Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a two-year low-residency program of study leading to the Master of Fine Arts degree, with a genre of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, or writing for stage and screen, and concentrations in publishing/editing, spiritual writing, social justice, and literary health and healing. Students attend two annual nine-day residencies. Each residency is followed by a five-month independent course of study during spring and fall semesters with a single faculty mentor. A total of 60 credits are needed for graduation, including four residencies, four independent study semesters in the craft of the student's choice, a critical thesis, a creative thesis, and a final public presentation and reading by the student.

Requirements

ENGL 5441Fiction 16
or ENGL 5442 Non-Fiction
or ENGL 5443 Poetry
or ENGL 5444 Stage and Screen
ENGL 5991Independent Study: Fiction 11-9
or ENGL 5992 Independent Study: Non-Fiction
or ENGL 5993 Independent Study: Poetry
or ENGL 5994 Independent Study: Stage and Screen
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 Each course is repeated for four or five semesters.

Learning Goals

The MFA program’s broad learning goals are twofold, achieved through the accumulation of objectives derived from four residencies and four mentorships:

  • To develop a writer’s quality of work and the development of their craft in a chosen genre
  • To deepen and enhance a writer’s critical language and critical reading ability

Learning Objectives

The program has distinct learning objectives as for the two distinct learning environments of the residency setting and the mentorship semesters; each student completes four of both and moves from introductory, to proficient, to mastering the following:

Residency:

  • Increase student facility to provide incisive criticism in genre to peers, both through written and oral feedback
  • Increase student development of craft knowledge through the attendance of faculty-led seminars
  • Gain a broad understanding of professional standards and practices through the attendance of readings and presentations
  • Utilize the analysis of master literary texts to develop craft language and literacy
  • Practice professional activities:  give readings, provide introductions, give craft talks.

Mentorship:

  • Develop an increasingly sophisticated critical language about craft
  • Apply craft literacy to the composition and revision of original work in primary genre
  • Develop a sustained revision practice that reflects a sophisticated understanding of how to improve the elements of the primary genre
  • Read widely in the chosen genre as well as secondary genres that will assist in deepening awareness of craft