The College of Saint Rose :: Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide

The College of Saint Rose

MFA in Creative Writing

432 Western Avenue

Albany, NY 12208

Website: www.strose.edu/mfa

Program director: Daniel Nester

Program contact: Daniel Nester

Phone: (518) 454-2812

Email: nesterd@strose.edu

Degrees offered: M.F.A.

Genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry

Type of program: full residency

Length of program: 3 years

Enrollment: Up to 20 total enrolled students

Total credits required: 48 credits

Application deadlines: rolling

Scholarships available: yes (see website)

Core faculty: Daniel Nester, Barbara Louise Unger, Hollis Seamon, Rone Shavers, Kenneth Krauss

Visiting faculty: To be announced soon

Assistantships: yes (see website)

Publishing/editing courses: no

Literary magazine: yes

Reading series: yes, Frequency North

Recent visiting writers: Aaron Belz, Dana Spiotta, Alexander Chee, David Rees, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Patricia Smith

Program description: The College of Saint Rose Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program offered by the English Department provides serious writers with the opportunity to develop their craft within a supportive and challenging academic community of creative writers and literary scholars. This full-residency program allows students to work rigorously within their chosen genres—fiction, nonfiction and poetry—in workshops, and to complete a full-length creative work as a thesis. A small intimate program setting allows for easy access and strong mentoring by accomplished faculty members who are deeply committed to their students. In addition to our full-time faculty, the presence of a Visiting Writer each semester provides students with an opportunity to study with a variety of writers.

In the 48-credit MFA in Creative Writing, the focal point of the curriculum is the writing workshop. Students will have opportunities to work on poetry, fiction, playwriting, creative non-fiction and cross-genre projects. They will explore a wide range of literary styles, from traditional through avant-garde. In literature and theory classes, students will examine literary and theoretical texts as they deepen and broaden their academic writing, adding a strong component of literary and theoretical analysis to their range of knowledge and skills.

The required Practicum provides real-world opportunities for students to engage in editorial work on a literary journal, help in the organization of readings on campus and in the larger community, and participate in a range of writing-related activities designed to further their interests and enhance their career potential.