Program description: Mississippi University for Women’s Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing aims to be flexible, professional, personal, and affordable. Students take online classes, including Graduate Writing Workshops in Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Playwriting, Translation, and Writing for New Media, as well as Literature and Forms classes. With internships and two types of residencies, the program offers small classes, flexible full-time and part-time scheduling, professional development, and low in-state tuition with waivers of non-resident fees for all students in the program. Mississippi University for Women is an equal opportunity, co-educational institution with a diverse student body, located in historic Columbus, Mississippi.

Short Residency classes are 1-hour courses in experiential, hands-on subjects, structured like a short master class, focusing on topics such as theatre, music, history, culinary arts, or the environment. They will last approximately one week and may be scheduled to coincide with campus events, such as the annual Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium. Two short residencies are required.

Full Residencies are 2-hour classes scheduled in late May to early June each year. They include intense mixed-genre workshops and seminars on the profession of creative writing, such as publishing, pedagogy, and performance. Readings and community building will also be part of the full residency experience. Two full residencies are required.

Other requirements include 4 workshop classes, 4 literature or forms classes, and 4 electives, which may include 6 hours of internship and 3 additional hours of residencies. The 6-hour thesis will be a book-length work and may include more than one genre.