NewPages Guide to
Creative Writing Programs

A low-residency program incorporating online workshops, one-on-one work with faculty members, and a residency spent in Edinburgh, Scotland. Students each produce a complete manuscript for their thesis, as well as a plan to publish it.

Our program is a flexible, innovative, two-year program that encourages cross-genre study through graduate workshops and culminates in a creative project. Our graduate assistantships provide valuable teaching experience and training. Our graduates go on to highly regarded MFA and PhD programs and careers in marketing, publishing, editing, and freelance writing. We’ve also had students publish collections with presses such as Dancing Girl and Ravenna and in journals such as AGNI, Callaloo, CALYX, and Mid-American Review. Faculty expertise includes: creative writing pedagogy, flash fiction, memoir and essays, screenwriting, eco-poetry, hybrid forms, mixed media and digital media, and literary editing and publishing.

A writer’s community without the commute. Bluegrass Writers Studio is the only low-res MFA in Creative Writing with live, online workshops. Students study fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and cross-genre; work with award-winning faculty, agents, and editors; edit the print journal, Jelly Bucket, and attend summer residencies in Lisbon, Portugal or Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region.

The MFA is a 36-hour studio MFA that includes ten three-credit courses and six hours of formal thesis work with an advisor. We offer programs in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as electives in screenwriting, young adult fiction, poetic form, literary editing and publishing, and teaching creative writing. We offer top-flight, full-time faculty, nationally recognized visiting faculty, and one of the finest visiting writers series in the country. We operate a MFA-run literary magazine and other publishing enterprises, and also offer teaching and service opportunities through an array of programs.

CCA MFA students explore across genre and are nourished by the unique creative environment of our esteemed, socially conscious, 100+ year-old art school community. Apply to join our successful community of alumni and vibrant writing community. Leslie Scalapino Award, financial aid, and teaching assistantships available.

Our innovative Interdisciplinary Arts & Writing MFA is a 39-unit, two-year program, conducted in a unique hybrid format that includes on-campus, online learning, and optional summer intensives in Greece and the UK. Writers and artists working in wide-ranging genres and forms are in conversation with one another, while also engaging across disciplines--in classes, workshops, and arts events—in a culture of inquiry that helps them to further develop and better articulate their work.

Columbia College Chicago offers graduate study in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with internationally renowned faculty and distinguished writers-in-residence, along with teaching instructorships, editorial opportunities, a diverse reading series, a thriving literary community, and small classes.

The MFA Writing Program, offering concentrations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and a joint course of study in literary translation, is highly regarded for its illustrious alumni, artistic diversity, and outstanding faculty of acclaimed writers and editors. The rigorous approach to literary instruction requires 60 credits over two or more years of study. Extracurricular programming includes the Creative Writing Lecture Series, Nonfiction Dialogues, a poetry reading series, a literary translation series, student reading series, teaching opportunities through Columbia Artists/Teachers, Incarcerated Writers Initiative, and Veterans Workshop, Our Word, a student group devoted to artists of color, and events to introduce students to editors and agents.

The MFA in Creative Writing is a two-year co-educational low residency program designed for serious, independent writers seeking advanced instruction in poetry, fiction, young adult fiction, and creative nonfiction through a non-traditional course of graduate study. The program’s emphasis on the mastery and understanding of writing skills and contemporary literature and craft, through the master-writer and apprentice mentoring relationship, offers students a stimulating and individually tailored curriculum of courses and projects.

This unique program combines intensive, craft-focused creative writing workshops with elective courses and internships in publishing, pedagogy, literature, and language. The flexible curriculum encourages students to explore more than one genre, and our course offerings include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, and multi-genre workshops.

The MA Program in Creative Writing at EMU promotes innovation, experimentation, and collaboration across artistic fields and cultural practices. Distinguished as one of the only interdisciplinary programs for creative writing in the country, we provide a rich space for exploring the relationships between poetry and poetics, experimental prose, cultural translation, community service, pedagogy, and contemporary arts.

Innovative, intense, intimate. The new low residency MFA in Creative Writing combines the rigor and energy of small, focused workshops (5-7 students working with faculty mentors) in the heart of Northeast Oregon’s Grande Ronde Valley. If you value the real West over the resort town West, then join us in the low residency MFA program at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande.

The MFA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University provides students the opportunity to work closely with award-winning, acclaimed faculty writers in small classes (usually 4-6 students) that provide rigorous and individualized attention. At residencies, faculty and students dine together, attend readings and lectures, and socialize. Our curriculum supports every writer's unique creative exploration, with a highly customized reading list and a guided study of craft.

The MFA at FAU is a three-year, fully-funded program in the heart of sunny South Florida. Students in the programs are encouraged to experiment, take risks, and explore the boundaries between genres. In addition to classes in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, students take courses in translation, book arts, creative writing pedagogy, and more from our award-winning faculty. Other opportunities include: teaching creative writing in the community, for-credit internships, summer travel and research money, working on our two literary journals, mentoring undergraduate creative writing students, and working with a wide variety of visiting writers. GTA positions are available.

The MFA in creative writing features an exciting curriculum in literature classes and creative writing workshops, as well as genre related courses in craft. Our program also offers graduate teaching fellowships and partial scholarships to our full and part-time students. Mentoring is an important aspect of our program, and students have the opportunity to work closely with faculty not only on their writing, but through our teaching fellowship program, which pairs students with faculty mentors. Our campus is located just 25 miles east of NYC, one of the most culturally enriched resources for anyone interested in the arts.

Our intensive two-year studio/hybrid MFA program helps you find your way in an atmosphere of cooperation and encouragement. We support college graduates who want to concentrate on craft and on reading the way writers do. The 24 students in this highly regarded program work successfully in poetry, short fiction, novels, and creative nonfiction—and between genres, too. We’re known for our strong sense of community and our lively co-curricular program. Our faculty take time to work with students. Hollins alums have a remarkably high record of publication: this is a program for people who really want to write.

Ranked #4 among low-residency MFA Programs by Poets & Writers, and the only such program located in a major U.S. literary city, Lesley offers five concentrations: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Writing for Stage and Screen, Graphic Novels and Comics, and Writing for Young People. Our graduates have published books, been featured in prestigious journals, won major literary prizes and fellowships, had theatrical productions, and found teaching positions in numerous schools and colleges. The faculty are celebrated writers and passionate teachers. The program's Interdisciplinary Studies component nourishes students’ writing and aspirations to be working writers.

Our unique, non-tracking curriculum allows students to work in a variety of genres, to experiment with cross-genre writing, or to focus on a single genre with gifted teachers and mentors who are also award-winning authors. Manhattanville's campus provides a lush, quiet home and literary community to writers just 30 minutes from New York City. The program can be completed part-time, and evening and weekend courses are offered.

Part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s vibrant literary community, Mills College offers innovative MFA programs in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Our graduate creative writing and literature programs tap into the Bay Area’s energy and are distinguished by their long-established reputations; innovation; outstanding faculty; intimate community of writers, scholars, and alumnae; and commitment to a vision of the literary arts as socially transformative. Our graduate creative writing and literature programs enhance your creativity and give you the tools to engage the world around you.

Mississippi University for Women’s Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing aims to be flexible, personal, professional, 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.

The MFA in Creative Writing at Mount Saint Mary's University is an artist-training program for students who want to write professionally across multiple genres. Class sessions meet every other weekend at the Doheny Campus in Downtown Los Angeles, making it ideal for busy working professionals. The program offers bilingual Spanish/English courses and integrates the humanities into the course of study, reflecting a commitment to intellectual rigor and liberal arts as the cornerstone of human understanding. Faculty also place a premium on helping students into their professional careers through continued mentoring and preparing them for the publication market.

The part-time MA/MFA in Creative Writing program offers flexible scheduling (all courses are in the evening) and flexible progress toward completion of the degree. Pursue your writing goals while in balance with your personal and professional life. Develop your writing at your own pace through peer workshops, courses in literature, elective courses in reading as a writer, a practicum in how to teach creative writing, and editorial work on TriQuarterly, the university's renowned literary journal (triquarterly.org) and in publishing internships. This program combines the virtues of both residency and low-residency programs, allowing students to keep their full-time jobs and have year-round access to faculty. Classes are offered in Evanston and in downtown Chicago.

This new and distinctive program offers intimate classes; the opportunity to pursue both creative and critical writing; close mentorship by renowned faculty in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction; and three fully supported years in which to grow as writers and complete a book-length creative project. Our curriculum gives students time to deepen both their creative writing and their study of literature. Students will receive full financial support for three academic years and two summers. Both degrees—the MFA in Creative Writing and the MA in English—are awarded simultaneously at graduation.

St. Francis College is proud to offer the ONLY low-residency creative writing graduate program in NYC! Our location means we bring the publishing industry to our students, running daily roundtables and panel discussions with top agents, editors, and publishers (previous speakers included Barnes & Noble, Buzzfeed Books, Amazon Books, and more). Our 6-to-1 student to faculty ratio offers an intimate, focused environment for aspiring writers to flourish in our downtown Brooklyn community. Unlike traditional MFA programs that demand a full-time commitment, our low-residency model represents the working life of the overwhelming majority of writers. Come join our loyal community! #WriteforChange

Saint Leo University’s Master of Arts in Creative Writing gives aspiring fiction writers, essayists, memoirists, and poets the tools to begin a new phase of their creative life as a professional writer. Designed to be completed in just two calendar years, the 36-hour master’s degree is a low-residency program that requires three summer residencies, four semesters of study, and a book-length thesis of the student’s creative work. We offer tracks of study in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, and we are the only graduate creative writing program to offer an optional track of study in war literature and writing by and for veterans.

Seton Hill’s unique online-supported residency program teaches writers to create, market, and teach the fiction that sells. It is designed for those authors who wish to write within the popular fiction genres such as romance, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery. Seton Hill’s program features a flexible online/residency format that allows students to earn a master of fine arts degree while working full-time, one-on-one mentoring by established writers, professors who are active and successful authors, a supportive writing community that continues after graduation, and the ability to write a full-length novel while earning a degree.

Southeast's Masters in Professional Writing helps students to explore different types of professional writing, to further develop their writing skills, and to perfect their critical abilities, including the determination of effective styles and presentations for texts. Professional Writing includes composition, technical writing, new media, editing, and creative writing. The option allows students to learn in depth about writing theories, rhetorical theory, creative writing and its strategies, and technical production of text in print and online. Entering students should be computer-literate and able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Spalding University’s affordable, nationally distinguished MFA program is committed to excellence in a noncompetitive, supportive atmosphere. Students engage with the downtown arts scene, stay in a four-star hotel, and study on our green campus with prize-winning faculty while gaining editorial experience with The Louisville Review and developing a close-knit literary community and lifelong writing habits. We offer flexibility: residencies in May, July, and November; two semester lengths for a choice of pace of study; and option to study two genres while graduating on time. Residencies include genre-specific workshops and lectures, cross-genre exploration, and interrelatedness of the arts. Optional summer residencies offer travel abroad. Independent study focuses exclusively on one-on-one mentor-student work, a primary strength of low residency. Students write prolifically and receive extensive feedback. Selective admissions.

Our MA and PhD programs in English with emphasis in creative writing offer students with exceptional ability and potential the chance to concentrate on their art and the rigorous academic study of literature. This powerful combination opens doors for many academic opportunities not available to typical MFA graduates.

Situated in historic Lexington and surrounded by the awesomeness of thoroughbred horse farms and bourbon distilleries, the University enjoys a rich literary heritage dating back to 1947, when Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist A.B. Guthrie first offered courses in fiction. Graduates of the English Department include Bobbie Ann Mason, Rebecca Gayle Howell, Wendell Berry, Kayla Rae Whitaker, Patrick O’Keefe, Holly Goddard Jones, and James Baker Hall. The MFA Program in Creative Writing builds upon that rich history by offering students access to a diverse faculty in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. We additionally offer eight fully-funded teaching assistantships annually and are the proud of home of the New Limestone Review and the UK MFA Creative Writing Residency at the Mill House.

The University of Nebraska Omaha MFA in Writing program is composed of four 16-week at-home semesters and five 10-day conference-style residencies at the inspiring Lied Lodge & Conference Center. Our faculty mentors are chosen not only on the basis of their literary and teaching accomplishments, but also because their approaches to teaching and the craft of writing coincide with our emphasis on mentorship. We offer three Pathways to your MFA, including the traditional low-residency model, credit transfers, and the option to enroll in a variety of online or on-campus courses as part of your MFA.

The Department of English at UNB offers six graduate programs, including a PhD and MA in English with a focus on creative writing. Full-time students in all programs are eligible to be considered for funding from the UNB Faculty of Arts, which distributes funding on a competitive basis to the faculty's graduate students, and for funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Our MFA program is an intensive, three-year studio-academic experience in the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. It joins students who share a common passion and faculty members who provide critical support of their work. The faculty of the Department of Creative Writing view MFA students as colleagues-in-the-making, and consider it a privilege to teach here. Our invitation to successful candidates to join us should be regarded as an equal privilege. We do all we can to encourage a supportive community and to mentor our students toward successful lives as writers.

The MA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing offers students an opportunity to develop their writing in a variety of genres (including screenwriting) and to work with the writers sponsored by the Stokes Center for Creative Writing. The Stokes Center enhances the English department’s offerings in creative writing by sponsoring readings, lectures, forums, community projects, and other events that are free and open to the public. It also supports students through its undergraduate and graduate awards in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. A number of competitive scholarships are available to augment the assistantships and tuition waivers such as summer creative writing awards for work on individual projects. For students who enroll full time, the MA in English can be completed in four semesters. Students also have the option of enrolling part time and/or completing the degree through evening coursework. Come develop your craft in a diverse and vibrant city near world-class beaches.

The MFA at Vanderbilt is a two-year program requiring four semesters of graduate work in writing workshops and seminars. Students enroll in a workshop and two seminars during each of their first three semesters. Then during the final semester, they work intensively on a creative thesis. The thesis is a substantial piece of creative writing: a novel, a collection of short stories or creative nonfiction, or a collection of poems.

Vermont College of Fine Arts is home to three MFA programs in writing: the Master of Fine Arts in Writing, Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children & Young Adults, and Master of Fine Arts in Writing & Publishing. These programs are designed for students with a serious interest in deepening their craft and developing professional skills in writing. VCFA’s internationally acclaimed writing faculty are also committed and passionate teachers and mentors.

Write in the heart of Appalachia. Students in Wesleyan’s two-year low-residency program join an extraordinarily warm community every summer and winter residency for ten days before launching into a semester of student-centered apprenticeship in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Program highlights: uncommonly affordable; 1 to 4 faculty-student ratio; option of spending one residency in Ireland; secondary-genre concentration available; postgraduate teaching fellowship awarded to one alum each year; opportunity to explore place and identity in writing.