ut austin creative writing mfa

New Writers Project M.F.A.

The New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin is a small, fully-funded , three-year studio MFA program within the large and highly-ranked Department of English. We offer our students close mentorship, literary community, and teaching and editing experience. Working in concert with our partner MFA program, the Michener Center for Writers , we provide our students an artistically adventurous and intellectually rigorous terminal degree, with courses taught by both experienced and accomplished resident faculty and esteemed visitors.

The New Writers Project core faculty in fiction are Edward Carey, Oscar Cásares, Peter LaSalle, Elizabeth McCracken, and Deb Olin Unferth. Our core faculty in poetry are Lisa Olstein, Roger Reeves, and Jennifer Chang. 

For more information about the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing and how to apply, please visit the  New Writers Project website .

New Writers Project M.F.A. in Creative Writing

The New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin is a small, fully-funded, three-year studio MFA program within the large and highly-ranked Department of English. We offer our students close mentorship, literary community, and teaching and editing experience. Working in concert with our partner MFA program, the Michener Center for Writers, we provide our students an artistically adventurous and intellectually rigorous terminal degree, with courses taught by both experienced and accomplished resident faculty and esteemed visitors.

The New Writers Project core faculty in fiction are Edward Carey, Oscar Cásares, Bret Anthony Johnston, Peter LaSalle, Elizabeth McCracken, and Deb Olin Unferth. Our core faculty in poetry are Lisa Olstein, Roger Reeves, and Jennifer Chang. 

University of Texas James Michener Center Fully Funded MFA in Creative Writing

University of texas james michener center.

University of Texas James Michener Center based in Austin, TX offers a fully funded MFA in creative writing. The MFA program is a three-year, fully funded residency program with a unique interdisciplinary focus. While writers apply and are admitted in a primary genre—fiction, poetry, playwriting, or screenwriting—they also study a secondary genre during their time in Austin. Michener Fellows completed three workshops in a primary field and two in a secondary field. All admitted students receive a fellowship of $29,500 per academic year, plus total coverage of tuition.

• Deadline: Dec 01, 2024 (Confirmed)*
• Work Experience: Any
• Location: North America
• Citizenship: Any
• Residency: United States

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Michener Center for Writers (UT Austin)

Texas, united states.

The Michener Center for Writers is a three-year graduate program of UT Austin and offers an MFA in Writing with concentrations in fiction, poetry, playwriting, or screenwriting. All accepted candidates are supported by a full-time fellowship of $30,000 per year, plus remission of tuition and fees, a $4000 summer stipend, and a health insurance stipend.

Our students work in a primary field, but also have the opportunity to develop a secondary genre(s) while in the program. They are enrolled full-time (9 hrs) in the fall and spring semesters. The requirements are flexible, so students can shape their own degree plans and take supporting courses that feed into their writing projects.

Our teaching staff includes both distinguished visiting and adjunct professors we bring in each semester to teach in the various genres, and classes with faculty of the departments of English, Theatre, and Radio-TV-Film. Guest lecturers also come each year to participate in our literary reading series and meet in seminar with our graduate students.

Please be aware that the UT Austin Department of English offers a separate three-year MFA in creative writing (called the New Writers Project), which offers teaching assistantships and has a different degree plan.

Contact Information

Michener Center for Writers Austin Texas, United States Phone: 512-471-1601 Email: [email protected] http://utexas.edu/academic/mcw/

Master of Fine Arts in Writing +

Graduate program director.

The James A. Michener Center for Writers is an interdisciplinary graduate program of UT Austin and offers an MFA degree in Writing. Our program is unique in its multi-genre emphasis: our students work in a primary field - fiction, screenwriting, poetry, or playwriting - but also have the opportunity to develop a secondary genre while in the program. This has proven to be a remarkably productive approach. A number of our published or produced writers have been students working outside their original areas of interest - playwrights turned novelists, or fiction writers selling screenplays. A diverse resident faculty of poets, playwrights, novelists, and screenwriters, and an eclectic and distinguished series of visiting professors and guest writers enrich the interdisciplinary experience

The MFA is a three-year degree; students enroll full-time (9 hrs) in the fall and spring semesters. The requirements are flexible, so students can shape their own degree plans and take supporting courses that feed into their writing projects. Our teaching staff includes both regular faculty of the departments of English, Theatre, and Radio-TV-Film and visiting professors we bring in each semester to teach in the various genres. Six to ten guest lecturers also come each year to participate in our literary reading series and meet in seminar with our graduate students.

Please be aware that the UT Department of English offers a separate two-year MA in Creative Writing, which offers teaching assistantship support and has a different degree plan.

Publications & Presses +

Bat City Review

Visiting Writers Program +

2023-24: Mitchell Jackson, Fiction Workshop, Jennifer Elyse Forrester, Poetry Workshop

Previous Instructors include: Manuel Munoz, Laura Van Den Burg, Paul Yoon Fiction, Molly Antepol, Mary Syzbist, Megha Majumdar, Natasha Trethewey

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MCW Reading Series ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michener-Center-for-Writers-News-Events/255302844510881?ref=hl )

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Creative Writing Certificate Program

Illustration by valerie tran, announcements, admission applications.

The deadline for applying to the Creative Writing Certificate Program was March 1.  We are no longer accepting applications at this time.  The next application window is September 1 - October 1, 2024.

Creative Writing Certificate Program End-of-Semester Reception and Readings

Please join us on Wednesday, May 1 , in the Joynes Reading Room (Carothers Residence Hall) for our end-of-semester celebration.

Reception begins at 12:30pm with food and refreshments.

Writing Awards and Readings begin at 1:00pm

Creative Writing Honors Thesis Readings begin at 2:00pm.

Please feel free to come to all or part of the program.  Family and friends are welcome!

Writing Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the Winners of the Kruger Fellowships and Parker Prizes for student writing. 

KRUGER Fiction 

1st Place     Lara Palmqvist - "In Another Life"

Runner-up   Stephanie Degnore - "Where the Light Shines Brightest"

Runner-up   Varun Jawarani - "Lakshana"

KRUGER Poetry  

1st Place     Aguilar Alfredo - "After Three Beers My Tia Talks About The Border"

Runner-up   Safiyya Haider - "Assimilation Is Performance Art" 

PARKER Fiction

1st Place      Molly Tompkins - "Bolt from the Blue"

Runner-up    Charlie Sharpe - "A Horse of Course” 

Runner-up    Ashley Rummel - "The Artists" 

PARKER Poetry

1st Place      Leah Piñon - "The World Ends Through the Mirrors in Your House"

Runner-up    Boppana Pradhitha - "Alternate Methods of Crying"

PARKER Lit Crit

1st Place      Molly Tompkins - "Celestial, Beautiful, and Social Bodies" 

Runner-up    Lane Dent - “Our False Perception of Nature”,

Congratulations to all the contest winners and honors thesis students! 

Ongoing Opportunities

Check back often for more links to publishing, contest, and internship opportunities.

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The Writers' League of Texas provides internship, networking, literary, and educational opportunities in Austin and around the state, as well as an annual conference featuring literary agents and editors. 

The Texas Book Festival , one of the largest in the country, takes place annually in late October / early November, but offers volunteer opportunities throughout the year.

Poets and Writers magazine lists contests, fellowships, grants, and literary journals for writers of all levels. 

Are you seeking one-on-one college counseling and/or essay support? Limited spots are now available. Click here to learn more.

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 10 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in the US

The talent is there. 

But the next generation of great American writers needs a collegial place to hone their craft. 

They need a place to explore the writer’s role in a wider community. 

They really need guidance about how and when to publish. 

All these things can be found in a solid Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree program. This degree offers access to mentors, to colleagues, and to a future in the writing world. 

A good MFA program gives new writers a precious few years to focus completely on their work, an ideal space away from the noise and pressure of the fast-paced modern world. 

We’ve found ten of the best ones, all of which provide the support, the creative stimulation, and the tranquility necessary to foster a mature writer.

We looked at graduate departments from all regions, public and private, all sizes, searching for the ten most inspiring Creative Writing MFA programs. 

Each of these ten institutions has assembled stellar faculties, developed student-focused paths of study, and provide robust support for writers accepted into their degree programs. 

To be considered for inclusion in this list, these MFA programs all must be fully-funded degrees, as recognized by Read The Workshop .

Creative Writing education has broadened and expanded over recent years, and no single method or plan fits for all students. 

Today, MFA programs across the country give budding short story writers and poets a variety of options for study. For future novelists, screenwriters – even viral bloggers – the search for the perfect setting for their next phase of development starts with these outstanding institutions, all of which have developed thoughtful and particular approaches to study.

So where will the next Salinger scribble his stories on the steps of the student center, or the next Angelou reading her poems in the local bookstore’s student-run poetry night? At one of these ten programs.

Here are 10 of the best creative writing MFA programs in the US.

University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)

Starting off the list is one of the oldest and most venerated Creative Writing programs in the country, the MFA at the University of Oregon. 

Longtime mentor, teacher, and award-winning poet Garrett Hongo directs the program, modeling its studio-based approach to one-on-one instruction in the English college system. 

Oregon’s MFA embraces its reputation for rigor. Besides attending workshops and tutorials, students take classes in more formal poetics and literature.  

A classic college town, Eugene provides an ideal backdrop for the writers’ community within Oregon’s MFA students and faculty.  

Tsunami Books , a local bookseller with national caché, hosts student-run readings featuring writers from the program. 

Graduates garner an impressive range of critical acclaim; Yale Younger Poet winner Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Cave Canem Prize winner and Guggenheim fellow Major Jackson, and PEN-Hemingway Award winner Chang-Rae Lee are noteworthy alumni. 

With its appealing setting and impressive reputation, Oregon’s MFA program attracts top writers as visiting faculty, including recent guests Elizabeth McCracken, David Mura, and Li-young Lee.

The individual approach defines the Oregon MFA experience; a key feature of the program’s first year is the customized reading list each MFA student creates with their faculty guide. 

Weekly meetings focus not only on the student’s writing, but also on the extended discovery of voice through directed reading. 

Accepting only ten new students a year—five in poetry and five in fiction— the University of Oregon’s MFA ensures a close-knit community with plenty of individual coaching and guidance.

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)

Cornell University’s MFA program takes the long view on life as a writer, incorporating practical editorial training and teaching experience into its two-year program.

Incoming MFA students choose their own faculty committee of at least two faculty members, providing consistent advice as they move through a mixture of workshop and literature classes. 

Students in the program’s first year benefit from editorial training as readers and editors for Epoch , the program’s prestigious literary journal.

Teaching experience grounds the Cornell program. MFA students design and teach writing-centered undergraduate seminars on a variety of topics, and they remain in Ithaca during the summer to teach in programs for undergraduates. 

Cornell even allows MFA graduates to stay on as lecturers at Cornell for a period of time while they are on the job search. Cornell also offers a joint MFA/Ph.D. program through the Creative Writing and English departments.

Endowments fund several acclaimed reading series, drawing internationally known authors to campus for workshops and work sessions with MFA students. 

Recent visiting readers include Salman Rushdie, Sandra Cisneros, Billy Collins, Margaret Atwood, Ada Limón, and others. 

Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)

Arizona State’s MFA in Creative Writing spans three years, giving students ample time to practice their craft, develop a voice, and begin to find a place in the post-graduation literary world. 

Coursework balances writing and literature classes equally, with courses in craft and one-on-one mentoring alongside courses in literature, theory, or even electives in topics like fine press printing, bookmaking, or publishing. 

While students follow a path in either poetry or fiction, they are encouraged to take courses across the genres.

Teaching is also a focus in Arizona State’s MFA program, with funding coming from teaching assistantships in the school’s English department. Other exciting teaching opportunities include teaching abroad in locations around the world, funded through grants and internships.

The Virginia C. Piper Center for Creative Writing, affiliated with the program, offers Arizona State MFA students professional development in formal and informal ways. 

The Distinguished Writers Series and Desert Nights, Rising Stars Conference bring world-class writers to campus, allowing students to interact with some of the greatest in the profession. Acclaimed writer and poet Alberto Ríos directs the Piper Center.

Arizona State transitions students to the world after graduation through internships with publishers like Four Way Books. 

Its commitment to the student experience and its history of producing acclaimed writers—recent examples include Tayari Jones (Oprah’s Book Club, 2018; Women’s Prize for Fiction, 2019), Venita Blackburn ( Prairie Schooner Book Prize, 2018), and Hugh Martin ( Iowa Review Jeff Sharlet Award for Veterans)—make Arizona State University’s MFA a consistent leader among degree programs.

University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)

The University of Texas at Austin’s MFA program, the Michener Center for Writers, maintains one of the most vibrant, exciting, active literary faculties of any MFA program.

Denis Johnson D.A. Powell, Geoff Dyer, Natasha Trethewey, Margot Livesey, Ben Fountain: the list of recent guest faculty boasts some of the biggest names in current literature.

This three-year program fully funds candidates without teaching fellowships or assistantships; the goal is for students to focus entirely on their writing. 

More genre tracks at the Michener Center mean students can choose two focus areas, a primary and secondary, from Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting, and Playwriting.

The Michener Center for Writers plays a prominent role in contemporary writing of all kinds. 

The hip, student-edited Bat City Review accepts work of all genres, visual art, cross genres, collaborative, and experimental pieces.  

Recent events for illustrious alumni include New Yorker publications, an Oprah Book Club selection, a screenwriting prize, and a 2021 Pulitzer (for visiting faculty member Mitchell Jackson). 

In this program, students are right in the middle of all the action of contemporary American literature.

Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

The MFA in Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis is a program on the move: applicants have almost doubled here in the last five years. 

Maybe this sudden growth of interest comes from recent rising star alumni on the literary scene, like Paul Tran, Miranda Popkey, and National Book Award winner Justin Phillip Reed.

Or maybe it’s the high profile Washington University’s MFA program commands, with its rotating faculty post through the Hurst Visiting Professor program and its active distinguished reader series. 

Superstar figures like Alison Bechdel and George Saunders have recently held visiting professorships, maintaining an energetic atmosphere program-wide.

Washington University’s MFA program sustains a reputation for the quality of the mentorship experience. 

With only five new students in each genre annually, MFA candidates form close cohorts among their peers and enjoy attentive support and mentorship from an engaged and vigorous faculty. 

Three genre tracks are available to students: fiction, poetry, and the increasingly relevant and popular creative nonfiction.

Another attractive feature of this program: first-year students are fully funded, but not expected to take on a teaching role until their second year. 

A generous stipend, coupled with St. Louis’s low cost of living, gives MFA candidates at Washington University the space to develop in a low-stress but stimulating creative environment.

Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)

It’s one of the first and biggest choices students face when choosing an MFA program: two-year or three-year? 

Indiana University makes a compelling case for its three-year program, in which the third year of support allows students an extended period of time to focus on the thesis, usually a novel or book-length collection.

One of the older programs on the list, Indiana’s MFA dates back to 1948. 

Its past instructors and alumni read like the index to an American Literature textbook. 

How many places can you take classes in the same place Robert Frost once taught, not to mention the program that granted its first creative writing Master’s degree to David Wagoner? Even today, the program’s integrity and reputation draw faculty like Ross Gay and Kevin Young.

Indiana’s Creative Writing program houses two more literary institutions, the Indiana Review, and the Indiana University Writers’ Conference. 

Students make up the editorial staff of this lauded literary magazine, in some cases for course credit or a stipend. An MFA candidate serves each year as assistant director of the much-celebrated and highly attended conference . 

These two facets of Indiana’s program give graduate students access to visiting writers, professional experience, and a taste of the writing life beyond academia.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)

The University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program cultivates its students with a combination of workshop-driven course work and vigorous programming on and off-campus. Inventive new voices in fiction and poetry consistently emerge from this two-year program.

The campus hosts multiple readings, events, and contests, anchored by the Zell Visiting Writers Series. The Hopgood Awards offer annual prize money to Michigan creative writing students . 

The department cultivates relationships with organizations and events around Detroit, so whether it’s introducing writers at Literati bookstore or organizing writing retreats in conjunction with local arts organizations, MFA candidates find opportunities to cultivate a community role and public persona as a writer.

What happens after graduation tells the big story of this program. Michigan produces heavy hitters in the literary world, like Celeste Ng, Jesmyn Ward, Elizabeth Kostova, Nate Marshall, Paisley Rekdal, and Laura Kasischke. 

Their alumni place their works with venerable houses like Penguin and Harper Collins, longtime literary favorites Graywolf and Copper Canyon, and the new vanguard like McSweeney’s, Fence, and Ugly Duckling Presse.

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)

Structure combined with personal attention and mentorship characterizes the University of Minnesota’s Creative Writing MFA, starting with its unique program requirements. 

In addition to course work and a final thesis, Minnesota’s MFA candidates assemble a book list of personally significant works on literary craft, compose a long-form essay on their writing process, and defend their thesis works with reading in front of an audience.

Literary journal Great River Review and events like the First Book reading series and Mill City Reading series do their part to expand the student experience beyond the focus on the internal. 

The Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer Series draws exceptional, culturally relevant writers like Chuck Klosterman and Claudia Rankine for readings and student conversations. 

Writer and retired University of Minnesota instructor Charles Baxter established the program’s Hunger Relief benefit , aiding Minnesota’s Second Harvest Heartland organization. 

Emblematic of the program’s vision of the writer in service to humanity, this annual contest and reading bring together distinguished writers, students, faculty, and community members in favor of a greater goal.

Brown University (Providence, RI)

One of the top institutions on any list, Brown University features an elegantly-constructed Literary Arts Program, with students choosing one workshop and one elective per semester. 

The electives can be taken from any department at Brown; especially popular choices include Studio Art and other coursework through the affiliated Rhode Island School of Design. The final semester consists of thesis construction under the supervision of the candidate’s faculty advisor.

Brown is the only MFA program to feature, in addition to poetry and fiction tracks, the Digital/Cross Disciplinary track . 

This track attracts multidisciplinary writers who need the support offered by Brown’s collaboration among music, visual art, computer science, theater and performance studies, and other departments. 

The interaction with the Rhode Island School of Design also allows those artists interested in new forms of media to explore and develop their practice, inventing new forms of art and communication.

Brown’s Literary Arts Program focuses on creating an atmosphere where students can refine their artistic visions, supported by like-minded faculty who provide the time and materials necessary to innovate. 

Not only has the program produced trailblazing writers like Percival Everett and Otessa Moshfegh, but works composed by alumni incorporating dance, music, media, and theater have been performed around the world, from the stage at Kennedy Center to National Public Radio.

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)

When most people hear “MFA in Creative Writing,” it’s the Iowa Writers’ Workshop they imagine. 

The informal name of the University of Iowa’s Program in Creative Writing, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop was the first to offer an MFA, back in 1936. 

One of the first diplomas went to renowned writer Wallace Stegner, who later founded the MFA program at Stanford.

 It’s hard to argue with seventeen Pulitzer Prize winners and six U.S. Poets Laureate. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is the root system of the MFA tree.

The two-year program balances writing courses with coursework in other graduate departments at the university. In addition to the book-length thesis, a written exam is part of the student’s last semester.

Because the program represents the quintessential idea of a writing program, it attracts its faculty positions, reading series, events, and workshops the brightest lights of the literary world. 

The program’s flagship literary magazine, the Iowa Review , is a lofty goal for writers at all stages of their career. 

At the Writers’ Workshop, tracks include not only fiction, poetry, playwriting, and nonfiction, but also Spanish creative writing and literary translation. Their reading series in association with Prairie Lights bookstore streams online and is heard around the world.

Iowa’s program came into being in answer to the central question posed to each one of these schools: can writing be taught? 

The answer for a group of intrepid, creative souls in 1936 was, actually, “maybe not.” 

But they believed it could be cultivated; each one of these institutions proves it can be, in many ways, for those willing to commit the time and imagination.

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University of Texas Austin

Austin , TX

http://newwritersproject.org

Degrees Offered

Fiction, Poetry

Residency type

Program length, financial aid.

Qualified M.F.A. candidates are funded through both teaching assistantships and fellowships. Typically, students who have been awarded teaching assistantships lead discussions and workshops for literature and creative writing courses during their first three semesters. During their last semester, when they are preparing their Master’s Report, all students currently receive a fellowship that will cover tuition and living expenses for the semester. Students graduate with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

Teaching opportunities

Taships available

• Warren Decker MFA
• Kendra Fortmeyer MFA (Fiction) 2013
• Kimberly Garza MA (Fiction) 2011
• Josip Novakovich MA (Fiction) 1988
• Jessica Piazza MA (Poetry) 2006
• Susan B. A. Somers-Willett MA (Poetry) 1998
• Marco Verdoni MFA

Send questions, comments and corrections to [email protected] .

Disclaimer: No endorsement of these ratings should be implied by the writers and writing programs listed on this site, or by the editors and publishers of Best American Short Stories , Best American Essays , Best American Poetry , The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Pushcart Prize Anthology .

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I’m attending UT Austin in the fall and was just wondering if anyone can tell me what their experience was like getting the creative writing certificate that UT offers. Thanks!! :)

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• The Writer's Desk
• Creative Writing MFA
• Creative Writing BFA
• Current Students

Courses: Fall 2024

All CWL courses are 4 credits unless noted otherwise. FLM courses 1-3 credits.

All classes are In Person unless noted otherwise.

NB: Fall semester begins Monday, August 26. Last day of regularly scheduled classes is Monday, December 9.  Official end of term is Thursday, December 19. Full Academic Calendar.

GRADUATE COURSES IN SOUTHAMPTON (in-person)

CWL 500-S01 – 95360 - Intro to Graduate Writing: Christian McLean

Wednesday, 5:30-8:20 PM

Part ethics, part studio, part special guest appearances and craft conversations, this course is designed to get you thinking about how you would like to exist in the creative world, both in this program and beyond. You’ll explore recent and current events in writing, dig into literary magazines, spend time generating and sharing work. You’ll read craft books. You’ll meet MFA faculty. The course is designed with you and your MFA experience at the forefront. Please note that CWL 500 is a requirement and we encourage you to take this course in your first year. (Will be offered in Manhattan in Spring ’25).

CWL 510-S01 – 95366 - Forms of Fiction: Starting Your Novel: Susan Scarf Merrell

Tuesdays, 2:30-5:20 PM

What we’re not going to do: workshop pages that aren’t ready to be seen. What we are going to do: workshop your plan, your characters, your reasons for exploring the ideas you’re exploring. We’ll read some how-to guides on novel structure, and perhaps some contemporary novels. We’ll explore the many ways novels are shaped. We’ll talk POV, structure, voice, character. We’ll do some in-class writing and much in-class reading and talking. We’ll figure out how to break the Novel Monster down into manageable writing projects, and we’ll protect each other and our vulnerable manuscripts as they take shape. Requirement: A good idea for a novel.

CWL 540-S01 – 96906 - Forms of Creative Nonfiction: The Lyric Essay: Molly Gaudry

Thursday 2:30-5:20 PM

The lyric essay is a hybrid genre that accepts and rejects elements of both the personal essay and lyric poetry traditions. Blending nonfiction’s personal I and poetry’s lyric I, the lyric essay is (among other things) a highly performative genre especially well-suited for the dramatization of intense and particularly traumatic self-expression. But it is also flexible enough to allow for more playful, lighthearted subject matter and forms. As this course privileges generation over revision there are no formal workshops, but you will have time in class to share lyric essays-in-progress, to begin to compile these toward a possible memoir-in-essays, and to receive substantial feedback throughout the semester. Readings will include selections from the following:

• The Lyric Essay as Resistance: Truth from the Margins, Zoë Bossiere & Erica Trabold
• A Primer for Poets and Readers of Poetry by Gregory Orr
• The Sound of Undoing: A Memoir in Essays by Paige Towers
• The Book of (More) Delights: Essays by Ross Gay
• The Loneliness Files: A Memoir in Essays by Athena Dixon
• Everybody Come Alive: A Memoir in Essays by Marcie Alvis Walker
• A Harp in the Stars: An Anthology of Lyric Essays, Randon Billings Noble

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

CWL 565-S01 – 95361 - Special Topics in Writing: SF/Fantasy: Easy to Read, Not Easy to Write: Kaylie Jones

Thursday, 5:30-8:20PM

Those of us who avidly read Science Fiction and Fantasy have excellent ideas for the kind of book we’d like to write. We set out on this task, only to realize that creating a strange new world populated by alien laws, customs, and beings is so much more complicated and difficult than we at first thought. We will focus on this aspect of SF and Fantasy writing, looking at successful examples in these genres.

CWL 580-S01 – 95353 - Practicum in Arts Admin: Carla Caglioti

CWL 582-S01 – 95355 - Practicum in Publishing and Editing: Lou Ann Walker and Scott Sullivan

Tuesday, 11:00 AM-1:50 PM - In Person/Hybrid (This course will be taught jointly in both locations)

Under the guidance of editors and advisors, students will be exposed to the hands-on process of editing and publishing TSR: The Southampton Review. Yes, the P& E Practicum is designed to give you experience in editing a literary and arts review. But here’s the secret: This practicum also provides an excellent means for you to build your skills as a writer. For example, as you read submissions in Submittable, you’ll be seeing what works and doesn’t work in cover letters. You’ll be examining successful structures in fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and poetry. You’ll be acquiring editing diagnostic tools. And you’ll be drilling down to what works line by line throughout a creative piece. We’ll discuss word choices, juxtapositions, imagery, symbolism, all that good stuff.

GRADUATE COURSES IN Manhattan(in-person)

CWL 510-S60 – 95307 - Forms of Fiction: The Short-Short Story from Tolstoy to Today: A Workshop

Tuesdays, 5:30-8:20 PM

In this course we will read and discuss short-short stories and prose poems from several countries and centuries, drawing mostly from contemporary examples. Students will write frequently in one or both forms, after we look at the specific requirements of each, a variety of definitions, and differences, and similarities. As one practitioner noted, “The short-short is like a regular story, only more so.”

CWL 520-S60 – 95352 - Forms of Poetry: Questions of Travel

Julie Sheehan

Seven Saturdays (9/7, 9/21, 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, 11/16, 12/7), 11AM-4:50PM

This is a course in description, foundational to the lyric impulse, for both experienced poets and the poetry-curious. And, since we can't describe something without developing an opinion about it, it's also a course in point of view. From Brazil to Bronzeville, from islands to ideals, we'll explore the idea of place and journey as poetic tropes in both contemporary practitioners and their antecedents. We will read eclectically: William Shakespeare, Gwendolyn Brooks, Elizabeth Bishop, Nate Marshall, Anthony DiPietro. We will investigate the settings around us. We will travel through food. And we will journey in our own poetry through prompts in the spirit of the readings. With luck, we’ll have a revelation or two, and, by semester’s end, a clutch of new poems.

CWL 535-S30 – 95310 - Writing in Multiple Genres: Guess the Genre: Fiction that Feels like Nonfiction and Nonfiction that Feels Like Fiction : Karen Bender

Thursday, 5:30-8:20 PM

How do authors get personal experience on the page, either through the vehicle of fiction or nonfiction? How do writers make their work feel immediate, urgent; what to leave in and what to leave out? How is curation of experience different in each genre, or is it? We will be reading work by Alexander Chee, Annie Ernaux, Carmen Maria Machado, Ocean Vuong, Patricia Lockwood, Eve Babitz, and others, looking at the way they craft their narratives. Students will be workshopping two pieces of fiction or nonfiction, and don't have to reveal what genre it is.

CWL 535-S60 – 95341 - Writing in Multiple Genres: Writing about Social Justice: Robert Lopez

Wednesday, 2:30-5:20 PM

In this workshop we'll ask and address questions--how do we derive the authority, expertise, and the imagination to write about social issues while maintaining our allegiance to the creation and manifestation of art? How can we contribute to the vital conversations of the day? We'll read writers such as Garnette Cadogan, Claudia Rankine, Valeria Luiselli, Hanif Abdurraqib, Eula Biss, and others to see how they go about this vital endeavor. We will look within and without to create work that is both artistic and impactful, personally and globally.

CWL 582-S01 – 95355 - Practicum in Publishing and Editing: Scott Sullivan & Lou Ann Walker

Tuesdays, 11AM-1:50 PM - In Person/Hybrid ( This course will be taught jointly in both locations)

GRADUATE COURSES IN virtually 

CWL 560-S30 – 95367 - Topics Literature for Writers: The Glory of the Short Story: Susan Minot

Monday, 5:30-8:20 PM - Online Synchronous

Alice Munro recognized the short story is “an important art.” Jorge Luis Borges said, “I find that in a short story you get just as much complexity and you get it in a more pleasurable way as you get out of a long novel.” Focus in this seminar will be on the various modes of the short story as executed by its masters. Style, structure and content are handled differently by each artist and in class discussions, we will explore the varieties of storytelling and discover the many versions of the greatness of this form, with some attention to the short short, as well as to poetry. Students will write weekly assignments of the stories read, and submit work once.  Reading will include: Anton Chekhov, Claire Keegan, Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Connor, James Baldwin, Anne Carson, Georges Saunders, Shirley Jackson, John Cheever, Samantha Hunt, Ernest Hemingway, Lorrie Moore, Jorge Luis Borges, Lydia Davis, Franz Kafka, Amy Hempel, Steven Millhauser, Gina Berriault,…

GRADUATE Film & TV COURSES open to CWL (in-person in Manhattan)

FLM 550.S60 (#) Teaching Practicum: Karen Offitzer

Thurs, 2:30-5:20 PM (3 cr.)

This is a weekly seminar in teaching at the University level, with special emphasis on teaching in the creative arts, specifically creative writing and filmmaking. Open to students in our Creative Writing, Film and TV Writing programs, this course plunges into the basics of pedagogy, exploring learning styles, discovering a teaching philosophy, designing syllabi for undergraduate courses, creating assignments and rubrics for grading assignments, and practicing these skills in a classroom setting. You’ll get hands-on experience and mentoring through visits to undergraduate classes and teaching opportunities, and will gain an understanding of what works best for helping undergraduate students learn. Particular focus will be on discussing issues that arise when teaching creative endeavors such as writing and filmmaking. OPEN TO FLM, TV AND CWL STUDENTS

Based on WS and classroom availability

FLM 650.S60 (#) The Advance Party: Lenny Crooks

Tues, 8:20-11:10pm  (3 cr)

The Advance Party challenges all you know about screenwriting as you progress from a blank page to a short form screenplay. We start with a character - each student creates a single character and learns how to describe their character in an authentic way. If the class size is 10 then there will emerge 10 characters and you will choose which of these characters will interact with your own. We then focus on the natural story as an essential element in this  organic approach to screenwriting. As we progress, each of your stories will evolve, not out of traditional plot driven characterization but out of the characters' authentic actions and reactions to situations created by you. Caps at 12 students. Priority will be given to those students on the writing track.

The Advance Party process was first utilized by Andrea Arnold to write her Cannes prize winning feature ‘Red Road.’

Based on WS and classroom availability:

FLM 652.S60 (#), Screenwriting III: Jim Jennewein

Wednesday 8:20-11:10 (3cr)

This is an intensive writing workshop designed to help students as they finish or revise feature length screenplays. Classes will be devoted to workshopping student ideas and scripts. Students must come in with clear goals for the semester. These goals must be approved by the instructor. In workshop we will consider emotional impact, visual storytelling force, dramatic structure, character, story arcs, scene construction, pacing, embedded values, the creation of meaning - or “What are we left with at the end?,” and all other aspects of screenwriting. You must present your work in class and be engaged with the work of your classmates. We will read and view produced screenplays to deepen our understanding of how these stories work on us - and how they are written on the page. OR SBSNC 9

TVW 525.S65 (#) Topics in Film: TV Guest Series: Alan Kingsberg

Mon, 7:30-9:20 pm (1 cr)

A moderated guest series featuring in-depth discussions with TV writers and producers about their scripts, series and careers.   Meets four times during the Fall semester.

CWL 599.V01 51933 Julie Sheehan

CWL 599.V02 51907 Matthew Klam

CWL 599.V03 51940 Christine Kitano

CWL 599.V04 51941 Kaylie Jones

CWL 599.V05 51942 Carla Caglioti

CWL 599.V06 51943 Genevieve Crane

CWL 599.V07 51944 Robert Lopez

CWL 599.V08 51945 Paul Harding

CWL 599.V09 51946 Susan Merrell

CWL 599.V10 51947 Susan Minot

CWL 599.V11 51948 Robert Reeves

CWL 599.V12 51949 Lou Ann Walker

CWL 599.V13 51950 Amy Hempel

CWL 599.V14 51951 TBA (Molly Gaudry)

CWL 599.V15 51953 Robert Reeves THESIS PLANNING

CWL 599.V16 51954 Magdalene Brandeis

• Discrimination
• Sexual Misconduct
• Accessibility Barrier

The New Writers Project only admits students for the fall semester. Admissions for Fall 2024 will open in August 2023.

Please see How to Apply  and Admissions FAQ for more details.

We are a fully funded program. Please see our program description for more information about funding.

When reviewing your application, we consider all elements in the application file, including the statement of purpose and the letters of recommendation, but our focus is on the quality of your writing sample. Our selection among qualified candidates is a very competitive process. Meeting the minimum requirements specified above does not in any way ensure your acceptance into the program. In recent years we were able to admit less than 3% of applicants.

Please note: we offer concentrations in poetry and fiction only. We do not offer a concentration in creative nonfiction. While some of the writers who join us write nonfiction in addition to one of our primary genres, we are only able to accept applications and provide consistent course offerings in poetry and fiction.

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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Program overview.

Named one of the “Five Innovative/Unique Programs” creative writing programs by The Atlantic , the master of fine arts in creative writing is one of two programs offered by UNLV’s Creative Writing International Program with genre concentrations in fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry. By providing an innovative curriculum and fostering an educational environment where students can perfect their art, our graduates become globally-engaged writers that demonstrate socially-engaged and active writing practices.

Program Outcomes

Students receive a strong theoretical foundation in their selected genre concentration, as well as an appreciation for the art and theory across various genres, thereby expanding their creative abilities. Moreover, they develop a nuanced understanding of canonical contexts and the historical evolution of literature, which provides valuable insights into new writing. Through exposure to international writing and literary translation, students cultivate a practical appreciation for diverse linguistic traditions beyond English, enriching their creative perspectives. 

A high percentage of our graduates have widely published fiction, literary nonfiction, journalism, and poetry with mainstream presses, indie presses, and nationally esteemed venues such as:

• W. W. Norton & Company
• Grove Press
• The Best American Poetry
• McSweeney’s
• The New York Times
• The Los Angeles Times

Program Structure

Our students follow a three-year course of study that includes writing workshops, genre forms courses, literature classes, a residency abroad, completion of a literary translation, and completion of a book-length manuscript that meets the standard of publishable works. Students also have the opportunity for teacher training and practical experience in literary publishing.

Additionally, our department, in partnership with the Black Mountain Institute, offers the Doctorate of Philosophy in English with a Creative Dissertation, supported by a graduate assistantship combined with the Black Mountain Institute fellowship.

Program Funding

All MFA students are fully funded by UNLV and the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) for three years of study towards their degrees. 

• Graduate Assistantships of $21,000/year 
• Opportunities for additional funding from BMI
• In-state tuition 
• Student health insurance.

Duties for the Graduate Assistantship are 20 hours per week, usually fulfilled through a combination of teaching, tutoring in the Writing Center, and working for English Department or Black Mountain Institute publications.

Our Faculty

Maile chapman, ph.d..

Wendy Chen, Ph.D.

Claudia Keelan

Roberto Lovato

David Morris, MFA

Douglas A. Unger

The MFA Student Experience

The UNLV creative writing program offers a supportive and immersive experience to its students. From day one, students become part of a vibrant community of writers where creativity thrives and collaboration flourishes. Whether students aspire to publish their writing, pursue further study, or embark on diverse career paths within the literary world, UNLV provides the resources, support, and community they need to thrive and succeed.

Activities and Events With the Black Mountain Institute

The UNLV Department of English has a longstanding relationship with the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI). This allows our students to receive opportunities to engage in creative and literary activities with visiting BMI fellows in socially meaningful literary events for the city of Las Vegas and its greater community. Recent BMI fellows and national and international award-winning visitors include:

• Percival Everett
• Melissa Febos
• Layli Long Soldier
• Jaquira Díaz
• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

See the Black Mountain Institute's website for more information.

Academic and Literary Journals

The creative writing concentration helps students develop their writing craft and critical thinking skills through a workshop setting and literature courses. It equips them with professional skills for various industries and prepares them for graduate studies in English and creative writing.

Founded by M.F.A. alumna Kat Kruse in 2010, Neon Lit is a completely student-run reading series featuring writing of students currently in the Creative Writing programs at UNLV. Events are held on the last Friday of each month usually at the Writer’s Block, an independent bookstore and community center in downtown Las Vegas. See Neon Lit’s website and YouTube Channel for more information.

Writing Series

Breakout writers series.

The “Breakout Writers Series” or Emerging Writers Series features writers just emerging on the literary scene. Writers who visit and read for this series are chosen entirely by the students in the M.F.A. and Ph.D. programs.

Alumni Reading Series

The yearly Alumni Reading Series celebrates the literary successes of graduates of the program. Recent alumni readers include Marianne Chan, Jean Chen Ho, Clancy McGilligan, Alissa Nutting, Juan Martínez, Sasha Steensen, and Mani Rao.

Admission Requirements

• Fiction: 20-30 pages
• Literary nonfiction: 20-30 pages
• Poetry: 10-15 pages
• A letter of application to the Graduate Committee detailing a statement of purpose and reasons for choosing UNLV
• Official transcripts from all previously attended colleges or universities 
• Two letters of recommendation

Applicants must choose the International Focus subplan, unless they have already been accepted to the Peace Corps Master's International Partnership program.

International Applicants

Each year, our program admits several international writers with high competency in writing in English that immensely contribute to our literary community. Our diverse student body fosters a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives, creating a dynamic learning environment that prepares graduates for success in the global literary landscape. Furthermore, UNLV's creative writing program values inclusivity and encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds and life experiences to contribute to the vibrant tapestry of voices within our community.

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Creative Writing

MFA Program | LSU Creative Writing

At the cross-roads of Louisiana’s vibrant regional culture and a thriving 21 st century arts community, LSU’s nationally-ranked MFA program is home to a dynamic group of writers working in traditional, hybrid, and new media genres. We are a three-year, generously funded program, and our students have ample opportunity to work intensively with our award-winning faculty. Our students are encouraged to develop a program of study that complements their writing practice and supports the emergence of their unique voice.

Through individual and collaborative learning, our program fosters critical discussions about the arts and culture, politics and history, both in and out of the classroom. We emphasize a broad knowledge of contemporary writing and publishing, and we support the development of crucial professional skills: our MFA students edit their own literary journal, curate the MFA reading series, organize the Delta Mouth Literary Festival, and have the opportunity to intern at The Southern Review.

With New Orleans nearby and all of southern Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage to explore, there are few places so conducive to leading a thriving, engaged life as a writer as LSU.

The deadline to apply for Fall 2024 admission is January 15, 2023!

Degree Requirements

How to Apply

Delta Mouth

English Graduate Handbook

Current Students

Michener Center for Writers

Resident faculty, fiction faculty, poetry faculty, playwriting faculty, screenwriting faculty.