentrated reading and writing in the semester between residencies under the close guidance of a faculty mentor.

Along with the residency experience, literary mentorship is a hallmark of our program. The mentorship semester is designed to help students develop close working relationships with experienced teachers and published authors who can direct them in all matters of literary craft, criticism, and publishing. As immersive experiences, the mentorship semesters also provide students with a solid foundation in literary history, theory, and practice, and students are expected to read broadly and deeply both within their genre and across genres.

The Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing at Hood College will begin accepting applicants in Fall 2023 for the inaugural June 2024 residency. For more information, please contact program director  Elizabeth Knapp .

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Low-Residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris

Write in paris.

The NYU Creative Writing Program has distinguished itself for over forty years as a leading national center for the study of writing and literature, inviting promising new writers to work closely with a faculty of today's finest writers of poetry , fiction , and creative nonfiction .

That tradition continues with the low-residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris, which offers students the opportunity to develop their craft under the guidance of internationally-acclaimed faculty—including Catherine Barnett, Alex Dimitrov, Nathan Englander, Jonathan Safran Foer, Tess Gunty, Uzodinma Iweala, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Katie Kitamura, Hari Kunzru, Raven Leilani, Leigh Newman, Matthew Rohrer, Nicole Sealey, Parul Sehgal, Darin Strauss, and Brandon Taylor —while writing and studying in one of the world's most inspiring literary capitals.

Recent visiting writers and editors include Kaveh Akbar, Jericho Brown, Anne Carson, Sandra Cisneros, Rachel Cusk, Edwidge Danticat, Lydia Davis, Hernan Diaz, Geoff Dyer, Mariana Enríquez, Melissa Febos, John Freeman, Terrance Hayes, Mira Jacob, Leslie Jamison, Donika Kelly, Etgar Keret, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Rachel Kushner, Nick Laird, Édouard Louis, Valeria Luiselli, David Mitchell, Nadifa Mohamed, Maggie Nelson, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Joyce Carol Oates, Meghan O'Rourke, ZZ Packer, Claudia Rankine, Taiye Selasi, Kamila Shamsie, Brenda Shaughnessy, Leila Slimani, Tracy K. Smith, Zadie Smith, Ocean Vuong, and Kevin Young, among many others . 

PROGRAM FORMAT

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 ( click  here  for a sample residency calendar ). 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. The city of Paris itself—with its literary history and rich cultural attractions—provides an ideal opportunity for students to learn the art and craft of writing, immerse themselves in the creative process, and live the writer’s life.

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 and needs; students are mentored by a different professor each term and work closely with four different writers during the two-year program.

Unlike the traditional MFA, the low-residency program offers both freedom and rigor, balancing the intense and stimulating community of each residency and the sustained solitary work completed in the intervals between. Students are expected to complete substantial writing and reading assignments each term, regularly submitting packets of work in exchange for detailed feedback and critique. Graduating students leave the program with four new literary mentors and a portfolio of letters written by acclaimed writers in response to their work.

Detailed program structure, curriculum, and requirements can be found here .

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

In order to receive the MFA, students must attend five residencies, successfully complete 32 credits of coursework, and submit a special project of at least 70 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction, or 25 pages of poetry. This project  consists of a substantial piece of writing—a novel, a collection of short stories, a memoir or essay collection, or a group of poems—submitted before the final residency. The project requires the approval of the student's faculty advisor and the program director.

The online application for the January 2025 residency will become available in the coming months. Students may apply for either the MFA in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, or Poetry. All applicants must submit online using the GSAS Application Form (for the “Spring 2025” term) by September 01, 2024. 

Faculty Members Include:

Catherine Barnett is the author of four poetry collections,  Solutions for the Problem of Bodies in Space (2024 Graywolf); Human Hours  (2018 Believer Book Award in Poetry and New York Times "Best Poetry of 2018" selection),  The Game of Boxes  (James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets) and  Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced (Beatrice Hawley Award). A Guggenheim fellow, she received a 2022 Arts and Letters Award in Literature, which honors exceptional accomplishment. Her work has been published in the  New Yorker ,  The New York Review of Books , The Nation , and  Harper’s , among many other places. She teaches in the NYU Program in Creative Writing and works as an independent editor.

Nathan Englander 's most recent novel is  kaddish.com . He is also the author of the  Dinner at the Center of the Earth , the collection  What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank , as well as the internationally bestselling story collection  For the Relief of Unbearable Urges , and the novel  The Ministry of Special Cases  (all published by Knopf/Vintage). He was the 2012 recipient of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for  What We Talk About . His short fiction and essays have appeared in  The New Yorker,  The New York Times , The Atlantic Monthly ,  The Washington Post ,   Vogue,  and  Esquire, a mong other places. His work has been anthologized   in The O. Henry Prize Stories and numerous editions of  The Best American Short Stories , including  100 Years of the Best American Short Stories . Translated into twenty-two languages, Englander was selected as one of “20 Writers for the 21st Century” by  The New Yorker , received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a PEN/Malamud Award, the Bard Fiction Prize, and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. He’s been a fellow at the Dorothy & Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, and at The American Academy of Berlin. In 2012 Englander's translation of the  New American Haggadah  (edited by Jonathan Safran Foer) was published by Little Brown. He also co-translated Etgar Keret's  Suddenly A Knock at the Door  and  Fly Already , published by FSG. His play  The Twenty-Seventh Man  premiered at the Public Theater in 2012, and his new play,  What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank , winner of a 2019 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, and the 2020 Blanche and Irving Laurie Theatre Visions Fund Prize, was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater and was supposed to be running at The Old Globe in San Diego right now—sigh. He is Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University and lives with his family in Toronto.

Alex Dimitrov  is the author of three books of poems,  Love and Other Poems ,  Together and by Ourselves , and  Begging for It . His poems have been published in  The New Yorker , the  New York Times ,  The Paris Review , and  Poetry.  In addition to NYU, he has taught writing at Princeton University, Columbia University, and Barnard College. Previously, he was the Senior Content Editor at the Academy of American Poets, where he edited the popular series  Poem-a-Day  and  American Poets  magazine. With Dorothea Lasky he is the co-author of  Astro Poets: Your Guides to the Zodiac.  He lives in New York. 

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the bestselling novel Everything Is Illuminated , named Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and the winner of numerous awards, including the Guardian First Book Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Prize. His other novels include Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and, most recently, Here I Am . He is also the author of the nonfiction books, Eating Animals , and We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast (2019). Foer was one of Rolling Stone's "People of the Year" and Esquire's "Best and Brightest,” and was included in The New Yorker magazine's "20 Under 40" list of writers. He lives in Brooklyn.

Tess Gunty ’s debut novel, The Rabbit Hutch, is a New York Times Bestseller and the recipient of the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction. It has been translated into a dozen languages. The novel also received the Barnes and Noble Discover Prize, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, and the British Book Award for Debut Fiction, The Rabbit Hutch was named one of twelve Essential Reads by The New Yorker , and a best book of the year by The New York Times , People , TIME , Oprah Daily , LitHub , the Chicago Tribune , Kirkus, and NPR. It is currently a finalist for the inaugural Inside Literary Prize and the Open Bank Vanity Fair Award for best new author in Spain. The novel has been optioned for film rights by Richard Brown and Fremantle. Tess is the youngest recipient of the National Book Award for fiction since Philip Roth won in 1960.

Tess holds an MFA in creative writing from New York University, where she was a Lillian Vernon Fellow and a Graduate Institute Research Fellow in Paris. Recently, she was a Paul La Farge fellow at MacDowell, where she worked on her second novel. She currently lives between Los Angeles and New York.

Uzodinma Iweala is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and medical doctor. He is the CEO of The Africa Center in New York, promoting a new narrative about Africa and its diaspora through a focus on culture, policy and business. Uzodinma is the Co-Founder of Ventures Africa Magazine, a publication that covers business, policy, culture and innovation spaces in Africa. He is a member of the Presidents Youth Advisory Group (PYAG) for Jobs for Youth Africa (JfYA) at the African Development Bank (AfDB). He is also on the Board of the NewNow, a subsidiary of the Virgin Group’s charitable arm, Virgin Unite. He has written three books: Beasts of No Nation (2005), a novel also adapted into a major motion picture; Our Kind of People (2012), a non-fiction account of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria; and Speak No Evil (2018), a novel about Washington, D.C.

Jonas Hassen Khemiri is the author of six novels, seven plays, and a collection of plays, essays, and short stories. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages and his plays have been performed by more than hundred international companies. He received the Village Voice Obie Award for his first play  Invasion!  and in 2015 he was awarded the August Prize, Sweden's highest literary honor for the novel  Everything I Don't Remember . In 2017 he became the first Swedish writer to have a short story published in  The New Yorker  and in 2020 his latest novel  The Family Clause  was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the Prix Médicis Étranger, France’s highest honor for translated books. Khemiri is currently based in New York, as a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library.

Katie Kitamura ’s most recent novel is Intimacies . One of The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2021, it was longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and was a finalist for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. It was also one of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2021. Her third novel,  A Separation,  was a finalist for the Premio von Rezzori and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Gone To The Forest and The Longshot , both finalists for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award.

Her work has been translated into 21 languages and is being adapted for film and television. A recipient of fellowships from the Lannan, Santa Maddalena, and Jan Michalski foundations, Katie has written for publications including The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, Granta, BOMB, Triple Canopy, and Frieze. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.

Hari Kunzru  is a Clinical Professor in the Creative Writing Program. He holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University and an MA in Philosophy and Literature from Warwick University. He is the author of five novels, most recently  White Tears , a finalist for the PEN Jean Stein Award, the Kirkus Prize, the Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, One Book New York, the Prix du Livre Inter étranger, and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His novel  Red Pill  will be published in September 2020 by Knopf. He is also the author of  The Impressionist ,  Transmission, My Revolutions, Gods Without Men  and a short story collection,  Noise . His novella  Memory Palace  was presented as an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2013. His work has been translated into over twenty languages. His short stories and essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Guardian, New York Review of Books, Granta, Bookforum, October and Frieze. He has written screenplays, radio drama, and experimental work using field recordings and voice-to-text software. He has taught at Hunter College and Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. He has been a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library, a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin. He is a past deputy president of English PEN, a judge for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize and has been a frequent presenter, interviewer and guest on television and radio.

Raven Leilani ’s debut novel Luster (2020) was awarded the Kirkus Prize, Dylan Thomas Prize, NBCC John Leonard Prize, VCU Cabell First Novel Prize, Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, among others. Her work has been published in Granta , The Yale Review , McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern , Conjunctions , The Cut , and New England Review , among other publications. Leilani received her MFA from NYU and was an Axinn Foundation Writer-in-Residence . She was also selected as a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. In 2022 she served as the John Grisham Fellow at the University of Mississippi and teaches creative writing at NYU.

Leigh Newman 's memoir about Alaska, Still Points North (Dial, 2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critic Circle’s John Leonard prize. Her short stories have appeared in the Paris Review , Harper’s, One Story ,  Tin House , and McSweeney’s. She is the winner of the Paris Reviews’s 2020 Terry Southern Prize for “humor, wit, and sprezzatura” and her story “Howl Palace” was selected for 2019 Best American Short Stories, as well as won the 2020 Pushcart prize and the Paris Review’s ASME-winning award for fiction. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Bookforum, Vogue, O The Oprah Magazine, and other magazines. She has taught creative writing at Pratt, Sarah Lawrence, and New York University and has received fellowships from Yaddo, Breadloaf, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the former books editor of Oprah.com, the co-founder of Black Balloon/Catapult Publishing, and is now the senior editor-at-large at Catapult. Soon to come: the story collection Nobody Gets out Alive (2022) and an untitled novel (2023) from Scribner.

Matthew Rohrer  is the author of  The Sky Contains the Plans  (Wave Books, 2020),  The Others  (Wave Books, 2017), which was the winner of the 2017 Believer Book Award,  Surrounded by Friends  (Wave Books, 2015),  Destroyer and Preserver  (Wave Books, 2011),  A Plate of Chicken  (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2009),  Rise Up  (Wave Books, 2007) and  A Green Light  (Verse Press, 2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize. He is also the author of  Satellite  (Verse Press, 2001), and co-author, with Joshua Beckman, of  Nice Hat. Thanks.  (Verse Press, 2002), and the audio CD  Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty . With Joshua Beckman and Anthony McCann he wrote the secret book  Gentle Reader! It is not for sale . Octopus Books published his action/adventure chapbook-length poem  They All Seemed Asleep  in 2008. His first book,  A Hummock in the Malookas  was selected for the National Poetry Series by Mary Oliver in 1994. His poems have been widely anthologized and have appeared in many journals. He's received the Hopwood Award for poetry and a Pushcart prize, and was selected as a National Poetry Series winner, and was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize. Recently he has participated in residencies/ performances at the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) and the Henry Art Gallery (Seattle). Matthew Rohrer was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was raised in Oklahoma, and attended universities in Ann Arbor, Dublin, and Iowa City. He teaches in the Creative Writing Program at NYU and lives in Brooklyn.

Nicole Sealey was born in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and raised in Apopka, Florida. She is the author of Ordinary Beast (Ecco, 2017), which was a finalist for the PEN Open Book and Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Sealey’s chapbook, The Animal After Whom Other Animals are Named  (Northwestern University Press, 2016), was the winner of the 2016 Drinking Gourd Chapbook Prize. In 2019, Sealey was named a 2019-2020 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University. She has received fellowships and awards from the American Academy in Rome, the Forward Foundation, CantoMundo, Cave Canem Foundation, the National Endowment and New York Foundation for the Arts, an Elizabeth George Foundation, among others. She was the Executive Director at Cave Canem Foundation from 2017–2019. Sealey lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Parul Sehgal  is a staff writer at  The New Yorker . She was previously a columnist and senior editor at  The New York Times Book Review  and a book critic   for  The New York Times.  Her work has appeared in  The Atlantic, Slate, Bookforum, The New Yorker, Tin House,  and  The Literary Review,  among other publications, and she was awarded the Nona Balakian Award from the National Book Critics Circle for her criticism. 

Darin Strauss  is the internationally bestselling author of the novels  Chang and Eng, The Real McCoy ,  More Than it Hurts You , the NBCC-winning memoir,  Half a Life , the comic-book series,  Olivia Twist, and most recently the acclaimed novel, The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story (Random House, 2020). A recipient of a National Book Critics Circle Award, the Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Library Association Award, and numerous other prizes, Strauss has written screenplays for Disney, Gary Oldman, and Julie Taymor. His work has been translated into fourteen languages and published in nineteen countries, and he is a Clinical Professor at the NYU Creative Writing Program.

Brandon Taylor  is the author of the novels  The Late Americans  and  Real Life , which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and named a  New York Times Book Review  Editors’ Choice and a Science + Literature Selected Title by the National Book Foundation. His collection  Filthy Animals , a national bestseller, was awarded The Story Prize and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He is the 2022-2023 Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

Deborah Landau  (Director) is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently  Skeletons , which was named one of  The New Yorker’s  “Best Books of 2023.” She is also the author of  Soft Targets  (winner of the Believer Book Award),  The Uses of the Body ,  The Last Usable Hour , and  Orchidelirium , selected by Naomi Shihab Nye for the Robert Dana Anhinga Prize for Poetry. Her other honors include a Jacob K Javits Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.  The Uses of the Body  was featured on NPR’s  All Things Considered , and included on “Best of ″ lists by  The New Yorker, Vogue, BuzzFeed , and  O, The Oprah Magazine . A Spanish edition,  Los Usos Del Cuerpo , was published by Valparaiso Ediciones. Her work has appeared in  The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, New York Review of Books ,  The Nation ,  APR, Poetry, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times , and three volumes of  The Best American Poetry , and anthologized in  Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation, Not for Mothers Only, Resistance, Rebellion, Life ,  The Best American Erotic Poems , and  Women’s Work: Modern Poets Writing in English . Landau was educated at Stanford University, Columbia University, and Brown University, where she received a Ph.D. in English and American Literature. She is a Professor at NYU, where she directs the Creative Writing Program.

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Solstice MFA in Creative Writing

March 15, 2022

The Solstice Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing program , established at Pine Manor College in 2006, will now be part of Lasell University. The MFA is a nationally recognized graduate degree program devoted to nurturing new and emerging voices in fiction, non-fiction, graphic narrative, poetry, and more.

“The Solstice MFA in Creative Writing program, with its reputation for inclusion and excellence, is a valuable addition to Lasell’s academic offerings,” said Lasell University President Michael B. Alexander. “The adoption of this program reflects Lasell’s commitment to the arts and will serve to enhance our University’s reach and impact.”

Students will continue to work with Solstice’s award-winning faculty and writers-in-residence, including Terrance Heyes, Renée Watson, Dennis Lehane, José Angel Araguz, and Sandra Scofield. The low-residency portion of the program will be hosted on Lasell’s campus.

Thirty percent of the program’s alumni have published at least one book since graduation, and graduate work appears regularly in literary journals.

The MFA will join more than 35 other master’s degree programs housed in Lasell University’s Division of Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) , including six MBA degrees and master of science options in criminal justice , communication , education , athletic training , marketing , and more.

Over the last five years, the number of students enrolled in GPS classes at Lasell has grown by 52 percent and the number of credits graduate students are pursuing is up by 96 percent. More than 22 graduate programs have been added since 2016 to reflect the need for skilled leaders in growing industries such as human resources , applied sport science analytics , sustainable fashion operations , and digital media .

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Low Residency Creative Writing launches "Summer School" as part of its Summer 2022 Residency

June 20, 2022

On Thursday, June 23rd, PNCA's Low Residency Creative Writing MFA launches "Summer School" as part of its Summer 2022 Residency. Summer School consists of the 6 graduating LRCW students offering Generative Making Sessions, free and open to the public. Folks can attend via Zoom or in-person at 511 NW Broadway, Room 413. 

If you'd like to attend via Zoom, please email Jay Ponteri at [email protected]. 

Below our Summer School's Inaugural Offerings & Times:

10am: Rachel Keller

11am: Manya Orescan Campos

1pm: Molly Collins

2pm: Leah Herzing

4pm: Russell Hill

5pm: ocean 

Descriptions

glass coffin craft: the magic in the retelling of fairy tales

Rachel Keller

Fairy tales have survived over the centuries as some of the most well-known stories of all time. But their preservation is no accident; in fact, it is through the art of reshaping and reshaping these stories that they continue to withstand the test of time. In this class, we will discuss the necessity in adding each generation’s voice on the personal and societal issues and pressures of their times, and also do a generative exercise in order to hone this magic for ourselves. 

The Psychology of an Altar

Manya Orescan Campos

“My mother taught me how to build an altar on a dirty train.”

I will open with a chant and share a little about my personal experience with altars; building them, connecting with it as a place of reflection, personal healing, discovery, transformation and ancestral reclamation. This is intended to encourage the students/makers/artists to become attuned with the space we create in, our environment/home, and how that may be in visceral connection to the quality of presence we bring to our making. I will then ask the students to reflect on their sensory experience and together we will engage in a writing exercise. 

An Empty Chair– On Silence, Space, and Wonder

Molly Collins

As a habitual oversharer in my personal life, I’ve been reminded by many that  some things are better left unsaid.  I did not truly reflect on this platitude until I found myself writing about the loss of my grandfather; attempting to attach words to an experience I cannot fully understand.

Guided by Doris Salcedo, Paul Simon, John Keats, and Diana Khoi Nguyen, we will explore art born from spaces of uncertainty, loss, and physical violence. We will discuss how embracing silence and negative space can provoke emotional responses in our work.

I hope to leave our time together with more doubts, feeling inspired to use these “new-unknowns” as generative material. Please bring scissors and paper (or any material you feel comfortable destroying).

Writing in Fragments: Gold Filling in a Broken Vase

Leah Herzing

In this lecture we will discuss the art of fragmentation in creative nonfiction. Drawing on examples from  The Crying Book  by Heather Christle,  Bluets  by Maggie Nelson, and  A Bestiary  by Lily Hoang, I hope to impart a sense of excitement about the possibilities of fragmentation and how it can express greater emotion and nuance than what a traditional essay or straightforward narrative produces. There will be time to produce a 100 word/graphic document utilizing the format. Photographs/graphics are encouraged, as well as hyperlinks or AV files for those interested in creating an electronic document. 

Dreamblur: dream poetry in the shadow of Frank Stanford

ocean 

A brief presentation on the life and works of the poet Frank Stanford, followed by the composition of our own dream-based poem. 

A note from Ocean:  Fellow students! For ocean’s generative making session please prepare in the week ahead by attempting to catch and write down a few images from your dreams at night. “Images” does not just connote still objects; it can include scenes, actions, events, motions, encounters. If you are not a frequent oneironaut, jot down a few images from dreams you’ve had recently, or not-so-recently, or from any time in your life that you can remember. These do not need to be the most astounding images, the most surreal, or anything like that. And if you absolutely have never remembered dreaming in your entire life, just jot down a few glimpses from your waking life that you have noticed that have caught your attention of late, and bring them along to ocean’s class.        

This Subject of Critique—

Russell Hill

In this conversation we will explore critique as it relates to the writer's workshop. My own concepts and struggle with critique will be brought forward. We will review critique from its formal beginning in the Iowa Writers Workshop and the lens through which critique has been viewed for nearly 100 years. We will examine our own lens and (re)consider how such a tool can be put to better use building equity and support for writers as well as how such a paradigm shift might change our world view. Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses is at the core of this interaction. The Generative Making Session intends to draw out thoughts and experiences from the participants creating space for reflection. Note-taking paper will be provided.

PNCA's Low Residency Creative Writing January 2024 Residency Talks, Workshops, Readings, and Performances

PNCA's Low Residency Creative Writing January 2024 Residency Talks, Workshop, Readings, and Performances include new faculty Jennifer S Cheng, Megan Milks, Lara Mimosa Montes, and Emilly Prado and Guest Artist Gabrielle Civil. 

2023 National Portfolio Day Hosted at PNCA

Launch your future in art and design! Visit with counselors, admissions team members, and faculty from art and design schools for a portfolio review before applying to colleges or universities.

PNCA Graduate Symposium: Art + Social Consciousness

PNCA welcomes the Portland community to participate in this year’s Graduate Symposium with keynote speakers featuring: Nina Elder + vanessa german!

Amanda Ross-Ho and Catherine Taft, in conversation, hosted by PNCA & ILY2

The Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies, in collaboration with ILY2, is pleased to announce a conversation between artist Amanda Ross-Ho and writer and curator Catherine Taft.

MFA Open Studios: November 2nd + 18th

The Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies welcomes the Portland community to see what our MFA students have been making!

Back to Hood.edu

Creative Writing (MFA)

• Master's

About this Program

Hood College’s low-residency MFA in creative writing immerses students in the rhythms of the writing life, while providing them with a solid foundation in literary craft, criticism and publishing.

Program Overview

Tuition & Fees   Funding Opportunities Download MFA Brochure  

Find your rhythm. Find your community. Find your voice.

Ideal for working professionals and lifelong learners who are serious about their work, the MFA in creative writing appeals to students from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, all of whom share a passion for literature and a desire to write and publish their own novels, stories and poems. Central to our philosophy is the idea of balance—between writing and the demands of everyday life, between periods of solitude and social interaction—as well as the presence of a diverse and cohesive literary community. By the end of the program, students will have produced a book-length manuscript of fiction or poetry and will be beginning to submit and publish their work.

A 48-credit program in fiction or poetry, the low-residency MFA in creative writing involves four remote mentorship semesters and three on-campus summer residencies. Over the course of the two-year program, students will engage in one-on-one consultations with faculty mentors; participate in intensive writing workshops; attend lectures, panels and readings; begin submitting their work for publication; develop and present a craft lecture; complete a book-length creative project; and give a reading from their work. In addition to summer residences on the beautiful Hood College campus in Frederick, Maryland, students also have the option of attending an international summer residency through the  Prague Summer Program for Writers , the nation’s oldest study-abroad program for creative writers in the English language.

The low-residency MFA in creative writing at Hood College will begin accepting applicants in fall 2023 for the inaugural summer 2024 residency (June 13-23). For more information, please contact program director  Elizabeth Knapp  or email the  graduate school admission staff .

Degrees Offered

Department offering.

• English & Communication Arts

Are you ready to go further?

Prospective Applicants must complete the following for consideration into the program:

• Complete the online application.
• Official copies of all college transcripts.
• A 1,000-word essay in response to a book of fiction or poetry published within the last 10 years. The book you choose to write on must correspond to the genre for which you are applying (e.g., poetry applicants should write an essay in response to a poetry collection).
• A 500-word personal statement on what you hope to achieve from the program; your reading life and which authors have been especially important or influential to you as a writer; any challenges or obstacles you have faced in your writing life as a result of your background and how you have responded to those challenges; and your current writing projects.
• Fiction should be no more than 25 double-spaced pages of one or several stories, a portion of a novel, or a combination. If submitting a novel excerpt, please attach a brief plot synopsis.
• Poetry should be no more than 10 single-spaced pages, with no more than one poem per page.

The course listing for the program is as follows:

Permanent Faculty

Aaron Angello  is an assistant professor of English at Hood College, where he directs the theatre program and teaches courses in creative writing, modern and contemporary poetry, film and media, and drama. He is also creative director of the Endangered Species (theatre) Project and founder of the Frederick Shakespeare Festival. His poetry and essays have appeared in numerous journals, and he is the editor of  The Synergistic Classroom: Interdisciplinary Teaching in the Small College Setting . His genre-defying book  The Fact of Memory: 114 Ruminations and Fabrications  was published in 2022 by Rose Metal Press.

Amy Gottfried  is a professor of English at Hood College and advises the undergraduate literary magazine, Wisteria. She teaches courses in environmental writing, advanced fiction, and American literature, and has twice earned Hood’s Excellence in Teaching award. Her short fiction has appeared in  Passager ,  Glimmer Train ,  Adirondack Review ,  Blunderbuss  and  Brain, Teen . Awards include  Blunderbuss’s  2015 Best Stories and  Glimmer Train’s  Fiction Open, Family Matters, and Short Short Fiction contests. She is currently working on her third novel and a short story collection.

Elizabeth Knapp  is an associate professor of English at Hood College and directs the low-residency MFA in creative writing. She is the author of  Requiem with an Amulet in Its Beak  (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2019), winner of the 2019 Jean Feldman Prize, and  The Spite House  (C&R Press, 2011), winner of 2010 De Novo Poetry Prize. Her other honors include the 2022 International Poetry Prize from  Atlanta Review , the 2018 Robert H. Winner Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America and an individual artist award from the Maryland State Arts Council.

Guest Writers

Sandra Beasley  is the author of four poetry collections:  Made to Explode ;  Count the Waves ;  I Was the Jukebox  (winner of the Barnard Women Poets Prize, judged by Joy Harjo); and  Theories of Falling  (winner of the New Issues Poetry Prize, judged by Marie Howe). Honors for her work include a 2015 NEA Literature Fellowship, the Center for Book Arts Chapbook Prize, the John Montague International Poetry Fellowship and six DCCAH Artist Fellowships. She is also the author of the memoir  Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life , and the editor of  Vinegar and Char: Verse from the Southern Foodways Alliance . Beasley is currently the Nora Roberts Writer-in-Residence at Hood College. She lives in Washington, D.C.

celeste doaks  is the author of  Cornrows and Cornfields  and editor of the poetry anthology  Not Without Our Laughter . Her award-winning chapbook,  American Herstory , contains ekphrastic poems that have been featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Brooklyn Museum. doaks is a 2022 Yaddo fellow and has taught for more than a decade. Her work has appeared in  Ms. Magazine ,  The Millions ,  Huffington Post ,  Chicago Quarterly Review ,  The Rumpus ,  The Hopkins Review  and others.

Robert Eversz  is the author of six novels that have been translated into 15 languages. His books have been named to best of year lists at  The Washington Post ,  Oslo Aftenposten ,  Manchester Guardian ,  BookPage ,  L.A. Weekly  and  January Magazine . A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Robert teaches advanced fiction workshops at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and is a member of the permanent faculty of the Prague Summer Program, which he helped found.

James Allen Hall  is the author of two books of poems and a book of lyric essays. Their most recent book is  Romantic Comedy , winner of the Levis Prize selected by Diane Seuss and published by Four Way Books. Their previous book of poems is  Now You’re the Enemy  (U of Arkansas Press, 2008). They are also the author of a book of lyric personal essays,  I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well . They’ve won awards from the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Texas Institute of Letters, the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Arts. They direct the Rose O'Neill Literary House at Washington College in Chestertown, MD.

Donna Hemans  is the author of three novels,  River Woman ,  Tea by the Sea  and  The House of Plain Truth  (forthcoming in February 2024). Her short fiction and essays have appeared in  Slice ,  Electric Literature ,  Ms. Magazine ,  The Rumpus  and  Crab Orchard Review , among others. She received her undergraduate degree in English and media studies from Fordham University and an MFA from American University. She lives in Maryland and is also the owner of DC Writers Room, a co-working studio for writers based in Washington, D.C.

Steven Leyva ’s poems have appeared in  Smartish Pace ,  Scalawag ,  Nashville Review ,  jubilat ,  The Hopkins Review ,  Prairie Schooner  and  Best American Poetry 2020 . He is a Cave Canem fellow and author of the chapbook  Low Parish  and author of  The Understudy’s Handbook , which won the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from Washington Writers Publishing House. He holds an MFA from the University of Baltimore, where he is an associate professor in the Klein Family School of Communications Design.

Cleyvis Natera  is the author of the debut novel  Neruda on the Park . Her fiction, essays and criticism have appeared in  The New York Times Book Review ,  URSA Fiction ,  Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration ,  The Brooklyn Rail ,  TIME ,  The Rumpus ,  Gagosian Quarterly ,  The Washington Post ,  The Kenyon Review ,  Aster(ix)  and  Kweli Journal , among other publications.

Elly Williams  is a senior faculty member of the M.A. in writing at Johns Hopkins University. Her essays, interviews and short stories have appeared in local and national journals, including  Confessions ,  Fact or Fiction? ,  The Missouri Review ,  Five Points  and  CEA Forum . Her novel,  Crazy Think , was released as a Penguin Classic in the U.K. in 1997 and under the title  This Never Happened  in 1998 by Random House.

Summer Residencies

The cornerstone of the low-residency MFA in creative writing is the intensive residency experience. For 10 days in June, students in the program attend residencies on the Hood College campus, during which they participate in rigorous writing workshops and attend lectures, panels and readings by permanent and guest faculty and graduating students. Residencies are designed to immerse students in activities and subjects central to the writing life and to foster a sense of community and fellowship with other writers; therefore, students are strongly encouraged to stay on campus in one of our newly renovated dorms for the duration of each residency. Visits to Frederick’s thriving historic Downtown are part of the residency; restaurants, shops, theatre, bars, art galleries, concerts and a wonderful independent bookstore are all a 10-minute walk from campus. Room and board are included in the residency fees.

At the core of the residency is the writing workshop, in which developing writers share their work for critique and provide commentary on the work of other members. Led by an accomplished writer in each genre, workshops meet daily in the mornings, and students are guaranteed an expert and detailed review of their work.

In the afternoons, faculty and graduating students present lectures and panels on a range of topics within literary history, theory and practice, while evenings are devoted to literary readings. At the end of the residency period, students return to their individual writing lives reenergized and recommitted to the practice of writing. They then commence a period of concentrated reading and writing in the semester between residencies under the close guidance of a faculty mentor.

For the second residency, students may elect to attend the  Prague Summer Program for Writers , the nation’s oldest study-abroad program for creative writers in the English language. Approximately 2,000 established and aspiring writers have attended the Prague Summer Program since its inception in 1993. Included among the program’s outstanding permanent faculty are two MacArthur Fellows and a National Book Award winner in fiction. Fees for the three-week program are equal to those for a 10-day on-campus residency. Students are responsible for their own airfare and meals, but breakfast is provided with program housing. Two fully-funded teaching assistantships are available for each residency, one in fiction and one in poetry. Assistantships are competitive.

View the June 2024 residency schedule.

Mentorship Semesters

Along with the residency experience, literary mentorship is a hallmark of the low-residency MFA in creative writing. The mentorship semester is designed to help students develop a close working relationship with an experienced teacher and published author who can direct them in all matters of literary craft, criticism and publishing. As immersive experiences, the mentorship semesters also provide students with a solid foundation in literary history, theory and practice, and students are expected to read broadly and deeply both within their genre and across genres.

Under the guidance of a faculty mentor, students produce original creative work while simultaneously developing their own course of study within the areas of literary history, theory, and practice. At the beginning of each semester, students confer with their faculty mentor to create a reading list, along with a submission schedule for critical essays and original work. Over the course of each semester, students submit to their faculty mentor packets of original fiction or poetry and critical essays. The faculty mentor then provides extensive feedback, including suggestions for revision and further reading. Participation in the residencies is required for enrollment in the mentorship semesters.

Advantages of the Low-Residency Model

The low-residency model for an MFA in creative writing offers several advantages compared to traditional full-residency programs, including:  

• Flexibility.  Low-residency programs are designed to accommodate students who may have work, family or other commitments that make it challenging to attend a full-time, on-campus program. With the low-residency model, you have the flexibility to continue working or fulfilling other responsibilities while pursuing your degree. 
• Geographic Independence.  Low-residency programs allow students to participate from anywhere in the world. You are not limited by geographical proximity to a specific institution, which means you can choose a program that aligns with your interests and needs regardless of your location. 
• Intensive Residency Periods.  Low-residency programs typically include short, intensive residencies on campus or at a designated location. During these residencies, you have the opportunity to engage in workshops, panels, readings and networking events with faculty and fellow students. This concentrated period of interaction provides a focused and immersive experience.
• Personalized Attention.  In low-residency programs, students work closely with faculty mentors or advisers. One-on-one mentorship allows for personalized attention and guidance tailored to your specific writing goals and needs. This individualized approach will help you hone your craft and develop your unique voice. 
• Diverse Perspectives.  Low-residency programs attract students from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and experiences. The cohort of students often includes individuals with diverse perspectives and writing styles. This enriches the learning environment, fosters cross-cultural understanding and encourages creative collaboration. 
• Cost Savings.  Low-residency programs may offer cost savings compared to full-residency programs. Since you are not residing on campus full-time, you can save on expenses such as housing and commuting. This can make pursuing an MFA more financially feasible for some individuals. 

With an MFA in creative writing, you can pursue a variety of career paths related to writing, literature and communication, including:

• Author.  An MFA in creative writing equips you with the skills and knowledge necessary to write and publish your own literary works. Through the mentorship semesters and summer residencies, you will develop your craft and learn about the business of literary publishing.
• Editor.  MFA graduates work as editors for publishing houses and literary magazines, or as freelance editors. You can help writers polish their manuscripts by providing feedback and copy edits.
• Copywriter.  Advertising agencies, marketing firms and businesses hire creative writers to develop persuasive and engaging copy for advertisements, websites, product descriptions and other promotional materials.
• Content Writer.  With the rise of digital media, there is a high demand for skilled content writers. You can create engaging articles, blog posts, social media content and other written material for websites, online publications and businesses.
• Literary Agent.  As a literary agent, you can represent authors and their literary works. You'll review manuscripts, negotiate publishing contracts and guide writers through the publishing process.
• Writing Instructor/Professor.  Many MFA graduates find fulfillment in teaching creative writing. You can work as an instructor or professor at universities, colleges, writing workshops or community centers, sharing your knowledge and helping aspiring writers develop their skills.
• Freelance Writer.  You can work as a freelance writer, taking on a range of writing assignments. This may include magazine articles, blog posts, ghostwriting projects, content creation for businesses or contributing to anthologies and literary journals.
• Communications Specialist.  Corporations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies often employ MFA graduates as communications specialists. You can write press releases, speeches, reports and other communication materials.
• Writing Coach/Consultant.  With your expertise, you can offer your services as a writing coach or consultant. This involves assisting aspiring writers, providing feedback on their work and helping them improve their writing skills.

Many MFA graduates combine multiple roles or pursue a mix of freelance and traditional employment opportunities to build a diverse career in the writing field.

The Elizabeth Peters-Barbara Michaels Scholarship Fund

Established in 1990 by Barbara Mertz, the scholarship is awarded annually to a student from an underrepresented background based on writing ability. Recipients for this scholarship will be identified and nominated by the MFA faculty.

Barbara Mertz, who used the pen name Elizabeth Peters, wrote more than 60 novels. Primarily known for her work in the mystery genre, Mertz won various awards, and her novels have been translated into dozens of languages. Mertz was also a long-time resident of Frederick, Maryland.

The Nora Roberts Scholarship

Established in 2010 by the Nora Roberts Foundation, the scholarship will be awarded annually to a creative write MFA student, with priority given to those with financial need and academic merit.

Nora Roberts, a Maryland native, is the bestselling author of more than 225 novels. She is primarily known for her work in the romance genre and was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.

For more information, please contact Program Director Elizabeth Knapp .

Pergola Magazine

MFA students will help develop Hood's brand new online literary magazine, Pergola, launching in spring 2025 and featuring original work!

Program Contact

Elizabeth Knapp, Ph.D.

MFA Program Director

Nick Masucci '17

Assistant Director of Graduate Admission & Data Management

Introducing the New Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing

Hood College is excited to launch the low-residency MFA in creative writing beginning June 2024, a 48-credit program in fiction or poetry that includes four remote mentorship semesters and three 10-day summer residencies.

Sandra Beasley | Nora Roberts Writer-in-Residence

Award-winning author Sandra Beasley to serve as Nora Roberts Writer-in-Residence and guest faculty for new creative writing MFA.

celeste doaks | Guest Writer for MFA Program

Hood’s creative writing MFA program welcomes celeste doaks as guest writer for June 2024 residency.

The purpose of the MFA program is to provide an engaging, rigorous, and culturally responsive learning environment for emerging writers and to showcase and support the work of Alaskan, Indigenous, and Northern writers. The low-residency MFA is a 36-credit program combining intensive, individualized study with on-campus summer residencies. Summer residencies—approximately 2 weeks in length, and introduced by online learning sessions—are comprised of workshops, seminars, lectures, panels, and readings. In summer residencies, students engage in the process of giving and receiving constructive feedback, all while nurturing an artistic intuition to guide them on the right track beyond their studies. Fall and Spring semesters in the program involve one-on-one, mentor-directed study plans, advancing individual writing goals. As they work through individualized study plans, students hone their craft with the goal of producing publishable works. 

Over the course of two years and three summers, students gain a comprehensive understanding of their chosen genre (fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry) along with their place among the notable writers who have gone before them. Through residencies on APU’s campus, the program strives to honor the Dena’ina people and their traditional lands upon which APU sits, as well as Alaska Native storytelling traditions that have thrived and continue to inspire.

Program Outcomes

Upon completion of the degree, students will have:

• Produced a polished book-length manuscript of creative work in their chosen genre of study (fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry).
• Demonstrated disciplinary understanding of the elements of craft that distinguish their genre.
• Developed appreciation for Alaska Native traditions of storytelling and other Alaska-based narrative traditions
• Expressed the distinctive qualities of their own style and voice.
• Identified productive research and methods to gather and present information ethically and accurately.
• Synthesized information, applying it in a real-world setting, and assessing results to refine the thesis.
• Used effective oral and written communication to present an overview of their completed thesis.
• Demonstrated understanding of the publication process as it applies to their manuscript of creative work.

The low-residency MFA admits students to the Summer semester only. The admissions deadline is April 1.

The general requirements for admission to graduate studies at APU are found in the Admissions section of the catalog. In addition, there are supplemental requirements for the low-residency MFA as follows:

• A portfolio of the student’s best creative work.
• Poetry: Ten pages of poetry. Only one poem per page. 
• Fiction: One story; 15 pages or less in length (double spaced) or a chapter of a novel accompanied by a brief synopsis. 
• Literary Nonfiction: One piece; 15 pages or less in length (double spaced), if part of a larger work accompanied by a brief synopsis.
• Personal Statement that highlights the applicant’s strengths and interests. This essay is reviewed by the Program Director as a demonstration of writing competence, critical thinking, and the ability to articulate goals. 
• Two letters of recommendation addressing your capability to complete advanced work through a Master of Fine Arts program. In addition, letters should address your critical thinking, analytical and communication skills. Recommendation letters must include the writer’s address, telephone number, title, and relationship to you. Letters should be dated within the past twelve months. 
• No Standardized Test Scores required. 

Students are adequately prepared for low-residency MFA entry if they have earned a bachelor’s degree in any field, and have demonstrated proficient writing ability in their portfolio and personal statement. 

Low-Residency MFA Format and Program Delivery

The Master of Fine Arts is a 36-credit program of individualized, mentor-directed studies with three summer terms, each inclusive of a low-residency requirement. The program includes three areas of study: Fiction, Literary Nonfiction, and Poetry. Students maintaining full-time enrollment status can complete the program in 2 years, over the course of three summer semesters (with residencies) and four Fall/Spring semesters of one-to-one mentorship. Maximally, students have up to 7 years to complete the program.

Master of Fine Arts Degree Requirements (36 credits)

The program consists of three areas of coursework, with courses structured in 3 and 5 credit increments for each course and study plan. A total of 36 credits is required as outlined below:

• CRWR 60100    , CRWR 60200    , or CRWR 60300     Graduate Writer’s Workshop (10 credits required)
• CRWR 60500     Form and Theory (15 credits required)
• CRWR 69900     Thesis (8 credits required)
• CRWR 60400     Thesis Writer’s Workshop (3 credits)

CRWR 60100-60300 Graduate Writer’s Workshop must be taken two times in the same genre (fiction, literary nonfiction, or poetry). Failure to attend a residency will result in a delay of graduation by one year. Should any student find themselves in such a situation, they will be given the opportunity to continue their studies in MAP, with the possibility of retaining their mentor, as they complete all thesis components still required of the MFA program. In this case, the student would then receive a Master of Arts degree upon graduation, not a Master of Fine Arts degree.

CRWR 60500 Form and Theory and CRWR 69900 Thesis will be taken more than once, as designated by unique, documented, and approved individual study plans.

Successful completion of CRWR 60400 Thesis Writer’s Workshop includes approval of the thesis (with craft essay, creative work, and annotated bibliography) and the colloquium presentation.

Academic Study Plan and Self-Designed Courses

Learning outcomes and activities in CRWR 60500 Form and Theory are structured through the program’s required study plans.  The study plan is used by the student and the mentor as a guide for the fall and spring semesters. The study plan must be approved by the student, the mentor, and the program director prior to the start of the semester. The semester study plan is a fully developed outline that includes quantifiable learning outcomes that are then assessed by the mentor through narrative transcript evaluation.

Study plans will designate that students remain in contact with their mentors on a bi-weekly basis. Plans will also include deadlines at least once a month, when students will submit completed assignments and pages of creative work, for which they will receive ongoing feedback from their mentors.

For every semester of CRWR 60500 Form and Theory, the study plan will include the following requirements:

• submit 60-80 pages of prose, or 20-30 pages of poetry, with the intention of incorporating some of it into the creative manuscript section of the thesis
• submit 20-30 pages of critical analysis focused on the assigned reading list, with the intention of incorporating some of it into the craft essay section of the thesis
• read 10-12 books or manuscripts and complete an annotation for each, to be compiled later in the annotated bibliography segment of the thesis, with a growing appreciation for Alaska Native, Alaskan, and/or Northern Latitude traditions

In CRWR 69900 Thesis, students focus solely on completing the sections of the thesis itself deriving from work completed in prior semesters: revising and polishing the final draft of the creative project; drafting and editing the craft essay; refining and finishing the annotated bibliography; and preparing the culminating colloquium presentation.

MFA Mentors

Students may express interest in working with specific mentors; however, the pairing of students to mentors will ultimately be decided at the discretion of the director and mentors, based on fit and teaching load considerations. The student can request a change in mentor, just as a mentor can request a change in student, for the sake of better furthering the goals of the student’s creative project and/or scholarship.

Student Evaluation

The Low-Residency MFA at APU is not a traditional letter-graded academic program; rather, it is evaluated as Credit/No Credit, with narrative evaluation on the transcript. “Credit” is understood to represent a grade of B- (2.67) or better. Students receive a narrative evaluation of their progress at the end of each fall and spring semester for each semester study plan. At the end of the summer session, they receive a narrative evaluation based on their participation in the online component and the residency period. These evaluations, in turn, become part of the student’s official transcript.

In these evaluations, mentors (and thesis committee members) document and comment upon the student’s learning outcomes. Success or failure is measured in relation to the accomplishment of goals and outcomes as established in individual study plans. In the case where a student does not meet the academic standards of the university or the study plan objectives, ‘No Credit’ is recorded on the transcript, and no academic credits are awarded.

Students are expected to perform at the graduate level and to demonstrate written and oral communication, critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as content knowledge and the ability to apply theoretical concepts consistent with a graduate program.

Required Courses:

• CRWR 60100  ,  CRWR 60200  , or  CRWR 60300   Graduate Writer’s Workshop (10 credits required)
• CRWR 60500   Form and Theory (15 credits required)
• CRWR 69900   Thesis (8 credits required)
• CRWR 60400   Thesis Writer’s Workshop (3 credits)

Minimum Graduation Credit Hour Requirement: 36

Palm Desert Low-Residency MFA

Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts

UCRPDLRMFA @ LATFOB

It's the best time of the year...

...LATFOB! Three days of the best book events Southern California has to offer...and we'll be all over it. 

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicks of on Friday, April 19th with their annual Book Prizes where we'll be in the audience with our fingers crossed for Professor Ivy Pochoda, whose novel "Sing Her Down" is a finalist  for the Mystery Prize .  Saturday and Sunday are filled with panels, talks, and signings. As usual, we'll be in booth 134 with candy, water, shade, and program info. Anyone who can sit for a bit to relieve Kathryn, we could use you! 

Here's a full run-down, by participant: 

Alex Espinoza (Faculty) Gender Bending: Sexuality, Metamorphosis, and Identity in Fiction - Tickets Required Seeley G. Mudd 124 Saturday, Apr 20 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Event Description A queer, early-Internet twist on the Manhattan prep school novel; a hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction; and a raw and vulnerable work of brutalist magical autofiction: these stories use humor, wit, and contemporary characters to recreate some of fiction’s oldest storytelling devices. Effortlessly combining struggle and angst with comedy and joy, the authors of these novels have breathed new life into old tropes and given us completely original characters we won’t be able to stop thinking about.

David Ulin (Faculty) Writing in Public - Tickets Required Seeley G. Mudd 123 Saturday, Apr 20 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Event Description Join us for a cross-genre investigation into artists and art-making with two writers at the top of their game. Maggie Nelson’s chronological essays show the writing, thinking, reading, and conversing that occupied her while writing her most well-known books. Likewise, Hari Kunzru’s novel moves back and forth through time, delivering an extraordinary portrait of an artist as he reunites with his past and confronts the world he once loved and left behind.

Sunday, 12pm Signing at MWA Booth #363

City of Fallen Angels: L.A. Noir - Tickets Required Hoffman Hall, Edison Auditorium Sunday, Apr 21 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Event Description A string of mysterious deaths on Catalina Island; a psychological entanglement with a neighbor in Hollywood; two women sucked into a deadly cat-and-mouse chase; a corrupt PR firm protecting the wealthy and depraved: what do they all have in common? The main character: Los Angeles, the reigning queen of noir fiction.

Elizabeth Crane (Faculty) Fiction: Women (and Men) on the Edge - Tickets Required Seeley G. Mudd 123 Saturday, Apr 20 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Event Description One of the wisest characters in these books about the female experience says it best: “Being a woman is a dangerous business.” These gripping, unforgettable stories highlight women (and occasionally men) on the edge: the edge of aging, illness, career path, war, mystery, sanity, and salvation. No matter where you are in life, these stories will touch anyone who has ever felt like a new chapter is about to begin.

Emily Rapp Black (Faculty) Writing on Grief: The Price We Pay for Love - Tickets Required Seeley G. Mudd 123 Sunday, Apr 21 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Event Description Everyone will experience some type of grief in life, but no two people will experience grief the same way. This is why it’s crucial to have writers exploring the topic from all angles–grieving death, identity, love, friendship, purpose, politics, and countless other areas of life. No matter the source of your grief or which part of the process you find yourself in, these stories are sure to offer comfort, insight, inspiration, or catharsis.

Heather Scott Partington (Alum) Fiction: You Know What They Say About Happy Families - Tickets Required Taper Hall 201 Saturday, Apr 20 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Event Description What is that saying about “all happy families?” Spanning different countries, generations, births, deaths, addictions, betrayals, illnesses, triumphs, and everything in between, these four stories honor the wide spectrum of complexities across different families while also suggesting that, no matter the circumstances, most families are probably more alike than they realize.

Ivy Pochoda (Faculty) Sunday, 12pm Signing at MWA Booth #363

Jesenia Chavez (Student) Signing Alegria Bookshop (booth #28) Saturday 4/20 12:00-1:00pm Sunday 4/21    3:00-4:00pm

Mag Gabbert (Alum) reading from 'SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS' Poetry Stage Saturday, Apr 20 4:20 PM - 4:40 PM Event Description Mag Gabbert is the author of the full-length poetry collection SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS (Mad Creek Books, 2023), which was selected by Kathy Fagan as the winner of the 2021 Charles B. Wheeler Prize in Poetry; the chapbook The Breakup, which was selected by Kaveh Akbar as the winner of the 2022 Baltic Writing Residencies Chapbook Award; and the chapbook Minml Poems (Cooper Dillon Books, 2020). Mag’s awards include a Pushcart Prize and a 92NY Discovery Award. She lives in Dallas, Texas and teaches at Southern Methodist University.

Natashia Deon (Alum) Hell Hath No Fury: Powerful Women in Crime Fiction - Tickets Required Seeley G. Mudd 123 Saturday, Apr 20 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Event Description Women have long been the primary consumers of true crime stories, so it was only inevitable for female voices to take center stage in contemporary crime fiction. These female authors and their protagonists take complete control of their narratives, whether they’re reckoning with true crime podcast culture, the legacies of infamous serial killers, the weight of mental health stigmas, or the unbearable sacrifices that often come with speaking up.

Tod Goldberg (Faculty) Welcome to the Underworld: Crime, Gangsters, and Hitmen - Tickets Required Seeley G. Mudd 124 Saturday, Apr 20 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Event Description Welcome to the crime underworld, where gangsters, hitmen, and vigilantes await. These stories showcase humanity at its darkest – the violent, brutal, unforgiving edges of our society – and also at its brightest – the brave, stubborn, unforgettable detectives and heroes willing to stare that darkness straight in its face.

1:00-2pm: Signing books in Booth 363 – Mystery Writers of America