Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide

 

 

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

MFA Writing Program

UNC Greensboro

3302 Moore Humanities and Research Admin Building

PO Box 26170

Greensboro, NC 27402-6170

Website: www.mfagreensboro.org

Program director: Jim Clark

Program contact: Terry Kennedy

Phone: (336) 334-5459

Email: terry_kennedy@uncg.edu

Degrees offered: MFA

Genres: Poetry, fiction

Type of program: residency

Length of program: 2 years

Enrollment: 25

Total credits required: 36

Application deadlines: January 1

Scholarships available: yes

Core faculty: Rebecca Black, Stuart Dischell, Holly Goddard Jones, Craig Nova, Michael Parker, David Roderick, Jim Clark

Assistantships: yes

Publishing/editing courses: yes

Literary magazine: Greensboro Review

Reading series: yes

Recent visiting writers: Lucie Brock-Broido, Joshua Ferris, John Irving, Tracy Kidder, Colum McCann, Robert Pinsky, and Mark Strand

Program description: The MFA Writing Program at Greensboro is one of the oldest such programs in the country. During the early years, the University had among its faculty a number of noted writers, such as Allen Tate, Caroline Gordon, John Crowe Ransom, Hiram Haydn, Peter Taylor, and Randall Jarrell. They invited other distinguished writers to campus to read from their work and to meet with students; these writers included Robert Lowell, Robert Frost, Flannery O’Connor, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, and Saul Bellow. In 1965, under the leadership of Robert Watson, creative writing offerings were formalized. Since that time, enrollment has grown, but the faculty has intentionally kept the program small, enabling students to have individual conferences with faculty.

Ours is a two-year residency program with an emphasis on providing students with studio time in which to study the writing of poetry or fiction. The program’s flexibility permits students to develop their particular talents through small classes in writing, literature, and the arts. As a community of writers, students read and comment on each other’s work under the guidance of resident and visiting faculty, who also meet with students in one-on-one tutorials.

Ten to twelve new students are admitted each fall. Research Assistantships are available to many applicants. All applicants are considered for the Randall Jarrell and Fred Chappell fellowships.