Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide

Stony Brook Southampton

MFA in Writing and Literature

239 Montauk Highway

Southampton, NY  11968

Website: www.stonybrook.edu/mfa/

Program director: Robert Reeves

Program contact: Carla Caglioti

Phone: (631) 632-5030

Email: Carla.caglioti@stonybrook.edu

Degrees offered: MFA

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Scriptwriting. Students are encouraged to experience different genres throughout program.

Type of program: Residency with alternate site options.

Total credits required: 42 (33 credits of course work along with a nine credit thesis)

Application deadlines: Rolling

Scholarships available: Partial scholarships for summer conferences

Core faculty: Robert Reeves (Director), Roger Rosenblatt, Lou Ann Walker, Julie Sheehan, Annette Handley Chandler, Jules Feiffer, Frank McCourt, Billy Collins, Matt Klam, Melissa Bank, Meg Wolitzer, Ursula Hegi

Assistantships: yes

Publishing/editing courses: yes

Literary magazine: yes, The Southampton Review

Reading series: yes

Recent visiting writers: Derek Walcott, Amy Hempel, Carol Muske-Dukes

Program description: The Stony Brook Southampton MFA program in Writing and Literature welcomes aspiring writers who seek instruction and guidance that is friendly, rigorous, professionally useful, and intellectually challenging.

Our graduate students work and publish in many genres, including short and long fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essay, playwriting, screenwriting, and memoir. We encourage students to write outside their genres in the belief that this practice informs their primary area of interest. All the courses offered at Stony Brook Southampton, both in writing and literature, are taught by practicing writers who are familiar with the writing world and who care about encouraging new voices.

Stony Brook Southampton is part of Stony Brook University, widely regarded as one of America’s distinguished institutions of higher learning. Our campus is located on the East End of Long Island, a beautiful resort and residential community with attractive beaches, a rich cultural legacy, and easy access to Manhattan. Our students display a range of interests and experience; they include recent college graduates, post-career professionals, working journalists, secondary school teachers, editors, and professors seeking to make a transition from scholarly to creative writing. Our faculty members are known not only for their writing, but also for their careful attention to the work of our students.