Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide
Northwestern University
School of Continuing Studies
339 E. Chicago Avenue, 6th Floor
Chicago, IL 60611
Website: http://www.scs.northwestern.edu/program-areas/graduate/creative-writing/
Program director: Sandi Wisenberg & Reginald Gibbons (Co-directors)
Phone: (312) 503-6950
Email: scs@northwestern.edu
Degrees offered: Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing; Master of Arts Creative Writing
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Type of program: Residency
Length of program: Varies
Enrollment: Quarterly
Total credits required: 18 (MFA) and 10 (MA)
Application deadlines: October 15; January 15; April 15; July 15
Scholarships available: No, but last four courses in MFA program are sponsored by the School of Continuing Studies
Core faculty: Eula Biss, John Keene, Stuart Dybek, Alex Kotlowitz , Alice George, Michael McColly, Reginald Gibbons, Naeem Murr, Steve Amick, Hannah Pittard, John Bresland, Ed Roberson, Sheila Donohue, Donna Seaman, Golda Goldbloom, Shauna Seliy, Susan Harris, Peggy Shinner, Aleksandar Hemon, Christine Sneed, Cristina Henríquez, Patrick Somerville, Marya Hornbacher, S.L. Wisenberg
Assistantships: Yes
Publishing/editing courses: Yes
Literary magazine: Yes, TriQuarterly
Reading series: Yes, biannual
Program description: Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies’ part-time evening classes offer scheduling flexibility to pursue your writing goals while balancing your professional and personal life. Core writing competency developed through peer workshops, reading and discussing other authors’ works, literature courses, electives, a teaching practicum, and publishing internships.
Students learn to read like writers, and faculty members lead them in exploring a range of aesthetic approaches. In workshops, faculty facilitate discussions that help student writers examine and address strengths and weaknesses in their writing. In the thesis quarters, students work one-on-one with faculty to explore deeper possibilities of their work, improve structure and style, and shape the thesis manuscript.
The program includes numerous opportunities for study beyond the classroom. Students may gain experience in publishing by serving as staff of TriQuarterly Online, the program’s own international literary journal, or by interning with outside organizations. Through a teaching seminar and related internships, students may also prepare for teaching careers. Students connect with other writers at readings and related events in an artistic community of faculty and peers that extends beyond the University.