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15 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in 2024

May 15, 2024

Whether you studied at a top creative writing university or are a high school dropout who will one day become a bestselling author , you may be considering an MFA in Creative Writing. But is a writing MFA genuinely worth the time and potential costs? How do you know which program will best nurture your writing? If you’re considering an MFA, this article walks you through the best full-time, low residency, and online Creative Writing MFA programs in the United States.

What are the best Creative Writing MFA programs?

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this article, let’s start with the basics. What is an MFA, anyway?

A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a graduate degree that usually takes from two to three years to complete. Applications typically require a sample portfolio, usually 10-20 pages (and sometimes up to 30-40) of your best writing. Moreover, you can receive an MFA in a particular genre, such as Fiction or Poetry, or more broadly in Creative Writing. However, if you take the latter approach, you often have the opportunity to specialize in a single genre.

Wondering what actually goes on in a creative writing MFA beyond inspiring award-winning books and internet memes ? You enroll in workshops where you get feedback on your creative writing from your peers and a faculty member. You enroll in seminars where you get a foundation of theory and techniques. Then, you finish the degree with a thesis project. Thesis projects are typically a body of polished, publishable-quality creative work in your genre—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.

Why should I get an MFA in Creative Writing?

You don’t need an MFA to be a writer. Just look at Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison or bestselling novelist Emily St. John Mandel.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of reasons you might still want to get a creative writing MFA. The first is, unfortunately, prestige. An MFA from a top program can help you stand out in a notoriously competitive industry to be published.

The second reason: time. Many MFA programs give you protected writing time, deadlines, and maybe even a (dainty) salary.

Third, an MFA in Creative Writing is a terminal degree. This means that this degree allows you to teach writing at the university level, especially after you publish a book.

Fourth: resources. MFA programs are often staffed by brilliant, award-winning writers; offer lecture series, volunteer opportunities, and teaching positions; and run their own (usually prestigious) literary magazines. Such resources provide you with the knowledge and insight you’ll need to navigate the literary and publishing world on your own post-graduation.

But above all, the biggest reason to pursue an MFA is the community it brings you. You get to meet other writers—and share feedback, advice, and moral support—in relationships that can last for decades.

Types of Creative Writing MFA Programs

Here are the different types of programs to consider, depending on your needs:

Fully-Funded Full-Time Programs

These programs offer full-tuition scholarships and sweeten the deal by actually paying you to attend them.

• Pros: You’re paid to write (and teach).
• Cons: Uprooting your entire life to move somewhere possibly very cold.

Full-Time MFA Programs

These programs include attending in-person classes and paying tuition (though many offer need-based and merit scholarships).

• Pros: Lots of top-notch non-funded programs have more assets to attract world-class faculty and guests.
• Cons: It’s an investment that might not pay itself back.

Low-Residency MFA Programs

Low-residency programs usually meet biannually for short sessions. They also offer one-on-one support throughout the year. These MFAs are more independent, preparing you for what the writing life is actually like.

• Pros: No major life changes required. Cons: Less time dedicated to writing and less time to build relationships.

Online MFA Programs

Held 100% online. These programs have high acceptance rates and no residency requirement. That means zero travel or moving expenses.

• Pros: No major life changes required.
• Cons: These MFAs have less name recognition.

The Top 15 Creative Writing MFA Programs Ranked by Category

The following programs are selected for their balance of high funding, impressive return on investment, stellar faculty, major journal publications , and impressive alums.

FULLY FUNDED MFA PROGRAMS

1) johns hopkins university , mfa in fiction/poetry.

This two-year program offers an incredibly generous funding package: $39,000 teaching fellowships each year. Not to mention, it offers that sweet, sweet health insurance, mind-boggling faculty, and the option to apply for a lecture position after graduation. Many grads publish their first book within three years (nice). No nonfiction MFA (boo).

• Location: Baltimore, MD
• Incoming class size: 8 students (4 per genre)
• Admissions rate: 4-8%
• Alumni: Chimamanda Adichie, Jeffrey Blitz, Wes Craven, Louise Erdrich, Porochista Khakpour, Phillis Levin, ZZ Packer, Tom Sleigh, Elizabeth Spires, Rosanna Warren

2) University of Texas, James Michener Center

The only MFA that offers full and equal funding for every writer. It’s three years long, offers a generous yearly stipend of $30k, and provides full tuition plus a health insurance stipend. Fiction, poetry, playwriting, and screenwriting concentrations are available. The Michener Center is also unique because you study a primary genre and a secondary genre, and also get $4,000 for the summer.

• Location : Austin, TX
• Incoming class size : 12 students
• Acceptance rate: a bone-chilling less-than-1% in fiction; 2-3% in other genres
• Alumni: Fiona McFarlane, Brian McGreevy, Karan Mahajan, Alix Ohlin, Kevin Powers, Lara Prescott, Roger Reeves, Maria Reva, Domenica Ruta, Sam Sax, Joseph Skibell, Dominic Smith

3) University of Iowa

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a 2-year program on a residency model for fiction and poetry. This means there are low requirements, and lots of time to write groundbreaking novels or play pool at the local bar. All students receive full funding, including tuition, a living stipend, and subsidized health insurance. The Translation MFA , co-founded by Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak, is also two years long but with more intensive coursework. The Nonfiction Writing Program is a prestigious three-year MFA program and is also intensive.

• Incoming class size: 25 each for poetry and fiction; 10-12 for nonfiction and translation.
• Acceptance rate: 2.7-3.7%
• Fantastic Alumni: Raymond Carver, Flannery O’Connor, Sandra Cisneros, Joy Harjo, Garth Greenwell, Kiley Reid, Brandon Taylor, Eula Biss, Yiyun Li, Jennifer Croft

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs (Continued) 

4) university of michigan.

Anne Carson famously lives in Ann Arbor, as do the MFA students in UMichigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. This is a big university town, which is less damaging to your social life. Plus, there’s lots to do when you have a $25,000 stipend, summer funding, and health care.

This is a 2-3-year program in either fiction or poetry, with an impressive reputation. They also have a demonstrated commitment to “ push back against the darkness of intolerance and injustice ” and have outreach programs in the community.

• Location: Ann Arbor, MI
• Incoming class size: 18 (9 in each genre)
• Acceptance rate: 2%
• Alumni: Brit Bennett, Vievee Francis, Airea D. Matthews, Celeste Ng, Chigozie Obioma, Jia Tolentino, Jesmyn Ward

5) Brown University

Brown offers an edgy, well-funded program in a place that only occasionally dips into arctic temperatures. All students are fully funded for 2 years, which includes tuition remission and a $32k yearly stipend. Students also get summer funding and—you guessed it—that sweet, sweet health insurance.

In the Brown Literary Arts MFA, students take only one workshop and one elective per semester. It’s also the only program in the country to feature a Digital/Cross Disciplinary Track.  Fiction and Poetry Tracks are offered as well.

• Location: Providence, RI
• Incoming class size: 12-13
• Acceptance rate: “highly selective”
• Alumni: Edwidge Danticat, Jaimy Gordon, Gayl Jones, Ben Lerner, Joanna Scott, Kevin Young, Ottessa Moshfegh

6) University of Arizona

This 3-year program with fiction, poetry, and nonfiction tracks has many attractive qualities. It’s in “ the lushest desert in the world, ” and was recently ranked #4 in creative writing programs, and #2 in Nonfiction. You can take classes in multiple genres, and in fact, are encouraged to do so. Plus, Arizona’s dry heat is good for arthritis.

This notoriously supportive program is fully funded. Moreover, teaching assistantships that provide a salary, health insurance, and tuition waiver are offered to all students. Tucson is home to a hopping literary scene, so it’s also possible to volunteer at multiple literary organizations and even do supported research at the US-Mexico Border.

• Location: Tucson, AZ
• Incoming class size: usually 6
• Acceptance rate: 1.2% (a refreshingly specific number after Brown’s evasiveness)
• Alumni: Francisco Cantú, Jos Charles, Tony Hoagland, Nancy Mairs, Richard Russo, Richard Siken, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, David Foster Wallace

7) Arizona State University 

With concentrations in fiction and poetry, Arizona State is a three-year funded program in arthritis-friendly dry heat. It offers small class sizes, individual mentorships, and one of the most impressive faculty rosters in the game. Moreover, it encourages cross-genre study.

Funding-wise, everyone has the option to take on a teaching assistantship position, which provides a tuition waiver, health insurance, and a yearly stipend of $25k. Other opportunities for financial support exist as well.

• Location: Tempe, AZ
• Incoming class size: 8-10
• Acceptance rate: 3% (sigh)
• Alumni: Tayari Jones, Venita Blackburn, Dorothy Chan, Adrienne Celt, Dana Diehl, Matthew Gavin Frank, Caitlin Horrocks, Allegra Hyde, Hugh Martin, Bonnie Nadzam

FULL-RESIDENCY MFAS (UNFUNDED)

8) new york university.

This two-year program is in New York City, meaning it comes with close access to literary opportunities and hot dogs. NYU also has one of the most accomplished faculty lists anywhere. Students have large cohorts (more potential friends!) and have a penchant for winning top literary prizes. Concentrations in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction are available.

• Location: New York, NY
• Incoming class size: ~60; 20-30 students accepted for each genre
• Acceptance rate: 6-9%
• Alumni: Nick Flynn, Nell Freudenberger, Aracelis Girmay, Mitchell S. Jackson, Tyehimba Jess, John Keene, Raven Leilani, Robin Coste Lewis, Ada Limón, Ocean Vuong

9) Columbia University

Another 2-3 year private MFA program with drool-worthy permanent and visiting faculty. Columbia offers courses in fiction, poetry, translation, and nonfiction. Beyond the Ivy League education, Columbia offers close access to agents, and its students have a high record of bestsellers. Finally, teaching positions and fellowships are available to help offset the high tuition.

• Incoming class size: 110
• Acceptance rate: not publicized (boo)
• Alumni: Alexandra Kleeman, Rachel Kushner, Claudia Rankine, Rick Moody, Sigrid Nunez, Tracy K. Smith, Emma Cline, Adam Wilson, Marie Howe, Mary Jo Bang

10) Sarah Lawrence 

Sarah Lawrence offers a concentration in speculative fiction in addition to the average fiction, poetry, and nonfiction choices. Moreover, they encourage cross-genre exploration. With intimate class sizes, this program is unique because it offers biweekly one-on-one conferences with its stunning faculty. It also has a notoriously supportive atmosphere, and many teaching and funding opportunities are available.

• Location: Bronxville, NY
• Incoming class size: 30-40
• Acceptance rate: not publicized
• Alumni: Cynthia Cruz, Melissa Febos, T Kira Madden, Alex Dimitrov, Moncho Alvarado

LOW RESIDENCY

11) bennington college.

This two-year program boasts truly stellar faculty, and meets twice a year for ten days in January and June. It’s like a biannual vacation in beautiful Vermont, plus mentorship by a famous writer. The rest of the time, you’ll be spending approximately 25 hours per week on reading and writing assignments. Students have the option to concentrate in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Uniquely, they can also opt for a dual-genre focus.

The tuition is $23,468 per year, with scholarships available. Additionally, Bennington offers full-immersion teaching fellowships to MFA students, which are extremely rare in low-residency programs.

• Location: Bennington, VT
• Acceptance rate: 53%
• Incoming class: 25-35
• Alumni: Larissa Pham, Andrew Reiner, Lisa Johnson Mitchell, and others

12)  Institute for American Indian Arts

This two-year program emphasizes Native American and First Nations writing. With truly amazing faculty and visiting writers, they offer a wide range of genres, including screenwriting, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. In addition, each student is matched with a faculty mentor who works with them one-on-one throughout the semester.

Students attend two eight-day residencies each year, in January and July, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At $12,000 in tuition a year, it boasts being “ one of the most affordable MFA programs in the country .”

• Location: Santa Fe, NM
• Incoming class size : 21
• Alumni: Tommy Orange, Dara Yen Elerath, Kathryn Wilder

13) Vermont College of Fine Arts

VCFA is the only graduate school on this list that focuses exclusively on the fine arts. Their MFA in Writing offers concentrations in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction; they also offer an MFA in Literary Translation and one of the few MFAs in Writing for Children and Young Adults . Students meet twice a year for nine days, in January and July, either in-person or online. Here, they receive one-on-one mentorship that continues for the rest of the semester. You can also do many travel residencies in exciting (and warm) places like Cozumel.

VCFA boasts amazing faculty and visiting writers, with individualized study options and plenty of one-on-one time. Tuition for the full two-year program is approximately $54k.

• Location : Various; 2024/25 residencies are in Colorado and California
• Incoming class size: 18-25
• Acceptance rate: 63%
• Alumnx: Lauren Markham, Mary-Kim Arnold, Cassie Beasley, Kate Beasley, Julie Berry, Bridget Birdsall, Gwenda Bond, Pablo Cartaya

ONLINE MFAS

14) university of texas at el paso.

UTEP is considered the best online MFA program, and features award-winning faculty from across the globe. Accordingly, this program is geared toward serious writers who want to pursue teaching and/or publishing. Intensive workshops allow submissions in Spanish and/or English, and genres include poetry and fiction.

No residencies are required, but an optional opportunity to connect in person is available every year. This three-year program costs about $25-30k total, depending on whether you are an in-state or out-of-state resident.

• Location: El Paso, TX
• Acceptance rate: “highly competitive”
• Alumni: Watch alumni testimonies here

15) Bay Path University

This 2-year online, no-residency program is dedicated entirely to nonfiction. Featuring a supportive, diverse community, Bay Path offers small class sizes, close mentorship, and an optional yearly field trip to Ireland.

There are many tracks, including publishing, narrative medicine, and teaching creative writing. Moreover, core courses include memoir, narrative journalism, food/travel writing, and the personal essay. Tuition is approximately $31,000 for the entire program, with scholarships available.

• Location: Longmeadow, MA
• Incoming class size: 20
• Alumni: Read alumni testimonies here

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs — Final Thoughts

Whether you’re aiming for a fully funded, low residency, or completely online MFA program, there are plenty of incredible options available—all of which will sharpen your craft while immersing you in the vibrant literary arts community.

Hoping to prepare for your MFA in advance? You might consider checking out the following:

• Best English Programs
• Best Colleges for Creative Writing
• Writing Summer Programs
• Best Writing Competitions for High School Students

Inspired to start writing? Get your pencil ready:

• 100 Creative Writing Prompts 
• 1 00 Tone Words to Express Mood in Your Writing
• 60 Senior Project Ideas
• Common App Essay Prompts

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs – References:

• https://www.pw.org/mfa
• The Creative Writing MFA Handbook: A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students , by Tom Kealey (A&C Black 2005)
• Graduate School Admissions

Julia Conrad

With a Bachelor of Arts in English and Italian from Wesleyan University as well as MFAs in both Nonfiction Writing and Literary Translation from the University of Iowa, Julia is an experienced writer, editor, educator, and a former Fulbright Fellow. Julia’s work has been featured in  The Millions ,  Asymptote , and  The Massachusetts Review , among other publications. To read more of her work, visit  www.juliaconrad.net

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The MFA Program for Writers

The Nation’s Premier Low-Residency MFA Program

Now in its fifth decade, the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College , established in 1976 by master poet and teacher Ellen Bryant Voigt, continues to set the standard for the innovative model it pioneered. This rigorous, nurturing, and highly-selective four – semester graduate program, with study tracks in fiction and poetry, combines ten-day residencies on campus each January and July with five-month nonresident semesters in which students work individually with the country’s finest fiction writers and poets.

Our nationally-recognized MFA faculty encompass a range of aesthetics, and include Pulitzer and National Book Award winners, national and state poets laureate, and NEA, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and MacArthur fellows. Residency lectures and readings are free and open to the public.

Our diverse and close-knit student body come from all over the world, and from a variety of disciplines and occupations. MFA program alumni have won countless major awards and have published well over a thousand books . Application deadlines are March 1 and September 1 via Submittable on the MFA program website .

I am grateful for what the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson offers all its students: the knowledge that allows us to become better and more ambitious readers and writers, and the connection to a community of other writers who will help us continue pursuing our interests throughout our lives. Rose McLarney (Warren Wilson BA, 2003; MFA 2010; Beebe Fellow 2010-11)

An Advantage for Undergraduates

Creative Writing majors at the undergraduate level benefit from the opportunity to attend January residency lectures and readings and to work with graduate-student mentors.

And each academic year, an MFA faculty member is in residence on the Warren Wilson campus for a week to teach undergraduate classes, present a workshop and a reading, and to meet with senior creative majors one-on-one.

More Information

Learn More About the MFA Program Requirements

Rose McLarney (BA ’03; MFA ’10; Beebe Fellow 2010-11), pictured with Matthew Olzmann (MFA ’09; 2012-13 Beebe Fellow) in Pew Library on the Warren Wilson campus

I am honored to serve as Director of the MFA Program for Writers, which has such an illustrious history and has launched the careers of so many talented writers worldwide, and which offers a vibrant, world-class education focused on artistry, rigor, community, and the possibilities of the imagination.

Dr. Gary Hawkins (MFA, 1995)

Gary Hawkins is a 1995 alumnus of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Dr. Hawkins writes poems, writes on modern and contemporary poetry, and writes and presents on the scholarship of teaching and learning. His debut book of poems, Worker, was published in 2016.

Title Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

• Self Service

On this page:

Mfa creative writing program overview.

Our MFA in Creative Writing program includes three intensive two-week summer residencies, three online semesters of creative writing and critical reading and one online semester of thesis preparation. We encourage students to begin the program with a summer residency, but you may opt to begin in the spring.

We modeled our low-residency format on the mentorships that informed the development of many accomplished writers before residential MFA programs even existed. Each faculty mentor works with no more than five students per class. As a result, our students enjoy the freedom and flexibility to participate in our program remotely, while still benefiting from close mentoring relationships with established authors.

You will choose the primary genre in which you plan to work: poetry, creative nonfiction or fiction (fiction includes science fiction and fantasy). If you’d like to work in a second genre, a cross-genre is available.

By the time you’ve completed our MFA program, you will have created and revised an original work and finished a thesis that can serve as the foundation for a book-length manuscript.

Delivery Format

Credit hours.

How Do I Know if This Program Is Right for Me?

This program is ideal for anyone who:

• Wants to develop writing skills and relationships that will last a lifetime.
• Has been out of school for a while and wants to reconnect with the literary arts.
• Would love to be mentored by accomplished writers.
• Is eager to gain publishing experience by working as an editor for a literary magazine or a publishing assistant for a poetry press.
• Writes better and more regularly when involved in a community of writers.

Learning Experiences

You can look forward to the following:

• Three intensive two-week summer residencies that are taught on a mentorship basis.
• Four online semesters of courses taught via Blackboard and video conferencing.
• Ongoing, individualized mentoring from established writers .
• Lively yet rigorous discussions of contemporary literature and one another’s writing.

Student Organizations and Internships

You will have the opportunity to participate in:

• Editing the Black Fork Review , a literary journal featuring poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction by AU students and faculty and writers from the wider literary landscape. In your role as an editor, you lead teams of undergraduates in editing work in each genre.
• A limited number of graduate publishing assistantships to work with the Ashland Poetry Press are available to students who have taken ENG 631: Mentorship I and have selected poetry as their primary genre.
• Students are chosen for assistantships during the fall semester; decisions are based on faculty recommendations and a cover letter sent to the managing editor of Ashland Poetry Press .
• Graduate teaching assistantships that help pay for your education while you gain teaching experience. Currently, qualified M.F.A students earn $2,494 for each course they teach. Based on availability, you may be able to teach five classes during your time in the M.F.A program.

Course Sequence

You can learn more about the curriculum by reviewing the Curriculum for the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Academic Catalog .

Recommended Course Sequence

The recommended course sequence for students beginning in the summer is below.

Alternate Course Sequence

The recommended course sequence for students beginning in the spring is as follows:

MFA Pedagogy Track

Accessibility

The Student Accessibility Center works one-on-one with students to ensure that all coursework and events are fully accessible. The center offers a variety of resources and services, including text-to-speech software. Please contact the Student Accessibility Center to learn more or to set up an appointment.

Tuition & Fees

This information shows the tuition fees for the MFA program in creative writing. Explanations of residency-only and additional fees follow the table.

For information about financial aid, go to Graduate School Financial Aid .

2024–2025 MFA Tuition Rates*

For the 2024-2025 academic year, tuition is $860 per credit hour. The total tuition cost for the two-year, 45-credit-hour program is $38,700.

*Note: Tuition rates are subject to change annually. We do our best to inform you of these changes right away.

Residency-Only Fees

If you would like to attend the residency only, please apply as a non-degree student. Tuition rates for non-degree students are the same as those for degree-track students.

Additional Fees

Meals and lodging during the residency are optional. For details about room and board, visit summer residency room and board .

Note: There is a $100 fee to graduate, which is charged by the Registrar's office.

Additional Information

Graduate outcomes.

"The Ashland University low-residency program feels more akin to a family than a program. The faculty and staff are not only highly skilled but also deeply caring. I graduated from the program not only a better writer but a better person."

- David Baxley, Ashland University M.F.A. Alumnus

Can You Give Me a Glimpse of My Future?

Graduates may pursue opportunities as a published author, freelance writer, editor, or educator, our program and be equipped with the skills, knowledge and creative insight to thrive in today's competitive writing landscape. Beyond traditional roles, graduates often find success in fields such as marketing, communications and content creation, leveraging their storytelling abilities to engage audiences and drive impactful narratives across industries. Our program fosters a supportive community of writers and provides opportunities for professional development, mentorship and publication, empowering you to pursue your passion and make a lasting impact with your words.

Make Good Money

With an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, you open doors to a diverse range of career paths in the literary world and beyond:

• Published Author
• Freelance Writer
• Writing Instructor
• Content Creator

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, writers and authors make a median salary of $73,150 per year. Editors earn a similar media salary of $73,080.

Give Yourself Multiple Career Options

In multiple writing roles, daily responsibilities may include researching, writing, editing various pieces for clients, managing deadlines, networking and planning future projects.

And Get Hired!

Graduates of an M.F.A. in Creative Writing program may find employment opportunities with a variety of organizations and institutions. Potential employers could include:

• Higher Education
• Publishing Houses
• Marketing and Advertising Agencies
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Media Outlets
• Arts Organizations
• Freelance Work

Contact Information

MFA Office [email protected] 419-289-5098

Graduate Admissions 800-882-1548 x5738 [email protected] 419-289-5738

15 Best Low Residency MFA Programs

Author: Natalie Harris-Spencer Updated: February 18, 2023

The best low residency MFA programs offer you a more cost-effective way to complete a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. The difference between a low residency and a fully remote program is that you’ll be expected to stay on campus for short periods throughout the year, giving you greater flexibility than if you’d have either been living on campus, or full-time in front of a computer screen.

What can you expect from the best low residency MFA programs?

These programs will force you to juggle your writing time around your day job , family, and cats, while still plunging you into that writers’ life you so crave. In many ways, they’re harder than the traditional brick-and-mortar school program, in that they give you a truer flavor of what it’s like to pursue a writing career with a million other things going on in your life. They’re also far more immersive than an online-only program.

You’ll be hit with a combination of remote and in-person learning. A typical school year comprises two semesters, of which there is usually a 10-day intensive residency on campus per semester (so, two residencies per year, for two years). The time in between residencies is remote i.e. spent from your writing desk at home, where you will be paired with a mentor or smaller groups of writers. In fact, the 1:1 mentorship is a huge benefit of a low residency MFA program ; you’ll get closer attention than you would if you were in a traditional college class.

The best low residency MFA programs will offer a variety of genres , including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, popular fiction, scriptwriting, literary translation, graphic novels and comics, and writing for young people, while some allow for a dual-genre path.

While MFAs are not cheap, low residency programs are certainly on the more affordable side. Read on for 15 best low residency MFA programs, listed in alphabetical order.

1. Antioch University

Offered by AU Los Angeles, Antioch University’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program is dedicated to the education of literary and dramatic artists, community engagement, and the pursuit of social justice. It offers two, 10-day residencies in June and December.

2. Bard College

Bard College offers MFAs for artists in a variety of disciplines, not just writing. Each summer session runs for eight intensive weeks (there is no winter residency), and does not follow the traditional semester schedule. Most students receive some amount of financial aid, making it an attractive option for candidates.

3. Bennington College

Bennington College is widely regarded as one of the best low residency MFA programs in the United States. Residencies take place in picturesque Vermont, and their prestigious faculty includes many multi-published authors and literary prizewinners. You can elect to pursue a dual-genre path. Bennington’s residencies take place in January and June.

4. Cedar Crest College

This pan-European MFA offers a single 15-day residency at the beginning of July that rotates between Dublin, Ireland, Barcelona, Spain, and Vienna, Austria, with new locations coming soon. Unlike other programs, you’ll only attend three residencies in total, and you won’t go to the university campus in Allentown, Pennsylvania. But…you get to travel to Europe.

5. Goucher College

The only program dedicated solely to nonfiction writing, this low residency MFA attracts applicants and faculty interested in pursuing narrative, memoir, personal essay, and literary journalism. Literary agents and editors attend the two 10-day residencies in Baltimore, Maryland, and there are sponsored trips to New York to meet top publishing professionals.

6. Institute of American Indian Arts

Now in its tenth year, the emphasis with this particular Creative Writing MFA is on Native writers, voices, texts, and experience, although applications are open to all. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it offer two 8-day residencies in January and July.

7. Lesley University

While the nine-day residencies take place in the “literary mecca” of Cambridge, Massachusetts, there’s also the opportunity for students to study abroad at a 12-day residency in rural Wales. Lesley has relationships with literary agencies and presses , so that you get a fast-track into publishing on submitting your thesis when you graduate.

8. Lindenwood University

Located in St. Charles, Missouri, Lindenwood University is unique in that there is no formal residency requirement: you can take classes fully on campus, online, or choose the low residency model. The program is more affordable than others due to its flexibility, and offers financial aid to teachers and candidates over the age of sixty.

9. New York University

Based on NYU’s campus in Paris, France, there are five, 10-day residencies held in January and July. This is one of the more expensive programs, with limited funding available. However, its faculty line-up is always incredible, and you’re paying for the prestige of Paris.

10. Pacific University

Based in Portland, Oregon, Pacific University’s MFA program places a strong emphasis on craft . It offers multiple full and partial merit-based scholarships to qualifying candidates. Residencies are in January and June.

11. Sewanee School of Letters

The model at Sewanee School of Letters in Tennessee is slightly different: you complete a single, six-week residency over the summer , which in turn is spread over the course of three to five summers, making it more affordable than other low residency programs.

12. University of New Orleans

Despite positioning itself as online MFA, the University of New Orleans is actually low residency, in that it offers a month-long residency every summer at various international locations, including Ireland and Italy.

13. University of Southern Maine (Stonecoast)

My alma mater . Stonecoast at USM offers two 10-day residencies in January and July, alongside a concurrent writers’ conference, in the picturesque town of Freeport, Maine. Its popular fiction program is especially popular with writers of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi, and its WISE program (writing for inclusivity and social equity) is at the heart of its ethos. In my humble opinion, it will always be one of the best low residency MFA programs.

14. Vermont College of Fine Arts

Another Vermont entry: proof that this beautiful state inspires creativity. Residencies are nine days and take place in December and July, with past residencies going further afield: Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Mexico, Rome, and Asheville, North Carolina. Literary translation and dual-genre paths are available.

15. Warren Wilson College

Established in 1976, Warren Wilson is the original low residency MFA program, introducing the format to North America and the rest of the world. Consequently, it’s on the pricier end, but there are multiple grants and financial aid available. It offers two, 10-day residencies in January and July near the wonderful town of Asheville, North Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Recommended reading

Here at Aspiring Author , we love recommending bestsellers and fawning over hot new releases. On this real time recommended reading list, you will find a list of top rated books on the publishing industry, craft, and other books to help you elevate your writing career.

Tell Me Your Life Story, Grandma: A Grandmother’s Guided Journal and Memory Keepsake Book (Tell Me Your Life Story® Series Books)

Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark

The Entrepreneur's Playbook: How Entrepreneurs Like You Are Building Digital Businesses Right Now (The Success Playbook Series 3)

Scale Your Income: The 48-Day Income Blueprint to Create Multiple Streams of Revenue as a Writer, Coach, Teacher, or Speaker (Your Message Matters Series Book 5)

"They Say / I Say"

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Master of Fine Arts

MFA in Creative Writing

Alumni Publications and Projects

Learn about our student-run literary journal, Lunch Ticket

Learn about our podcast, LitCit: Antioch’s Literary Citizen

Prepare for a Life as a Literary and Dramatic Artist

Antioch University’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program is devoted not only to the education of literary and dramatic artists but to community engagement and the pursuit of social justice. The program features one-on-one mentoring with a variety of successful publishing writers and includes instruction in craft, revision, and critical reading and thinking skills. The rights and ethical responsibilities of creative writers are also addressed, along with practical career concerns related to the business of writing and publishing. The MFA program prepares students for careers and meaningful lives as writers, editors, teachers, and engaged literary citizens.

This low-residency degree is offered by AU Los Angeles.

Program Overview

Antioch University’s MFA in Creative Writing is comprised of hybrid residencies—which include seminars, readings, and workshops—complemented by five-month online project periods during which students live and write in their home communities. The hybrid residency allows students to attend fully online, in-person, or a combination of both. We believe a flexible learning environment allows our students to flourish personally and creatively.

The low-residency model supports and mirrors the lives that professional writers actually live. The Antioch’s MFA program provides both the nurturing literary community and the solitary discipline of writing that working writers need. An MFA semester consists of an intensive 10-day hybrid residency, followed by a five-month online project period during which each student writes fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, playwriting, and literary translation, as well as scholarly work, under the supervision of a faculty mentor each term. Students also participate in online discussions covering assigned readings and literary issues, and produce other work specified in their individualized Project Period Contract.

MFA students are admitted in a single genre (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, and playwriting), but can write and study more than one genre including literary translation—and even challenge the notion of genre itself. Our faculty members publish successfully in multiple genres and are often glad to support students in their cross-genre explorations.

The MFA Field Study is what sets this creative writing program—and the people who graduate from it—apart from others. The Field Study asks students to put their knowledge and skills as writers to work in service of something they personally value in their local communities. Each Field Study must address at least two of the three aspects of the MFA program’s unique purpose: the education of literary and dramatic artists, community engagement or service, and the pursuit of social justice. MFA Field Studies have changed the lives not only of the students but of those their efforts have served.

Degree Requirements

Core requirements are completed during the 10-day hybrid residencies or the 5-month online project periods that follow each residency.

Residency Core Requirements

MFA students participate in a 10-day hybrid residency which includes an assigned genre writing workshop and 7+ learning activities such as faculty seminars, guest speakers, and graduating student presentations.

Explore Residency Requirements, Speakers, and Seminars

Online Project Period Core Requirements

• Monthly packets of student creative work and book annotations
• Participation in Book Circles ( group book discussions)
• Art of Translation Course
• Field Study
• Critical Paper
• Final Manuscript
• Cumulative Annotated Bibliography

For detailed curriculum and degree requirements, please visit the AU Catalog .

Antioch MFA Honored for “Outstanding Screenwriting Training” on 25 Best Film Schools List

Antioch University’s MFA in Creative Writing has received the honor of being named one of MovieMaker’s 25 Best Film Schools , with the magazine recognizing it as one of three standouts for the category of Outstanding Screenwriting Training. Read the full article here.

A Low Residency MFA

The low residency model supports and mirrors the lives that professional writers actually live.

It provides both a nurturing literary community, as well as time to write independently, inspired by real-world engagement. The two years in Antioch’s MFA in Creative Writing program will be spent alternately in two rhythms:

• Five 10-day hybrid Residencies – Students attend classes online, in-person, or a combination of both at Antioch University Los Angeles’ campus in Culver City, California, and form a collective of working writers. The residency builds a strong literary community around engagement with language, literature, and social and aesthetic issues that working writers confront.
• Four 5-Month-Long Online Project Period – Spent in your home city (or the location of your choice), students will write and read extensively, examining and confronting issues of tradition and craft. The online project period pairs you with an assigned mentor (an actively publishing writer who is also an excellent teacher) and a small group of other MFA students with whom you will read and discuss a variety of books and other publications. The online project period provides you with a dedicated apprenticeship in words and craft, a time of exploration and risk-taking in your developing life as a writer.

10-Day Residencies

• Faculty and guest seminars and graduating student presentations: Small and large classes on craft taught by graduating students, faculty, and visiting faculty.
• Writing workshops: 10 hours of intensive peer and faculty review of student work.
• One-on-one meetings with your assigned mentor: Plan out your individual study with your faculty mentor for the term.
• Community: Meet with students and faculty in your class and genre.
• Readings: Experience new work by faculty and students.

5-Month Project Periods

• Mentor correspondence: During your time at Antioch, you will select 4 to 5 different faculty mentors with whom to work.
• Reading and writing: You’ll turn in new and revised creative work, and read to explore issues of craft.
• Narrative critiques: Your work will receive constructive feedback from your instructors and peers.
• Special projects: These may include translation projects, field study, and independent research.

New Student Orientation

Creative writing mfa – new student orientation dates.

Although MFA students are accepted into the program in a single genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, or playwriting), they have many opportunities to read, write, and study multiple genres, as well as to explore the relationships among them.

Lectures and faculty-led seminars often pull material from two or more disciplines—for instance, poets might talk about rhythm in fiction; creative nonfiction writers might address the importance of staging a scene. Our faculty members publish successfully in multiple genres and are often glad to support students in their cross-genre explorations.

Reading assignments during the project period may pull from any genre, or film and music—if relevant to the student’s exploration of craft. Every seminar and lecture during the residency is open to all students, regardless of the genre they are studying during the ensuing project periods.

The fiction program is staffed by well-published short story writers and novelists who participate in small workshops during each residency and mentor a different group of students during each online project period. Our mentors represent a wide range of aesthetics and interests, and are committed to the mentorship process. Students in fiction submit new and revised pages each month, along with book annotations and ongoing craft dialogue.

Poetry students work with risk-taking faculty who offer diverse perspectives on what poems are and how to write them. Poetry students write and rewrite. In their assigned readings they engage issues of contemporary literature and craft, as well as develop knowledge of poetic traditions. Monthly packets of writing range in size from 7-20 pages, with numerous book or craft-focused annotations.

Creative Nonfiction

Our creative nonfiction program admits students who are committed to writing compelling, energetic work in this innovative genre, which includes literary reportage, memoir, biography, travel writing, magazine writing, and the essay. Students read widely, exploring the techniques that make creative nonfiction resonate and signify. Our outstanding and generous faculty provide detailed critiques on new and revised work, annotations, and craft considerations each month.

Young People

Young People students learn the craft of writing for children and young adults and explore the art of creative collaboration. Illustrators, editors, and agents serve as MFA guest faculty during each 10-day residency, as well as mentors during the 5-month online Project Periods.

Writing for the Screen

Writing for the Screen students explore the ever-changing landscape of storytelling through writing screenplays for film and television.

Screenwriters, producers, and other film industry experts serve as MFA guest faculty during each 10-day residency, as well as mentors during the Project Periods. Through intensive study and mentorship, students strengthen their creative thinking and writing skills, applying those skills to their chosen focus. With this balance of creative expression and practical application, our students learn how to employ a full range of story-crafting techniques in various professional settings, match the right creative goal with the right genre and media platform, and how to market and sell their own creative product.

Playwriting

Playwriting students receive expert instruction in writing for the stage, learning from internationally renowned playwrights, theatre directors, dramaturgs, and other theatre professionals.

Genre Jumping—Mixed Genre Experience

During a student’s second or third term at AULA, they may transfer into a second genre for the length of the semester—while still completing the program on time.

Dual Concentration—Double-Genre

Students may choose to spend an extra semester at AULA so that they may graduate with a dual concentration, spending three terms in the primary genre, and two terms in the alternate genre.

Learning Outcomes

Some MFA programs are designed to help aspiring writers complete a manuscript and find a publisher. The goals of Antioch’s program are much broader. We place an emphasis on preparing writers for the complete life of a literary artist. Our MFA in Creative Writing graduates will demonstrate:

• Proficiency in at least one of the following genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, and playwriting.
• Critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are required of a literary and dramatic artist.
• Knowledge of ethical dilemmas and social values of the literary and dramatic arts.
• Commitment to a broad range of issues and activities associated with a literary writer and the communities in which the writer lives and works.

Professional Development Semester

Designed to further the professional aspirations of MFA students and alumni at affordable prices. The Professional Development Semester is offered exclusively for continuing MFA students and returning alumni, the Professional Development Semester (5 units) offers an additional semester of mentoring to help begin or complete a manuscript, work in a new genre, or consult with a trusted mentor about matters of writing, career, and publication.

Post-MFA Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing

In a single semester, our low-residency Post-MFA Certificate program takes aspiring teachers from theory to practice, focusing on methods of teaching writing and allowing the student to gain practical classroom experience through either a face-to-face or an online supervised teaching placement. Experienced writing instructors may pursue the certificate for professional development purposes, as well as to improve their personal classroom pedagogy.

Learn More About the Certificate

Take  your  next step – talk to our admissions team.

Lisa Locascio Nighthawk

Program Chair

Meet all the Creative Writing Faculty

Are you an International Student? Get more International student information here.

Are you a Military-Connected Student? Get more Military-Connected student information here.

Download our MFA brochure (PDF, new window)

Admissions / Cost / Aid

Application Deadlines

***All application requirements (all unofficial or official transcripts, admissions essay(s), and  program-specific requirements) must be submitted for the application to be reviewed.

How to Apply

The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA) program seeks applicants who want to participate effectively as writers in professional, academic, and community settings; want to develop their skills in the craft of writing; care deeply about the role of the arts and artists in society, and share a commitment to and appreciation for culturally diverse writers and traditions. The program upholds Antioch University Los Angeles’s tradition of honoring both academic and experiential learning. Applicants must be self-motivated individuals who are able to work independently in a distance-learning format. Program participants must have access to a computer, Microsoft Word, and the Internet.

• Complete the  Online Application  and the  Admissions Dialogue Essay.
• Submit the $50 non-refundable Application Fee.
• Send in an official transcript indicating Bachelor’s degree conferral from a regionally accredited college or university. The requested copy of official transcripts must be sent directly to the Admissions Office at Antioch University Los Angeles from the institution from which you received your accredited bachelor’s degree. A student copy of a transcript may be submitted with your application, but official transcripts are required upon admission.
• Submit all supplemental materials: Samples of your creative work in the genre in which you are applying for admission (Poetry: 10-page maximum, Fiction: 20-page maximum, Creative Nonfiction: 20-page maximum, Young People: 20-page maximum, Writing for the Screen: 20-page maximum, Playwriting: 20-page maximum). For prose, work samples should be typed and double-spaced with your name at the top of each page. The 20 pages can be from different pieces. For poetry, work samples should be single-spaced with one poem on each page. For writing for the screen and playwriting: Use the standard format appropriate for the genre. Use of FinalDraft is strongly encouraged as industry-standard with default margins; other options include Celtx, Trelby, and WriterDuet.
• Recommendations: Please provide the names and contact information (email and phone) of two references whom we may contact during our admissions process (you will be prompted to do so during the application process).  If you would like to turn in recommendations voluntarily, please have your recommender(s) send them to  [email protected] .

Please submit all materials to Antioch University Los Angeles, Admissions Office, 400 Corporate Pointe, Culver City, CA 90230 or [email protected] . All application materials submitted become part of an applicant’s file and cannot be returned.

Cost & Aid

Please note: Additional fees for all Antioch University Los Angeles programs may include (but are not necessarily limited to) charges for materials, late registration, enrollment maintenance, parking, graduation, transcripts, tuition payment plan, late payments, late registration, and returned checks.

 Financial Aid

A majority of AULA students finance their education through some form of financial aid. You may not be sure which federal, state, public and private aid packages – such as loans, scholarships, and grants—are right for you. Our staff is here to help you, so you can focus on what’s most important: beginning your academic program at AULA. Returning to school is a big decision, but it doesn’t have to be a stressful one.

Scholarships

The MFA Program has numerous scholarships available for students based on factors such as merit and need. Once you are accepted into our program, you will receive additional information about how to apply for these scholarships. Each application cycle, we offer two $10,000 scholarships for UCLA Extension Writers’ Program Certificate holders, three to four $10,000 merit, and need-based scholarships, along with other scholarships of varying amounts through the Eloise Klein Healy Scholarship Fund.

Start your application

Upcoming Events

Mfa in creative writing info session | aula, dramatic writing series info session (part 2 of 3) | au, recent news.

• Sue Fagalde Lick Publishes Two Books and One Forthcoming on July 18, 2024
• Tim Cummings’ Young Adult Novel to be Published on July 17, 2024
• We Are the Storytellers: How MFA Alum Ligiah Villalobos Is Changing Film and TV Writing on July 17, 2024

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Creative writing.

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Nurture your writing to its fullest potential.

Lesley University's celebrated low-residency MFA program nurtures and challenges your creative potential. Attend nine-day residencies in the literary mecca of Cambridge. Pursue interdisciplinary study as a spur for fresh ideas. Cultivate mentor relationships with prize-winning writers. Graduate with the work and connections to publish, win literary prizes and fellowships, and find teaching positions or work related to your writing.

Program Summary

Exclusive partnerships create opportunities for you to put your pieces in front of prominent publishers, agencies, and organizations. You’ll meet literary figures who, as masters of their craft, will give you the tough love you need to achieve your aspirations. Benefitting from our small-group learning, you’ll form bonds with fellow writers from diverse backgrounds, and join in craft seminars, workshops, readings, and publishing events.

You'll have opportunities to interact with students and faculty from across the entire program, while still engaging in a deep exploration of your chosen genre: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Graphic Novels and Comics, Writing for Stage and Screen, or Writing for Young People.

Program Structure

Low-Residency Program

• 18% craft and reflection coursework; 18% interdisciplinary study; 50% creative writing and revision; 14% graduating seminar and thesis
• Independent work under the mentorship of faculty member
• Two nine-day residencies per year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an additional exit residency.
• Summer 2024 Residency dates: June 21 - June 29, 2024
• Come to the residencies in January and June (5 residencies). Complete 12 credits between each residency. Earn 1 credit in your final residency. Complete the program in 2 years.

Through our Fiction genre, you'll develop and hone your fiction-writing skills while being coached in the practice of constructing, analyzing, drafting, and revising short stories, novellas, or novels. As a graduating student in the Fiction genre, submit a sample from your thesis to acclaimed literary agency Aevitas Creative Management . Gain advice on the publishing strategy of your work and forge meaningful professional relationships.

Accomplished Faculty You'll be mentored by well-know writers with multiple publications to their credit.

Tony Eprile Laurie Foos Rachel Kadish Hester Kaplan Michael Lowenthal Kyoko Mori

Distinguished Visiting Writers As you progress through the program, you'll have the opportunity to work with experienced fiction writers to hone your craft. Recent visitors include:

• Steve Almond
• Julia Glass
• Lolita Hernandez
• Tom Perrotta
• Justin Torres

Graphic Novels & Comics

Through Lesley’s Graphic Novels & Comics genre, explore how to integrate text, image and design to create narrative and meaning. All practitioners of word and image work are welcome to apply, from traditional cartoonists to writers, photographers, and artists creating webcomics, zines, illustrated fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid forms. Mentorship will be tailored to students’ individual needs and projects.

Accomplished Faculty You'll be mentored by well-known creators with multiple projects and publications to their credit.

Carl Antonowicz Pamela Petro John Rozum Craft and Technique Learn the essential tools and skills involved with producing sequential narratives and other word and image pairings. Topics will include

• Graphic literacy: how words and images interact within panels and across pages
• Narrative pacing and structure
• Character development and dialogue
• Craft and tools, from drawing board to digital
• Print production and publication

Learn more about the Graphic Novels & Comics curriculum . 

Nonfiction & Memoir

Through our nonfiction & memoir genre, gain a foundational approach to craft in genres such as memoir, personal essay, literary journalism, food and travel writing, and research-based narratives. Receive professional guidance through our exclusive partnership with  Aevitas Creative Management.  Submit a sample of your thesis for an immediate read and publishing advice from the acclaimed literary agency.

Accomplished Faculty As you progress through the program, you'll be mentored by faculty with extensive experience publishing works of nonfiction & memoir.

Cindy House Rachel Manley Kyoko Mori Pamela Petro Janet Pocorobba

Distinguished Visiting Writers You'll work alongside successful nonfiction writers as they visit Cambridge during the residencies. Recent visitors include:

• Gail Caldwell
• Megan Marshall
• David Rakoff
• Jerald Walker
• Olive Senior

Through our poetry genre, learn directly from internationally-recognized poets and faculty as you explore the poetic forms and approaches that will serve to establish your aesthetic voice. Graduate deeply-read and immersed in a close-knit community that will provide ongoing support as you venture into the professional world.

Accomplished Faculty You'll be mentored by award-winning poets throughout your graduate program.

Erin Belieu Steven Cramer Joan Houlihan Kevin Prufer

Acclaimed Visiting Poets Make connections with visiting poets, who have included:

• Patrick Donnelly
• Martin Espada
• David Ferry
• Nikky Finney
• Louise Gluck
• Major Jackson
• Robert Pinsky
• David Rivard
• Oliver De La Paz
• Carl Phillips

Writing for Stage and Screen

Through our Writing for Stage and Screen genre, work on scripts with professional actors and directors while enrolled in one of the few university-based programs affiliated with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Given our location in a major metropolitan area, Lesley is one of the few low-residency MFA programs that offers graduate students staged readings of their scripts with professional actors and directors.

During your first year, write full-length scripts for stage and screen. In your second year, choose to concentrate in either stage or screen, or write another full-length play and another screenplay. During your fourth semester, participate in a Play Lab where your completed full-length play is read to students, faculty, and the public. You'll graduate with four full-length scripts and three ten-minute plays.

Accomplished Faculty Throughout the program, you'll learn from faculty whose work has been staged by prominent theater companies and presented at film festivals around the world.

Jami Brandli Barry Brodsky Ellen Lewis Cassie Seinuk Sinan Ünel

Distinguished Visiting Writers You'll connect with visiting playwrights and screenwriters, providing an opportunity to network with industry insiders. Some recent visiting playwrights and screenwriters have included:

• Constance Congdon
• Kia Corthron
• Jonathan Cott
• Molly Smith Metzler
• Theresa Rebeck
• Karen Zacarias

Writing for Young People

Through our Writing for Young People genre, create works of fiction and nonfiction while studying under award-winning faculty in the picture book, middle grade, and young adult genres. Our program maintains an exclusive agreement with  Candlewick Press , providing the opportunity for your final manuscripts to be considered for publication by this award-winning publisher. Candlewick's catalog includes picture books, middle-grade, and young adult fiction from hundreds of celebrated authors.

Accomplished Faculty You'll work closely with faculty who have substantial experience writing for children and young adults, including:

Tracey Baptiste Sara Farizan Michelle Knudsen Chris Lynch Cynthia Platt Jason Reynolds Sara Zarr

Distinguished Visiting Writers As you progress through the program, you'll connect with visiting writers who have published a variety of books for young people. Recent visitors have included:

• M.T. Anderson
• Elizabeth Bluemle
• Robie H. Harris
• Marilyn Nelson
• Maurice Sendak
• Rebecca Stead
• Renée Watson
• Jacqueline Woodson
• Kyle Lukoff
• Renee Watson

Why We Write

Jason reynolds named national ambassador for young people’s literature.

Aqueela Culbreath-Britt ’18

Axie Oh's 'Rogue Heart'

Katie Cotugno ’15

Women, History, and The Weight of Ink with Rachel Kadish

MFA in Creative Writing on Facebook #LesleyMFA

Writing books for kids who don't read books

Celeste Mohammed's 'Pleasantview' of Trinidad

Residencies in Cambridge, MA

Our residencies immerse you in a vibrant literary arts scene. Your faculty mentor will work with you throughout your residency to create a tailored plan for the upcoming semester. Seminars, lectures, and readings foster discussions about concept and craft. Genre-specific workshops allow you to share work and receive the praise/tough love that fuels you to keep writing, revising, and moving forward.

Interdisciplinary Study

Through our program’s interdisciplinary component, you can design an independent study on a topic vital to your writing, gain professional experience in publishing or education, take courses in subjects related to your concentration, and experiment in other genres.

Study Abroad in Wales

Study abroad at the Dylan Thomas International Summer School in Creative Writing, a 12-day residency in rural West Wales. Engage in on-site workshops in castles, gardens, Iron Age villages, slate and coal mines, and more. Plus, participate in readings and visits with internationally renowned Welsh writers.

Christine Bess Jones ’16

The 10 best us cities for creative workers.

Visit us. We'd love to show you around.

Shakespeare documentarian at National Press Club

Top Ranking MFA Programs

Tracey Baptiste

Leland Cheuk ’08

Making hard science easy

Sara Farizan ’10

Read more about alumni accomplishments.

Janet Pocorobba

Professor and Director, MFA in Creative Writing

I am interested in building power and voice with language, and in writing personal stories that push the boundaries of self. I’m obsessed with narrative persona, as well as the narrative modes required to shape a story. I loved braided essays and hybrid memoirs, where the story is larger than the self. Another obsession is creative writing pedagogy, which I work on with writers who want to teach. 

I work with my nonfiction writers via email, on the phone, over Zoom, however they need to work. “Who is this person writing the piece?” I want to know, “and how can I help them fulfill their intention and vision for the work?” I listen carefully—I’m a deeply intuitive writer—because writers often say out loud what they have neglected to say on the page. Speech is important to voice, and to catching the parts of ourselves that we reveal spontaneously and without censure. These are often the most important parts of the story. 

But writing is not just self-expression. The poet Billy Collins said, “Form gives you an enclosed space to work within and keep it from descending into chaos or tantrum. “ We are here not to only say what we must but to find the most effective way to say it. Artfulness comes only when one applies a shape—even in nonfiction. The separation of the author and the narrator is critical. I don’t think that demystifying the writing process has to take the magic out of it. It can add to the awe.    For more information about Janet, visit her website:  www.janetpocorobba.com  

Carl Antonowicz

Carl Antonowicz is a cartoonist, writer, performer, promoter, and musician working in Tulsa, OK. He has self-published zines, graphic novels, and minicomics since 2005, and earned his Master's in Cartooning from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2011. He teaches at Lesley as well as a number of other institutions.

"Comics can move readers in ways no other medium can, engaging interpretive processes that are often neglected by pure text-based media. 

"It's my goal to not only guide mentees through the creation of their work, but also to prepare them to bring their work to market and foster sustainable work practices to ensure a long and fruitful career in visual storytelling.

"Comics cannot be done long-term without structure, whether that be rigid deadlines, daily work sessions, intensive weeks-long drawing marathons, or some combination of the above. Throughout a mentee's time with me, we work together to not only start but finish work and bring it to print.

"An idea is worth quite a bit, but it's nothing compared to a finished piece!"

In addition to teaching and cartooning, Carl also facilitate live music events in Tulsa and performs in several bands. He also designs and performs live shows of his own comics and tours the indie comics festival circuit.

Learn more about Carl and his work on his  website  or  Instagram .

MFA in Creative Writing Faculty

The publishing industry is changing. There is a broader definition now of what storytelling looks like, and who storytellers are. But change is coming painfully slowly, and it needs to be changed from all fronts, including accepting that there are different, beautiful, engaging ways to tell a story than we have previously seen on our shelves, in our classrooms, and in our workshops.

The traditional workshop model worked for those whose stories were traditionally acceptable, stories that often perpetuated bias and cut out many voices. I work to educate myself about storytelling from different cultures. I actively seek new ways to create workshops that embrace different story styles and push the individual creator forward. I love the low-residency model of the Creative Writing program because I can individualize instruction for each mentee.

It is, I hope, a way to break new ground while also cracking open something for each writer. The goal is to find stories that only you can tell, and the format that best serves the story, and then focusing on the craft that illuminates both. It is tough, careful work, and my favorite thing about teaching.

Learn more about Tracey Baptise on her website .

Erin Belieu

Erin is a poet and writer whose work focuses on gender, love, and history.  In 2009, along with the poet Cate Marvin, Belieu founded the national literary organization VIDA.

Jami Brandli

To be an effective dramatist, I believe you must do three things:

•  Know what your characters want
•  Never make it too easy on your characters
•  You, the dramatist, must love your characters, even the most despicable ones.

Writing a script, play or screenplay, is a journey, and as your teacher/mentor, I'll do my best to guide you in writing the script you want to write. At the same time, I'll be asking all the hard questions of the script. No doubt, my main focus will be on character, for the core of all drama is "character in action." "Character in action" applies to every script, from a high-concept action-adventure screenplay to an intimate two-person play.

An interview with Jami Brandli

Barry Brodsky

I have been teaching playwriting since 1990 and screenwriting since 1998. My total love for theatre and movies (and TV too) as well as the history of these genres, drives my instruction. I'm always intrigued at the seemingly infinite number of ways people want to tell a visual story. Just when I thought I'd seen it all, some student will come to a class, or send me an assignment, that will test the boundaries of everything I thought I knew about writing for the Stage and Screen. And that's when the fun begins. As I read something I'm working on, I'll often stop and think "I'd never accept this from a student," shake my head, hit the "delete" button, and try it again.

It all pays off when I'm sitting in a theatre, or a classroom, and watching (or listening) to a student's work being read or performed. I remember the piece's various drafts. I marvel when something I told the student wouldn't work does work after all. I can feel the attention being paid to the spoken word. And I can't imagine doing anything else.

Steven Cramer

Professor, Creative Writing

I teach creative writing as the art that it is. Teachers of any art can’t implant true originality, or stoke the “fire in the belly” without the help of ready kindling, but they can nurture, through attentive challenge, the promise of apprentice artists. That dynamic involves the student’s willingness to recognize critique as a kind of caring, and the teacher’s alertness to the constraints and capacities of the apprentice.  The way a painter teaches studio art, or guitar instructors position their students’ fingers on the frets—that’s how good creative writing mentors teach.  And they don’t confuse rigor with ruthlessness, even as they know artists must be ruthless with themselves. Yes, they have to provide an honest appraisal of the merits of a student’s work-in-progress—promising or unpromising—but that can be done with what Seamus Heaney beautifully calls “care for the emotional tissues.”

I'm interested in how poetic traditions of all sort live inside our own work. I don’t believe that creative writing exists without creative, constant, and catholic reading. I know of no serious writer who didn’t first love reading.

When a poem is finished, it is a gift that no longer belongs to the poet.  

Tony Eprile

My teaching philosophy is constantly evolving...in response to what I'm reading, encountering in daily life and in the classroom, or learning from my students. My basic goal is to provide my students with the tools to teach themselves. Some of these tools have to do with how we gain access to the creative, inspired, subconscious sides of ourselves; others have to do with our critical faculties. The writing workshops are particularly useful to help people learn to become their own best editors through editing the work of others.

Beyond that, I'm strongly interested in questions of how we live in, engage with, and observe the world. I teach a seminar on the art of observation or "seeing like a writer." Understanding our own habits of mind and how these affect what and how we see is vital to also understanding that others see differently, and that you can show a great deal about who people are by what it is that they notice or fail to notice.

My aim is to encourage my students to move their own work to its highest level, not to write like me or according to some prerequisite standard of what makes a good story. There are always a variety of styles and approaches to writing in my workshop, and I'm delighted when someone "goes too far." Beyond that, I have to agree with Henry James that "the only condition that I can think of attaching to the composition of (a work of fiction) is, that it be interesting.

Laurie Foos

My philosophies regarding the teaching of writing are these: that the gateway to the unconscious must be opened, through habit and practice, in the production of creative material, or the writing cannot succeed. As a mentor, I ask students to describe the actual process that goes on in the writing of a story (or novel), and specifically how the story or novel idea came to be, how it germinated. Often stories succeed or fail when they are conceived in the rational part of the mind, or when the rational mind is too soon engaged.

I encourage students to risk themselves in their work, to be bold, for only in the act of risk can there be growth. The two years in an MFA program is in and of itself a permission slip, perhaps the one time they've been afforded to place writing in the center of their lives, and therefore students should use this time to try as many different styles as possible. In this way it is also important that they be exposed to many different types of writing, both contemporary and from the canon. In this way they are exposed to the many ways other writers approach the craft. What matters, I always tell students, is what has been gained in the process of taking risks.

Joan Houlihan

In poetry, more than in any other type of writing, language drives meaning. By focusing on the small elements of craft: line, syntax and line break, image and metaphor, sound and diction, I believe the poet finds a way to discover and inform the large elements: inspiration, intention, concept, invention, and communication. I engage each poem—and student—on their own terms, taking them as far (and deep) as possible, while challenging the student to examine their assumptions about what a poem can do. Through my extensive experience as an editor, I am especially able to help envision and re-envision a poem as well as a thesis/manuscript. My students have published books and chapbooks as well as poems in journals.

Cindy House

My teaching philosophy always comes back to the Tim O'Brien quote, "Stories can save us." To support someone as they dig down to the truth of their life, hunting for the spine of meaning, feels like a kind of religion, an honor and a sacred duty. I feel like my job is somewhere between being a witness and an interrogator. Asking the right questions to help the writer find their path and then knowing when to be silent as they talk their way into it feels like the most important part of the job to me.

One thing I like to encourage in the writers I work with is a sense of freedom to find their own form. How do you find the right frame for your story? What is the very specific structure that will shine a light onto the heart of what you have to say?

Rachel Kadish

Good writing makes us our most honest selves, and as a faculty mentor I'm fundamentally committed to coaching students as they work to set down the truth - whether it takes the form of fiction or nonfiction. When I work with a student, my most important job is to notice everything I can about that student's writing. Because the best way I know to understand writing is through detail - what Ryszard Kapuscinski called "the universe in the raindrop" - I focus on very close readings of student manuscripts. I try to read not only the story that's on the page, but also the story that might only be hinted at, because the writer hasn't yet dared write it. Sometimes this kind of reading leads us to focus together on what initially seemed only a faint tracery on the page - but might in fact be the barely audible heartbeat of the story that the writer truly needs to tell. My students know I'd rather they take risks and fail than write safe stories that leave no mark on either reader or writer. I congratulate my students on attempting each big leap, even if they fall hard - that sort of failure is productive, necessary, catalyzing.

I write fiction and nonfiction and have edited radio drama, but I learn a great deal from other genres and art forms, and I encourage my students to do the same - to attend playwriting workshops, read craft books written for sculptors. Art should always be surprising, and I want my students to surprise themselves; to raise the bar again and again; to be delighted by their own and others' contributions to the fledgling writing community that is a workshop. I believe in taking a student's writing more seriously than he or she may have dared take it... I tend to focus intensely on character development, as so much of a story's structure and plot grow out of character... I have a particular interest in the ways in which history and politics are metabolized through art. That said, I try to leaven seriousness with humor, with compassion, and with the sense that good writing is absolutely essential, though producing it can feel like pulling one's soul through a sieve. If we do this work well together, then the heartbeat of a story, perhaps only faintly audible in the first draft, strengthens. These are the best moments. A student revises and I critique, the student revises and revises again... and then abruptly the student is off and running without need of more advice, and we're looking at a draft together, and we can all of us hear that heart beating.

Listen to Rachel Kadish talk about her work on Lesley's podcast, Why We Write. Also available here: iTunes , Stitcher , Google Play or Spotify.

Hester Kaplan

My most valuable teaching tool is the work itself, whether it's a piece of student writing, or the published work of a seasoned author. I'm interested in how and why a piece of fiction engages the reader, and I ask my students to consider what elements make a story and lead them to feel a certain way. I ask them where the engagement is happening on the page, and what dynamic is taking place between the reader and the words. This search is often where the student, transferring this consideration to his own work, discovers what his story is really about. This exploration, if we take a risk and allow it to, will lead the writer to discover the truth in and about his own writing.

I stress revision as the time when a piece of work finds its form and meaning, and when all the elements of fiction we talk about in seminars and workshops and submissions come together to serve the story. Revision - that process of chipping away, fine-tuning, and rethinking - is also about looking at the language and considering the cadence and the music of the writing. It's during revision that we feel ourselves itching to leave the work and run away, but it's those drops of sweat, that racing heart, that lets us know we're about to get to the true and genuine stuff.

I love teaching in Lesley's program and find my students enormously inspiring. Learn more about Hester at her website, www.hesterkaplan.com , or at www.goathillwriters.com

Michelle Knudsen

Michelle Knudsen is the New York Times best-selling author of fifty books for young readers of all ages, including the award-winning picture book Library Lion, which was selected by Time magazine as one of the 100 Best Children's Books of All Time. Her other books include the picture book Marilyn's Monster (one of NPR's Best Books of 2015) and the novels The Dragon of Trelian (VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers) and Evil Librarian (YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults and winner of the Sid Fleischman Award for Humor). Michelle also works as a freelance editor and writing coach. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. 

Connect with Michelle through her website at  www.michelleknudsen.com . 

Ellen Lewis

E. M. Lewis is an award-winning playwright, teacher, and opera librettist. Her work has been produced around the world, and published by Samuel French. She received the Steinberg Award for both  How the Light Gets In  and  Song of Extinction  and the Primus Prize for  Heads  from the American Theater Critics Association, the Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for outstanding writing of a world premiere play, a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, a playwriting fellowship from the New Jersey State Arts Commission, the 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama, and an Edgerton Award for her epic Antarctic play,  Magellanica,  that was produced at Artists Repertory Theater in 2018 and released as a five-part audio podcast in 2020.

Other plays by Lewis include:  Apple Season  (which received a rolling world premiere from the National New Play Network in 2019) , Infinite Black Suitcase ,  The Gun Show  (which has had more than fifty productions across the country and went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland),  True Story, Dorothy's Dictionary, You Can See All the Stars  (a play for college students commissioned by the Kennedy Center), and  How the Light Gets In  (a semi-finalist for the O’Neill that premiered at Boston Court Pasadena in 2019).

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant , a new opera commissioned by American Lyric Theater that Lewis is working on with composer Evan Meier, had an orchestral workshop in New York City in February 2020.  Town Hall , her opera about health care in America, created with composer Theo Popov, was produced at University of Maryland and Willamette University. She wrote a ten-minute musical called  The Letter  with composer Stacey Philipps, and is working on a full-length musical called  In the Deep  with composer Roscoe McDonald.

Lewis is currently working on a big, new political play called  The Great Divide , commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of their American Revolutions program, and co-commissioned by Artists Repertory Theater, where she is Playwright in Residence through the Mellon Foundation National Playwright Residency Program. Lewis is a proud member of LineStorm Playwrights, Opera America, and the Dramatists Guild. She is represented by Samara Harris at the Michael Moore Agency. She lives on her family’s farm in Oregon. 

Michael Lowenthal

To walk a fictional mile in someone else's fictional shoes, first you have to make that pair of shoes; it helps to know something about cobbling. After many years in the footwear trade, as it were, I'm happy to share with students anything I've learned about uppers and soles (or even, on a good day, maybe, souls).

Chris Lynch

Having worked with quite a few editors over the past twenty years, I feel my strongest work as a teacher is when I bring the best of those experiences to my students. The most energizing exchanges always came when I realized a great editor was in fact pouring her energy into channelling me, rather than battling me. I believe new writers come to us wanting to sound like their best selves, I believe they are right to feel this way, and I believe it is my duty to help them achieve this. (We may sometimes have to debate what that best self might actually be, but that too is part of the fun.)

In workshop there is one horse I feel is never too dead to beat: our objective is to get the writer back to the keyboard. All feedback does not need to be cheerleading but it does need to be designed to leave the writer with the ideas - and the will - to go back and make the work stronger.

Rachel Manley

I do not have a teaching philosophy. Maybe empathy. But that's not philosophy. As a mentor I try to intuit what's in the minds and hearts of the writers I work with, hoping to help sharpen their philosophy, their thoughts, their words, and their meaning, so that they can achieve whatever special literary goal they have set for themselves. In the end, if I do have to define a philosophy of teaching, or the technique I use to buttress that philosophy, then simply, it is to use my experience as a writer in guiding and assisting my students along their journey to fulfill their imagination.

In the early drafts, I'm mostly interested in helping you see what is at the heart of the story. Who is this character, what does he or she want, and why do you, the writer, see him or her in that particular place doing that particular thing? I try to get you to understand the elements of the story that interest you the most - the characters, the place and the time setting, the images that started you thinking about the story in the first place, the one sentence that seemed right and important from the beginning - in order to sort out what is essential and what is not. My job is to help you figure out which things you started out with are worth keeping and developing, and (just as importantly) to encourage you to be utterly ruthless about throwing out the rest.

In the middle stages, I try to help you with the overall structure of the narrative: where to begin, what to explain right away, what to reveal more gradually along the way, how much to leave open-ended. This is a good time to consider and reconsider what is plausible and what is not, what is confusing to the reader and what is so clear that it doesn't need to be explained, where the story happens too fast and where it bogs down. With every subsequent draft, more attention can be paid to each paragraph, each sentence, each word. The final revision in which we get to scrutinize every word is a real pleasure and reward. I enjoy teaching because I like to see the story come into focus over time; it's both a pleasure and an honor to be part of that process. Learn more about Kyoko at her website: www.kyokomori.com

Pamela Petro

Pamela teaches in the Nonfiction and Graphic Novel & Comics genres of Lesley's MFA in Creative Writing program. Pamela views the mentoring relationship in both as a dialogue rather than a traditional teaching experience.

"The most important thing I’ve discovered as a working writer, and that I can convey to students, is that inspiration comes from writing. Writing doesn’t come from inspiration. Slogging out one word after another, sketching one comics panel after the next—especially when you don’t know what you want to say or where you’re going—is an act of great bravery. It’s also the only way I know to sufficiently rev up my imagination to take creative leaps into the unknown. The usual advice is to write what you know. I say, write what you are familiar with, not what you know. The very act of writing helps us articulate the deep, important things we didn’t even know we knew. Only writing affords me access to that place of understanding inside me. And I see my job at Lesley University as helping students find their way to that place inside themselves."

In addition to mentoring students, Pamela directs the Dylan Thomas Summer School in Creative Writing at The University of Wales where Lesley MFA students have been attending for credit since the program began in 2014. If you’ve ever wanted to write about an 11 th -century Welsh castle while in that castle, or compose a poem in the style of Dylan Thomas in Dylan Thomas’ childhood bedroom, come with us to Wales.

Learn more about Pam on her website and connect with her on Instagram @petropamela

Cynthia Platt

Cynthia Platt is the author of books for young readers for all ages, ranging from board books to young adult fiction. Her picture books include Grow, A Little Bit of Love, and Panda-monium . She’s also the author of the young middle grade novel Parker Bell & the Science of Friendship , the YA novel Postcards from Summer , and numerous Curious George books. She also teaches undergraduate liberal arts courses at Montserrat College of Art. With more than twenty years under her belt as an editor of books for young readers at Candlewick Press and the former Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade publisher, she brings her experiences as both a writer and editor to her work as a faculty mentor for Writing for Young People MFA program.

You can learn more about Cynthia at her website: cynthiaplattbooks.com

Kevin Prufer

Keven Prufer teaches in the Poetry genre of the MFA in Creative Writing program.

"Like other art forms, poetry at its best is a kind of complex communication—a way one mind speaks to a multitude of minds, many of them not yet born. What attracts me to poetry particularly is not merely the way it compresses or asserts meaning, but the way a poem can hold multiple, often conflicting, meanings. The poems I admire are frequently born out of ambivalence—out of strong feelings or beliefs in conflicting directions. These poems ask difficult, vital human questions, but their object is not necessarily to answer these questions. They are, in fact, often unanswerable. Instead, they think about them with purpose and complexity, helping us reformulate them for ourselves."

Although Kevin loves to talk about the technical aspects of poetry writing—rhyme, meter, image, tone—Kevin generally approaches drafts of student poems with these 3 questions:

• What questions is this poem engaged with?
• How does it go about trying to think about these questions?
• How might it do so more successfully?

Connect with Kevin through his website .

Jason Reynolds

My philosophy is to have a good time getting to know the characters in the stories. Let's all ask the questions, the hard ones, the funny ones, the ridiculous ones, to make sure the characters are breathing. Then, once they are alive, we can be better informed of the development of the plot. Also, I believe in positive reinforcement. I refuse to edit without highlighting strengths. My job is to serve as sort of a literary "personal trainer."  When you show up to my "gym," I'll be certain to let you know how great you look, and far along you've come. I'm going to tell you how proud I am, and how I can finally see the abs coming in. And then, we're going to hit the weights and work our butts off, pushing you to the limit for the desired goal — a perfectly chiseled story.

Aside from writing for television, magazines, and video games, John Rozum has been writing comics professionally for over thirty years. He has written for companies such as Marvel, DC, Topps, Milestone Media, Boom! Studios, Interpop Comics, and others. He has written characters such as Daredevil, Batman, Superman, and Scooby-Doo, and properties ranging from The X-Files to Dexter ’s Laboratory . He is best known as the creator of the critically acclaimed Xombi and Midnight, Mass . Currently, he is writing the digital comic, The Abyss, for Interpop Comics. He has been an independent study advisor in writing graphic novels for Lesley University since 2012.

Cassie Seinuk

Cassie M. Seinuk is a playwright, AEA Stage Manager, visual artist and educator in Boston, MA. Her play, From the Deep , has won multiple awards, including The Pestalozzi New Play Prize and the Latinidad Playwrights Award at the Kennedy Center. It was also a recipient of the Boston University Jewish Culture Endowment, and it appeared on the 2015 Kilroys Honorable Mention List. The production of From the Deep received IRNE Award nominations and nearly sold out at 2016 FringeNYC Festival.

Eyes Shut. Door Open. or “ ESDO ” was a recipient of the Bob Jolly Charitable Fund Grant. ESDO  won the 2016 OnStage Critics Award for an Outstanding New Work. Short play,  Occupy Hallmark , won the 2015 National Ten Minute Play Award at the Kennedy Center. Her newest play, Dream House , was developed at New Repertory Theatre as part of Next Voices Fellows, and has earned her a Mass. Cultural Council Fellowship. 

Seinuk’s short plays have been produced nationwide. She is a member of Boston Public Works, The Dramatist Guild, and AEA, and is a 2017 Mass. Cultural Council Fellow Finalist. As a stage manager, Seinuk has worked with Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Central Square Theatre (The Nora and URT), Bridge Rep of Boston, SpeakEasy, and The Berkshire Theatre Group.

"Playwrights are given the gift of creating entire worlds for our audiences to experience with all five senses. We are able to make magic happen before their eyes with our words.  I want you to know what your character wants and what they will do to get what they want.  As a faculty mentor, I want you to dream wild, write imaginatively, and ask big questions from your plays and screenplays." - Cassie Seinuk

When asked what principle qualities make a good dramatist, playwright David Hare replied without hesitation: “Good playwrights have a distinctive view of the world. It’s their world view. It’s how they see the world.” This is the mantra that steers me as artist and as instructor. If my first job is to ensure that students discover, value and cultivate that individual perspective, my second - and perhaps more important - job is to give them the tools to bring forth a work of art.

Sara Zarr is the author of nine novels for young readers, as well as  Courageous Creativity: Advice and Encouragement for the Creative Life  and  This Creative Life: A Handbook for Writers.  All of her fiction is contemporary realism, with a focus on the inter- and intrapersonal dramas within the family unit, broadly defined. Her nonfiction (both short and long form) ranges in focus from the psychological and practical obstacles to a productive writing life, to how childhood trauma and dysfunction play out in adulthood, to faith and religion in art and culture. 

Sara is a National Book Award finalist and two-time Utah Book Award winner. Her books have been variously named to annual best books lists of the American Library Association, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, and the International Reading Association. Her essays and creative nonfiction have been published in  Image ,  Relief, Gather , and several anthologies. She also hosts and produce the This Creative Life podcast.

• Low-Residency
• Tuition $975/credit x 49 $47,775
• Fees Residency Fees $2,000 Comprehensive Fee $1,225

All graduate students are reviewed for merit scholarships through the admissions process and are awarded at the time of acceptance. Other forms of financial aid are also available. Review all graduate tuition and fees , and what they cover. Tuition and fees are subject to change each year, effective in the Summer term.

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Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing

Master of fine arts in creative writing and poetics (low-residency).

Our low-residency MFA provides the structure, support, and professional development you need to take your writing to the next level .

Program Overview

Naropa’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing is designed for writers ready to hone their craft and earn their Master of Fine Arts degree through rigorous, cross-genre study. Students who can’t relocate to our Colorado Campus can acquire a quality asynchronous education with in-person residencies.

Whether you have a novel in progress, are preparing for a PhD program, or looking to strengthen your prose, poetry, and hybrid writing, our low-residency creative writing MFA program provides you with resources, accountability, and inspiration that fit your schedules.

Naropa takes traditional low-residency MFA programs a step further with our history of experimental and innovative writing, critical study, and cross-genre publishing. Our unique cross-genre online writing courses, generative residencies, and one-on-one mentorship provide students with a writing community, no matter where they live.

Cross-Genre Curriculum

Unlike other Creative Writing MFA programs, our low-residency MFA is open-genre. This means that writers can work in fiction, poetry, prose, non-fiction, playwriting, and hybrid forms throughout their degree program. Students experiment with narrative structures and forms that fit their unique voices. Writers develop their unique style, critical ear, and vast knowledge of contemporary trends across literary genres.

One-on-One Mentorship

One-on-one mentorship and small online writing classes help writers develop their style, refine their editing skills, and publish their work. Each writer dedicates their final semester to a thesis manuscript. Working one-on-one with their thesis mentor and workshopping with classmates through written exchange, students finish their MFA with a completed manuscript in the genre of their choice.

Generative Residencies

Every semester, our Low-Residency MFA students gather in Boulder, Colorado, for enriching and energizing residencies. MFA students meet one-on-one with mentors, enjoy master classes with guest writers, attend readings, and bond with writers. Residencies also overlap with our spring and fall symposiums, providing students with a rich 4-days of community and inspiration. Each academic year culminates in a week-long writing intensive at Naropa’s Summer Writing Program. This annual festival brings over 60 artists, writers, and thinkers to Boulder, for workshops, readings, panels, and professional development.

Quick Facts

• Fifteen annual days of residency in Boulder, CO
• Open-genre curriculum
• One-on-one mentorship with accomplished faculty
• Unique Experimental Approach
• Participation in the Summer Writing Problem
• Cohort model developing a strong sense of community among MFA students
• Several Scholarship and Financial Aid Opportunities
• Applications open for August 2025

Program Format

Naropa’s Creative Writing MFA is a rigorous, generative, low-residency two-year program with 4 writing residencies in beautiful Boulder Colorado. The program combines asynchronous craft courses with on-campus residencies. 

Annual fall and spring residencies allow writers to connect with other writers and faculty , deepen their craft, and participate in symposium readings and panels with other MFA students in Boulder, CO. Spring and Fall Residencies run from Saturday through Tuesday during the Spring and Fall JKS Symposiums.

The summer residency immerses writers in a full week of the Jack Kerouac School’s world-renowned Summer Writing Program . Here, students attend workshops, lectures, panels, and readings by numerous visiting writers to hone their craft, make connections, speak on student panels, and prepare for the next step in their writing career.

Course Spotlight

Craft of writing: rooting in the archive.

This course delves into the Naropa University Archive and its rich offerings to explore traditions, movements, and/or schools of writing that inform or extend the aesthetic vision of the Jack Kerouac School toward mindful writing. Possible recent historical examples include New American Poetry, the Beats, San Francisco Renaissance, the New York School, Black Mountain Poetics, the Black Arts Movement, and Language poetry, among others.

Degree Requirements

Unlike many online creative writing MFA programs, our asynchronous classes build community through writer-to-writer feedback and a structured curriculum.

26 credits of online asynchronous craft courses

Students work one-on-one with a mentor, exchanging packets —consisting of letters, bibliographies, contemplative reflections, creative manuscripts, and critical essays—throughout the semester.

• WRI-631E Craft of Writing: Rooting in the Archive(6)
• WRI-648E Craft of Writing: Contemplative Experiments(6)
• WRI-678E Craft of Writing: Cultures & Communities(4)
• WRI-735E Craft of Writing: Contemporary Trends(6)
• WRI-700E Professional Development: Writing Pedagogy (4)
• WRI-755E Craft of Writing: Professional Development (4)

6 credits of MFA Thesis

6 credits of MFA Thesis (faculty mentorship on a book-length creative manuscript)

4 credits of the Summer Writing Program

Two eight-day summer residencies are completed at Naropa’s Boulder campus. Choose two of the following:

• WRI-751 Summer Writing Program(2)
• WRI-752 Week Two Summer Writing Program(2)
• WRI-753 Summer Writing Program(2)

4 credits of fall and spring residencies in Boulder, CO.

• WRI-789WE Fall Residency(1)
• WRI-791WE Spring Residency(1)

Why Choose Naropa?

Strong writing tradition.

Founded in 1974 by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics encourages experimental forms across genres , pushing for innovation inside and outside the classroom.

Career Readiness

Whether a student plans to teach, write, edit, or work in publishing, our low-residency program provides the framework they need to develop their professional skills alongside a vibrant and supportive writing community.

In-house Publishing

The Kerouac School’s student-run Bombay Gin literary journal publishes work from promising students and distributes it nationally through Small Press Distribution. Students interested in fine-craft letterpress printing can learn at Naropa’s Harry Smith Print Shop and Kavyayantra Press.

How this Program Prepares You

Professional dossier.

Graduates from our low-residency Creative Writing MFA emerge from the program with a solid record of written work . The pieces that make up their dossier are workshopped with peers and perfectioned with guidance from their tutor.

Critical Analysis

You’ll emerge from the program with critical analysis skills that go beyond reading between the lines of a written work. The program will teach you to recognize the role of intersectionality in the literary arts, looking at the wider spectrum that surrounds a piece, and identifying bias, assumptions and stereotypes.

Unleashing creativity

Our workshops, classes and Summer Writing Program encourage students to harness their creativity by exploring experimental forms . Low-residency students receive on-on one mentoring to help them develop their creative writing skills to the fullest, as well as feedback from their writing community, be it online or during their residency.

What You'll Learn

Highly developed writing craft.

Hone your voice in every step of the writing process.

Skill in Critical Analysis

Learn to discuss literary works through a variety of critical lenses.

Contemplative Writing Practice:

Use your writing practice as a tool for self-inquiry and discovery.

Social and Cultural Awareness

Recognize the role of race, class, and gender in literary history and works.

Career Preparedness

Graduate with a publishable manuscript and/or professional dossier.

Career Opportunities with a MFA in Creative Writing

• Lyricist: write words for songs, matching melody and rhyme.
• Poet: use language to creatively express emotion, ideas and experiences.
• Proofreader: check written work for errors and inconsistencies.
• English Teacher: teach at the postsecondary level.
• Author: craft and publish original material.
• Editor: review and improve written work for publication.

Hear from a Graduate

Jackie henrion, faqs about the mfa in creative writing, what is a low residency mfa in creative writing, why choose a low residency mfa creative writing program, how long does it take to complete a low residency mfa in creative writing, how is naropa’s low residency mfa in creative writing different from other programs, what types of funding are available.

Students in the low-residency version of the MFA program may receive partial funding by applying for scholarships and Graduate Assistantships. Visit our Graduate Scholarship page for details.

Learn More About the Program

Connect with your counselor

Rachel thompson.

Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions 

• 303-970-9831
• [email protected]
• Schedule Appointment

Ready to Apply?

Admission requirements.

Naropa University values both academic excellence and critical self-reflection . Our application process not only evaluates academic performance but also candidates’ openness and willingness to engage in contemplation.

Learn more about admission requirements and the application process for our Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA.

Graduate Students

Prospective students who have completed an undergraduate degree are welcome to apply to Naropa. When applying, candidates must submit a transcript of their undergraduate coursework, a statement of interest, a resume, two letters of interest and a creative writing sample. They may also apply for financial aid at this stage. Discover all admission requirements.

International Students

If you obtained your undergraduate diploma from a non-US university, we require additional documentation to review your application. Learn how to apply to Naropa as an international student.

Costs and Financial Aid

Naropa University students have access to several financial aid opportunities and scholarships – over 75% of our graduate students receive some sort of financial support to pursue their studies. Use our calculator to estimate your tuition, housing, materials and other costs.

Graduate Scholarship Opportunities

Interested in our Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA?

Read our blog or listen to our podcast, heartfire festival returns to naropa university, episode 92. andrew schelling: writing as a spiritual practice, womxn of naropa celebrates national poetry month, summer writing program from the archives, together in spirit, student support and resources, academic support, online student support, career & life development, financial aid, accessibility, related programs, mfa in creative writing, ba in creative writing and literature, request information, plan a visit, about naropa, events & community, user information, support naropa.

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Naropa campuses closed on friday, march 15, 2024.

Due to adverse weather conditions, all Naropa campuses will be closed Friday, March 15, 2024.  All classes that require a physical presence on campus will be canceled. All online and low-residency programs are to meet as scheduled.

Based on the current weather forecast, the Healing with the Ancestors Talk & Breeze of Simplicity program scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday will be held as planned.

Staff that do not work remotely or are scheduled to work on campus, can work remotely. Staff that routinely work remotely are expected to continue to do so.

As a reminder, notifications will be sent by e-mail and the LiveSafe app.  

Regardless of Naropa University’s decision, if you ever believe the weather conditions are unsafe, please contact your supervisor and professors.  Naropa University trusts you to make thoughtful and wise decisions based on the conditions and situation in which you find yourself in.

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Best Writing Residencies in 2024 for Emerging Writers

• on Dec 20, 2023
• in International Writing Events
• Last update: August 27th, 2024

If you have a busy schedule, finding the time to write in peace and quiet can be rather difficult. So if you find yourself in need of a break from the hustle and bustle to finish your writing projects, consider applying for a writing residency. These programs offer writers a dedicated space and time to focus on their work, away from the distractions of everyday life.

The benefits of a writing residency are many. For one, it can provide writers with the much-needed time and space to focus on their work. In addition, residencies can offer writers a chance to connect with other writers, learn from experienced mentors, and receive feedback on their work. Finally, residencies can be a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and immerse oneself in the creative process.

Image by Freepik

To find the right residency for you. We’ve compiled a list of all the top writing residencies in 2024. Just use our filtering tool below to find the perfect one for you; no matter where you are in the world, you’ll find a residency that fits your needs.

Wurlitzer Foundation Artist Residency Program

Jentel Artist Residency

GlogauAIR Residency

Loghaven Artist Residency

Anaphora Writing Residency

Hambidge Creative Residency Program

National Centre for Writing Residency

Art Omi Writers Residency

Millay Arts Residency

Tusen Takk Foundation Residency

Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency

33OC: Spring Artist Residency

La Baldi Residency

Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts Residency

StudioWorks Artist Residency

Craigardan Writer’s Residency

The Anderson Center Artist Residencies

Playa Flamingo Writing Residency

Creekside Arts Residency

Another Chicago Magazine Residency

Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts

Miss Sarah: Fellowship for Black Women

Nieman Foundation Fellowship

O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism

Ucross Residency

MacDowell Residency

Visual Art Center of Richmond Residency

San José State University Steinbeck Fellowships in Creative Writing

Good Hart Artist Residency

Essere Writer & Artist Residency

James Merrill House Writing Residency

La Napoule Residency

Mt. San Angelo Residencies, VCCA in Virginia

Ralph A. Johnston Memorial Fellowship

Buinho Creative Hub Residencies

Ou-telier Residency

Vermont Studio Center Residency

Sarasvati Creative Space

A.I.R. Studio Paducah Residency

Event horizon resicency.

Taleamor Park Residency

Gullkistan Residency

Rockvale Writers’ Colony Residency

Studio Faire Residency

The Narrows Artist Residency

Tyrone Guthrie Residency

Let Madrid Inspire You: ROOSTERGNN Residency

360 Xochi Quetzal

A writing residency may be just what you need to break through writer’s block and also get some support on your writing journey. Whether you pick a short program or a long one, you can rest assured that you will get the writing time you need to cross the finish line.

Amazing Writing Retreats to Attend in 2024

The 2024 International Book Fairs Calendar

The Comprehensive List of 2024 Writing Contests

The Best Writing Conferences and Workshops to Attend in 2024

The Most Vibrant Literary Festivals Happening in 2024

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Lasekan Obasola

I am an emerging writer/ novelist domiciled in Nigeria . I need international/ corporate interactions to solidify .

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Graduate Program in Creative Writing

Master of Arts in Creative Writing, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts

Genre Fiction, Nature Writing, Poetry, Publishing, Screenwriting – an advanced degree in any of our five areas of creative writing provides you the opportunity to hone your craft, elevate your art, and inspire the world. Join our welcoming and inclusive community and become the writer you are meant to be. To learn more about our program directly from our faculty and students, check out our program video .

Program Overview

Pursue your dream of becoming a published author.

If you’re looking to get serious about your writing and you’re eager to join a thriving and diverse community of writers, then you’ll find your niche in Western Colorado University’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing. Our five innovative areas of study—Genre Fiction, Nature Writing, Poetry, Publishing, and Screenwriting—offer cutting-edge courses, and our dedicated faculty of award-winning writers will ensure that you achieve your full potential as a writer.

Our low-residency model makes a graduate education accessible. During the academic year, students work closely with faculty and fellow students through videoconferencing and online courses. Each summer, all students take intensive courses that culminate in a one-week residency on Western’s beautiful campus in late July. These residencies are packed full of exciting courses, inspirational workshops and lively social events.

Sharing work in community

Screenwriting student Tia Phillip giving a reading at the 2023 Open-Mic Night

Faculty & Staff

Kevin j. anderson, mfa.

Director, Publishing Concentration

Byron Aspaas, MFA

Poetry Faculty

Karen Auvinen, Ph.D.

Nature Writing Faculty

Claire Boyles, M.A.

Screenwriting and Nature Writing Faculty

Steve Coughlin, MFA

Professor of English

Julie E. Czerneda

Genre Fiction Thesis Mentor

Amy Fox, MFA

Screenwriting Faculty

CMarie Fuhrman, MFA

Associate Director; Director, Poetry Concentration; Faculty, Nature Writing Concentration

Geoff Geib, MFA

Gwyneth gibby, m.a..

Publishing Faculty

Sarah Goettsch

Graduate Program in Creative Writing Coordinator

Carol D. Guerrero-Murphy, Ph.D.

Tyson hausdoerffer, ph.d..

Director, Graduate Program in Creative Writing

Mitali Jahagirdar, MFA

Tenea d. johnson, m.a., julie kane, ph.d., lindsay king-miller, mfa.

Thesis Mentor

Gary Lilley

Allyson longueira, m.a., js mayank, mfa.

Interim Director of Screenwriting

Cameron McGill, MFA

Candace nadon, ph.d..

Genre Fiction Faculty

Johanna Parkhurst, M.A.

Director, Genre Fiction Concentration

Laura Pritchett, Ph.D.

Director, Nature Writing Concentration

Laura Resau, M.A.

Nature Writing/Genre Fiction Faculty

Ligiah Villalobos Rojas, MFA

Liz sczudlo.

Screenwriting Thesis Consultant

Andrew Sellon, MFA

GPCW Faculty, Performance Coach

Derek Sheffield, MFA

Ana maria spagna, mfa, anna stileski, m.a..

Executive Assistant

Richard Wilber, Ed.D.

Genre Fiction Faculty, Graduate Thesis Coordinator

Maya Jewell Zeller, MFA

Nature Writing and Poetry Faculty

Laura Pritchett

Laura Pritchett, who directs the MFA with a concentration in Nature Writing, has two novels coming out in 2024, and they could not be more different.

Ligiah Villalobos Rojas

Melissa Dalton-Martinez

Lara Richardson

Take the first steps toward your academic and personal growth..

Fostering your intellectual development is the primary focus of every academic program at Western. Our professors and Office of Career Services will help you identify your strengths, hone your skills, define your goals, and prepare for a fulfilling and enriched life after graduation.

News & Research

Western’s MFA Director Laura Pritchett’s latest novel is born from a world on fire

Western Earns Accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission

Western Poetry Faculty Member Chosen for Prestigious Poetry Prize

Teaching into the Firetower

Western’s CMarie Fuhrman Releases New Anthology & Public Radio Podcast

Nature Writing and Western Press Books to Produce Inaugural Book

Renown Author Karen Auvinen to Join Western Faculty

Western Instructor Named to Top Writer’s Honor

Graduate Program Pushes Caps on Enrollment During Pandemic

Western Professor Named to Authors’ Hall of Fame

Additional resources, admission requirements & application.

Western’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing considers applications in four waves throughout the year: Early Admissions, from July 1 through November …

Tuition & Fees

Full-time enrollment in the MFA extends over 25 months, spanning four non-residency semesters and three Summer Residencies. Students may also attend half-time or take a leave of …

Scholarships & Financial Aid

The GPCW is deeply committed to raising funds to support our students. Each year we offer substantial direct-funding scholarships. The GPCW is currently …

Summer Residency

The highlight of our academic year is the Summer Residency, held each July on Western’s beautiful campus in Gunnison, Colorado.

How can a low-residency format create a sense of community among students and faculty?…

Publications

Publications in the Creative Writing Graduate Program Explore the publications below to discover the depth and breadth of Western’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing: Think Journal Christine …

GPCW Mission, Indigenous Commitment and DEIA+ Statements

The Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Western Colorado University seeks to create transformative learning experiences for our students, built from a strong foundation that honors our students’ unique voices and is supported within inclusive environments established both virtually and at yearly residency gatherings.

Learn More about the GPCW

Interested in learning more about the Graduate Program in Creative Writing? There’s no better way to get to know our program than through the voices of our faculty and students. Tune in to watch this informational video about everything you’ll look forward to as a student in our program.

Related Programs

Genre Fiction

Master of Arts | Master of Fine Arts

Graduate Program in Creative Writing (GPCW) 3+2

Accelerated Degree Programs

Nature Writing

Master of Arts

Screenwriting

Department information, associate director, program coordinator, contact information.

970.943.2014

[email protected]

Campus Location

Western Colorado University Quigley Hall 117 1 Western Way Gunnison, CO 81231

Take the Next Step

Apply to Western

We understand that applying to a university can be daunting, which is why we make our admission process as simple and straightforward as possible. Learn more about applying to your program of choice at Western.

Visit Western

The best way to find out what makes Western such a special place is to experience it for yourself. Our student-led tours give you an insider’s perspective on everything from academics to student life.

Alumni Community

We keep the Mountaineer spirit going strong within our alumni community. Whether getting together with friends at an annual event, making a donation or mentoring a student, graduates continue to play an important role in the Western community.

Request Information

Want to discover more about Western? Request information today to get in touch with the admissions team.

Select your Undergraduate Student Type

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Campus Students

For All Campus Programs

Low-Residency MFA Mountainview Master of Fine Arts Fiction or Nonfiction

Go write your book:.

• Affordable tuition rates
• Each term begins with a weeklong residency
• Award-winning, nationally recognized faculty
• Only about 16 students per cohort
• Alumni have gone on to win major prizes
• Curriculum designed to help each student complete a publishable book

Low-Residency MFA Program Overview

Write the book you're meant to write, as you earn your Mountainview Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in fiction or nonfiction .

Our two-year, low-residency program allows students to live anywhere and work a full-time job. We never allow the number of students to exceed 65 total – about 16 per cohort – so our students develop close and sustaining relationships with faculty during our intensive weeklong residencies in the summer and winter .

During the rest of the year, our students work with faculty one on one, receiving thorough, regular editorial letters supplemented with video calls.

Our two principal goals:

• Create a close and vibrant writing community
• Graduate every student with an excellent manuscript in hand

Students choose to focus on fiction or nonfiction. Some choose specializations like young adult fiction and environmental writing.

Our full-time faculty members have won numerous awards, published books with major publishing houses and received international acclaim in every literary category from young adult to lyric essay to crime. Their work appears in such forums as The New Yorker, Harper's, The New York Times Magazine and Best American Short Stories.

Our alumni include a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Whiting Award winner, and numerous other authors whose work is published by major publishing houses. 

Our faculty members, often referred to as "mentors," work to help each student find a literary voice, master their craft and produce a book-length manuscript of high literary quality.

With a Mountainview MFA, you'll get:

• An award-winning, nationally recognized faculty
• Flexibility of schedule
• A curriculum designed to help each student finish an excellent, publishable book (see some of our many successful alumni below)
• A vibrant and supportive creative writing community
• Visiting agents and editors from the best agencies and publishing houses at each residency
• Faculty members who specialize in young adult literature and environmental writing
• Highly competitive tuition costs

Looking for a fully-online program? Check out our online MFA and our online MA in Creative Writing .

Start Your Journey Toward a Low-Residency MFA

Director of Mountainview MFA, Associate Professor

Benjamin Nugent, the director of Mountainview, and an associate professor of English at SNHU, is the author of “Fraternity: Stories” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020), which was named one of the ten best books of 2020 by New York Magazine, and an Editor's Choice by The New York Times Book Review. His nonfiction has been published in Harper's and The New York Times Magazine, and his fiction received the 2019 Terry Southern Prize from The Paris Review.

Marcus Burke

Marcus Burke grew up in Milton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Susquehanna University where he played four years of varsity basketball. Burke went on to receive his MFA at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop where he was awarded a Maytag Fellowship, an Iowa Arts Fellowship, and upon graduation, a competitive grant in honor of James Alan McPherson from the University of Iowa MacArthur Foundation Fund.

Burke’s debut novel, “Team Seven”, was published in 2014 by Doubleday Books. “Team Seven” received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, was longlisted for the 2015 PEN Open Book Award and was one of the “10 Titles to Pick Up Now,” in O, The Oprah Magazine.

Rachel B. Glaser

Rachel B. Glaser is the author of the story collection “Pee On Water,” the novel “Paulina & Fran” and the poetry books “Moods” and “Hairdo.”

In 2017, she was on Granta’s List of Best Young American Novelists. Her fiction has been anthologized in “30 under 30” and “New American Stories.”

She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Amy Irvine is the author of numerous essays and four nonfiction books addressing environmental, Indigenous and feminist concerns. She is a contributing editor for Orion Magazine, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Outside, Orion, Pacific Standard, Best American Science & Nature Writing, and Best American Food Writing. Her first memoir, “Trespass”, received the Orion Book Award, and the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award. Her memoir, “Almost Animal”, will be published by Spiegel & Grau in Spring 2023. Irvine, a Mountainview MFA alumnus, lives, writes and teaches off-grid on a remote mesa in southwest Colorado.

Jo Knowles is an award-winning young adult and middle-grade novelist. Her young adult books include "Living with Jackie Chan," "Pearl", "Jumping Off Swings", "Lessons from a Dead Girl" and "Read Between the Lines." Her middle grade/tween novels include "See You at Harry's," "Still a Work in Progress," "Where the Heart is," and "Meant to Be" (coming 2022). Some of her awards include a New York Times Editor's Choice and Notable Book, an American Library Association Notable Book, an IndieBound Summer Top 10, Bank Street College's "Best Book" list, Amazon's Best Middle Grades, an International Reading Association Favorite, New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Top Title, two SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards, Kirkus's Best Teen Books, the PEN New England Children's Book Discovery Award and YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults. Her books have appeared on numerous state book award lists for schools and libraries.

Andrew Martin

Andrew Martin is the author of the novel “Early Work”, a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and a finalist for the Cabell First Novelist Award. He is also the author of the story collection “Cool For America”, which was longlisted for the 2020 Story Prize. His fiction has been published in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, The Yale Review, ZYZZYVA and The Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, and his essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Review of Books, Harper's, The New York Times Book Review, T: The New York Times Style Magazine and VICE. He has received fellowships from MacDowell and the UCross Foundation. He earned his MFA from the University of Montana and has a BA in English from Columbia University. He lives in New York.

Tracy O'Neill

Tracy O'Neill is the author of “The Hopeful”, one of Electric Literature's Best Novels of 2015, and “Quotients”, a New York Times New & Noteworthy book, TOR Editor's Choice and Literary Hub Favorite Book of 2020. In 2015, she was named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, long-listed for the Flaherty-Dunnan Prize and was a Narrative Under 30 finalist. In 2012, she was awarded the Center for Fiction's Emerging Writers Fellowship. Her short fiction was distinguished in the Best American Short Stories 2016, and earned a Pushcart Prize nomination in 2017. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, the New Yorker, LitHub, BOMB, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Believer, The Literarian, the Austin Chronicle, New World Writing, Narrative, Scoundrel Time, Guernica, Bookforum, Electric Literature, Grantland, Vice, The Guardian, VQR, the San Francisco Chronicle and Catapult. She holds an MFA from the City College of New York; and an MA, an MPhil and a PhD from Columbia University. While editor-in-chief of the literary journal Epiphany, she established the Breakout 8 Writers Prize with the Authors Guild.

Nadia Owusu '17

Nadia Owusu is a Ghanaian and Armenian-American writer and urbanist. Her first book, “AFTERSHOCKS”, topped many most-anticipated and best book of the year lists, including The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, TIME, Vulture and the BBC. It was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.

Nadia is the recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times, The Lily, Orion, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Catapult, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others. She lives in Brooklyn.

Lydia Peelle

Lydia Peelle is the Whiting Award-winning author of the novel “The Midnight Cool” and the story collection “Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing”, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice book which received an honorable mention for the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for The Orion Book Prize. Peelle is also a recipient of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" honor and the Anahid Award for Armenian American writers. She will be Writer in Residence at Vanderbilt University in fall 2021.

Rebecca Schiff

Rebecca Schiff is the author of the story collection "The Bed Moved" (Knopf 2016), a finalist for an LA Times Book Award in First Fiction and a Sami Rohr Prize.

Her fiction has appeared in Electric Literature, n+1, The Guardian, Washington Square and BuzzFeed, and it was anthologized in The Best Small Fictions 2017.

She lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Katherine Towler

Katherine Towler is author of a trilogy of novels: “Snow Island,” Evening Ferry” and “Island Light”. Praised by the Boston Globe as “luminous and moving,” “Snow Island” was chosen as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers title.

Towler is also the co-editor, with Ilya Kaminsky, of “A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith,” a collection of interviews with prominent American poets. Her memoir, “The Penny Poet of Portsmouth” was published by Counterpoint Press in 2016.

Robin Wasserman

Robin Wasserman is the author of the novels “Girls on Fire” and “Mother Daughter Widow Wife”, a finalist for the 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award. A former children’s book editor, she is also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than ten novels for young adults. Her nonfiction has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Tin House and The New York Times. Wasserman lives in Los Angeles, where she works as a TV writer, most recently as a co-producer on the forthcoming, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”.

Adam Wilson

Adam Wilson is the author of three books, including, most recently, the novel “Sensation Machines”. He is a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and a recipient of the Terry Southern Prize. His work has appeared in Harper’s, the Paris Review, the New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Bookforum, VICE and the Best American Short Stories, among many other publications. In addition to Mountainview, he teaches regularly in Columbia University's MFA program. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.

Many of our Mountainview graduates have gone on to success in the publishing world.

Notable alumni include:

• 2019 Whiting Award winner Nadia Owusu '17
• 2020 Edgar Award finalist John Vercher '16
• 2019 Pulitzer finalist Elizabeth Rush '11
• Raymond Carver Short Story Contest Morgan Green '21
• LA Times Book Prize for First Novel Kevin Keating '18
• Alumni published by Simon & Schuster, FSG, Bloomsbury, and other major publishers

Learn more about Mountainview graduates and what they've accomplished:

Kevin Keating '18

Since starting the Mountainview Low-Residency MFA, Keating has been awarded the Creative Workforce Fellowship, one of the most substantive awards for writers in the United States, and the Cleveland Arts Prize, the oldest award of its kind in America and a testament to the standard of excellence and quality of artists in Northeast Ohio. Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Rita Dove and Harvey Pekar. He has also been a featured speaker at the Miami Book Fair International.

David Moloney ’17

He earned his MFA from SNHU’s Mountainview Low-Residency program, where he won Assignment Magazine’s student writing contest. He was also awarded the Lynn Safford Memorial Prize.

His debut novel, "Barker House," was published by Bloomsbury in 2020. His work can be found in The Yale Review, Guernica, Lithub, Electriclit, The Common, Salamander, CrimeReads and GEN. He currently teaches writing at SNHU.

Elizabeth Rush '11

Her work explores how humans adapt to changes enacted upon them by forces seemingly beyond their control, from ecological transformation to political revolution.

Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the New York Times, National Geographic, the Guardian, the Atlantic, Harpers, Guernica, Granta, Orion, Creative Nonfiction, The Washington Post, Le Monde Diplomatique and the New Republic, among others.

John Vercher '16

John’s debut novel, Three-Fifths , launched September 10th, 2019, from Agora, the diversity-focused imprint of Polis Books and has received praise from Kirkus and starred reviews from the Library Journal and Booklist.

Three-Fifths was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune. In the U.K., Three-Fifths was named a Book of the Year by The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, and The Guardian.

Three-Fifths has been nominated for:

• The Crime Writers’ Association’s (UK) John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger (Shortlisted, 2021)
• The Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best First Novel
• Best Debut Novel (2019) for The Strand Magazine’s Critics’ Awards
• The Anthony Award for Best First Novel

Rights to Three-Fifths have been sold in France, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Mainland China, and the U.K.

In 2021, Three-Fifths was added to the curriculum of the course “Crime in American Film & Literature” at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. In addition, Wilton High School in Wilton, Connecticut added Three-Fifths to their curated collection of titles for their 2021 town-wide reading program.

His second novel, After the Lights Go Out, will be published by Soho Press June 7, 2022 and Pushkin Press July 2022.

Low-Residency MFA Courses & Curriculum

Our two-year program is built around one-on-one study between students and faculty, allowing you to write from home most of the year and be part of a supportive writing community during our twice-yearly weeklong residencies.

During these two years, students work toward completing their creative thesis, a book-length manuscript of publishable quality, turning in monthly submissions to their mentors, and receiving detailed feedback via correspondence and conferencing.

Each semester, students work with their individual faculty mentors in developing reading lists. Students read approximately two books a month, focusing their attention on craft analysis. Every part of the curriculum is designed to help students hone their writing craft and finish excellent theses.

Upon completion of the program, students will have earned a 60-credit graduate degree, which is considered ''a terminal degree'' in creative writing. The Mountainview MFA degree prepares students and qualifies them for applying for college teaching positions.

Required Texts for MFA Program

Complement your MFA with a Certificate

Frequently Asked Questions

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MFA in Creative Writing (Low-Residency)

Reach your full writing potential with your master’s in creative writing.

Join a community of writers from all walks of life on an immersive and personalized educational journey. Our faculty and mentors have uniquely designed a low-residency, personalized program geared toward helping you discover and reach your full writing potential in fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry.  

An integral part of the program are four, 11-day residencies, in Pittsburgh and Dublin, Ireland, that create an opportunity for you to engage and interface with fellow students, staff, mentors, and visiting renowned writers.

You will work one-on-one with American and Irish Mentors. With their expert guidance and your skill, you will become the writer you were meant to be.

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• Sharpen your writing and storytelling skills in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry
• Learn an immersive and supportive community
• Travel to Pittsburgh and Ireland for engaging 11-day residencies with internationally-known writers

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Master’s in creative writing curriculum 

You will work one-on-one with mentors both virtually and in person as you explore writing genres and engage in four, 11-day residencies in Pittsburgh and Dublin, Ireland. The residencies include workshops, masterclasses, and mentor conferences as well as opportunities to engage with visiting writers and alumni.

In a required practicum, you will work on a writing and reading plan and submit work for critique, review, and collaborative feedback. By the end of the program, you will produce a publishable body of work.

Choose the creative writing specialization that is best for you

Choose the creative writing area that best fits your career goals and personal aspirations. Each specialization provides you with the opportunity to hone the writing and storytelling skills for that area.

Develop your author’s voice and explore your creativity as you learn to write with a fiction focus. Choose from historical fiction, flash fiction, and young adult fiction. 

Creative Nonfiction

Explore memoirs, personal essays, short narrative work, and lyric essays as you find the voice and structure that best suits your story.

Understand the theories and treatment skills needed to work with a Explore your creativity, refine your voice, collaborate with other students and work with acclaimed and published poets to develop a publishable body of work.

GEORGIA HERTZ '23

“Writing - like any artform - can be a lonely path to tread, but it doesn't have to be done in isolation. Never have I felt such warmth and compassion from a group of writers as I have from my peers and mentors at Carlow University, both in Pittsburgh and in Dublin. We all delight in our growth as writers and we celebrate each other's successes with love, as if they were our own.”

PHILIP BORDER '22

“Every member of the poetry, fiction and CNF programs all feel like extended family members to me. They are always checking up on me to see what's new with my writing and to keep up on all of my forthcoming publications."

20: Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing Program’s 20th Anniversary Anthology

View or download our latest e-newsletter [pdf].

Tess Barry Program Director, MFA

Aimee Zellers, PhD Interim Associate Provost, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Joseph Bathanti Mentor, MFA

Richard Blanco Mentor, MFA

Evelyn Conlon Mentor, MFA

Carlo Gébler Mentor, MFA

Diane Glancy Mentor, MFA

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Judith Vollmer Mentor, MFA

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Jean o’brien mentor, mfa, contact admissions.

If you are interested in this graduate program, our Admissions team is available to help you with the next steps, including scheduling an on-campus visit or attending an upcoming event .

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State Art Museum of Altai Krai

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STATE ART MUSEUM OF ALTAI KRAI - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)

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Ancient Traditions and Untouched Landscapes: The Altai Mountains

Altai Republic vs. Altai Krai

Before leaving for your trip, you should know where to go. The largest part of the Altai mountain range crosses the territories of the Atlai Republic and Altai Krai -- administrative subjects of Russia that are often confused with one another. The locals are not fond of this confusion, therefore it is worth it to make a minimum effort to remember that Gorno-Altaisk is the capital and only city in the Altai Republic, located just south, while Barnaul is the capital of Altai Krai, where the closest airport is located -- you most likely will arrive there if you decide to travel to Altai by plane. There is no transportation by rail, so getting to this hill country is possible only by plane or by car -- from Barnaul to the mountains you must travel by bus. In general, the center of the Altai Republic, Gorno- Altaisk, is the transit point to the Altai Mountains.

The Altai Republic is located at the heart of the center of the Eurasian continent. Though it is far from the largest administrative unit of Russia, its size is comparable to Portugal, Jordan, and Hungary. Roughly 200,000 people live in the area, and are mostly ethnic Russians and Altai people. Altai people are considered ancestors of modern Turkic peoples, including Tatars, Yakuts, Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis -- Mesopotamian Sumerians used expressions and words found in the Altai language as early as 3000 B.C.

Kaichi and Throat Singing

Altai, as one of the few places in the world in which a unique type of oral folklore endures, is a place of storytelling. Storytellers, known in Altai as kaichi, perform their work through throat singing, with accompanying music on the tapshure, a two-stringed musical instrument. Kaichi sing both folk songs and heroic epics -- known as kai. Do not miss the chance to listen to kaichi, as they are very impressive. The longest kaichi performance can last several days.

The Katun River is one of the most famous and relatively accessible attractions of the Altai Republic. Many legends about the Katun exist among the local people -- almost all of them include the daughter of Khan Altai, who seeks her beloved Biya (Biya is yet another Altai river) -- and so as the Katun River turns, along with the Biya River it merges into the Ob, Siberia’s largest waterway. The easiest way to begin a journey is from the village of Manzherok, which is located near the lake of the same name, as well as directly on the shores of the Katun. The chain of tourists facilities begin here, at which you can rent equipment and kits for motor-rafting and rafting. Prices are fairly reasonable -- a boat excursion to the famous Kamyshlinsky waterfall costs around 500 rubles or less. The season for rafting starts in May and ends in October.

The Expeditions of Nicholas Roerich

The first tourist to Altai was the Russian artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich -- he arrived in Altai in 1926. In the village of Verkhny Uimon (which in Altai means ten wisdoms), the house of local resident Bartholomew Atamanov, where Nicholas Roerich organized his headquarters, is now home to a museum for the artist. Bartholomew Atamanov was repressed during the Soviet era and his estate was recovered as a museum only in the 1990s.

Kerzhak believers still reside in the village of Verkhny Uimon, as they fled to Altai from persecution in the region of Nizhy-Novgorod during the eighteenth century (the name Kerzhak originates from the Kerzhenets River). The Kerzhaks were one of the first Russian groups to settle in Siberia, and they maintained an indoor way of life with strict religious rules and cultural traditions. Deserters from government duties also settled with the Kerzhaks, and they formed a group of Altai masons, known as the Highlanders.

According to Roerich, who studied the culture of the Old Believers, here, in the valley of the Bukhtarma and Katun rivers, lies the legendary country Belovode, the Slavic Shambala, the “land of freedom” from Russian folktales. After the death of Roerich, one of the peaks of the Altai mountains was named in his honor. Today, climbing to its top by horse costs about 1000 rubles. Many tourist facilities in Altai offer horseback riding and hiking for one or more. It’s hard to be bored in this beautiful landscape: wherever you go you will find mountains, rivers, waterfalls and ancient forests to explore.

Chuysky Trakt: Chuya Highway

When travelling through the Altai Mountains, it is impossible not to drive on highway M-52, which is also known as the Chuysky Trakt. M-52, 541 km long, extends across the Altai Mountains to the Mongolian border. Construction on the highway began in the second half of the nineteenth century and was finished in the mid-twentieth century. It is one of the most picturesque highways in Russia, and perhaps the world. Chuysky Trakt leads to Kalbak-Tash (in Altai, flat rock), the site on the right bank of the River Chu full of runic inscriptions. Thousands of petroglyphs belonging to the Scythians, Huns and ancient Turks are preserved here. The petroglyphs of Kalbak-Tash make a strong impression, and they are public -- viewing them and taking photos are absolutely free.

Pazyryk Burials

In his diaries, Nicholas Roerich wrote that during the Great Migrations, Altai played a key role as a transition point for a variety of nomadic peoples on the continent. In prehistoric and likewise historic times, according to Roerich, Altai was like an “unopened treasure.” The Pazyryk Burials are one part of this treasure trove, with its Scythian tombs for tribal chiefs that date from the 5th to 2nd centuries B.C. Because of the conditions prevalent at altitudes of 2000 meters such as permafrost, perfectly preserved mummies can be found in graves -- one body is so well preserved that complex drawings are visible on its skin, which is the oldest example of a tattoo in the world. Additionally, each of the three-meter burial mounds preserved vehicles, patterns, and textiles, including the world’s oldest carpet. Most of these discoveries are exhibited at the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The Pazyryk Burials also has its own princess -- in 1993 the mummy “Princess Ukoka,” as she was christened to the local people, was found. During excavation of the third mound, a burial site from the Iron Age was discovered, under which lies another more ancient site. During the excavation, archaeologists found that the trough in which the body was placed in and buried was filled with ice.

That is why the female mummy was so well preserved. The lower burial was found to be bricked with a layer of ice. A camera discovered six saddled horses with harnesses in the lower burial, and the ancient trough was made from larch wood and boarded shut with bronze nails.

Lake Teletskoye

Close to the Pazyryk Burials is the Katu-Yaryk pass (in Altai: dangerous place) -- the pass was build with record speed: only three bulldozers were used over three summers. The slope of the mountainside of Katu-Yaryk reaches 70 degrees. Traveling through the pass allows one to reach the southern region of Lake Teletskoye, a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprised of the Golden Mountains of Altai.

Many rivers empty into Lake Teletskoye -- a miniature Lake Baikal -- but only one river flows out of the lake, Lake Biya. Even in the summer, the water temperature does not rise higher than ten degrees. Holding nearly forty cubic kilometers of practically distilled water, Lake Teletskoye is one of the fifteen deepest lakes on the planet (its depth reaches 325 meters). The lake has not yet been disturbed by tourists, and Teletskoye’s main contingent includes tourist-fishermen. The lake is not too large and can be circled in one day. Its water is clear and the air is clean. Sport hunting and fishing are permitted, but not in the reserves. Almost all of the eastern part of the Altai Republic is occupied by the Altai reserve, one of the largest in Russia. The territory contains 1290 species of plants, 73 species of mammals, 300 species of birds and 1190 glacial lakes.

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There are two large regions called Altai: the Altai Republic with the administrative center in Gorno-Altaysk and the Altai Krai with its capital Barnaul. The most famous attractions are in the Altai Mountains, but you can also spend some great days in Altai Krai. Here I am telling you where to go in the Altai Krai to have a great time.

Visit Belokurikha - to walk along a terrenkur

Visit Altayskoye - to learn all about Altai herbs

Visit Basargino and experience life in a modern village

Basargino looks like it was created in some kind of computer simulation game. And there, on a little piece of land you need to arrange cozy wooden comfortable houses, a farm, a church, a cafe and a restaurant with insanely delicious meals, an apiary, lakes with fish, a chicken coop and pastures. You also should have cows, pigs, goats and sheep. And also wolves and yaks to make the visitors even more delighted.

Visit the forge in Belokurikha and forge a horseshoe for good luck 

There is not a feminine equivalent for a blacksmith, therefore I will simply introduce Anna Biletskaya as the blacksmith. Anna, armed with a heavy hammer and an anvil, is able to forge a horseshoe for a horse in 15 minutes and a decorative horseshoe for luck in only 10 minutes. Well the last one is more in demand lately. Anna opened her smithy to visitors a few years ago. This blacksmith in a skirt shows the whole process during her short master classes: first heat a piece of metal over a fire, then take a hammer and beat it well on the anvil, pull it back, then bend it and put it back into the fire. Finally, cool and clean it.

Visit "The Gold of Altai"(Zoloto Altaya) - to bath in Sanduny or to ride a horse

A hot bath filled with herbs such as hypericum, yarrow, camomile and also a rejuvenating bathtub -  these are the Russian answer to the best Asian spa with plumeria flowers. Well, the Altai version looks more brutal, but you will quickly feel the great effect. The herbs are collected and specially prepared here, in "The Gold of Altai" eco-hotel on the shore of the lake. Bathhouses are warmed up in both old Russian traditional ways: the "black" banya (a smoke goes out of bathhouse through cracks in wooden walls) and the "white" banya (a smoke goes out of the bathhouse through a pipe). The professional bath attendants will help guests adjust the right amount of steam and smack them briskly all over their bodies with special bath brooms. The largest horse farm in this district is also located in the hotel area; you should not miss the chance to ride a horse at least around the local territory.

What else to do in Altai:

• Take a walk through the pine forest near Barnaul
• Stop by the village of Srostki, where Vasily Shukshin (the soviet movie director) was born
• Spend a day at the "Biruzovaya Katun" Resort
• Take a walk along Biysk and visit the museum of the Chuysky Tract
• Relax in the "Altay Palace", check-in to the only official gaming zone in Siberia
• Go to Lake Aya

You can see the photo report about Altai Krai and Altai Mountains here .

Also read about Altai: The Princess of Ukok The most beautiful places of the Altai Mountains Looking for a snow leopard A female Blacksmith: The Mother-anvil Karakol Valley: Protected by Spirits Translation: Irina Romanova, Instagram:   @astrabella1

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