warren wilson mfa creative writing acceptance rate

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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.

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Summer Residency: July 3 – July 13, 2024 Application deadline: March 1, 2024

Winter residency: jan 3 – 13, 2025 application deadline:, september 1, 2024, application requirements for the mfa program for writers.

• Application fee: $75, or $110 if applying in both genres.  (Payable online via Submittable)

Please note that while you may apply in both genres, if you are accepted in both genres, you must choose only one course of study.

• Application form
• Application manuscript (in Word or PDF format)

Poetry: 10 pages maximum, no more than one poem per page

Fiction: 25 pages (double-spaced) maximum

• Personal essay (3-4 pages, double-spaced, Word or PDF format)

The essay should address your preparation in the study of creative writing and literature, additional experiences that seem particularly relevant to this application, the strengths and weaknesses of your writing, and your goals for your two years of degree study.

• Critical analysis (3-4 pages, double-spaced, Word or PDF format)

This brief essay should examine an aspect of craft in a poem, if applying in poetry, or in a story or novel if applying in fiction. If applying in both genres, please submit a craft essay for each.

• 2 letters of recommendation

References will receive an email directly from Submittable with questions and instructions to submit their letters to the Program. A third letter is allowed but optional.

• Transcripts from each college or university you have attended.

Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the application stage; upon acceptance, you will be required to submit official transcripts.

• Financial Aid

Any student interested in receiving financial aid must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the deadline date. All grants and scholarships in our program require that the FAFSA demonstrates financial need. Federal loans, available to any student, also require submission of the FAFSA by the deadline date. Please note the filing date on the application form.

The Holden Residency Scholarship

Application Requirements for the HRS

This single-residency scholarship covers tuition and residency fees for a writer of color in either genre. No graduate credit is issued, but the student is a full participant in our ten days together. The deadlines for this scholarship are the same as for program admission. Only one Holden Residency Scholarship may be awarded each residency, and the program reserves the right not to award the scholarship if candidates don’t meet the criteria. Writers who have previously earned an MFA in creative writing are ineligible. 

The MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College

701 Warren Wilson Rd. Swannanoa, NC 28778 [email protected]     (828) 771-3715

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