universities with graduate programs in creative writing

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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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Creative Writing Graduate Programs in America

1-25 of 221 results

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

• Cambridge, MA ·
• Harvard University ·
• Graduate School
• · Rating 4.56 out of 5   9 reviews

Harvard University, Graduate School, CAMBRIDGE, MA. 9 Niche users give it an average review of 4.6 stars. Featured Review: Other says I am Harvard Extension School student pursuing a master degree, ALM, in sustainability. I have achieved a 3.89 in this program so far and have qualified, applied, and accepted as a 'Special Student'... Read 9 reviews.

Brown University Graduate School

• Providence, RI ·
• Brown University ·
• · Rating 5 out of 5   4 reviews

Brown University, Graduate School, PROVIDENCE, RI. 4 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars. Featured Review: Master's Student says This is my first semester in the biotechnology program. The program manager is helpful and commutative. I have found a great lab match for my research interests. My classes are interesting. I have... Read 4 reviews.

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

• Evanston, IL ·
• Northwestern University ·

Northwestern University, Graduate School, EVANSTON, IL.

Drew University

• Graduate School ·
• MADISON, NJ
• · Rating 4.27 out of 5   26

American University

• WASHINGTON, DC
• · Rating 4.51 out of 5   162

Queens University of Charlotte

• CHARLOTTE, NC
• · Rating 4.82 out of 5   22

College of Arts and Science

• Nashville, TN ·
• Vanderbilt University ·

Vanderbilt University, Graduate School, NASHVILLE, TN.

Washington University in St. Louis - Arts & Sciences

• St. Louis, MO ·
• Washington University in St. Louis ·

Washington University in St. Louis, Graduate School, ST. LOUIS, MO.

College of Arts and Letters - University of Notre Dame

• Notre Dame, IN ·
• University of Notre Dame ·
• · Rating 4.5 out of 5   2 reviews

University of Notre Dame, Graduate School, NOTRE DAME, IN. 2 Niche users give it an average review of 4.5 stars. Featured Review: Doctoral Student says The faculty at Notre Dame is excellent. The student to professor ratio makes for a wonderful one to one interaction between students and teachers. At Notre Dame, my interests, dreams, goals, research... Read 2 reviews.

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Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

• Los Angeles, CA ·
• University of Southern California ·

University of Southern California, Graduate School, LOS ANGELES, CA.

Cornell University College of Arts & Sciences

• Ithaca, NY ·
• Cornell University ·

Cornell University, Graduate School, ITHACA, NY.

Rackham School of Graduate Studies

• Ann Arbor, MI ·
• University of Michigan - Ann Arbor ·
• · Rating 4.86 out of 5   7 reviews

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Graduate School, ANN ARBOR, MI. 7 Niche users give it an average review of 4.9 stars. Featured Review: Master's Student says The Landscape Architecture program at UMich School for Environment and Sustainability is rooted in advancing sustainable design and ecological function, rather than pure aesthetics. We have some... Read 7 reviews.

Krieger School of Arts & Sciences

• Baltimore, MD ·
• Johns Hopkins University ·
• · Rating 4.52 out of 5   21 reviews

Johns Hopkins University, Graduate School, BALTIMORE, MD. 21 Niche users give it an average review of 4.5 stars. Featured Review: Master's Student says Starting this fall, my graduate journey is set to begin on an exciting note. I’ve already connected with two professors who have proven to be incredibly supportive and kind. I can't wait to dive into... Read 21 reviews.

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences - University of Virginia

• Charlottesville, VA ·
• University of Virginia ·
• · Rating 4 out of 5   1 review

University of Virginia, Graduate School, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. 1 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars. Featured Review: Alum says Very good in some areas, excellent in other areas, many academic choices available in all areas of study Read 1 reviews.

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences - New York University

• New York, NY ·
• New York University ·
• · Rating 4.8 out of 5   10 reviews

Blue checkmark. New York University, Graduate School, NEW YORK, NY. 10 Niche users give it an average review of 4.8 stars. Featured Review: Master's Student says I am enrolled specifically in the Magazine concentration. My professors have all been helpful with helping me succeed and are willing to stay back to go over something I don't understand. There are... Read 10 reviews.

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College of Liberal Arts - University of Texas - Austin

• Austin, TX ·
• University of Texas - Austin ·

University of Texas - Austin, Graduate School, AUSTIN, TX.

College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

• Blacksburg, VA ·
• Virginia Tech ·

Virginia Tech, Graduate School, BLACKSBURG, VA.

Liberal Arts and Sciences - University of Florida

• Gainesville, FL ·
• University of Florida ·

Blue checkmark. University of Florida, Graduate School, GAINESVILLE, FL. 1 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars. Featured Review: Master's Student says Overall, the University of Florida seems to be a great school as far as rankings and attendance rates go. Despite the political turmoil going on in the state of Florida, there seems to be a... Read 1 reviews.

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences - Boston University

• Boston, MA ·
• Boston University ·

Blue checkmark. Boston University, Graduate School, BOSTON, MA.

College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Madison, WI ·
• University of Wisconsin-Madison ·
• · Rating 4.22 out of 5   9 reviews

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Graduate School, MADISON, WI. 9 Niche users give it an average review of 4.2 stars. Featured Review: Alum says Aside from being really cold, UW-Madison is a great school. Needless to say, it is one of the top schools in the U.S. with a beautiful campus that has Lake Mendota and a lot of student life to enjoy.... Read 9 reviews.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences - University of Illinois

• Urbana, IL ·
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ·

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School, URBANA, IL.

College of Arts and Sciences - University of Miami

• Coral Gables, FL ·
• University of Miami ·
• · Rating 4.71 out of 5   7 reviews

University of Miami, Graduate School, CORAL GABLES, FL. 7 Niche users give it an average review of 4.7 stars. Featured Review: Doctoral Student says Our professors want us to be successful and they give all the help they can give. This is amazing even when the program is inherently stressful and hard. Read 7 reviews.

BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications

• Provo, UT ·
• Brigham Young University ·

Brigham Young University, Graduate School, PROVO, UT.

College of Liberal Arts - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

• Minneapolis, MN ·
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities ·
• · Rating 4 out of 5   2 reviews

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Graduate School, MINNEAPOLIS, MN. 2 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars. Featured Review: Master's Student says The School has some management problems. However, the faculty are well trained and knowledgeable. The performance faculty are very well suited to serve the twin cities area and Minnesota as a whole. Read 2 reviews.

University of Washington College of Arts & Sciences

• Seattle, WA ·
• University of Washington ·

University of Washington, Graduate School, SEATTLE, WA.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences - NC State University

• Raleigh, NC ·
• North Carolina State University ·
• · Rating 5 out of 5   1 review

North Carolina State University, Graduate School, RALEIGH, NC. 1 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars. Featured Review: Graduate Student says NC State's MSW program will prepare you to handle a wide variety of social work careers. The professors are amazing and teach students how to engage in various social justice activities on multiple... Read 1 reviews.

College of Arts and Humanities - University of Maryland

• College Park, MD ·
• University of Maryland - College Park ·

University of Maryland - College Park, Graduate School, COLLEGE PARK, MD.

Florida State University - The College of Arts and Sciences

• Tallahassee, FL ·
• Florida State University ·

Florida State University, Graduate School, TALLAHASSEE, FL.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• EDINBURG, TX
• · Rating 4.57 out of 5   129

Miami University - College of Creative Arts

• Miami University ·

Miami University

• · Rating 4.59 out of 5   32

Showing results 1 through 25 of 221

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MFA Programs Contact Form

Help us keep this database current. If you have updated information on one of the programs listed in the MFA database, let us know.

MFA Programs Database

• Help Keep This Database Current

Our MFA database includes essential information about low- and full-residency graduate creative writing programs in the United States and other English-speaking countries to help you decide where to apply.

Adelphi University

Poetry: Jan-Henry Gray, Maya Marshall Prose: Katherine Hill, René Steinke, Igor Webb

Albertus Magnus College

Poetry: Paul Robichaud Fiction: Sarah Harris Wallman Nonfiction: Eric Schoeck

Alma College

Poetry: Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Jim Daniels, Benjamin Garcia Fiction: Karen E. Bender, Shonda Buchanan, Dhonielle Clayton, S. Kirk Walsh Creative Nonfiction: Anna Clark, Matthew Gavin Frank, Donald Quist, Robert Vivian

American University

Poetry: Kyle Dargan, David Keplinger Fiction: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Stephanie Grant, Patricia Park Nonfiction: Rachel Louise Snyder

Antioch University

Poetry: Cathy Linh Che Prose: Lisa Locascio Nighthawk

Arcadia University

Poetry: Genevieve Betts, Michelle Reale Fiction: Stephanie Feldman, Joshua Isard, Tracey Levine, Eric Smith Literature: Matthew Heitzman, Christopher Varlack, Elizabeth Vogel, Jo Ann Weiner

Poetry: Genevieve Betts, Michelle Reale Fiction: Stephanie Feldman, Joshua Isard, Tracey Levine, Eric Smith

Arizona State University

Poetry: Sally Ball, Natalie Diaz, Alberto Álvaro Ríos, Safiya Sinclair Fiction: Matt Bell, Jenny Irish, Tara Ison, Mitchell Jackson, T. M. McNally Creative Nonfiction: Sarah Viren

Ashland University

Poetry: Dexter Booth, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Adam Gellings, Tess Taylor, Vanessa Angélica Villareal Fiction: Kirstin Chen, Edan Lepucki, Sarah Monette, Nayomi Munaweera, Vi Khi Nao, Naomi J. Williams, Kyle Winkler Nonfiction: Cass Donish, Kate Hopper, Lauren Markham, Thomas Mira y Lopez, Lisa Nikolidakis, Terese Mailhot

Augsburg University

Poetry: Michael Kleber-Diggs Fiction: Stephan Eirik Clark, Lindsay Starck Nonfiction: Anika Fajardo  Playwriting: Carson Kreitzer, TyLie Shider, Sarah Myers Screenwriting: Stephan Eirik Clark, Andy Froemke

Ball State University

Poetry: Katy Didden, Mark Neely Fiction: Cathy Day, Sean Lovelace Nonfiction: Jill Christman, Silas Hansen Screenwriting: Rani Deighe Crowe, Matt Mullins

Bard College

Jess Arndt, Shiv Kotecha, Mirene Arsanios, Hannah Black, Trisha Low, Christoper Perez, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Simone White

Bath Spa University

Poetry: Lucy English, Tim Liardet, John Strachan, Samantha Walton, Gerard Woodward Fiction: Gavin James Bower, Celia Brayfield, Alexia Casale, Anne-Marie Crowhurst, Lucy English, Nathan Filer, Aminatta Forna, Samantha Harvey, Philip Hensher, Steve Hollyman, Emma Hooper, Claire Kendal, Natasha Pulley, Kate Pullinger, C.J. Skuse, Gerard Woodward Nonfiction: Celia Brayfield, Lily Dunn, Richard Kerridge Scriptwriting: Robin Mukherjee

Poetry: Lucy English, Tim Liardet, Gerard Woodward Fiction: Gavin James Bower, Celia Brayfield, Anne-Marie Crowhurst, Nathan Filer, Aminatta Forna, Samantha Harvey, Philip Hensher, Claire Kendal, Natasha Pulley, Kate Pullinger, Gerard Woodward Nonfiction: Lily Dunn, Richard Kerridge

Bay Path University

Mel Allen, Leanna James Blackwell, Jennifer Baker, Melanie Brooks, María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, Shahnaz Habib, Susan Ito, Karol Jackowski, Yi Shun Lai, Anna Mantzaris, Meredith O’Brien, Mick Powell, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Tommy Shea, Kate Whouley

Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College

Poetry: Jennifer Chang, Michael Dumanis, Randall Mann, Craig Morgan Teicher, Mark Wunderlich Fiction: Peter Cameron, Jai Chakrabarti, Stacey D’Erasmo, Monica Ferrell, Rebecca Makkai, Stuart Nadler, Téa Obreht, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Katy Simpson Smith, Taymour Soomro Nonfiction: Garrard Conley, Sabrina Orah Mark, Spencer Reece, Lance Richardson, Shawna Kay Rodenberg, Hugh Ryan, Greg Wrenn

Binghamton University

Poetry: Tina Chang, Joseph Weil Fiction: Amir Ahmdi Arian, Thomas Glave, Leslie L. Heywood, Claire Luchette, Liz Rosenberg, Jaimee Wriston-Colbert, Alexi Zentner Nonfiction: Amir Ahmdi Arian, Leslie L. Heywood

Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University

Poetry: Julie Hensley, Young Smith Fiction: Julie Hensley, Robert Dean Johnson Nonfiction: Robert Dean Johnson, Evan J. Massey Playwriting: Young Smith

Boise State University

Poetry: Martin Corless-Smith, Sara Nicholson, Taryn Schwilling Fiction: Mitch Wieland (Director), Anna Caritj Creative Nonfiction: Chris Violet Eaton, Clyde Moneyhun

Boston University

Poetry: Andrea Cohen, Karl Kirchwey, Robert Pinsky Fiction: Leslie Epstein, Jennifer Haigh, Ha Jin

Boston University—MFA in Literary Translation

Odile Cazenave, Yuri Corrigan, Margaret Litvin, Christopher Maurer, Roberta Micaleff, Robert Pinsky (advising), Stephen Scully, Sassan Tabatabai, J. Keith Vincent, William Waters, Dennis Wuerthner, Cathy Yeh, Anna Zielinska-Elliott

Bowling Green State University

Poetry: Abigail Cloud, Amorak Huey, Sharona Muir, F. Dan Rzicznek, Larissa Szporluk, Jessica Zinz-Cheresnick Fiction: Joe Celizic, Lawrence Coates, Reema Rajbanshi, Michael Schulz

Brigham Young University

Poetry: Kimberly Johnson, Lance Larsen, Michael Lavers, John Talbot Fiction: Chris Crowe, Ann Dee Ellis, Spencer Hyde, Stephen Tuttle Nonfiction: Joey Franklin, Patrick Madden

Brooklyn College

Poetry: Julie Agoos, Ben Lerner Fiction: Joshua Henkin, Madeleine Thien Playwriting: Dennis A. Allen II, Elana Greenfield

Spring Course Registration is open . Explore courses today.

• Academics /

Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program

Unlock your creative potential and hone your unique voice.

Online Courses

11 out of 12 total courses

On-Campus Experience

One 1- or 3-week residency in summer

$3,340 per course

Next Start Term: Spring 2025

Registration is open through January 23, 2025

Program Overview

Through the master’s degree in creative writing and literature, you’ll hone your skills as a storyteller — crafting original scripts, novels, stories, and works of creative nonfiction.

In small, workshop-style classes, you’ll master key elements of narrative craft, including characterization, story and plot structure, point of view, dialogue, and description. Rigorous literature courses, many of them taught by Harvard College faculty members, will deepen your skills as a writer and scholar.

Program Benefits

Instructors who are established screenwriters, novelists, and nonfiction writers

A community of writers who support your growth in live online classes

Writer's residency with agent & editor networking opportunities

Personalized academic and career advising

Thesis or capstone options that lead to publishable creative work

Harvard Alumni Association membership upon graduation

Customizable Course Curriculum

As you work through the program’s courses, you’ll enhance your creative writing skills and knowledge of literary concepts and strategies.

You’ll hone your voice as a writer in courses like Writing the Novel and Advanced Memoir. You’ll explore the possibilities of the screen in courses such as Advanced Screenwriting and Comedy Sketch Writing.

Within the creative writing and literature program, you will choose between a thesis or capstone track. You’ll also experience the convenience of online learning and the immersive benefits of learning in person.

11 Online Courses

• Primarily synchronous
• Fall, spring, January, and summer options

Writers’ Residency

A 1- or 3-week summer master class taught by a notable instructor, followed by an agents-and-editors weekend

Thesis or Capstone Track

• Thesis: features a 9-month independent creative project with a faculty advisor
• Capstone: includes crafting a fiction or nonfiction manuscript in a classroom community

The path to your degree begins before you apply to the program.

First, you’ll register for and complete 2 required courses, earning at least a B in each. These foundational courses are investments in your studies and count toward your degree, helping ensure success in the program.

Enroll for your first admission course this spring. Course registration is open November 4, 2024–January 23, 2025.

To get started, explore degree requirements, confirm your initial eligibility, and learn more about our unique “earn your way in” admissions process.

A Faculty of Creative Writing Experts

Studying at Harvard Extension School means learning from the world’s best. Our instructors are established and award-winning writers and scholars. They bring a genuine passion for teaching, with students giving our faculty an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Bryan Delaney

Playwright and Screenwriter

Talaya Adrienne Delaney

Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

Our community at a glance.

Most of our creative writing and literature students are enrolled in our master’s degree program for either personal enrichment or to make a career change. Over half are employed full time while pursuing their degree and work across a variety of industries.

Download: Creative Writing & Literature Master's Degree Fact Sheet

Average Age

Courses Taken Each Semester

Work Full Time

Would Recommend the Program

Professional Experience in the Field

Pursued for Personal Enrichment

Career Opportunities & Alumni Outcomes

Graduates of our Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Program have writing, research, and communication jobs in the fields of publishing, advertising/marketing, fundraising, secondary and higher education, and more.

Some alumni continue their educational journeys and pursue further studies in other nationally ranked degree programs, including those at Boston University, Brandeis University, University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University.

Our alumni hold titles as:

• Marketing Manager
• Director of Publishing
• Senior Research Writer

Our alumni work at a variety of leading organizations, including:

• Little, Brown & Company
• New York University (NYU)
• Bentley Publishers

Career Advising and Mentorship

Whatever your career goals, we’re here to support you. Harvard’s Mignone Center for Career Success offers career advising, employment opportunities, Harvard alumni mentor connections, and career fairs like the annual on-campus Harvard Humanities, Media, Marketing, and Creative Careers Expo.

Your Harvard University Degree

Upon successful completion of the required curriculum, you will earn the Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Extension Studies, Field: Creative Writing and Literature.

Expand Your Connections: the Harvard Alumni Network

As a graduate, you’ll become a member of the worldwide Harvard Alumni Association (400,000+ members) and Harvard Extension Alumni Association (29,000+ members).

Harvard is closer than one might think. You can be anywhere and still be part of this world.

Tuition & Financial Aid

Affordability is core to our mission. When compared to our continuing education peers, it’s a fraction of the cost.

After admission, you may qualify for financial aid . Typically, eligible students receive grant funds to cover a portion of tuition costs each term, in addition to federal financial aid options.

Learn more about the cost of attendance .

What can you do with a master’s degree in creative writing and literature?

A master’s degree in creative writing and literature prepares you for a variety of career paths in writing, literature, and communication — it’s up to you to decide where your interests will take you.

You could become a professional writer, editor, literary agent, marketing copywriter, or communications specialist.

You could also go the academic route and bring your knowledge to the classroom to teach creative writing or literature courses.

Is a degree in creative writing and literature worth it?

The value you find in our Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program will depend on your unique goals, interests, and circumstances.

The curriculum provides a range of courses that allow you to graduate with knowledge and skills transferable to various industries and careers.

How long does completing the creative writing and literature graduate program take?

Program length is ordinarily anywhere between 2 and 5 years. It depends on your preferred pace and the number of courses you want to take each semester.

For an accelerated journey, we offer year round study, where you can take courses in fall, January, spring, and summer.

While we don’t require you to register for a certain number of courses each semester, you cannot take longer than 5 years to complete the degree.

What skills do you need prior to applying for the creative writing and literature degree program?

Harvard Extension School does not require any specific skills prior to applying, but in general, it’s helpful to have solid reading, writing, communication, and critical thinking skills if you are considering a creative writing and literature master’s degree.

Initial eligibility requirements can be found on our creative writing and literature master’s degree requirements page .

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

• Best Colleges
• Application Advice

• Hidden Gem Colleges

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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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

• Litowitz MFA+MA Program

The Litowitz MFA+MA Program in Creative Writing and English

Program faculty, the department of english is grateful to northwestern university alumna jennifer leischner litowitz ’91 and her husband, alec litowitz for helping launch and support this program..

The Litowitz MFA+MA Program in Creative Writing offers intimate classes, the opportunity to pursue both creative and critical writing, close mentorship by renowned faculty in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, and three fully supported years in which to grow as writers and complete a book-length creative project.  The Litowitz MFA+MA curriculum gives students time to deepen both their creative writing and their study of literature.  Students will receive full financial support for three academic years and two summers, a total of 33 months.  Both degrees—the MFA in Creative Writing and the MA in English—are awarded simultaneously at graduation.

Drawing on innovative scholarship, deep immersion in process, and cross-pollination between critical and creative texts, Litowitz students will complete a Capstone essay—a 20-25 page expanded version of a paper written for an English department graduate or MFA+MA seminar—by the end of their second year, and will spend their third year working on a book-length creative thesis of their own design, either within one genre or across genres.  The MFA+MA program's small size and attentive faculty will develop students' sense of literary context, the possibilities of genre, and their creative practice, while encouraging them to pursue the individual distinctiveness of their projects.

The Litowitz MFA+MA program provides significant exposure to a second genre in addition to the genre in which a student has been admitted. Students must take at least one out-of-genre workshop and have the option of taking more.

Over two years of coursework students will take:

In spring quarter of the second year, with advising and mentoring by the faculty, each student will complete the MA Capstone Essay.

In year three, students will be almost wholly dedicated to their creative thesis manuscripts.  Third-year students will take three quarters of the MFA Thesis Workshop/Tutorial.

Some students will complete their MFA thesis manuscript by the end of this year; others will wish to take more time.  The Graduate School permits students to submit the culminating project for the MFA at the end of full-time enrollment, or afterward.   

In all three years, students will be mentored by the faculty in the practice of their writing, the design of their projects, and regarding artistic and intellectual resources for their work.  In the teaching of creative writing and, through summer editorial work at TriQuarterly.org , students will get first-hand experience in editing a literary journal.

Visiting writers (including some anglophone international writers) will bring new perspectives to artistic practice, the three genres, and cross-genre or multi-genre work.

Students will pursue their work on our beautiful Evanston campus, amid artists, filmmakers, scholars and public intellectuals, with easy access to the vibrant literary arts scene of Chicago.

Admissions Cycle

Each year, the MFA+MA program admits in all three genres. Information on the application process can be found here .

MFA in Creative Writing

About the Program

Our innovative MFA program includes both studio instruction and literature courses. Writers can take workshop courses in any genre, and they can write a thesis in fiction, nonfiction, poetry or “hybrid” (multi-genre) form. In the second year, they teach popular Creative Writing courses to Davis undergraduates under faculty supervision, gaining valuable experience and sharing their insight  and enthusiasm with beginning practitioners.

Questions? Contact:

Sarah Yunus Graduate Program Coordinator, MFA Program in Creative Writing [email protected]   Pronouns: she/her  

Admissions and Online Application

Events, Prizes, and Resources

• Funding Your MFA

At UC Davis, we offer you the ability to fund your MFA. In fact, all students admitted to the program are guaranteed full funding in the second year of study, when students serve as teachers of Introduction to Creative Writing (English 5) and receive, in exchange, tuition and health insurance remission as well as a monthly stipend (second year students who come to Davis from out of state are expected to establish residency during their first year). We have a more limited amount of resources – teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and out of state tuition wavers – allocated to us for first year students, but in recent years, we’ve had excellent luck funding our accepted first years. We help students who do not receive English department funding help themselves by posting job announcements from other departments during the spring and summer leading up to their arrival. We are proud to say that over the course of the last twenty years, nearly every incoming student has wound up with at least partial funding (including a tuition waiver and health insurance coverage) by the time classes begin in the fall.  

We have other resources for students, too – like the Miller Fund, which supports attendance for our writers at any single writer’s workshop or conference. Students have used these funds to attend well-known conferences like AWP, Writing By Writers, and the Tin House Conference. The Davis Humanities Institute offers a fellowship that first year students can apply for to fund their writing projects. Admitted students are also considered for University-wide fellowships.

Cost of Attendance

• Course of Study

The M.F.A. at Davis is a two-year program on the quarter system (our academic year consists of three sessions of ten-week courses that run from the end of September until mid-June). The program includes classes and a thesis project. It requires diverse, multidisciplinary study and offers excellent mentorship.  

Writers concentrate in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or “hybrid” (multi-genre) forms. They take at least four graduate workshops, and they’re required to take one workshop outside their primary genre (many of our students choose to take even more). Writers at Davis also take graduate courses in literature from abundant options, including the program’s Seminars for Writers. Writers can also take graduate courses in literary study taught by scholars in the English Department. And many of our writers enroll in courses relevant to their work in other departments like art history, comparative literature, linguistics, and performance studies.  

At the end of the first year, writers form a thesis committee with a Director and two additional readers from the faculty. In the second year, writers at Davis concentrate on Individual Study units with these mentors, working closely with their committee to create a book-length creative work. Writers present their projects at intimate, intense, celebratory defense in May with all members of their committee in attendance.

• History of the Program

We’re a new MFA, but we’ve been a successful and respected Creative Writing Program since 1975—a “sleeper” program, as one guide to MFA programs called us. The people who founded the CW program at UC Davis were all lovers and teachers of literature, and chose to call the program an MA, rather than an MFA because they wanted to ensure that the degree would not be seen as a “studio” degree but one in which the study of literature was integral.  In the 1980’s and 1990’s, most often under the leadership of Jack Hicks and Alan Williamson, the program emphasized writing on the American West and the wilderness. Our high profile faculty included Sandra McPherson, Gary Snyder, Sandra Gilbert, Clarence Major, Katherine Vaz, Elizabeth Tallent, Max Byrd, and Louis Owens.  

We also created an introductory sequence of workshops taught by graduate students, which has become one of the highlights of the program for the second years who teach the courses and the undergraduates who take them. There’s more to teaching these courses than learning to teach; teaching helps our writers understand their own writing in ways that no other aspect of a writing program can do. Pam Houston joined the program in the early 2000’s and she led a faculty that included Lynn Freed and Yiyun Li. As an MFA, we remain a place that values sustained literary study as core to the making of art, but we’re also allowing our vision of genre to expand and embrace the other arts and media.

The town of Davis began as "Davisville," a small stop on the Southern Pacific railway between Sacramento and the Bay Area.  Some of our graduate students choose to live in Sacramento or the Bay Area, making use of the commute-by-train option, which is still very much in place.  For those commuting by car, Davis is a 15-25 minute drive from Sacramento and a 60-90 minute drive from the Bay Area.

Students also choose to live in Davis itself, which CNN once ranked the second most educated city in the US.  Davis is a college town of about 75,000 people. Orchards, farms and ranches border it on all sides. The town boasts a legendary twice-weekly farmers market (complete with delicious food trucks and live music). Bike and walking paths lead everywhere (many students prefer not to own a car while they are here) and there are copious amounts of planned green space in every subdivision. The flatness of the land makes Davis ideal for biking, and the city over the past 5 decades has installed bike lanes and bike racks all over town. In fact, in 2006,  Bicycling Magazine , in its compilation of "America's Best Biking Cities," named Davis the best small town for cycling. Packed with coffee houses, bookstores, and restaurants that serve cuisine from every continent, Downtown Davis has a casual vibe. It’s a great place to hole up and write. Davis is filled with hard wood trees, and flower and vegetable gardens, and wild ducks and turkeys walk the campus as if they own the place. It’s a gentle place to live. Although summers get quite hot, the other three seasons are mild, and each, in their own way, quite beautiful. For more about the town, check out  the Davis Wikipedia page .

Woodland and Winters, two small towns close by to Davis, are also options for housing—and they’re good options for those who are not so desirous of the college town scene.  Yet another option is to live in the scenic rural areas Davis is surrounded by.

To the west of Davis, Lake Berryessa and the Napa valley are close by.  To the east, the Sierra mountains are close by; Reno and Tahoe are just a couple hours drive in that direction. 

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Creative Writing Graduate Programs

About the Program and Placement Record

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Creative Writing M.A.

• Admission Requirements
• Degree and Graduation Requirements
• Master's Essay
• Master's Thesis

Creative Writing Ph.D.

• Doctoral Dissertation
• Foreign Language Requirement
• Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination

One of the first universities in the country to offer a Ph.D. in Creative Writing, Ohio University continues as home to a thriving, widely respected graduate program with concentrations in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Small by design, our graduate program offers a comprehensive curriculum, an award-winning faculty and the intimacy of small classes.

Placement Record

Over the past three years, seven of our nine graduating creative writing Ph.D. students have landed tenure-track jobs, post-doctorates, or prestigious visiting writer posts. Our MA graduates go on to study in the top MFA and Ph.D. programs.

• English M.A. Placements
• English Ph.D. Placements

Students in the Creative Writing M.A. and Ph.D. programs enjoy:

• Graduate stipends, up to $15,000 per year, with opportunities to teach a wide range of courses, including creative writing workshops
• Generous graduate student travel funding
• Editorial fellowships on New Ohio Review , Quarter after Eight , and Brevity
• Opportunities to interact with distinguished visiting writers

M.A. candidates complete two years of study and write a thesis of creative work in their genre. Doctoral candidates complete five years of study, comprehensive exams, a major critical essay, and a creative dissertation.

Literary Journals

The department and its students publish three literary journals:

• New Ohio Review , a national literary journal
• Quarter After Eight , a prose journal edited by graduate students
• Sphere , an undergraduate journal

Annual Events

The department hosts several annual events including an ambitious Spring Literary Festival that brings five nationally distinguished writers to campus for three-days of readings, craft talks, and student discussion. Recent visitors have included Tony Hoagland, Kathryn Harrison, Barry Lopez, Francine Prose, Peter Ho Davies, Kim Addonizio, David Shields, Robert Hass, Charles Simic, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Marilynne Robinson.

Visiting writers engage with our program year-round as well, appearing in both undergraduate and graduate classes, meeting one-on-one with select students, and offering evening readings in the intimate Galbreath Chapel.

In addition to a regular Dogwood Bloom reading series for our graduate students, the creative writing program hosts an annual Writers' Harvest benefit reading for the Southeastern Ohio Food Bank?s Second Harvest, a food distribution program serving Athens, Hocking, Perry, Vinton, Jackson, Gallia, Meigs, Morgan and Washington counties.

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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

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Litowitz Creative Writing Graduate Program

Degree requirements.

Learn more about the program by visiting the Department of English

See related Interdisciplinary Clusters and Certificates

Degree Types: MFA+MA

This fully-funded MFA+MA in Creative Writing and English program offers intimate classes, the opportunity to pursue both creative and critical writing, and close mentorship by renowned faculty in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Our three-year curriculum gives students time to deepen both their creative writing and their study of literature. Students will receive support for three academic years (including two summers) to complete both degrees – an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in English.

Drawing on innovative scholarship, deep immersion in process, and cross-pollination between critical and creative texts, students will complete book-length thesis projects of their own design, either within or across genres, and a substantial essay on literary texts. The program's small size and attentive faculty will develop students' sense of literary context, while encouraging them to pursue the distinctiveness of their projects.

In addition to their studies, students will be guided in the teaching of creative writing and, through summer editorial work at TriQuarterly.org , the editing of a literary journal.

Students will pursue their work on our beautiful Evanston campus, amid artists, filmmakers, scholars and public intellectuals, with easy access to the vibrant literary arts scene of Chicago.

Additional resources:

• Department website
• Program handbook(s)

Program Statistics

Visit Master's Program Statistics for statistics such as program admissions, enrollment, student demographics and more.

Program Contact

Contact Nathan Mead Graduate Program Assistant 847-491-3341

The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in  The Graduate School Policy Guide .

Course Requirements

May be taken outside the English department with permission of Creative Writing DGS.

Other Degree Requirements

• First Year Review
• Satisfactory completion of an article-length literary critical essay by the late spring of year two. This 20-25 page capstone essay will typically be an expanded version of an essay written for an English Department graduate seminar, revised in response to comments from, and as appropriate in consultation with, the seminar instructor.
• Satisfactory completion of an MFA Thesis: the first draft of a book-length work of original fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or mixed-genre work.

Last Updated: September 6, 2024

Creative Writing and Literature

Undergraduate Program

The Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree is designed for industry professionals with years of work experience who wish to complete their degrees part time, both on campus and online, without disruption to their employment. Our typical student is over 30, has previously completed one or two years of college, and works full time.

Students enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts program in Creative Writing & Literature will develop skills in creative writing and literary analysis through literature courses and writing workshops in fiction, screenwriting, poetry, and nonfiction. Through online group courses and one-on-one tutorials, as well as a week on campus, students hone their craft and find their voice.

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The NYU Creative Writing Program

is among the most distinguished programs in the country and is a leading national center for the study of writing and literature.

Graduate Program

The graduate Creative Writing Program at NYU consists of a community of writers working together in a setting that is both challenging and supportive.

Low Residency MFA Workshop in Paris

The low-residency MFA Writers Workshop offers students the opportunity to develop their craft in one of the world's most inspiring literary capitals.

Undergraduate Program

The undergraduate program offers workshops, readings, internships, writing prizes, and events designed to cultivate and inspire.

Spring 2022 Reading Series

The lively public Reading Series hosts a wide array of writers, translators, and editors, and connects our program to the local community.

Low-Residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris

Undergraduate, washington square review, literary journal, a sample residency calendar, write in paris, scholarships and grant opportunities, program of study, dates and deadlines, creative writing, recent highlights from the mfa community.

• Alum Bruna Dantas Lobato   won the 2023 National Book Award in translation

• Faculty member Sharon Olds received the Joan Margarit International Poetry Prize from King Felipe VI in July 2023

• Alumni  Tess Gunty  and  John Keene   each won a 2022 National Book Award in fiction and poetry , respectively

• Books by faculty members  Sharon  Olds  and  Meghan O'Rourke;  and alums  Tess Gunty, John Keene ,  and  Jenny Xie  were named finalists for the 2022 National Book Awards; books by alum  Rio Cortez and faculty member Leigh Newman were also longlisted

• Alum  Ada Limón   has been named the nation's 24th Poet Laureate  by the Library of Congress

• Alum  Amanda Larson 's debut poetry collection  GUT  was selected by Mark Bibbins as the winner of the Poetry Society of America Norma Farber Book Award

• Alum  Sasha Burshteyn  was named a 2022 winner of the 92Y Discovery Prize. Alums Jenna Lanzaro and JinJin Xu were also named semi-finalists for the prize.

• Alum Clare Sestanovich was selected as a  2022 5 under 35 Honoree  by the National Book Foundation

• Alum  Maaza Mengiste  was awarded a  2022 Guggenheim Fellowship

• Visiting graduate faculty member  Brandon Taylor 's collection  Filthy Animals  was named a 2021/22  finalist for The Story Prize  and was shortlisted for the  2022 Dylan Thomas Prize

• Alum  Raven Leilani  won the 2021 Clark Fiction Prize, Dylan Thomas prize, the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction and the Center for Fiction 2020 First Novel Prize for her debut novel  Luster,  and was named a finalist for the 2021 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, the Gotham Book Prize, the 2021 PEN/Hemmingway Award for Debut Novel, the 2021 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award

• Alum Desiree C. Bailey 's debut poetry collection  What Noise Against the Cane  was longlisted for the 2022 Dylan Thomas Prize and was also named a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award in Poetry and the 2022 Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and was published as the winner of the 2020 Yale Series of Younger Poets

• Senior faculty member  Sharon Olds  was named the 2022 recipient of the Poetry Society of America's Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry

You can read more MFA Community news here and find a list of forthcoming and recently published books by alumni here .   NYU CWP alumni include  Aria Aber, Amir Ahmadi Arian, Julie Buntin, Nick Flynn, Nell Freudenberger, Aracelis Girmay, Isabella Hammad, Ishion Hutchinson, Mitchell S. Jackson, Tyehimba Jess, John Keene, Raven Leilani, Robin Coste Lewis, Ada Limón, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Maaza Mengiste, John Murillo, Gregory Pardlo, Morgan Parker, Nicole Sealey, Solmaz Sharif, Peng Shepherd, Ocean Vuong, Jenny Xie,  and  Javier Zamora. 

Announcements

Ocean Vuong joins the NYU Creative Writing Program Faculty

Mary Gabriel, Author of “Ninth Street Women”, Receives the NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize

Claudia Rankine joins the NYU Creative Writing Program Faculty

Classic podcasts from the lillian vernon reading series.

Anne Carson

Zadie Smith and Jeffrey Eugenides

Terrance Hayes

Where to find us.

Faculty Spotlight

Katie Kitamura’s most recent novel Intimacies was longlisted for the National Book Award and named a Best Book of 2021 by numerous publications.

Ocean Vuong is the author of the bestselling novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and the poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds.

Sharon Olds is a previous director of the Creative Writing Program. Her 2012 collection Stags Leap was awarded the T.S. Eliot Prize and a Pulitzer.

Foer was listed in Rolling Stone's "People of the Year," Esquire's "Best and Brightest," and The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" list.

Hari Kunzru is the author of six novels, including the most recent Red Pill, and White Tears, a finalist for the PEN Jean Stein Award.

Darin Strauss is the author of several acclaimed novels, including the most recent The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story.

Jeffrey Eugenides is the author of acclaimed novels The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, and The Marriage Plot. His latest collection is Fresh Complaint. 

Claudia Rankine is a recipient of the 2016 MacArthur Fellowship, and the author of six collections including Citizen and Don’t Let Me Be Lonely.

Terrance Hayes’s most recent publications include American Sonnets for My Past And Future Assassin and To Float In The Space Between.

Creative Writing

A fully funded M.F.A. program that combines creative and scholarly work, undergraduate teaching, and professionalization opportunities.

Quick Links

• Enrolling in Undergraduate Intermediate Workshops
• Creative Writing Minor
• Writers Here and Now Event Series
• Jiménez-Porter Writers' House
• Stanley Plumly Lecture Series

Stanley Plumly Memorial Digital Archive

The M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing is nationally ranked and our graduates are the recipients of many distinguished awards and fellowships.

Follow us on Facebook .

Our Faculty

Lillian-yvonne bertram.

Associate Professor, English Director, MFA Program in Creative Writing, English

Professor, English

3103 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes

Associate Professor, English

3120 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Emily Mitchell

3122 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Rion Amilcar Scott

3234 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Joshua Weiner

3113 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Program Coordinator

Lindsay bernal.

Academic Coordinator, MFA Program in Creative Writing, English MFA Program in Creative Writing, English

2116E Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Emeritus Faculty

Michael collier.

Emeritus Professor, English

In Memoriam

Elizabeth arnold.

3101 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Founding Director

The late Distinguished University Professor and state Poet Laureate Stanley Plumly founded the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at UMD in the late 1980s and served as its director for most of his teaching career at the university.

The Georgia Review hosts a memorial digital archive devoted to Plumly and his work, teaching, influence and life.

Program Requirements

The Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing offers concentrations in fiction and poetry and requires a creative thesis. The course requirements include both writing workshops and literature courses.  

Course Requirements

• Four writing workshops in your concentration (poetry or fiction: English 688 or ENGL 689, respectively).
• Four graduate (600- or 700-level) literature courses.
• At least one semester of Studies in Narrative Form (English 789), if your concentration is fiction, or Studies in Poetic Form (English 788), if your concentration is poetry.
• NOTE: Forms courses are repeatable and can be taken outside of your concentration for elective credit.
• One graduate-level (600-level or above) course outside the English Department, or one 400-level English course elective within the English Department.

Beginning in the second year, MFA students register for English 799 (thesis research) under the direction of a member of the creative writing faculty, write as a thesis a book-length manuscript of fiction or poetry.

Mentoring Credit

All MFA students are required to complete one credit of pedagogical or professional mentoring each semester: either ENGL878 or ENGL898.

A Letter from the M.F.A. Program Faculty

Dear Prospective Students,

Our MFA program is committed to social justice and antiracism. Our workshop process decenters whiteness and amplifies BIPOC voices, as we aim to create a space of equity for writing and collaboration and encourage extending creative practice into the world.  What is the writing that is happening now, that is looking to the future and creating a viable community?  The answer starts in the work of your imagination, your dedication to the craft, and your sense that this matters beyond the act of writing. Our commitment is to you. 

Each fall, we welcome three poets and three fiction writers into the MFA Program, a studio-based fine arts program devoted to the development and mentoring of the next generation of poets and fiction writers. 

Our attention is to your original writing and to you, the writer; our aim is to help you become the writer you envision for yourself.  As fully funded writers, selected by the program faculty from an applicant pool of over 200, you’ll spend two to three years taking workshops, literature courses, and creative forms courses, meeting one-on-one with our faculty, and gaining valuable experience teaching undergraduate workshops, academic writing, and literature courses.

Our varied individual teaching philosophies share the conviction that the hard work of drafting and revising original stories and poems is grounded in reading and studying exemplary works.  Literary history, innovative poetic and narrative form, and the experience of the writer all come into play through the shaping hand of art.

During the second and third years of the program, MFA students develop a thesis (a book-length collection of poetry or short fiction, a novel, or a hybrid project) under the direction of the MFA faculty. Students have the opportunity to work closely with each program faculty member in the genre of concentration during their time at UMD.

Completion of the thesis culminates in the occasion of a thesis defense with several faculty members, and a celebratory public reading, at which each student is introduced by their faculty mentor.

The MFA core curriculum includes practica in teaching creative writing (in the first semester) and finishing the thesis (in the last semester), plus a set of professionalization courses to prepare you for a career in creative writing.  Our program emphasizes one-on-one mentoring and personal attention to your development as a writer in the world. 

The Writers Here & Now reading series, co-sponsored and -curated by the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House (UMD’s undergraduate residential college devoted to creative writing), brings writers of national and international prominence to the University of Maryland each year, both to read and meet with students in the graduate and undergraduate workshops. Recent visiting writers include Leslie Nneka Arimah, Jennifer Chang, Jos Charles,  Alexander Chee, Jennine Capó Crucet, Natalie Diaz, Danielle Evans, Ross Gay, Louise Glück, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Terrance Hayes, Mitchell S. Jackson, John Keene, Yiyun Li, Claudia Rankine, Cristina Rivera Garza, Evie Shockley, Ocean Vuong, and Javier Zamora.  We also invite program alumni to read in the series and visit with the MFAs.

Our program faculty and alumni include recipients of the following awards and honors: ●    Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize ●    Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship ●    Guggenheim Fellowship ●    Italo Calvino Prize ●    National Book Award ●    National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship ●    NAACP Image Award ●    National Jewish Book Award ●    National Poetry Series competition ●    New York Public Library Young Lions Prize ●    Rome Prize ●    Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award ●    Whiting Writers’ Award

They have received Stegner, Hodder, Radcliffe Institute, and Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center fellowships, and their work has been featured in the following publications: ●    The Atlantic ●    Best American Poetry ●    Harvard Review ●    Los Angeles Review of Books ●    The Nation ●    The New Republic ●    The New Yorker ●    New York Review of Books ●    New York Times ●    Paris Review ●    Poetry ●    Threepenny Review ●    Washington Post ●    Yale Review

Our alumni have started their own literary journals online and in print: ●    The Account ●    Asian American Literary Review ●    AzonaL ●    B O D Y ●    Leavings ●    Oversound ●    Smartish Pace

They have continued their formal studies in doctoral programs at Florida State University, the University of Houston, the University of Illinois–Chicago, the University of Missouri, the University of Utah, and other top programs. And they have taught in universities, colleges, and high schools around the country and abroad, serving communities and fostering the literary arts.

We thank you for your interest in our program.  We urge you to review the department website to get a further sense of whether or not the MFA at Maryland is right for you.  And we wish you the very best in your writing.

M.F.A. Application Instructions

Submit the complete application and all supporting materials by December 17, 2024 —for the Fall 2025 term. (We do not accept applications for the Spring term.) Please note that the system will close promptly at midnight, so you will be unable to edit your application past 11:59pm on December 17, 2024.

University of Maryland's Graduate Application Process

The University of Maryland’s Graduate School accepts applications through its application system . Before completing the application, applicants are asked to check the Admissions Requirements site for specific instructions.

As required by the Graduate School, all application materials are to be submitted electronically:

• Graduate Application
• Non-refundable application fee ($75) for each program to which an applicant applies.
• Unofficial transcripts of your entire college/university record (undergraduate and graduate), including records of any advanced work done at another institution. Electronic copies of these unofficial transcripts must be uploaded along with your online application. Official transcripts will be required after an applicant is admitted to the program.
• Three Letters of Recommendation . In your online application, please complete the information requested for your recommenders and ask them to submit their letters electronically. The strongest letters of recommendation are written by individuals who are familiar with your fiction or poetry and can speak about you as a writer.
• Statement of Purpose . The statement, which should not exceed 1000 words, should address your creative interests, relevant aspects of your educational experience, and your reasons for applying to our program.
• A single Creative Writing Sample in the genre in which you are applying: for fiction, 15 pages (double-spaced); for poetry, 10-15 pages (single-spaced). To ensure that your application package is processed accurately, you must specify your genre (fiction OR poetry) in the online application.

Note: We DO NOT require--or recommend--that applicants to the MFA Program in Creative Writing submit GRE scores.

The electronic submission of application materials helps expedite the review of an application. Completed applications are reviewed by a faculty admissions committee in each genre. The recommendations of the poetry and fiction committees are submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School, who will make the final admission decision. Students seeking to complete graduate work at the University of Maryland for degree purposes must be formally admitted to the Graduate School by the Dean.

Information for International Graduate Students

The University of Maryland is dedicated to maintaining a vibrant international graduate student community. The Office of International Students and Scholars Services (ISSS) is a valuable resource of information and assistance for prospective and current international students.  International applicants are encouraged to explore the services they offer, and contact them with related questions.

The University of Maryland Graduate School offers admission to international students based on academic information; it is not a guarantee of attendance.  Admitted international students will then receive instructions about obtaining the appropriate visa to study at the University of Maryland which will require submission of additional documents.  Please see the Graduate Admissions Process for International Applicants for more information.

Applicants are encouraged to direct any technical issues and questions related to the admissions process to the Graduate School ([email protected]; 301-405-3644)

Prospective M.F.A. Student FAQs

If, after reading this list, you still have unanswered questions, please contact us.

• Where do I apply on-line? You can apply now via the Graduate School's website .  
• When is the application deadline?  December 17, 2024 at 11:59 pm (EST)
• Does your program admit students for the Spring semester? No.
• What is the most important part of the application? The creative writing sample is the single most important element of a successful application to the MFA Program in Creative Writing. Of course, the Creative Writing faculty look closely at all of the other materials in the application file.
• Is it possible to meet with the Creative Writing faculty and/or staff to discuss the admissions process? Unfortunately, the faculty and/or staff do not have the time to meet with prospective applicants. We do, however, strongly encourage applicants who have been accepted into the program to visit during the spring semester to meet with faculty, staff, and current students and attend a graduate-level course.
• When are admissions decisions made? Admissions decisions are made in March.
• Should the fiction writing sample be one piece or several pieces? The fiction writing sample can be either a novel excerpt, a short story, or several short stories, as long as the writing sample does not exceed 15 double-spaced pages.
• Can I submit creative work in more than one genre and/or apply in more than one genre? No. All MFA applicants must apply within one genre (fiction or poetry) and submit work only within that chosen genre.
• Does Maryland offer an MFA in Creative Nonfiction? No. However, a workshop in Creative Nonfiction is offered occasionally, and MFA students are welcome to take it as an elective.
• Does the program offer a low-residency option? No.
• What kind of financial award packages does the program offer? Each year, the program accepts 6 applicants (3 fiction writers and 3 poets), who are fully funded by Teaching Assistantships for up to three years of graduate study. Our financial award packages include a stipend of about $26,000 per academic year and 60 credit hours of tuition remission (10 credit hours of tuition remission per semester) over three years of study. MFA students do not teach during their first year in the program. They teach two classes during their second year and four classes during the optional third year of study.
• How do I put myself in the running for funding? No separate application is required. Please see the question above.
• When are decisions made about program-awarded aid (fellowships and teaching assistantships) ?  In March. We fully fund all 6 applicants who we've accepted. Our offer letter details the program-awarded financial package.
• Where can I find information on tuition and fees? Student Financial Services and Cashiering provides a chart of tuition and fees for Graduate Students by credit hour and residency classification (resident and non-resident).
• Do MFA students ever attend the program part-time? No. Since our MFA students are fully funded  they must remain enrolled on a full-time basis (taking at least 6 credits per semester).
• What time do the MFA students take classes? Most graduate English classes are offered once a week, Monday-Thursday, either from 3:30-6pm or from 6:30-9pm. Fiction and poetry workshops are on Wednesdays from 3:30-6pm. Students must be enrolled continuously—unless they petition the Graduate School for a medical leave of absence or for a waiver of continuous registration and such petitions are approved.
• Does your program accept letters of recommendation via Interfolio? The Graduate School does not accept letters of recommendation via Interfolio. However, if Interfolio is your only option to submit your letters of recommendation, then please arrange for Interfolio to send your dossier electronically to the MFA Program Coordinator, Lindsay Bernal: [email protected] . (Lindsay will confirm the receipt of the dossier.) Please note that this alternative is a work-around: though the MFA faculty reviewers will be given access to your Interfolio dossier, your letters will continue to appear as missing from your online application.
• Does your program require applicants to submit GRE scores? No.
• Does your program waive the application fee? The Graduate School, not the Program, processes all application fee waiver requests. For more information about application fee waivers, including the eligibility guidelines, please visit the Graduate School’s website .

Featured Alumni

Poet shara mccallum mfa ’96 named 2023 guggenheim fellow.

The fellowship will support McCallum’s upcoming project, a collection of poems in response to Jamaican visual art.

Elizabeth Acevedo Has Written Her First Novel for Adults–and It’s Full of Magic

Creative Writing M.F.A. alum is profiled in TIME on her newest novel, Family Lore .

Jewish Folklore Goes Queer in Alum’s New Novel

The mystical and mundane meet in story inspired by Temim Fruchter's Eastern European family matriarchs.

Exploring Stanley Plumly’s World: New Digital Archive Offers Insight into Beloved Poet’s Life and Work

Award-winning poet ama codjoe inspires young writers at writers here and now event, "wave house" by professor elizabeth arnold wins poetry society of america william carlos williams award, english professor elizabeth arnold dies at 65, “bitter water opera" in briefly noted book reviews, professor lillian-yvonne bertram and hoa nguyen ’91 receive foundation for contemporary arts grants to artists, accepting submissions: sadat poetry and music for justice and peace competitions, umd creative writing at awp 2024, upcoming events, writers here and now: elizabeth arnold memorial reading, book launch: lillian-yvonne bertram & nick montfort, output, writers here and now: karen solie & latoya watkins.

Writing in the Disciplines

These colleges typically make the writing process a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum. Students are encouraged to produce and refine various forms of writing for different audiences in different disciplines. In spring and summer 2024, we invited college presidents, chief academic officers, deans of students and deans of admissions from more than 1,500 schools to nominate up to 15 institutions with stellar examples of writing in the disciplines. Colleges and universities that received 10 or more nominations are ranked here. Read the methodology »

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Creative Writing

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• Master of Fine Arts

The UC Davis graduate creative writing program is a two-year master of fine arts degree rooted in the study and creation of literature that reaches toward the other arts with the goal of presenting students with a wide range of aesthetic approaches and models for being a writer. Students may specialize in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, as well as multi‐genre, multi‐media, or hybrid forms of literary art. 

Graduate Program Requirements

Contact information.

About the Program

Thank you for your interest in the Boston University MFA Program in Creative Writing , one of the oldest and most prestigious programs in this country. Our alumni in poetry include Elizabeth Alexander, Erin Belieu, Rafael Campo, Melissa Green, Glyn Maxwell, Carl Phillips and Don Share; in fiction, our alumni include Peter Ho Davies, Arthur Golden, Ha Jin, Jhumpa Lahiri, Askold Melnyczuk, Melanie Rae-Thon, Weike Wang, and Lisa Taddeo. The Atlantic magazine has ranked our program among the top five percent of all creative writing programs for the distinction of its faculty and alumni, and has ranked ours among the top ten programs overall.

Most notably, however, our program offers to poets and fiction writers in a single year (usually including summer study) a rigorous combination of literary study and focus on craft equivalent to what other MFA programs accomplish in two years. Our program also offers practical experience in teaching creative writing at the high school or undergraduate level through teaching fellowships. Such an intensive curriculum is only possible because of the dedication, talent, and energy of the students who choose to attend the BU MFA Program.

The accelerated nature of the program creates close bonds between each year’s cohorts of poets and fiction writers, who also benefit from the intellectual and artistic stimulation of being part of a large university in one of the most lively and beautiful cities in the United States. Finally, our students have the opportunity for world language study, with the option of taking BU’s renowned Translation Seminar. This study culminates in a Global Fellowship that affords them the opportunity to travel, write, and study for a period of up to three months anywhere outside the United States.

Please note that the MFA in Playwriting is now separate from the Creative Writing Program in Fiction and Poetry. Playwriting is now a three-year program housed at the Boston Playwrights’ Theater. For information on the program and its admissions, please click  here .

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Graduate Degrees in Creative Writing & English

Among the most diverse and challenging programs in the country, CU Boulder’s English department teaches graduate students to read and write with precision, to think critically, to be creative and to practice an attentive life. The department offers an MFA in creative writing and an MA and PhD in english.

Students work closely with faculty as they develop their knowledge of literatures from throughout the English-speaking world. Creative writing students can work in poetry, fiction or across genres in a program known for its commitment to innovation. Master’s english students study a broad range of English-language literatures. PhD students pursue concentrated study and original scholarship in their chosen area of specialization.

Degree Types

MFA ᐧ MA ᐧ PhD

• College of Arts and Sciences
• Department of English

The Department of English is home to the Laboratory for Ritual Arts & Pedagogy (The RAP LAB) and the Media Archaeology Lab , both venues that support new teaching and research in the humanities.

The department is home to faculty working in every major field of English and American literature , and, in many cases, developing fields of inquiry. 

PhD students receive 5 years of funding to complete the curriculum.

Degree Options & Application Requirements

Creative writing, master of fine arts.

• 3-year program
• 45 credit hours
• Thesis required
• Applicants must hold a Bachelor of Arts, preferably with an English major, have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 and submit a completed application for admission.

GRE/GMAT Requirements

The GRE is not required for any of our graduate programs. The admissions committee will not have access to any scores that are submitted.

Application Deadlines

• International applicants: Dec. 1
• U.S. applicants: Dec 15. 

The online application closes at 9:59 p.m. MT on the deadlines.

 For program details, review the course catalog for the MFA in creative writing .

Master of Arts

• 2-year program
• 30 credit hours
• Thesis and nonthesis options
• U.S. applicants: Dec. 15

 For program details, review the course catalog for the MA in english .

Doctor of Philosophy

The PhD program is a five-year curriculum, including five years of funding, that comprises a language requirement and three basic components:

• Qualifying examination
• Dissertation

 For program details, review the course catalog for the PhD in english .

Funding Opportunities

We understand funding opportunities play a major role in helping you to decide whether a program is right for you. At CU Boulder, PhD students are supported through research and teaching assistantships. Students are also encouraged to apply for their own sources of funding.

Explore General Funding    Explore Department-Specific Funding

Graduate Student Resources

Student success is best met with holistic support and resources. CU Boulder offers robust resources, programming and opportunities to help students establish meaningful connections, adjust to graduate student life and find assistance when they need it. Whether it’s academic, social, or health and wellness support, the university provides an array of resources to meet the diverse needs of our students.  

Graduate Student Organizations

Explore ways to connect with other graduate students on campus, online and off campus, locally and internationally.

Diversity, Equity, Access & Inclusion

Learn about our commitment to ensuring our graduate education is accessible and welcoming for all students.

Health & Wellness

Find resources with contact and location information for a broad range of services.

Leadership Development

Attend regular, graduate-specific workshops and seminars to hone practical and professional skills before entering the job market.

Peer Mentoring Program

Connect with an established graduate peer mentor who serves as your guide through the graduate student experience.

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Graduate Creative Writing

Creative writing at UNT is grounded in the conviction that writers need to be steeped in literary tradition and practice, and also need a thriving community of writers to challenge and encourage them. UNT has an accomplished faculty and a wide-ranging, talented and enthusiastic group of students who come together not just from within the borders of Texas, but from across the United States, even from other countries, to pursue Ph.D. and M.A. degrees focused on fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Recent students have published their work in some of the nation's top literary journals, including New England Review , Ploughshares , Iowa Review , Missouri Review , The Paris Review , and Virginia Quarterly Review .

Our national journal, American Literary Review , gives students the chance to gain experience in literary publishing. We have an active student reading series, and our Visiting Writers Series brings prominent readers to campus each year. Students have the opportunity to have real conversations with our visitors during Q&A sessions, over dinner, and after readings. Recently, Colm Tóibín, Rick Barot, Claire Vaye Watkins, and Michael Ondaatje have all visited.

Apply to the program:

/graduate/applying-graduate-program

Graduate Catalog link:

Department of English

Ph.D. in English with a concentration in creative writing

M.A. in creative writing

For general program information, please see the Graduate Handbook for English Students.

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Visiting Writers

writers sitting around a table on enders island having a conversation.

Overview 

Each year, the MFA in Creative Writing program’s week-long summer and winter residencies feature an impressive line-up of high-profile visiting writers who have made a significant impact in the world of writing. These guest speakers are invited to discuss their accomplished works and writing processes with students, impart their advice and professional expertise to aspiring writers, and share their distinct and individual experience of the artistic life.

Former Visiting Writers

Ayad akhtar.

Ayad Akhtar is a novelist and playwright. His work has been published and performed in over two dozen languages. He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction, and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Akhtar is the author of Homeland Elegies (Little, Brown & Co.), which The Washington Post called “a tour de force” and The New York Times called “a beautiful novel…that had echoes of The Great Gatsby and that circles, with pointed intellect, the possibilities and limitations of American life.” An eight-episode limited series of Homeland Elegies is in development at FX, starring Kumail Nanjiani and adapted by Akhtar and Oren Moverman. His first novel, American Dervish (Little, Brown & Co.), was published in over 20 languages. As a playwright, he has written Junk (Lincoln Center, Broadway; Kennedy Prize for American Drama, Tony nomination); Disgraced (Lincoln Center, Broadway; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony nomination); The Who & The What (Lincoln Center); and The Invisible Hand (NYTW; Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, Olivier, and Evening Standard nominations). Among other honors, Akhtar is the recipient of the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Nestroy Award, the Erwin Piscator Award, as well as fellowships from the American Academy in Rome, MacDowell, the Sundance Institute, and Yaddo, where he serves as a Board Director. Additionally, Ayad is a Board Trustee at New York Theatre Workshop, and PEN America, where he serves as President. In 2021, Akhtar was named the New York State Author, succeeding Colson Whitehead, by the New York State Writers Institute.

Carrie Brown

Carrie Brown  is the author of seven novels –  Rose’s Garden ,  Lamb in Love ,  The Hatbox Baby ,  Confinement ,  The Rope Walk ,  The Last First Day,  and  The Stargazer’s Sister  — as well as a collection of short stories,  The House on Belle Isle . Her short stories and essays have appeared in a wide variety of literary journals, including the  Southern Review ,  Glimmer Train ,  Tin House , the    Oxford American  and the  Georgia Review . Brown has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award, the Great Lakes Book Award, and, twice, the Library of Virginia Award for the best work of fiction by a Virginia author.

She has taught creative writing for many years, including at Hollins University, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, and Sweet Briar College, where she is currently the Margaret Banister Writer-in-Residence.

Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum  is the author of four books, most recently the collection of original essays   The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion , which won the 2015 PEN Center USA Award for creative nonfiction. She is also the editor of the  New York Times  bestseller  Selfish, Shallow & Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids . Her other books include the essay collection  My Misspent Youth , the novel  The Quality of Life Report , and the memoir  Life Would be Perfect if I Lived in that House . Since 2005, Meghan has been an opinion columnist at  The Los Angeles Times , covering cultural and political topics. The recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2016 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, Meghan is an adjunct associate professor in the MFA Writing Program at Columbia University's School of the Arts.

Celeste Doaks 

Celeste Doaks   is the author of  Cornrows and Cornfields , and editor of the poetry anthology  Not Without Our Laughter . Her chapbook,  American Herstory , was Backbone Press’s first-place winner in 2018.  Herstory  contains poems about the artwork former First Lady Michelle Obama chose for the White House. Doaks is a Carolina African American Writers’ Collective (CAAWC) member and has received fellowships and residencies from Yaddo, Atlantic Center of the Arts, Community of Writers Squaw Valley, and the Fine Arts Work Center. A professor for over a decade, her poems, reviews, and cultural essays have appeared in multiple US and UK on-line and print publications including  Ms. Magazine ,  The Rumpus ,  The Millions ,  Huffington Post ,  Chicago Quarterly Review ,  Obsidian: Literature Magazine ,  The Hopkins Review ,  Asheville Poetry Review  and many others.

Avni Doshi , a New Jersey native who now lives in Dubai, was awarded the Tibor Jones South Asia Prize in 2013 and a Charles Pick Fellowship in 2014. Her writing has appeared in  British Vogue ,  Granta  and  The Sunday Times . Her first novel,  Burnt Sugar , was originally released in India under the title  Girl in White Cotton , where it won the 2021 Sushila Devi Award and was longlisted for the 2019 Tata First Novel Prize. Upon publication in the UK,  Burnt Sugar  was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. In 2021, it was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. Named a 2020 Book of the Year by the  Guardian, Economist, Spectator  and  NPR , it is being published in 23 languages.

Mark Doty  is the author of eight books of poetry and four volumes of nonfiction prose; his newest book,  Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems , was published by HarperCollins in 2008. His 2007 memoir  Dog Years  was a   New York Times  bestseller. His work has been honored by the National Book Critics Circle Award, the   Los Angeles Times  Book Prize, the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction, and a Whiting Writers Award. He remains the only American poet to have won the T.S. Eliot Prize in the United Kingdom. He's received fellowships from the Guggenheim and Ingram Merrill Foundations, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. He has taught at the University of Iowa, Columbia University, New York University, Cornell, and Stanford, and currently is John and Rebecca Moores Professor in the graduate program in writing at the University of Houston, where he teaches one semester each year. The rest of the time, he lives in New York City. Congratulations to Mark Doty on winning the  National Book Award in poetry  for  Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems .

Andre Dubus III

The Cage Keeper and Other Stories Bluesman House of Sand and Fog The Garden of Last Days Townie   (memoir)

Carlos M. N. Eire

Carlos M. N. Eire  was born in Havana, in 1950. In 1962 he fled to the United States as one of the 14,000 unaccompanied children airlifted out of communist Cuba by Operation Pedro Pan. After living in several foster homes, he was reunited with his mother in 1965, but his father was never able to leave the island. He is now the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1979. He is the author of  War Against the Idols ,   From Madrid to Purgatory ,   A Very Brief History of Eternity , and   Reformations: Early Modern Europe 1450-1700  (forthcoming, Yale, 2012). He is also co-author of  Jews, Christians, Muslims: An Introduction to Monotheistic Religions . His memoir of the Cuban Revolution,  Waiting for Snow in Havana , which won the National Book Award in nonfiction for 2003, has been translated into thirteen languages, but is banned in Cuba, where he is considered an enemy of the state. The sequel to this memoir,  Learning to Die in Miami , appeared in 2010.

Paul Hertneky

Paul Hertneky  has written stories, essays, and scripts for the  Boston Globe ,  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , NBC News, The Comedy Channel,  Gourmet ,  Eating Well , Traveler’s Tales, The Exquisite Corpse, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, Adbusters, and many more, for over 26 years. He has won a Solas Award for travel writing and two James Beard Award nominations. He is also the author of  RUST BELT BOY: Stories of an American Childhood  (Bauhan). A graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars, he serves on the faculty of Chatham University and lives with his wife, Robbie, in Hancock, NH.

Geof Hewitt

Geof Hewitt:  “I've been writing and publishing poems (since 1965) and teaching for a living. I hope the language of my poems is conversational, heightened only by a lucky image or cherished surprise.   The Perfect Heart, my book of selected poems from Mayapple (2010), reflects that hope. I do not write "slam" poems, but I brag that I am Vermont's reigning poetry-slam champion (since 2004, the last year Vermont held a sanctioned championship).

Richard Hoffman

Richard Hoffman  is the author of three poetry collections:  Without Paradise ,   Gold Star Road ,  winner of the 2006 Barrow Street Press Poetry Prize and the New England Poetry Club's Sheila Motton Book Award, and his latest,  Emblem . His prose works include the celebrated  Half the House: a Memoir ,   Interference & Other Stories , and    Love & Fury ‌.

Marlon James

Marlon James   won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for  A Brief History of Seven Killings , making him the first Jamaican author to take home the U.K.’s most prestigious literary award. In the work, James combines masterful storytelling with brilliant skill at characterization and an eye for detail to forge a bold novel of dazzling ambition and scope. He explores Jamaican history through the perspectives of multiple narrators and genres: the political thriller, the oral biography, and the classic whodunit confront the untold history of Jamaica in the 1970's, with excursions to the assassination attempt on reggae musician Bob Marley, as well as the country's own clandestine battles during the cold war.

James cites influences as diverse as Greek tragedy, William Faulkner, the LA crime novelist James Ellroy, Shakespeare, Batman and the X-Men. Writing for  The New York Times , Michiko Kakutani said of  A Brief History of Seven Killings , “It’s epic in every sense of that word: sweeping, mythic, over-the-top, colossal and dizzyingly complex. It’s also raw, dense, violent, scalding, darkly comic, exhilarating and exhausting—a testament to Mr. James’s vaulting ambition and prodigious talent.” In addition to the Man Booker Prize,  A Brief History of Seven Killings  won the American Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Prize, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.  

Marlon James’ first novel,  John Crow's Devil ,  tells the story of a biblical struggle in a remote Jamaican village in the 1950s. Though rejected 70 times before being accepted for publication,  John Crow's Devil  went on to become a finalist for the  Los Angeles Times  Book Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, as well as a  New York Times  Editor's Choice. His second novel,  The Book of Night Women , is about a slave women's revolt on a Jamaican plantation in the early 19th century. The work won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction, as well as an NAACP Image Award.

James’ short fiction and nonfiction have been anthologized in   Bronx Noir ,  The Book of Men: Eighty Writers on How to Be a Man  and elsewhere, and have appeared in  Esquire ,  Granta ,  Harper’s ,  The Caribbean Review of Books  and other publications. His widely read essay, “ From Jamaica to Minnesota to Myself ,” appeared in the  New York Times Magazine . In early 2016 his viral video  Are you racist? ‘No’ isn’t a good enough answer  received millions of hits. His best-selling book,   Black Leopard, Red Wolf , is the first in the Dark Star Trilogy, a fantasy series set in African legend.  Black Leopard, Red Wolf  was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award in the Fiction category and was named one of the  Washington Post 's  10 Best Books of 2019 . It also received the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes and was awarded the 2020 Locus Award for Horror. James hosts a podcast about literature with Jake Morrissey called  Marlon and Jake Read Dead People .

Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1970. He graduated from the University of the West Indies in 1991 with a degree in Language and Literature, and from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania in 2006 with a Masters in creative writing. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and teaches English and creative writing at Macalester College. In 2018 Marlon James received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. In April 2019 he was named one of  Time Magazine 's 100 Most Influential People of 2019  in the Pioneers category.

In his presentations, James addresses topics related to writing and the writing process, as well as issues pertaining to the history of the Caribbean, race and gender in the US and UK, and youth subcultures as expressed in literature and music such as hip-hop and reggae.

Adam Johnson

Adam Johnson   is the author of   Fortune Smiles , winner of the National Book Award and the Story Prize and a finalist for the   Los Angeles Times   Book Prize, and   The Orphan Master’s Son , winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the California Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Johnson’s other awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers’ Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Stegner Fellowship; he was also a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award. His previous books are   Emporium , a short story collection, and the novel   Parasites Like Us . Johnson teaches creative writing at Stanford University and lives in San Francisco with his wife and children.

Mary Karr  is an award-winning poet and best-selling memoirist. She is the author of  Lit  and the critically-acclaimed and  New York Times  best-selling memoirs   The Liars' Club  and  Cherry .  The Liars' Club  won prizes for best first nonfiction from PEN (The Martha Albrand Award for nonfiction), the Texas Institute for Letters, and was a finalist for The National Book Critics Circle Awards. Of her poet's soul, Karr says, "From a very early age, when I read a poem, it was as if the poet's burning taper touched some charred filament in my rib cage to set me alight." Her poetry grants include The Whiting Writer's Award, an NEA, a Radcliffe Bunting Fellowship, and a Guggenheim. She has won prizes from Best American Poetry as well as Pushcart Prizes for both poetry and essays. Her four volumes of poetry are  Sinners Welcome   (HarperCollins, 2006),  Viper Rum  (Penguin, 1998),   T he Devil's Tour ‌ (New Directions, 1993), and  Abacus  (Wesleyan, 1986). Her work appears in such magazines as  The New Yorker ,   The Atlantic ,  Poetry , and  Parnassus . Karr is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse University and was the weekly poetry editor for the   Washington Post Book World's  "Poet's Choice" column, a position canonized by Bob Hass, Ed Hirsch, and Rita Dove. She lives in Syracuse, New York and New York City.

Paul Lakeland

Paul Lakeland  is the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Professor of Catholic Studies and founding director of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University. Educated at Heythrop Pontifical Athenaeum, Oxford University, the University of London, and Vanderbilt University, he has taught at Fairfield since 1981. He is the author of ten books, the most recent of which is   The Wounded Angel: Fiction and the Religious Imagination ‌. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Theological Society, the College Theology Society, and the Catholic Theological Society of America. He blogs occasionally and reviews fiction for  Commonweal , a Catholic journal of opinion.

Wally Lamb  is the author of six New York Times best-selling novels:  I’ll Take You There, We Are Water, Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much is True , and  She’s Come Undone  and was twice selected for Oprah’s Book Club. Lamb also edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, two volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he has been a volunteer facilitator for the past 17 years.

Valerie Martin‌ 

Valerie Martin ‌ is the author of eleven novels, including  Trespass ,   Mary Reilly ,   Italian Fever , and    Property , four collections of short fiction, and a biography of St. Francis of Assisi . She has been awarded the Kafka Prize (for  Mary Reilly ) and Britain’s Orange Prize (for  Property .)

Her most recent novel  The Ghost of the Mary Celeste  was published in 2014 and  Sea Lovers,  a volume of new and selected short fiction was published in August of 2015.

Shara McCallum

From Jamaica, and born to a Jamaican father and Venezuelan mother, poet  Shara McCallum  is the author of six books published in the US & UK, including  No Ruined Stone  (forthcoming later in 2021), a verse sequence based on an alternate account of history and Scottish poet Robert Burns’ near migration to Jamaica to work on a slave plantation.  La historia es un cuarto/History is a Room , an anthology of poems selected from across her six books and translated and introduced by Adalber Salas Hernández, will also be published in 2021 (Mantis Editores, Mexico). McCallum’s poems have appeared in journals, anthologies, and textbooks throughout the US, Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Israel. In addition to Spanish, her poems have been translated into Italian, French, Romanian, Dutch, and Turkish and have been set to music by composers Marta Gentilucci and Gity Razaz. Awards for her work include the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature (for her previous book,  Madwoman ), a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, an NEA Fellowship in Poetry, the Oran Robert Perry Burke Award for Nonfiction, and the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize (for her first book,  The Water Between Us ).

Rick Moody , author of several books, short stories and a memoir, most famously,  The Ice Storm , is the recipient of the Editor's Choice Award from the Pushcart Press and the Addison Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is also a winner of the NAMI/Ken Book Award, the PEN Martha Albrand prize for excellence in the memoir, and the 2994 Aga Khan Award from The Paris Review. His short fiction and journalism have been anthologized in  Best American Stories 2001  and  Best American Essays 2004 . His latest book, three novellas called  Right Livelihoods , was published last year. Moody is a member of the board of directors of the Corporation of Yaddo, an artistic community that nurtures the creative process. He is also the secretary of the PEN American Center, and he co-founded the Young Lions Book Award at the New York Public Library. He has taught at the State University of New York at Purchase, the Bennington College Writing Seminars, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the New School for Social Research. Born in New York City, Moody now lives in Brooklyn.

David Mura   is a poet, creative nonfiction writer, fiction writer, critic, and playwright. A Sansei, or third generation Japanese American, Mura has written two memoirs:   Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei , which won an Oakland PEN Josephine Miles Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book, and Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality, and Identity. His novel, Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire, was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, the John Gardner Fiction Prize, and Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award. His four poetry collections are The Last Incantations, Angels for the Burning, The Colors of Desire, which won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award from the Chicago Public Library, and After We Lost Our Way, a National Poetry Series Contest winner. His other books included   A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography & Addiction   and a book of critical essays,   Song for Uncle Tom, Tonto & Mr. Moto: Poetry & Identity . His latest book is on creative writing and titled,   A Stranger's Journey: Race, Identity & Narrative Craft in Writing .

Mura has taught at the Stonecoast MFA program, the University of Oregon, the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, Macalester College, St. Olaf College and the VONA Writers' Conference. He has worked as the Director of Training with the Innocent Classroom, a program that trains K-12 teachers to improve their relationships with students of color.

Mira Nair   was born and raised in Rourkela, India, and went on to study at Delhi and Harvard University. She began her career as an actress before segueing into documentary filmmaking. Her narrative feature debut,   Salaam Bombay!   (1988), won the Caméra d’Or and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

A resourceful and determined independent filmmaker who casts unknowns alongside Hollywood stars, Nair went on to direct   Mississippi Masala   (1991),   The Perez Family   (1995),   Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love   (1996),   Hysterical Blindness   (2002),   Vanity Fair   (2004),   The Namesake   (2006),   Amelia   (2009), and   The Reluctant Fundamentalist   (2012). Her most recent film,   Queen of Katwe   (2016), starring Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo, is based on the true story of the Ugandan chess prodigy, Phiona Mutesi. Nair’s acclaimed film   Monsoon Wedding   (2001) was recently brought to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre as a musical, where it completed an extended, sold-out run.

A long time activist, in 1998, Nair used the profits from   Salaam Bombay!   to create Salaam Baalak Trust, which works with street children in India. In 2005, she established Maisha Film Lab in Kampala, Uganda, a nonprofit training initiative for emerging East African filmmakers. Maisha is currently building a school with architect Raul Pantaleo, winner of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and his company Studio Tamassociati.

Sigrid Nunez

Sigrid Nunez  has published seven novels, including  A Feather on the Breath of God, The Last of Her Kind, Salvation City , and most recently,  The Friend , which has been long-listed for the 2018 National Book Award. She is also the author of  Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag . Among the journals to which she has contributed are The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, Threepenny Review, Harper's, McSweeney's, Tin House, The Believer, and newyorker.com. Her work has also appeared in several anthologies, including four Pushcart Prize volumes and four anthologies of Asian American literature.  Learn more .

Jayne Anne Phillips

Jayne Anne Phillips  is the author of four novels,  MotherKind ,  Shelter ,  Machine Dreams ,  and  Lark and Termite  for which she was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award. Phillips is also the author of two collections of widely anthologized stories,  Fast Lanes  and  Black Tickets . She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, and a Bunting Fellowship. She was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction at the age of 26 for  Black Tickets , and has also received Academy Award in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for  Shelter . Her work has been translated into twelve languages, and has recently appeared in   Granta ,  Harper's ,  DoubleTake , and  The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction .

Nahid Rachlin

Nahid Rachlin  went to Columbia University’s Writing Program on a Doubleday-Columbia Fellowship and then to Stanford University’s Writing Program on a Stegner Fellowship. Her publications include a memoir,  Persian Girls  (Penguin), and four novels including  Jumping Over Fire  (City Lights) and  Foreigner  (W.W. Norton). She has a short story collection,  A Way Home , in press for July 2018, and her individual short stories have appeared in many magazines. One of her stories was adopted by Symphony Space, “Selected Shorts,” and was aired on NPR’s around the country. Three of her stories were nominated for Pushcart Prize. Her work has been translated into Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Dutch, Czech, German, Arabic, and Persian. She has been interviewed on NPR stations such as Fresh Air (Terry Gross), and in magazines including,  Poets & Writers  and  Writers Chronicle . She has written reviews and essays for the  New York Times  and  Los Angeles Times .  www.nahidrachlin.com

Philip Schultz

One of American poetry's longtime masters of the art,  Philip Schultz  is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and the founder/director of  The Writers Studio , a private school for fiction and poetry writing based in New York City. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including  Failure , winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. These poems give voice to failures of many kinds - yet they are full of tenderness, empathy, and heartbreaking honesty, giving praise to the joy of life as well. His other collections include  Living in the Past , and  The Holy Worm of Praise . He is also the author of  Deep Within the Ravine , recipient of The Academy of American Poets Lamont Prize;  Like Wings , winner of an American Academy & Institute of Arts and Letters Award as well as a National Book Award nomination.  The God of Loneliness: New and Selected Poems  will be published next year. His work has been published in   The New Yorker ,  Partisan Review ,  The New Republic ,  The Paris Review ,  Slate , among other magazines. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship in poetry. He also received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (1981), a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (1985), as well as the Levinson Prize from  Poetry  magazine.

Rion Amilcar Scott 

Rion Amilcar Scott  is the author of the story collection,  The World Doesn't Require You . His debut story collection,  Insurrections  was awarded the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His work has been published in journals such as  The New Yorker ,  The Kenyon Review ,  Crab Orchard Review , and  The Rumpus , among others. One of his stories was listed as a notable in Best American Stories 2018 and one of his essays was listed as a notable in Best American Essays 2015. Presently, he teaches Creative Writing at the University of Maryland.

Sejal Shah  writes across genres and disciplines. She is the author of the debut essay collection,  This Is One Way to Dance  (University of Georgia Press), named an NPR Best Book of 2020 and which appeared on over 30 most-anticipated lists. Her stories, poems, and essays have appeared widely—including  Brevity ,  Guernica ,  Conjunctions , the  Kenyon Review Online , and  Longreads . She is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction and fellowships from Blue Mountain Center, the  Kenyon Review  Writers’ Workshop, Kundiman, and The Millay Colony. She holds a BA in English from Wellesley College and an MFA in English/Creative Writing (fiction) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Sejal recently completed a story collection with images and is working on a new manuscript about friendship, mentorship, illness, and mental health. She lives in Rochester, New York.

Dani Shapiro

Dani Shapiro  is the bestselling author of the memoirs  Devotion  and  Slow Motion , and the novels  Black & White  and  Family History . Her essays and stories have appeared in  The New Yorker ,  Granta ,  Tin House ,  Elle ,  Vogue ,  Ploughshares ,  One Story ,  The New York Times Book Review , and have been broadcast on NPR's "This American Life". She has taught in the graduate writing programs at Columbia, NYU, The New School, and Brooklyn College. She is co-founder of The Sirenland Writers' Conference in Positano, Italy. Her latest book,  Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life , was published in October, 2013.

Anita Shreve

Anita Shreve  has published 13 novels, among them  The Weight of Water ,   The Pilot's Wife ,   The Last Time They Met ,   A Wedding in December , and   Body Surfing . She has received the PEN/L. L. Winship Award and the New England Book Award for fiction. In 1999,  The Pilot's Wife  became the 25th selection of Oprah's Book Club and an international bestseller. In April 2002, CBS aired the film version of  The Pilot's Wife , starring Christine Lahti, and in fall 2002,  The Weight of Water , starring Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Penn, was released in movie theaters.

Sue William Silverman

Sue William Silverman's  memoir,  Love Sick: One Woman's Journey Through Sexual Addiction  (W. W. Norton), is also a Lifetime television original movie. Her first memoir,  Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You , won the Association of Writers and Writing Programs award series in creative nonfiction. One of her essays appears in  The Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Nonfiction , while others won contests with   Hotel Amerika ,  Mid-American Review , and  Water~Stone Review . Her poetry collection is  Hieroglyphics in Neon  and a craft book,   Fearless Confessions: A Writers Guide to Memoir , is forthcoming with the University of Georgia Press (Spring, 2009). As a professional speaker, Sue has appeared on "The View," "Anderson Cooper 360," and "CNN-Headline News." Additionally, she was featured in a recent interview in  The Writer's Chronicle ; is associate editor of  Fourth Genre ; and teaches in the MFA in Writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts ( www.suewilliamsilverman.com ).

Tracy K. Smith

Tracy K. Smith received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her third book of poems,   Life on Mars . The collection draws upon the genre of science fiction in considering who we humans are and what the vast universe holds for us. In poems of political urgency, tenderness, elegy and wit, Smith conjures version upon version of the future, imagines the afterlife, and contemplates life here on earth in our institutions, cities, houses and hearts. Life on Mars was a   New York Times   Notable Book, a   New York Times   Book Review Editors’ Choice, and a   New Yorker, Library Journal , and   Publishers Weekly   Best Book of the Year.

Smith’s debut collection,   The Body’s Question , was selected by Kevin Young as winner of the Cave Canem Prize for the best first book by an African American poet. Straddling languages, speakers, and geographies, the poems bear witness to love, loss, and belonging while laying claim to a large and nimble sense of identity. In his introduction, Young writes, “Smith…seems perfectly at home speaking of grief and loss, of lust and hunger, of joy and desire—which here often means the desire for desire, and a desire for language itself.”

Duende , Smith’s second book, received the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. The collection takes its title from a term Federico Garcia Lorca brought into broad parlance. The duende is the wild, unpredictable and oftentimes dangerous energy an artist might seek to conjure up and contend with. Unlike the Muse, which exists beyond or above the artist, the duende sleeps deep within—as pure urge, fury, chaos, and passion—waiting to be awakened and wrestled, often at great cost. In Smith’s hands, this sense of artistic struggle and daring meets up with forms of social and political struggle, resistance and survival. It also illuminates the private upheaval of divorce and its aftermath.

In her memoir,   Ordinary Light , Smith explores her own experience of race, religion, and the death of her mother shortly after Smith graduated from Harvard. The book was a finalist for the National Book Award, and named a Notable Book by both the   New York Times   and   Washington Post.

Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith’s   acclaimed first novel,   White Teeth   (2000) won a number of awards and prizes, including the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread First Novel Award, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.   White Teeth   has been translated into over 20 languages and was adapted for Channel 4 television for broadcast in autumn 2002, and for the stage in November 2018. In 2020, the New York Public Library voted   White Teeth   one of the “125 most important books of the last 125 years.”

The Autograph Man   (2002) won the 2003 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize for Fiction. In 2003 and 2013, she was named one of 20 ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ by Granta magazine. Her book   On Beauty   won the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction and her novel   NW   was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was named as one of   The New York Times   ‘10 Best Books of 2012.’ Her most recent novel is   Swing Time   (2016). She has published two collections of essays,   Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays   (2009) and   Feel Free   (2018). Her most recent book is a collection of short stories titled   Grand Union   (2019). Her new book is a collection of six essays titled   Intimations   (2020).

Zadie Smith writes regularly for   The NewYorker   and the   NewYork Review of Books . In 2017, she was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters, she was also the recipient of the 2017 City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal. Zadie Smith is currently a tenured professor of creative writing at New York University.

Natasha Trethewey

Natasha Trethewey   served two terms as the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014). She is the author of five collections of poetry, Monument (2018), which was long listed for the 2018 National Book Award;   Thrall   (2012);   Native Guard   (2006), for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize;   Bellocq’s Ophelia   (2002); and   Domestic Work   (2000), which was selected by Rita Dove as the winner of the inaugural Cave Canem Poetry Prize for the best first book by an African American poet and won both the 2001 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Book Prize and the 2001 Lillian Smith Award for Poetry.

Trethewey is also the author of the memoir Memorial Drive (2020). Her book of nonfiction,   Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast , appeared in 2010. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Beinecke Library at Yale, and the Bunting Fellowship Program of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. At Northwestern University she is a Board of Trustees Professor of English in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, she was named Poet Laureate of the State of Mississippi and and in 2013, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Barbara Ungar

Barbara Ungar  has published four books of poetry, most recently  Immortal Medusa  and  Charlotte Brontë, You Ruined My Life , both Hilary Tham selections from The Word Works. Her prior books are  Thrift  and  The Origin of the Milky Way , which won the Gival Press Poetry Award, a silver Independent Publishers award, a Hoffer award, and the Adirondack Center for Writing poetry award. Also the author of several chapbooks and  Haiku in English , Barbara has published poems in Salmagundi, Rattle, The Nervous Breakdown, and many other journals. Barbara is a professor of English at the College of Saint Rose in Albany.

Ellen Doré Watson

Ellen Doré Watson  is a poet and translator who was named by  Library Journal  as “one of 24 poets for the 21st Century.” Her poems have appeared in APR, Tin House, Gulf Coast, and The New Yorker, and honors include fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the NEA (to translate Brazilian Adélia Prado). Her fifth collection,  pray me stay eager , is from Alice James (2018). Director of the Poetry Center at Smith College for two decades, she’s currently Conkling Visiting Poet, as well as the poetry and translation editor of Massachusetts Review and core faculty in Drew University’s MFA Program in Poetry and Translation.

Judith Weber

Judith Weber  a principal in Sobel Weber Associates, Inc., joined the agency in 1977, following several years as Director of Publicity, Promotion, and Advertising and in senior editorial positions with major publishers. She has been a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and of Les Dames d'Escoffier. She is a founder of the New York Literary Writers Conference.

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School of Creative Arts and Letters

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The School of Creative Arts & Letters (SCAL) at Flagler College prepares students for lifelong success in their chosen creative careers.  Our students study, create, and reflect on historical, contemporary, and diverse works of literature, media, performance, art, and other cultural trends. 

We help students lean into discomfort and create excellence. 

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Our Programs

Flagler College's School of Creative Arts & Letters offers a wide range of majors leading to a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a successful career. Choose a program below to start exploring.

We also offer a variety of stand-alone minors that can be coupled with the above majors or majors from other schools and departments. Here's what you can learn from our faculty, who are experts in their fields.

Meet the Dean

A Note From the Dean

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Friends,

Welcome to the Flagler College School of Creative Arts & Letters (SCAL). Thank you for your interest in our programs. We are very proud of the academic and co-curricular programming we offer our students, campus, and community!

Our mission in SCAL is to offer students the opportunity to grow as individuals while cultivating their creativity, criticality, and flexibility. We have small class sizes and faculty who are recognized professionals in their fields. We offer an up-to-date curriculum and innovative approaches to learning that are valuable, relevant, and fun. Our students enjoy a challenge and find inspiration in our beautiful location and historic city.

SCAL faculty, staff, and students are central to our campus's vibrant cultural programming, including exhibitions, plays and performances, film screenings, open mic nights, visiting artists and writers, and other scholars and speakers. Our students also participate in a variety of honor societies and student clubs. Students in every major have opportunities to contribute to this vibrant culture in ways that enrich our campus and enhance their resumes with practical experience.

SCAL fosters an environment where everyone can grow, create, and be their authentic self. We uphold the values of inclusivity, fairness, equity, access, and freedom of expression.

Thank you for choosing Flagler College. Let's Make History together!

Sincerely, Leslie Robison

Dean, School of Creative Arts & Letters

Professor, Department of Visual Arts