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Butler University

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  • MFA in Creative Writing

  • Contact Information:

  • Mailing Address:

  • Butler University
  • Efroymson Center for Creative Writing
  • Indianapolis
  • IN
  • 46208
  • Program Director: Chris Forhan
  • Program Contact: Mindy Dunn
  • Phone Number: (317) 940-8733
  • Website: butler.edu/mfa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Facebook: Facebook
  • Twitter: Twitter

  • Program Information:

  • Degree: MFA
  • Type: residency
  • Length of Program: 3 year average, flexible
  • Genre: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry
  • Enrollment: 60 total, 15 per year
  • Total Credits Required: 36
  • Application Deadlines: March 15 for Fall of next year
  • Scholarships: yes (see website)
  • Assistantships: yes (see website)
  • Core Faculty: Dan Barden, Chris Forhan, Andrew Levy, Natalie Lima, Alessandra Lynch, Michael Dahlie, Allison Lynn
  • Visiting Faculty: Hanif Abdurraqib, Kaveh Akbar, Mitchell L.H. Douglas, Paige Lewis, Kyle Minor, David Shumate, Lili Wright
  • Publishing/Editing Courses: yes (see website)
  • Reading Series: Vivian S Delbrook Visiting Writers Series
  • Literary Magazine: Booth
  • Recent Visiting Writers: Tiana Clark, Masha Gessen, Paula McLain, Lydia Millet, Kevin Young

Program Description: Welcome to the MFA at Butler: the home for creative writing in the Midwest. Butler University is a top-tier liberal arts university located in a growing city with an established literary tradition. We offer a combination of top-flight, full-time faculty, nationally recognized visiting faculty, a stellar visiting writer’s series, and courses across an array of genres. We also offer teaching and editing opportunities, professional mentoring, and opportunities to get involved in the community through literary service learning.

MFA Students at Butler can specialize in Poetry, Fiction, or Creative Nonfiction. We also offer graduate electives, ranging from our Visiting Writers Series, Teaching Creative Writing in the Schools, and Literary Editing and Publishing courses, to courses in story structure, poetic form, graphic novels, screenwriting, and new and alternate forms.

Courtesy of the Efroymson Family Fund, we offer scholarships to out-of-state students. We also offer awards and service options designed to enhance your development as a publishing writer and a literary professional.

And lastly, our program is flexible, and affordable. Classes are scheduled for both part-time and full-time students, and we design a specialized curriculum for every student, based on artistic interests and long-term goals as a writer. 

Come visit our web site—butler.edu/mfa—and see who’s visiting, who’s publishing, who’s teaching, who’s editing, and who’s falling in love with the writing life.

Find more great programs at the NewPages Guide to Graduate Creative Writing Programs.