Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide
Antioch University Los Angeles
MFA in Creative Writing
400 Corporate Pointe
Culver City, CA 90230
Website: http://www.antiochla.edu/mfa
Program director: Steve Heller, M.F.A., Ed.D.
Program contact: Steve Heller, Chair
Phone: 310.578.1080 X312
Email: steve_heller@antiochla.edu
Degrees, Certificates offered: MFA in Creative Writing, Post-MFA Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing, Certificate in Publishing Arts
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Type of program: Low-Residency
Length of program: MFA: 4 semesters (five with dual concentration), Post-MFA Certificate: 1-2 semesters
Certificate in Publishing Arts: 2 semesters
Enrollment: 100
Total credits required: 48 semester units
Application deadlines: February 15 (for June), August 15 (for December)
Scholarships available: Yes (Eloise Klein Healy Scholarships, Antioch Opportunity Grants, others)
Core faculty: Steve Heller, Jenny Factor, Emily Rapp
Associate Faculty: Jim Daniels, Sharman Apt Russell, Marcos Villatoro, Leonard Chang, Rob Roberge, Dodie Bellamy, Cheryl Strayed, Frank Gaspar, Bernadette Murphy, Terry Wolverton, Richard Garcia, Carol Potter, Alma Luz Villanueva, Gayle Brandeis, Alistair McCartney, Kate Gale (Publishing Arts), Amy Sage Webb (Pedagogy)
Assistantships: No
Publishing/editing courses: Yes, including a Certificate in Publishing Arts
Literary magazine: Yes, Lunch Ticket, new online journal under development
Reading series: Yes, as part of the twice-a-year MFA Residencies
Recent visiting writers: Dorothy Allison, Mark Doty, Terrance Hayes, Dale Maharidge, Ron Carlson, Salvador Plascencia
Program description: Antioch University Los Angeles’ MFA in Creative Writing Program was founded in 1997 as the nation’s first low-residency creative writing program on the West Coast. At two 10-day residencies each year, students gather at the site of world’s only MFA program specifically devoted to literature and the pursuit of social justice. Rather than focusing exclusively on the completion of a single book-length Final Manuscript, the MFA Program educates students in the various roles of the writer in society, how to make a difference on the page and in the diverse communities where writers work and live. MFA faculty and students live in all parts of the USA and abroad.
Antioch University Los Angeles has distinguished itself from other programs through our award-winning faculty in Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Nonfiction, and through innovative features such as the Field Study, the Translation Seminar and Conference, the MFA Alumni Weekend Residency, and the Certificate in Publishing Arts. A dozen years after our beginning, Antioch is also remarkable for our successful, publishing alumni.
For writers who also wish to teach, Antioch L.A. offers a Post-MFA Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing featuring a supervised teaching placement in the student’s home community. Students seeking careers or professional development in the field of publishing or arts administration may pursue the Certificate in Publishing Arts, which includes the option of professional internships or student-designed publishing arts projects. MFA and Publishing Arts students are currently helping design and develop Lunch Ticket, the MFA Program’s new student-and-alumni-edited online literary journal.