Creative Writing Programs
MFA Creative Writing Programs :: Includes PhD, MA
New & Featured Sponsored Listings:
Arcadia
University
MFA in Creative Writing (low-res)
A low-residency program incorporating online workshops, one-on-one work with faculty members, and a residency spent abroad. Each student produces a manuscript length thesis as well as a plan to publish it.
Hollins University
Jackson Center for Creative Writing
MFA in Creative Writing
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.
Murray State University
MFA in Creative Writing
In the beautiful lakes region of Western Kentucky, something extraordinary is happening. Masters in their craft—some of the most widely respected novelists, poets and essayists working today—are guiding a group of talented and diverse writers in Murray State University's high quality, low-residency, and very affordable MFA program. (Low-Residency)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
MFA in Creative Writing
The MFA degree at UIUC provides students with graduate study and professional training in the writing of fiction and poetry with our distinguished graduate faculty: Philip Graham, LeAnne Howe, Janice N. Harrington, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Michael Madonick, Audrey Petty, and Alex Shakar. The degree’s primary goal is to give writers time and space to work on perfecting their art. Upon graduation, students will have the skills necessary to teach writing and will produce a book-length, publishable manuscript. Students will also have the opportunity to gain experience in literary editing and publishing while working on Ninth Letter.
University
of South Carolina
MFA in Creative Writing
The University of South Carolina MFA blends the camaraderie of a small program with the resources of a large English department. Students work closely with well-published and supportive faculty and interact frequently with both internationally acclaimed and emerging visiting writers. All admitted students are funded across their three years here. (All second- and third-year students are fully funded and all first-year students are fully or substantially funded.) Intensive yet collegial workshops comprise the program's center, while students also receive world-class training in literary study with optional opportunities in pedagogy, editing, and outreach in a vibrant, inexpensive, and relaxed college city.
Washington University St. Louis
MFA in Creative Writing
The MFA Program at Washington University in St. Louis is a two-year program where 20 to 25 students are working toward MFA degrees in fiction or poetry. Each year our reading series brings a diverse group of poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers to the department. In addition, the Hurst Professor program brings in four distinguished visitors each year to present their newest work, lecture on the craft of writing, and work one-on-one with our MFA students. Students teach creative writing courses in their second year. All students are fully and equally funded.
Complete Sponsored Listings
Antioch University Los Angeles
MFA in Creative Writing Program (low-res)
Antioch L.A. offers the world’s only MFA in Creative Writing program specifically devoted not only to the education of literary artists but to the many roles of the writer in society, including community service and the pursuit of social justice. Certificates in Publishing Arts and Teaching are also available.
Arcadia
University
MFA in Creative Writing (low-res)
A low-residency program incorporating online workshops, one-on-one work with faculty members, and a residency spent abroad. Each student produces a manuscript length thesis as well as a plan to publish it.
Ashland University
MFA in Creative Writing
Ashland University offers the only two-genre low-residency program in the country, with a cross-genre option and degree tracks in poetry and creative nonfiction. The program is characterized both by an insistence on high aesthetic standards for the creation of new literature and by an emphasis on a supportive community of writers. (Low-Residency)
Bluegrass Writers Studio
MFA in Creative Writing (low-res)
EKU offers a vibrant and uncommonly affordable brief-residency MFA program with opportunities to attend residencies in either (or both) downtown Lexington, Kentucky and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The rest of the program takes place via online courses which students complete within the context of their everyday lives.
Brooklyn College
MFA in Creative Writing
Based in Brooklyn, the heart of today’s literary scene, the Brooklyn College MFA program offers workshops, literature seminars, small-group reading tutorials, and one-on-one tutorials, which all emphasize relationships between eminent faculty and students. Students also benefit from The Brooklyn Review, frequent public readings/performances, annual Espy residencies, fellowships, and teaching opportunities.
Butler
University
MFA in Creative Writing
Offering a celebrated visiting writers series and superlative core faculty, Butler University is creating a new home for writing in the Midwest. Students in our MFA community (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction) enjoy personalized curricula, innovative courses, extraordinary writers-in-residence, and enriching training opportunities. Scholarships and other awards available.
California
Institute of Integral Studies
MFA in Writing & Consciousness
MFA in Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary Arts
The writers in these full-time weekend residency MFA program encourage each other to create powerful, interdisciplinary work that changes lives. We do not believe literary artists exist in a vacuum separate from culture; rather, we hold the view that art provides a profound method for engaging self and culture and can transform the individual and world.
Chatham University
MFA in Creative Writing
Chatham University's ground breaking MFA focusing on nature, environment and travel writing is the premier graduate program for nurturing creative writers interested in the environmental imagination and place-based writing.
The
College of Saint Rose
MFA in Creative Writing
This new full-residency, 48-credit program provides serious writers with the opportunity to work within their chosen genres—fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry—in workshops with an accomplished full-time faculty of creative writers, literary scholars and a visiting writer each semester and to complete a full-length creative work as a thesis.
Columbia
College Chicago
MFA in Poetry
Columbia College offers a flexible two-year, poetry-only MFA program at an art school in the heart of downtown Chicago. Students take workshops, literature and craft seminars, hands-on courses in teaching and literary editing, two semesters of thesis coursework, and attend monthly coffee chats with visiting writers and publishers.
Converse
College
MFA in Creative Writing
The Converse College Low Residency MFA is a co-educational program designed for independent writers seeking instruction in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Our selective program features small workshops and individual mentoring with award-winning authors, individual consultations with visiting editors and agents, partial scholarships and editing opportunities on South 85 Journal.
Eastern
Oregon University
MFA in Creative Writing
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.
Eastern
Washington University
MFA in Creative Writing
The Inland Northwest Center for Writers Master of Fine Arts program is an intensive, two-year, pre-professional course of study with an emphasis on the practice of literature as a fine art. The program includes course work in the study of literature from the vantage point of its composition and history.
Hollins University
Jackson Center for Creative Writing
MFA in Creative Writing
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.
Lesley University
MFA Program in Creative Writing
A low-residency program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the literary capitals of the U.S. Students work with a distinguished faculty mentor to design their own concentrations in one of five genres. An exciting interdisciplinary component allows students to explore other genres, art forms, internships, and disciplines.
Mills
College
MFA in Creative Writing
Part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s vibrant literary community, Mills College offers innovative MFA programs that allow you to explore poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and book art—enhancing your creativity and extending the power of words to the world around you.
Minnesota State University Mankato
MFA in Creative Writing
The MFA program in creative writing meets the needs of students who want to strike a balance between the development of individual creative talent and the close study of literature and language. New students will discover the faculty eager to work with them and a community atmosphere extremely supportive of their writing.
Minnesota State University Moorhead
MFA in Creative Writing
A small program with maximum attention given to individual students; designed for either full-time or part-time enrollment. New Rivers Press is based on campus; it is one of only two university-based literary presses in the nation.
Murray State University
MFA in Creative Writing
In the beautiful lakes region of Western Kentucky, something extraordinary is happening. Masters in their craft—some of the most widely respected novelists, poets and essayists working today—are guiding a group of talented and diverse writers in Murray State University's high quality, low-residency, and very affordable MFA program. (Low-Residency)
National University
MFA in Creative Writing (online)
The National University MFA program is a completely online program with no residency requirement. Workshop classes are conducted in electronic classrooms with fellow writers from around the country and the world.
New
England College
MFA in Poetry (low-res)
In its 9th year, the New England College MFA Program in Poetry accepts students year-round with generous scholarship support. Outstanding faculty include: Carol Frost, Ilya Kaminsky, Paula McLain, Malena Morling, Brian Henry, Eleni Sikelianos and James Harms. Innovative concentrations in new media poetics, performance and translation, optional online January residency and Tygerburning Literary Journal.
Northwestern
University
School of Continuing Studies
MA/MFA in Creative Writing
The part-time Master of Arts/Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Northwestern University offers scheduling flexibility to pursue your writing goals while balancing your professional and personal life. Core writing competency is developed through peer workshops, reading and discussing other authors’ works, literature courses, electives, a teaching practicum, and publishing internships.
Oklahoma
City University
The Red Earth MFA in Creative Writing
The Red Earth MFA in Creative Writing: Write in the middle of it all. A new kind of low-residency program. Two years, five residencies. Creative and professional development.
Oklahoma
State University
MFA/PhD in Creative Writing
Founded in 1975, our creative writing program is an integral part of an English department committed to diversity in its offerings. The BA, MFA, and PhD programs in creative writing focus on the vital relationship between fictional and poetic coursework in both writing and literary study. Concentrations in poetry writing and fiction writing are available.
Old Dominion University
MFA in Creative Writing
Three genres of study: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Writer-in-Residence Program each semester. Writers-in-Community program offering students opportunities to assist with writing workshops in community centers, schools, and libraries. Annual four-day Literary Festival. Faculty honors include NEA Fellowships, Whitings, Guggenheims, #1 New York Times Bestseller, National Book Award Finalist and more.
Pine
Manor College Solstice Low-Residency
MFA in Creative Writing (low-res)
The Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College is co-educational, inclusive, and affordable. Our program is designed to help students reach their full potential as writers through a demanding curriculum that balances the workshop experience with the study of literary craft, criticism, and theory.
Saint
Mary's College of California
MFA in Creative Writing
Founded in 1995, the MFA Program in Creative Writing is a two-year course of study leading to the M.F.A. degree in creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry. The Program provides the time and formal training necessary for serious students to improve their writing. It embodies the finest qualities of Saint Mary’s College: an investment in the social justice and educating the whole person. We model community both in the classroom and in the arts community, attending to the powerful role of developing artists in a culture that is thirsty for the knowledge only arts can bring.
Spalding
University
MFA in Creative Writing
The Spalding MFA offers an intellectually stimulating and emotionally supportive experience; unparalleled flexibility and individually tailored graduate study; a diverse and close-knit community of writers. (Low-Residency)
Stony
Brook Southampton
MFA in Writing & Literature
Immerse yourself in your work while in the company of other serious writers at our seaside campus in the Hamptons. Enrollment in our workshops, led by distinguished authors, is capped at twelve. Unlike most MFA programs, ours does not track students into a single genre. We welcome full and part-time students, and offer a Manhattan Track to the MFA.
University
of Arkansas - Monticello
MFA in Creative Writing Program (online)
UAM's entirely online program offers workshops in creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. We offer our students a rigorous, yet flexible education with small classes and a quality education at an affordable price.
University
of California, Riverside-Palm Desert
MFA Program in Creative Writing &
Writing for the Performing
Arts (low-res)
The low residency MFA program at UCR-Palm Desert, the first of its kind in the University of California system, offers a full academic and professional immersion into the writing world. In addition to their creative work, students meet one-on-one with industry professionals to help guide them towards the next step of their careers.
University
of Central Oklahoma
MFA in Creative Writing
Students participate in two sequential workshop tracks allowing intensive, sustained experience in a primary and a secondary genre, chosen from among poetry, short story, novel, nonfiction, and screenwriting. The 36-hour program is usually completed in two years, concluding with the submission of a book-length thesis of publication quality.
University of Idaho
MFA Program in Creative Writing
Idaho’s three-year curriculum is ideal for those who demand rigorous instruction in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Our program—small by design—limits enrollment in graduate workshops to 10-15 students, which allows for an intimate and dynamic work environment, and full access to our award-winning faculty. Moscow, and its abundant wilderness opportunities, is an ideal place to focus on writing.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
MFA in Creative Writing
The MFA degree at UIUC provides students with graduate study and professional training in the writing of fiction and poetry with our distinguished graduate faculty: Philip Graham, LeAnne Howe, Janice N. Harrington, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Michael Madonick, Audrey Petty, and Alex Shakar. The degree’s primary goal is to give writers time and space to work on perfecting their art. Upon graduation, students will have the skills necessary to teach writing and will produce a book-length, publishable manuscript. Students will also have the opportunity to gain experience in literary editing and publishing while working on Ninth Letter.
University of Missouri-St. Louis
MFA in Creative Writing
We are small, flexible, and perfect for working adults as all our classes are in the evenings. We have a strong literary community of current students and alums who meet often and provide a network. All students can work on Natural Bridge, our international literary journal.
University of North Carolina-Greensboro
MFA Writing Program
We are one of the oldest MFA programs in the country. With an emphasis on studio time in which to study the writing of poetry or fiction, students also develop their talents through small classes in the arts. Workshops and individual conferences with faculty are the core of the curriculum.
University
of Notre Dame
MFA In Creative Writing
The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Notre Dame is a two-year degree program centered around workshops in poetry and fiction and offering literature courses, translation, a literary publishing course, and twelve credits of thesis preparation with an individual faculty advisor.
University
of South Carolina
MFA In Creative Writing
The University of South Carolina MFA blends the camaraderie of a small program with the resources of a large English department. Students work closely with well-published and supportive faculty and interact frequently with both internationally acclaimed and emerging visiting writers. All admitted students are funded across their three years here. (All second- and third-year students are fully funded and all first-year students are fully or substantially funded.) Intensive yet collegial workshops comprise the program's center, while students also receive world-class training in literary study with optional opportunities in pedagogy, editing, and outreach in a vibrant, inexpensive, and relaxed college city.
University
of Tampa
MFA in Creative Writing (low-res)
The University of Tampa low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program is designed to help poets, fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers advance their command of craft through exposure to literature from a writerly perspective and with supportive critique and mentoring.
University
of Wyoming
MFA in Creative Writing
The University of Wyoming's Creative Writing MFA program is an intensive two-year studio degree in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Special features include a flexible curriculum, cross-genre opportunities, opportunities for interdisciplinary study, and our Eminent Writers in Residence program, which brings distinguished authors to campus to work closely with our students. We have a deeply committed faculty, a lively visiting writers series, an incomparable natural setting, and full funding for students, including teaching assistantships with reasonable teaching loads, full tuition waivers, summer stipends, and support for travel and publication.
Vermont College of Fine Arts
MFA in Writing
MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults
One of the first and top low-residency MFA in Writing Programs in the U.S (cited by Atlantic Monthly and Poets & Writers); unique features include residencies in Slovenia and Puerto Rico, a nationally-recognized literary Journal (Hunger Mountain), a concentration in translation, dual-genre study, and postgraduate semesters and conference.
Washington University St. Louis
MFA in Creative Writing
The MFA Program at Washington University in St. Louis is a two-year program where 20 to 25 students are working toward MFA degrees in fiction or poetry. Each year our reading series brings a diverse group of poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers to the department. In addition, the Hurst Professor program brings in four distinguished visitors each year to present their newest work, lecture on the craft of writing, and work one-on-one with our MFA students. Students teach creative writing courses in their second year. All students are fully and equally funded.
Western Connecticut State University
MFA in Professional Writing (low-res)
The first and only MFA program designed to prepare writers for careers in the contemporary marketplace, not just for a genre. Our students master a creative and a practical genre such as magazine writing, technical writing, or PR; and most of them are working professionally before they leave the program.
Western
State Colorado University
MFA in Creative Writing
Western’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing focuses on writing for larger audiences: concentrations in mainstream as well as genre fiction; poetry with an emphasis in form; and screenwriting for Indies, Hollywood, and television. Residencies occur the last two weeks of July, high the Colorado Rockies.
Complete list of Creative Writing Programs is here