University of Idaho :: Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide

University of Idaho

MFA in Creative Writing

Mailing Address:

Department of English

PO Box 441102

Moscow, ID 83844-1102

Physical Address:

875 Perimeter Drive

Moscow, ID 83844

Website: www.uidaho.edu/class/english/mfacreativewriting

Program director: Doug Heckman

Program contact: Doug Heckman

Phone: 208-885-6156 

Email: dheckman@uidaho.edu

Degrees offered: MFA Creative Writing

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction

Type of program: Residency

Length of program: Three years

Enrollment: 36

Total credits required: 54

Application deadlines: January 15

Scholarships available: Yes

Core faculty: Robert Wrigley, Kim Barnes, Alexandra Teague, Mary Clearman Blew, Daniel Orozco, Brandon R. Schrand, Joy Passanante, Ron McFarland

Assistantships: Yes

Publishing/editing courses: No

Literary magazine: Fugue

Reading series: Yes

Recent visiting writers: Natasha Tretheway, Patricia Hampl, Mark Halliday, Tony Earley, Jo Ann Beard, Chris Abani, Linda Bierds, Benjamin Percy

Program description: While we require applicants to apply only in one genre, we encourage them to "cross-pollinate" once they are admitted. We believe the poet has as much to gain from learning the narrative pacing of prose as the prose writer does from the placement of a single word. We encourage students to experiment and to push themselves in new directions.  But we also insist that they know where they fit in the continuum of writers of their genre, and that they understand and can speak to that tradition.