graduate program creative writing

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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

$3,220 per course

Program Overview

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

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. And you’ll learn to approach literary works as both a writer and scholar by developing skills in critical analysis.

Program Benefits

Instructors who are published authors of drama, fiction, and nonfiction

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 practice the art of revision to hone your voice as a writer in courses like Writing the Short Personal Essay and Writing Flash Fiction.

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.

Getting Started

We invite you to 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 renowned academics in literary analysis, storytelling, manuscript writing, and more. 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.

80% 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. Most (74%) 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

Course 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.

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.

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The 10 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in the US

The talent is there. 

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

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

They really need guidance about how and when to publish. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brown University (Providence, RI)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Creative Writing (MFA)

Program description.

The MFA Program in Creative Writing consists of a vibrant community of writers working together in a setting that is both challenging and supportive. This stimulating environment fosters the development of talented writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The program is not defined by courses alone, but by a life built around writing.

Through innovative literary outreach programs, a distinguished public reading series, an exciting public student reading series, special literary seminars with visiting writers, and the production of a high-quality literary journal, students participate in a dynamic literary community actively engaged in all aspects of the literary arts—writing, reading, teaching, publishing and community outreach. Students also have the opportunity to enjoy America's most literary terrain; New York University is situated in the heart of Greenwich Village, a part of the city that has always been home to writers.

The MFA in Creative Writing is designed to offer students an opportunity to concentrate intensively on their writing. This program is recommended for students who may want to apply for creative writing positions at colleges and universities, which often require the MFA degree. The MFA program does not have a foreign language requirement.

All applicants to the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) are required to submit the  general application requirements , which include:

• Academic Transcripts
• Test Scores  (if required)
• Applicant Statements
• Résumé or Curriculum Vitae
• Letters of Recommendation , and
• A non-refundable  application fee .

See Creative Writing for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Program Requirements

Special project, program information.

Taken in four separate semesters.

Craft courses may be repeated provided they are taught by different instructors.

With the permission of that department and of the director of the CWP. 

Additional Program Requirements

A creative special project in poetry or fiction, consisting of a substantial piece of writing—a novella, a collection of short stories, or a group of poems—to be submitted in the student’s final semester. The project requires the approval of the student’s faculty adviser and of the director of the CWP.

The MFA degree may also be earned through the Low Residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris. Under this model, degree requirements remain the same, although Craft courses and Workshops take the form of intensive individualized courses of study with the faculty, including three substantial packet exchanges of student work per semester. All students earning the MFA degree through the low-residency program must also participate in five ten-day residencies in Paris, which involve a diverse series of series of craft talks, lectures, readings, special events, faculty mentorship meetings, and professional development panels.

Sample Plan of Study

Learning outcomes.

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

• Graduate students in the Creative Writing Program at NYU work intensively with faculty mentors in writing workshops and individual conferences to learn and master the basic elements of the craft of fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry.
• Students are expected to read widely and deeply, and to acquire a broad practitioner’s knowledge of English and American literature in their declared concentration (poetry, creative nonfiction, or fiction).
• Students are taught to read carefully and critically, and in doing so learn to read as writers. By studying great novels, poems, and works of literary nonfiction by other writers, students learn how to write their own.
• The two-year program of intensive study culminates in the completion of a creative thesis -- a novel, a collection of stories or essays, or a collection of poems. The thesis manuscript, ideally, is a working draft of a first book. Many program alumni go on to publish books and win awards for their writing.

Grading and GPA Policy

Nyu policies, graduate school of arts and science policies.

To qualify for the degree, a student must have a GPA of at least 3.0, must complete a minimum of 24 points with a grade of B or better, and may offer no more than 8 points with a grade of C (no more than 4 points with a grade of C in creative writing workshops). A student may take no more than 36 points toward the degree.

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages .

Academic Policies for the Graduate School of Arts and Science can be found on the Academic Policies page . 

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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 new students in two of our three genres.  The genres in question rotate annually.  Information on the application process and the genres in which applications will be considered can be found here .

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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 new, 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, and 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 in 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 12, 2023

Creative Writing Graduate Programs in America

1-25 of 223 results

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Cambridge, MA •

Harvard University •

Graduate School

• • Rating 4.56 out of 5   9 reviews

Other: 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' in the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Through this School, I will be focusing my time at the John A. Paulson school of Engineering & Applied Sciences. Looking forward to wrapping up my final year on campus! ... Read 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 •

Brown University ,

PROVIDENCE, RI ,

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Evanston, IL •

Northwestern University •

Northwestern University ,

EVANSTON, IL ,

College of Communication, Architecture and The Arts - Florida International University

Florida International University •

Graduate School •

College of Arts and Sciences - University of Wyoming

University of Wyoming •

LARAMIE, WY

• • Rating 5 out of 5   4

Miami University - College of Creative Arts

Miami University •

College of Arts and Science

Nashville, TN •

Vanderbilt University •

Vanderbilt University ,

NASHVILLE, TN ,

Washington University in St. Louis - Arts & Sciences

St. Louis, MO •

Washington University in St. Louis •

Washington University in St. Louis ,

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

Doctoral Student: 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 and career path matter. I loved this most. I feel taken seriously and supported with every possible resources for my mental, academic and career success. One gets many opportunities to grow talents through research, and presentations with helpful and supportive feedback from students and professors. For these reasons, I find it a place to be! On the down side, the weather is at first always a challenge for one who is not used to the harsh and gloomy midwestern winter. ... Read 2 reviews

University of Notre Dame ,

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... On the down side, the weather is at first always a challenge for one who is not used to the harsh and gloomy midwestern winter. .

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 ,

LOS ANGELES, CA ,

Cornell University College of Arts & Sciences

Ithaca, NY •

Cornell University •

Cornell University ,

ITHACA, NY ,

Rackham School of Graduate Studies

Ann Arbor, MI •

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor •

• • Rating 4.8 out of 5   5 reviews

Master's Student: 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 amazing faculty very dedicated to this mission, some of whom are legends within the field. This program attracts and retains students who are diverse, passionate, friendly and helpful, and the experience at this school has been very rewarding. The curriculum is challenging but thought provoking, and everyone in the studios is happy and willing to help, fostering a warm sense of comradery and support. ... Read 5 reviews

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor ,

ANN ARBOR, MI ,

5 Niche users give it an average review of 4.8 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 5 reviews.

Krieger School of Arts & Sciences

Baltimore, MD •

Johns Hopkins University •

• • Rating 4.53 out of 5   19 reviews

Master's Student: I have yet to enroll for Fall 2023 after receiving my acceptance letter due to a delay in my need-based financial aid from JHU. However the Homewood Campus in Baltimore is beautiful and my Student Advisor, Alexis has been extremely helpful in initiating my enrollment process and answering all of my questions in a timely matter. My intended Advanced Academic Program is the accelerated (2 semester), dual-modality, 40-credit M.S. in Biotechnology, Biodefense concentration. All of the anticipated course subjects are diverse and there's even a customizable core lab course on campus (at least until Summer 2024). I can't wait and I wish you all the best in your search for academic programs or professional certifications. ... Read 19 reviews

Johns Hopkins University ,

BALTIMORE, MD ,

19 Niche users give it an average review of 4.5 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says I have yet to enroll for Fall 2023 after receiving my acceptance letter due to a delay in my need-based financial aid from JHU. However the Homewood Campus in Baltimore is beautiful and my Student... .

Read 19 reviews.

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences - University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA •

University of Virginia •

• • Rating 4 out of 5   1 review

Alum: Very good in some areas, excellent in other areas, many academic choices available in all areas of study ... Read 1 review

University of Virginia ,

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

Master's Student: 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 multiple points of resources at this program. A director is your main academic advisor. Aside from that, there is a pitch specialist to assist with freelancing and two wonderful career advisors. They help with setting up mingle sessions, job fairs, and internship talks. As of now, I haven't had bad experiences, however, I will say that the program is expensive and is an awkward three semesters. Those two things aren't ideal, however, its not too much of a dealbreaker. ... Read 10 reviews

New York University ,

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 •

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University of Texas - Austin ,

AUSTIN, TX ,

College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

Blacksburg, VA •

Virginia Tech •

Virginia Tech ,

BLACKSBURG, VA ,

Liberal Arts and Sciences - University of Florida

Gainesville, FL •

University of Florida •

Master's Student: 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 relatively strong student body of undergraduate students. Graduate students, however, are less cohesive. Likely due to politics, our graduate student union is in jeopardy, and it is so difficult to get the union membership to 60%. In the Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Law, we have a very low union membership status, which is somewhat ironic considering the nature of our disciplines. The demands of balancing an assistantship and academic career are exhausting, and even more so with limited resources (financial, emotional, etc.). The faculty turnover in the dept. is also insane, likely due to the political situation that seems to be driving out all faculty members of color. Lastly, financial support is incredibly limited. All things aside, the education that I am receiving is appropriate. ... Read 1 review

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University of Florida ,

GAINESVILLE, FL ,

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... .

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences - Boston University

Boston, MA •

Boston University •

Boston University ,

BOSTON, MA ,

College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, WI •

University of Wisconsin •

• • Rating 4.22 out of 5   9 reviews

Alum: 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. Academic was really good too, but given how the city is college town, you can feel the emptiness when students go back home during summer break. It is known as party school too with Mifflin Street Block Party. But it is also highly academically renowned school. So you can make your campus life as fun or as beneficial as you can. There are many gyms and libraries that can handle 40k + students. In addition, you have to check out Camp Randall, the football stadium and attend The MadHatters A Cappella show. I really miss this campus except for the weather. State street has many diverse restaurants that are authentic and delicious. One of the best campuses in the world. ... Read 9 reviews

University of Wisconsin ,

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.... .

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences - University of Illinois

Urbana, IL •

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign •

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ,

URBANA, IL ,

College of Arts and Sciences - University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL •

University of Miami •

• • Rating 4.67 out of 5   6 reviews

Master's Student: I am in graduate school and needed something online but also wanted something that was going to challenge me and provide me with a step further than my undergrad school provided. I compared many MPA programs and chose the University of Miami because the program was so similar to the in-person MPA program, taught by the same professors, and included the same courses. While entirely online, I have come to know my fellow graduate students and come to know the faculty in each of the courses I have taken. I'm currently half-way through the program and cannot wait to complete this degree! ... Read 6 reviews

University of Miami ,

CORAL GABLES, FL ,

6 Niche users give it an average review of 4.7 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says I am in graduate school and needed something online but also wanted something that was going to challenge me and provide me with a step further than my undergrad school provided. I compared many MPA... .

Read 6 reviews.

BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications

Provo, UT •

Brigham Young University •

Brigham Young University ,

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

Master's Student: 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 Minnesota Twin Cities ,

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. .

University of Washington College of Arts & Sciences

Seattle, WA •

University of Washington •

University of Washington ,

SEATTLE, WA ,

College of Humanities and Social Sciences - NC State University

Raleigh, NC •

North Carolina State University •

• • Rating 5 out of 5   1 review

Graduate Student: 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 levels. This grad program was an excellent career decision. ... Read 1 review

North Carolina State University ,

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... .

College of Arts and Humanities - University of Maryland

College Park, MD •

University of Maryland - College Park •

University of Maryland - College Park ,

COLLEGE PARK, MD ,

Florida State University - The College of Arts and Sciences

Tallahassee, FL •

Florida State University •

Florida State University ,

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University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley

EDINBURG, TX

• • Rating 4.6 out of 5   117

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WILKES-BARRE, PA

• • Rating 4.21 out of 5   24

American University

WASHINGTON, DC

• • Rating 4.48 out of 5   152

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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.

Creative Writing Program

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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Online MFA in Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts

Earn an MFA in Creative Writing Online

• $637/credit (48 credits total)
• Transfer up to 12 graduate credits
• 100% online – no residency required
• Four fiction genres to choose from
• Career-focused certificate included
• No application fee or GRE/GMAT scores required

Online MFA in Creative Writing Program Overview

Share your story with the world and let the power of storytelling take your career to new heights with an online Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing . As one of the only programs available that encourages a focus on genre fiction, our online MFA lets you hone your craft in an area specific to your strengths and interests. You'll also learn about the business side of creative writing, preparing you to market your work in the real world.

While most MFA programs require a residency, Southern New Hampshire University's online MFA in Creative Writing can be completed entirely online, with no travel necessary.

“Traditional MFA programs, whether full-time or low residency, are out of reach for many writers,” said Paul Witcover , associate dean of creative writing. “The SNHU online MFA was designed to make the MFA experience accessible to all fiction writers, opening the door to diverse voices excluded for too long from the literary conversation. Our program is dedicated to giving writers the tools to succeed on the page and beyond it.”

Graduates leave the program with a completed and revised novel in one of our four offered genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance and Speculative. With the included certificates in either online teaching of writing or professional writing , you'll have the skills to support your writing career, no matter where it takes you.

.st0{fill:#21386D;} What You'll Learn

• The business and technical sides of professional writing
• How to navigate the publishing ecosystem, identify agents and editors, and market your work to appeal to decision-makers
• Using social media to gain a following and build your brand
• How to teach writing in a classroom setting

.cls-1 { fill: #21386d; } How You'll Learn

At SNHU, you'll get support from day 1 to graduation and beyond. And with no set class times, 24/7 access to the online classroom and helpful learning resources along the way, you'll have everything you need to reach your goals.

The Value of an Online MFA

Emily Jones ’20 embraced a transformational experience through the online MFA in Creative Writing program, which supported her in taking her writing career to the next level. “I can now say, without even a hint of imposter syndrome, that I am a writer,” said Jones. “And that is because of Southern New Hampshire University.”

Career Outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, writers and authors made a median annual salary of $69,510 in 2021, while editors made $63,350. 1

“Our mission is to give students a degree and associated practical skills they can use to forge successful pathways in academia, business, or by blazing their own career trail,” said Paul Witcover , associate dean of creative writing.

Earning one of the included certificates in online teaching of writing or professional writing will also be an invaluable addition to your resume for part-time, full-time and freelance jobs in a variety of fields, including:

• Higher education. Instruct writing courses in higher education settings. In 2021, postsecondary teachers made a median annual wage of $79,640, and you can expect to see a 12% growth in available positions through 2031, according to the BLS. 1
• Advertising. Use your storytelling skills in a way that influences consumer action. As a copywriter, you could find yourself doing any number of writing projects from crafting emails and ads to writing entire commercials.
• Marketing. If you're more comfortable with long-form prose, many businesses have invested in content writers who create quality content such as blog posts, ebooks and podcasts to attract and retain customers.
• Entertainment. Good at building suspense or setting up punchlines? From movies and plays to comedy and podcasts, being a good storyteller and writer is important to finding success in the entertainment industry.
• History. Every person's life has a plot, but it takes writers like you to tell their stories in a compelling way. Help readers relive the experiences of historic figures and pop culture icons as a biographer.

Higher Education

Instruct writing courses in higher education at a college or university, either in-person or online.

Advertising

Influence consumer action through copywriting, from print ads to digital advertising and broadcast commercials.

Create written content such as blog posts, ebooks and podcasts to attract and retain customers.

Entertainment

From movies and plays to comedy and podcasts, writers often find success in the entertainment industry.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts favorable job growth in postsecondary education. And while statistics are not available for all job settings mentioned above, the BLS reports the following:

.cls-1 { fill: #21386d; } Job Growth

The BLS predicts an 8% growth in available postsecondary teaching positions through 2032. 1

.cls-1 { fill: #21386d; } Potential Salary

Writers and authors made a median annual salary of $73,150 in 2022, while editors made $73,080 and postsecondary teachers made $80,840. 1

Understanding the Numbers When reviewing job growth and salary information, it’s important to remember that actual numbers can vary due to many different factors — like years of experience in the role, industry of employment, geographic location, worker skill and economic conditions. Cited projections do not guarantee actual salary or job growth.

Start Your Journey Toward an Online MFA in Creative Writing

If you're looking to earn your Master of Fine Arts online, you've found the right program. Even though there are no residency requirements, you'll still interact frequently with other students and faculty members in asynchronous discussions, critique workshops and within our online writer’s community, where students come together to share industry news, extend writing tips and develop critique partnerships.

"I liked MFA-514 (Advanced Studies in Genre Literature) best," said student Jamilla Geter . "It was a great look into the different genres. It really helped me narrow down what genre I wanted to write in."

"Though it was not writing exactly, its connection to it – especially in our digital world – was made clear almost immediately," she said. "Writing is not just providing content of value to your readers, but also creating avenues of access so those readers can find your content. This course helped me to understand that and to learn how I can create those avenues."

Besides allowing you to focus on your own creative interests, part of our 48-credit online MFA curriculum requires you to choose from 2 certificate offerings designed to round out your education and better prepare you for a multitude of writing-related careers.

The first choice is a Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching of Writing , which is tailored to those who see themselves teaching in an online classroom setting as a supplement to their writing careers. Students practice approaches to editing and coaching, learning how to establish a virtual instructor presence and cultivate methods for supporting and engaging students within online writing communities.

Learn more about the online teaching of writing graduate certificate .

Students can also choose the Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing , which highlights the technical and business opportunities available to writers. Students will develop a range of skills, such as copywriting, social media, marketing principles and/or content generation, learning many of the freelancing skills integral to today’s project-driven economy.

Learn more about the professional writing graduate certificate .

All of our courses are taught by accomplished authors and industry professionals who know both the craft and business of creative writing. They will work closely with you to develop both your creative and professional skill set.

"All instructors within my program were extremely knowledgeable and helpful," Warden said. "I learned a lot about the different career paths my instructors chose. ... The course instruction, along with their anecdotal experiences, helped in offering knowledge in different areas of our field.

MFA Program Thesis

The thesis for the Online MFA in Creative Writing is required to be a novel of at least 50,000 words in one of the four genres the program offers: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, and Speculative.

Every Southern New Hampshire University online MFA student who graduates from the program will do so with a revised novel manuscript in their chosen genre, which is completed in a three-course thesis series. Throughout your tenure in the program, you can either work on a singular idea that you will develop during the three thesis courses, or you can begin a new project for your thesis. You can also combine elements of the four genres offered in the program for your thesis. For example, your thesis might be a YA Speculative Fiction novel.

"My three thesis classes for the MFA degree were the most helpful," said Kathleen Harris '21 . "I was actually writing a book as my thesis, so it was both enjoyable and advantageous for the degree. And it was the end of a very long milestone of accomplishments."

Minimum Hardware Requirements Component Type   PC (Windows OS)   Apple (Mac OS)   Operating System  Currently supported operating system from Microsoft.   Currently supported operating system from Apple.  Memory (RAM)  8GB or higher  8GB or higher  Hard Drive  100GB or higher  100GB or higher  Antivirus Software  Required for campus students. Strongly recommended for online students.  Required for campus students. Strongly recommended for online students.  SNHU Purchase Programs  Visit Dell   Visit Apple   Internet/ Bandwidth  5 Mbps Download, 1 Mbps Upload and less than 100 ms Latency  5 Mbps Download, 1 Mbps Upload and less than 100 ms Latency  Notes:   Laptop or desktop?   Whichever you choose depends on your personal preference and work style, though laptops tend to offer more flexibility.  Note:   Chromebooks (Chrome OS) and iPads (iOS) do not meet the minimum requirements for coursework at SNHU. These offer limited functionality and do not work with some course technologies. They are not acceptable as the only device you use for coursework. While these devices are convenient and may be used for some course functions, they cannot be your primary device. SNHU does, however, have an affordable laptop option that it recommends: Dell Latitude 3301 with Windows 10.  Office 365 Pro Plus  is available free of charge to all SNHU students and faculty. The Office suite will remain free while you are a student at SNHU. Upon graduation you may convert to a paid subscription if you wish. Terms subject to change at Microsoft's discretion. Review system requirements for  Microsoft 365 plans  for business, education and government.  Antivirus software:  Check with your ISP as they may offer antivirus software free of charge to subscribers.  if (typeof accordionGroup === "undefined") { window.accordionGroup = new accordion(); } accordionGroup.init(document.getElementById('f756dce5bd874c61855f6f6e92d88470')); University Accreditation

Tuition & Fees

Tuition rates for SNHU's online degree programs are among the lowest in the nation. We offer a 25% tuition discount for U.S. service members, both full and part time, and the spouses of those on active duty.

Tuition rates are subject to change and are reviewed annually. *Note: students receiving this rate are not eligible for additional discounts.

Additional Costs: Course Materials ($ varies by course). Foundational courses may be required based on your undergraduate course history, which may result in additional cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

​Why is History Important?​

Why is Poetry Important? Celebrating National Poetry Month

Actor Stephanie Gould Surprised Onstage With Diploma Delivery

Related programs.

What to Know About Creative Writing Degrees

Many creative writing degree recipients pursue careers as authors while others work as copywriters or ghostwriters.

Tips on Creative Writing Degrees

Getty Images

Prospective writing students should think about their goals and figure out if a creative writing degree will help them achieve those goals.

Many people see something magical in a beautiful work of art, and artists of all kinds often take pride in their craftsmanship. Creative writers say they find fulfillment in the writing process.

"I believe that making art is a human need, and so to get to do that is amazing," says Andrea Lawlor, an author who this year received a Whiting Award – a national $50,000 prize that recognizes 10 excellent emerging authors each year – and who is also the Clara Willis Phillips Assistant Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

"We all are seeing more and more of the way that writing can help us understand perspectives we don't share," says Lawlor, whose recent novel "Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl" addresses the issue of gender identity.

"Writing can help us cope with hard situations," Lawlor says. "We can find people who we have something in common with even if there's nobody around us who shares our experience through writing. It's a really powerful tool for connection and social change and understanding."

Creative writing faculty, many of whom are acclaimed published authors, say that people are well-suited toward degrees in creative writing if they are highly verbal and enjoy expressing themselves.

"Creative imaginative types who have stories burning inside them and who gravitate toward stories and language might want to pursue a degree in creative writing," Jessica Bane Robert, who teaches Introduction to Creative Writing at Clark University in Massachusetts, wrote in an email. "Through formal study you will hone your voice, gain confidence, find a support system for what can otherwise be a lonely endeavor."

Read the guide below to gain more insight into what it means to pursue a creative writing education, how writing impacts society and whether it is prudent to invest in a creative writing degree. Learn about the difference between degree-based and non-degree creative writing programs, how to craft a solid application to a top-notch creative writing program and how to figure out which program is the best fit.

Why Creative Writing Matters and Reasons to Study It

Creative writers say a common misconception about their job is that their work is frivolous and impractical, but they emphasize that creative writing is an extremely effective way to convey messages that are hard to share in any other way.

Kelly Caldwell, dean of faculty at Gotham Writers Workshop in New York City, says prospective writing students are often discouraged from taking writing courses because of concerns about whether a writing life is somehow unattainable or "unrealistic."

Although creative writers are sometimes unable to financially support themselves entirely on the basis of their creative projects, Caldwell says, they often juggle that work with other types of jobs and lead successful careers.

She says that many students in her introductory creative writing class were previously forbidden by parents to study creative writing. "You have to give yourself permission for the simple reason that you want to do it," she suggests.

Creative writing faculty acknowledge that a formal academic credential in creative writing is not needed in order to get writing published. However, they suggest, creative writing programs help aspiring authors develop their writing skills and allow space and time to complete long-term writing projects.

Working writers often juggle multiple projects at once and sometimes have more than one gig, which can make it difficult to finish an especially ambitious undertaking such as a novel, a play for the screen or stage, or a well-assembled collection of poems, short stories or essays. Grants and fellowships for authors are often designed to ensure that those authors can afford to concentrate on their writing.

Samuel Ace, a published poet and a visiting lecturer in poetry at Mount Holyoke, says his goal is to show students how to write in an authentic way that conveys real feeling. "It helps students to become more direct, not to bury their thoughts under a cascade of academic language, to be more forthright," he says.

Tips on Choosing Between a Non-Degree or Degree-Based Creative Writing Program

Experts note that someone needs to be ready to get immersed in the writing process and devote significant time to writing projects before pursuing a creative writing degree. Prospective writing students should not sign up for a degree program until they have reached that sense of preparedness, warns Kim Todd, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts and director of its creative writing program.

She says prospective writing students need to think about their personal goals and figure out if a creative writing degree will help them achieve those goals.

Aspiring writers who are not ready to invest in a creative writing degree program may want to sign up for a one-off writing class or begin participating in an informal writing workshop so they can test their level of interest in the field, Todd suggests.

How to Choose and Apply to a Creative Writing Program

In many cases, the most important component of an application to a writing program is the writing portfolio, writing program experts say. Prospective writing students need to think about which pieces of writing they include in their portfolio and need to be especially mindful about which item they put at the beginning of their portfolio. They should have a trusted mentor critique the portfolio before they submit it, experts suggest.

Because creative writing often involves self-expression, it is important for aspiring writing students to find a program where they feel comfortable expressing their true identity.

This is particularly pertinent to aspiring authors who are members of minority groups, including people of color or LGBTQ individuals, says Lawlor, who identifies as queer, transgender and nonbinary.

How to Use a Creative Writing Degree

Creative writing program professors and alumni say creative writing programs cultivate a variety of in-demand skills, including the ability to communicate effectively.

"While yes, many creative writers are idealists and dreamers, these are also typically highly flexible and competent people with a range of personal strengths. And a good creative writing program helps them understand their particular strengths and marketability and translate these for potential employers, alongside the more traditional craft development work," Melissa Ridley Elmes, an assistant professor of English at Lindenwood University in Missouri, wrote in an email.

Elmes – an author who writes poetry, fiction and nonfiction – says creative writing programs force students to develop personal discipline because they have to consistently produce a significant amount of writing. In addition, participating in writing workshops requires writing students "to give and receive constructive feedback," Elmes says.

Cindy Childress, who has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana—Lafayatte and did a creative writing dissertation where she submitted poetry, says creative writing grads are well-equipped for good-paying positions as advertising and marketing copywriters, speechwriters, grant writers and ghostwriters.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual compensation for writers and authors was $63,200 as of May 2019.

"I think the Internet, and writing communities online and in social media, have been very helpful for debunking the idea that if you publish a New York Times Bestseller you will have 'made it' and can quit your day job and write full time," Elmes explains. "Unless you are independently wealthy, the odds are very much against you in this regard."

Childress emphasizes that creative writing degree recipients have "skills that are absolutely transferable to the real world." For example, the same storytelling techniques that copywriters use to shape public perceptions about a commercial brand are often taught in introductory creative writing courses, she says. The ability to tell a good story does not necessarily come easily to people who haven't been trained on how to do it, she explains.

Childress says she was able to translate her creative writing education into a lucrative career and start her own ghostwriting and book editing company, where she earns a six-figure salary. She says her background in poetry taught her how to be pithy.

"Anything that we want to write nowadays, particularly for social media, is going to have to be immediately understood, so there is a sense of immediacy," she says."The language has to be crisp and direct and exact, and really those are exactly the same kind of ways you would describe a successful poem."

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Creative Writing

Graduate Studies

• 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

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Creative Writing MA/MFA

Litfest 2024.

Wilkes University proudly hosts its 4th annual LitFest, a celebration of the written word featuring program alumni, faculty and guest artists.

LitFest 2024 Schedule

Follow your passion, write your story and work to get published. Join the more than 600 writers from around the globe who have chosen Wilkes to advance their craft in a variety of writing genres.

Why Study Creative Writing at Wilkes?

At Wilkes, we focus on the craft, community, and career of writing. Industry feedback is an incredible benefit to aspiring writers. That is why each creative thesis is read and evaluated by a working agent, editor, publisher, or producer. These outside readers provide detailed notes about your work and review them with you during a one-on-one residency meeting.

This focus on the profession of writing, along with the dedication of our faculty (who "stay with you" even after you graduate), has propelled our creative writing MA/MFA students to an exceptional level of success after graduation, resulting in hundreds of published or produced works.

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• Course Sequences (.pdf)

Low-Residency Program

• Come together twice a year to attend workshops, connect with your cohort, check in with your mentor and expand your craft.
• Complete your coursework online between residencies with the support and guidance of accomplished writers.
• Enjoy readings from nationally-acclaimed writers, program alumni, faculty and mentors.

View Our Schedule and Apply

What Will You Learn?

• Learn how to live like a writer, building a writing plan, schedule and practice that encourages discipline and supports and sustains your creative process.
• Learn to tell your story in a way that engages the audience—exploring genres, experimenting with writing conventions, and mastering the presentation of your work so it can be shared with the world.
• Focus on developing your craft with concentrations in fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, writing for television, poetry, spoken word, or publishing.
• Revise with intention—for that's where the “real writing” begins. Process notes and feedback, translating them into actionable edits that make your project shine through revision.
• Learn to get published/produced. Learn ways to share your finalized manuscript with editors, publishers and producers, and how to pitch your project when given the opportunity. We do this by offering you that training and practice while you’re in the program!

Program Highlights

Accomplished alumni.

Our creative writing MA/MFA program boasts of not just several but hundreds of published or produced alumni. That’s because our faculty don’t say good-bye when you leave our program; rather, as they put it, “We stay with you.”

Review by Agents and Editors

Every student’s thesis is read by a professional agent, editor, director or producer, providing valuable feedback, advice for the manuscript's eventual publication/production, and insight into the publishing world.

Scholarships and Graduate Assistantships

Most low-residency MFA programs can’t offer scholarships, but our program has six of them, and six graduate assistantships (with Etruscran Press, Kaylie Jones Books and Blue Moon/HaveScripts) to help make our already low tuition more affordable.

Alumnus wins the Man Booker Prize

Wilkes alumnus Marlon James MA ’06 won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings . He is the first Jamaican author to win the prize, considered one of the most prestigious prizes in literature.

Read the Story

Careers & Outcomes

In addition to publishing and producing hundreds of literary works, our creative writing MA/MFA graduates go on to work as professors, editors, teachers, literary agents, directors of reading series, script writers for video games, high school teachers, book reviewers, freelance writers/editors, public relations or marketing directors, and in a variety of writing or writing-related jobs.

Marlon James MA '06, Fiction

marlonjameswriter.com external website

Brian Fanelli MFA '10, Poetry

brianfanelli.com external website

Adrienne Pender MFA '11, Playwriting

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Morowa Yejide MFA '12, Fiction

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Nisha Sharma MFA '14, Fiction

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Leah Vernon MFA '15, Nonfiction

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I arrived for the January residency and the community experience was as advertised. I was able to engage with faculty on day one in a way I would not have dreamed of. My writing cohort sealed the deal. Andre Lewis Carter MFA ’18 Author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, published by Kaylie Jones Books, 2022.

Vibrant Writing Community

Our writing community is incredible. Successful writers in their own right, our faculty members , outside readers and advisory board members come together to support and mentor students in the program.

Notable names include:

• Ibrahim Ahmad, Executive Editor at Viking Press
• Beverly Donofrio, Riding in Cars with Boys
• Susan Cartsonis, Resonate Entertainment
• Kaylie Jones, Kaylie Jones Books
• Ken Liu, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, and FantLab Awards
• Tim Seibles, Poet Laureate of Virginia
• Johnny Temple, Publisher at Akashic Press
• Chris Tomasino, The Tomasino Agency
• William J. Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize Winner
• Ross Klavan, Tigerland
• Marlon James MA ’06, A Brief History of Seven Killings
• J. Michael Lennon, Norman Mailer: A Double Life

In addition to our talented faculty, board members and outside readers, Wilkes has created partnerships with several nationally known organizations .

Nationally Renowned

Our program regularly ranks as one of the top Creative Writing programs in the nation.

• Best Colleges ' Best Online Master’s in Creative Writing Programs (2023, #3)
• College Rank 's Best Online Master’s in Creative Writing Programs (2023, #10)
• College Choice ' Best Online MFA in Creative Writing Programs (2023, #4)

A week of literary readings, discussion and celebrating written word! All LitFest 2024 events are free and open to the public.

Friday, June 21

Juneteenth celebration of black writers.

• Hosted by Angelique Palmer
• Mildred Mills, author of   Daddy’s House
• Monique Franz (playwright/essayist), author/editor of   Black Diaspora
• R. Alan Brooks (graphic novelist/comics writer), author of   Grieving Mall

Saturday, June 22

Journey of the book.

Interview with creative writing faculty with new book releases

• Gregory Fletcher (YA and playwright), author of Tom and Huck Sitting in a Tree
• Jaclyn Fowler (novelist), author of Jack: The Almost True Story of the Molly Maguires
• Jessica Goudeau (narrative non-fiction), author of We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration (non-fiction)

Sunday, June 23

Faculty reading.

• Christine Gelineau, poetry/nonfiction
• Amanda Rabaduex (alumna), poetry
• Phil Brady, poetry/nonfiction
• Angelique Palmer, poetry/spoken word
• Caroline Hayduk (alumna), poetry

Monday, June 24

Film and talk-back: sitting in bars with cake.

• Screenwriter Audrey Shulman
• Producer Susan Cartsonis

Tuesday, June 25

• Teresa Friedman (alumna), novelist
• Kaylie Jones, novelist/memoirist
• Robert Mooney, novelist
• Alexis Paige, non-fiction
• Jeff Talarigo, novelist

Wednesday, June 26 (afternoon)

Special event.

Q&A with TV Creators/Showrunners Terri Edda Miller and Andrew Marlowe ( Equalizer , Castle , Take Two )

Wednesday, June 26 (evening)

Playwrights’ night.

• Nicole Pandolfo
• Rachel Strayer
• Bonnie Culver, playwright/novelist
• Ruth Connors and Mandy Pennington, Scranton Fringe preview

Thursday, June 27 (afternoon)

Panel discussion.

Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air , will participate in a podcast about banned books with Jessica Goudeau and Christine Renee Miller, faculty members and co-hosts of “The Beautiful and the Banned.”

Thursday, June 27 (evening)

Featured reading.

• Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
• Barbara J. Taylor, author of Rain Breaks No Bones
• Matt Bell, author of Appleseed and Refuse to Be Done
• Rev. Shawn Amos, author of Ellis Johnson Might Be Famous and Cookies and Milk
• Margaret Talbot, author and staff writer for the New Yorker

Back to Hood.edu

Creative Writing (MFA)

• Master's

About this Program

Hood College’s low-residency MFA in creative writing immerses students in the rhythms of the writing life, while providing them with a solid foundation in literary craft, criticism and publishing.

Program Overview

Tuition & Fees   Funding Opportunities Download MFA Brochure  

Find your rhythm. Find your community. Find your voice.

Ideal for working professionals and lifelong learners who are serious about their work, the MFA in creative writing appeals to students from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, all of whom share a passion for literature and a desire to write and publish their own novels, stories and poems. Central to our philosophy is the idea of balance—between writing and the demands of everyday life, between periods of solitude and social interaction—as well as the presence of a diverse and cohesive literary community. By the end of the program, students will have produced a book-length manuscript of fiction or poetry and will be beginning to submit and publish their work.

A 48-credit program in fiction or poetry, the low-residency MFA in creative writing involves four remote mentorship semesters and three on-campus summer residencies. Over the course of the two-year program, students will engage in one-on-one consultations with faculty mentors; participate in intensive writing workshops; attend lectures, panels and readings; begin submitting their work for publication; develop and present a craft lecture; complete a book-length creative project; and give a reading from their work. In addition to summer residences on the beautiful Hood College campus in Frederick, Maryland, students also have the option of attending an international summer residency through the  Prague Summer Program for Writers , the nation’s oldest study-abroad program for creative writers in the English language.

The low-residency MFA in creative writing at Hood College will begin accepting applicants in fall 2023 for the inaugural summer 2024 residency (June 13-23). For more information, please contact program director  Elizabeth Knapp  or email the  graduate school admission staff .

Degrees Offered

Department offering.

• English & Communication Arts

Are you ready to go further?

Prospective Applicants must complete the following for consideration into the program:

• Complete the online application.
• Official copies of all college transcripts.
• A 1,000-word essay in response to a book of fiction or poetry published within the last 10 years. The book you choose to write on must correspond to the genre for which you are applying (e.g., poetry applicants should write an essay in response to a poetry collection).
• A 500-word personal statement on what you hope to achieve from the program; your reading life and which authors have been especially important or influential to you as a writer; any challenges or obstacles you have faced in your writing life as a result of your background and how you have responded to those challenges; and your current writing projects.
• Fiction should be no more than 25 double-spaced pages of one or several stories, a portion of a novel, or a combination. If submitting a novel excerpt, please attach a brief plot synopsis.
• Poetry should be no more than 10 single-spaced pages, with no more than one poem per page.

The course listing for the program is as follows:

Permanent Faculty

Aaron Angello  is an assistant professor of English at Hood College, where he directs the theatre program and teaches courses in creative writing, modern and contemporary poetry, film and media, and drama. He is also creative director of the Endangered Species (theatre) Project and founder of the Frederick Shakespeare Festival. His poetry and essays have appeared in numerous journals, and he is the editor of  The Synergistic Classroom: Interdisciplinary Teaching in the Small College Setting . His genre-defying book  The Fact of Memory: 114 Ruminations and Fabrications  was published in 2022 by Rose Metal Press.

Amy Gottfried  is a professor of English at Hood College and advises the undergraduate literary magazine, Wisteria. She teaches courses in environmental writing, advanced fiction, and American literature, and has twice earned Hood’s Excellence in Teaching award. Her short fiction has appeared in  Passager ,  Glimmer Train ,  Adirondack Review ,  Blunderbuss  and  Brain, Teen . Awards include  Blunderbuss’s  2015 Best Stories and  Glimmer Train’s  Fiction Open, Family Matters, and Short Short Fiction contests. She is currently working on her third novel and a short story collection.

Elizabeth Knapp  is an associate professor of English at Hood College and directs the low-residency MFA in creative writing. She is the author of  Requiem with an Amulet in Its Beak  (Washington Writers’ Publishing House, 2019), winner of the 2019 Jean Feldman Prize, and  The Spite House  (C&R Press, 2011), winner of 2010 De Novo Poetry Prize. Her other honors include the 2022 International Poetry Prize from  Atlanta Review , the 2018 Robert H. Winner Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America and an individual artist award from the Maryland State Arts Council.

Guest Writers

Sandra Beasley  is the author of four poetry collections:  Made to Explode ;  Count the Waves ;  I Was the Jukebox  (winner of the Barnard Women Poets Prize, judged by Joy Harjo); and  Theories of Falling  (winner of the New Issues Poetry Prize, judged by Marie Howe). Honors for her work include a 2015 NEA Literature Fellowship, the Center for Book Arts Chapbook Prize, the John Montague International Poetry Fellowship and six DCCAH Artist Fellowships. She is also the author of the memoir  Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life , and the editor of  Vinegar and Char: Verse from the Southern Foodways Alliance . Beasley is currently the Nora Roberts Writer-in-Residence at Hood College. She lives in Washington, D.C.

celeste doaks  is the author of  Cornrows and Cornfields  and editor of the poetry anthology  Not Without Our Laughter . Her award-winning chapbook,  American Herstory , contains ekphrastic poems that have been featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Brooklyn Museum. doaks is a 2022 Yaddo fellow and has taught for more than a decade. Her work has appeared in  Ms. Magazine ,  The Millions ,  Huffington Post ,  Chicago Quarterly Review ,  The Rumpus ,  The Hopkins Review  and others.

Robert Eversz  is the author of six novels that have been translated into 15 languages. His books have been named to best of year lists at  The Washington Post ,  Oslo Aftenposten ,  Manchester Guardian ,  BookPage ,  L.A. Weekly  and  January Magazine . A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Robert teaches advanced fiction workshops at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and is a member of the permanent faculty of the Prague Summer Program, which he helped found.

James Allen Hall  is the author of two books of poems and a book of lyric essays. Their most recent book is  Romantic Comedy , winner of the Levis Prize selected by Diane Seuss and published by Four Way Books. Their previous book of poems is  Now You’re the Enemy  (U of Arkansas Press, 2008). They are also the author of a book of lyric personal essays,  I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well . They’ve won awards from the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Texas Institute of Letters, the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Arts. They direct the Rose O'Neill Literary House at Washington College in Chestertown, MD.

Donna Hemans  is the author of three novels,  River Woman ,  Tea by the Sea  and  The House of Plain Truth  (forthcoming in February 2024). Her short fiction and essays have appeared in  Slice ,  Electric Literature ,  Ms. Magazine ,  The Rumpus  and  Crab Orchard Review , among others. She received her undergraduate degree in English and media studies from Fordham University and an MFA from American University. She lives in Maryland and is also the owner of DC Writers Room, a co-working studio for writers based in Washington, D.C.

Steven Leyva ’s poems have appeared in  Smartish Pace ,  Scalawag ,  Nashville Review ,  jubilat ,  The Hopkins Review ,  Prairie Schooner  and  Best American Poetry 2020 . He is a Cave Canem fellow and author of the chapbook  Low Parish  and author of  The Understudy’s Handbook , which won the Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from Washington Writers Publishing House. He holds an MFA from the University of Baltimore, where he is an associate professor in the Klein Family School of Communications Design.

Cleyvis Natera  is the author of the debut novel  Neruda on the Park . Her fiction, essays and criticism have appeared in  The New York Times Book Review ,  URSA Fiction ,  Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration ,  The Brooklyn Rail ,  TIME ,  The Rumpus ,  Gagosian Quarterly ,  The Washington Post ,  The Kenyon Review ,  Aster(ix)  and  Kweli Journal , among other publications.

Elly Williams  is a senior faculty member of the M.A. in writing at Johns Hopkins University. Her essays, interviews and short stories have appeared in local and national journals, including  Confessions ,  Fact or Fiction? ,  The Missouri Review ,  Five Points  and  CEA Forum . Her novel,  Crazy Think , was released as a Penguin Classic in the U.K. in 1997 and under the title  This Never Happened  in 1998 by Random House.

Summer Residencies

The cornerstone of the low-residency MFA in creative writing is the intensive residency experience. For 10 days in June, students in the program attend residencies on the Hood College campus, during which they participate in rigorous writing workshops and attend lectures, panels and readings by permanent and guest faculty and graduating students. Residencies are designed to immerse students in activities and subjects central to the writing life and to foster a sense of community and fellowship with other writers; therefore, students are strongly encouraged to stay on campus in one of our newly renovated dorms for the duration of each residency. Visits to Frederick’s thriving historic Downtown are part of the residency; restaurants, shops, theatre, bars, art galleries, concerts and a wonderful independent bookstore are all a 10-minute walk from campus. Room and board are included in the residency fees.

At the core of the residency is the writing workshop, in which developing writers share their work for critique and provide commentary on the work of other members. Led by an accomplished writer in each genre, workshops meet daily in the mornings, and students are guaranteed an expert and detailed review of their work.

In the afternoons, faculty and graduating students present lectures and panels on a range of topics within literary history, theory and practice, while evenings are devoted to literary readings. At the end of the residency period, students return to their individual writing lives reenergized and recommitted to the practice of writing. They then commence a period of concentrated reading and writing in the semester between residencies under the close guidance of a faculty mentor.

For the second residency, students may elect to attend the  Prague Summer Program for Writers , the nation’s oldest study-abroad program for creative writers in the English language. Approximately 2,000 established and aspiring writers have attended the Prague Summer Program since its inception in 1993. Included among the program’s outstanding permanent faculty are two MacArthur Fellows and a National Book Award winner in fiction. Fees for the three-week program are equal to those for a 10-day on-campus residency. Students are responsible for their own airfare and meals, but breakfast is provided with program housing. Two fully-funded teaching assistantships are available for each residency, one in fiction and one in poetry. Assistantships are competitive.

View the June 2024 residency schedule.

Mentorship Semesters

Along with the residency experience, literary mentorship is a hallmark of the low-residency MFA in creative writing. The mentorship semester is designed to help students develop a close working relationship with an experienced teacher and published author who can direct them in all matters of literary craft, criticism and publishing. As immersive experiences, the mentorship semesters also provide students with a solid foundation in literary history, theory and practice, and students are expected to read broadly and deeply both within their genre and across genres.

Under the guidance of a faculty mentor, students produce original creative work while simultaneously developing their own course of study within the areas of literary history, theory, and practice. At the beginning of each semester, students confer with their faculty mentor to create a reading list, along with a submission schedule for critical essays and original work. Over the course of each semester, students submit to their faculty mentor packets of original fiction or poetry and critical essays. The faculty mentor then provides extensive feedback, including suggestions for revision and further reading. Participation in the residencies is required for enrollment in the mentorship semesters.

Advantages of the Low-Residency Model

The low-residency model for an MFA in creative writing offers several advantages compared to traditional full-residency programs, including:  

• Flexibility.  Low-residency programs are designed to accommodate students who may have work, family or other commitments that make it challenging to attend a full-time, on-campus program. With the low-residency model, you have the flexibility to continue working or fulfilling other responsibilities while pursuing your degree. 
• Geographic Independence.  Low-residency programs allow students to participate from anywhere in the world. You are not limited by geographical proximity to a specific institution, which means you can choose a program that aligns with your interests and needs regardless of your location. 
• Intensive Residency Periods.  Low-residency programs typically include short, intensive residencies on campus or at a designated location. During these residencies, you have the opportunity to engage in workshops, panels, readings and networking events with faculty and fellow students. This concentrated period of interaction provides a focused and immersive experience.
• Personalized Attention.  In low-residency programs, students work closely with faculty mentors or advisers. One-on-one mentorship allows for personalized attention and guidance tailored to your specific writing goals and needs. This individualized approach will help you hone your craft and develop your unique voice. 
• Diverse Perspectives.  Low-residency programs attract students from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and experiences. The cohort of students often includes individuals with diverse perspectives and writing styles. This enriches the learning environment, fosters cross-cultural understanding and encourages creative collaboration. 
• Cost Savings.  Low-residency programs may offer cost savings compared to full-residency programs. Since you are not residing on campus full-time, you can save on expenses such as housing and commuting. This can make pursuing an MFA more financially feasible for some individuals. 

With an MFA in creative writing, you can pursue a variety of career paths related to writing, literature and communication, including:

• Author.  An MFA in creative writing equips you with the skills and knowledge necessary to write and publish your own literary works. Through the mentorship semesters and summer residencies, you will develop your craft and learn about the business of literary publishing.
• Editor.  MFA graduates work as editors for publishing houses and literary magazines, or as freelance editors. You can help writers polish their manuscripts by providing feedback and copy edits.
• Copywriter.  Advertising agencies, marketing firms and businesses hire creative writers to develop persuasive and engaging copy for advertisements, websites, product descriptions and other promotional materials.
• Content Writer.  With the rise of digital media, there is a high demand for skilled content writers. You can create engaging articles, blog posts, social media content and other written material for websites, online publications and businesses.
• Literary Agent.  As a literary agent, you can represent authors and their literary works. You'll review manuscripts, negotiate publishing contracts and guide writers through the publishing process.
• Writing Instructor/Professor.  Many MFA graduates find fulfillment in teaching creative writing. You can work as an instructor or professor at universities, colleges, writing workshops or community centers, sharing your knowledge and helping aspiring writers develop their skills.
• Freelance Writer.  You can work as a freelance writer, taking on a range of writing assignments. This may include magazine articles, blog posts, ghostwriting projects, content creation for businesses or contributing to anthologies and literary journals.
• Communications Specialist.  Corporations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies often employ MFA graduates as communications specialists. You can write press releases, speeches, reports and other communication materials.
• Writing Coach/Consultant.  With your expertise, you can offer your services as a writing coach or consultant. This involves assisting aspiring writers, providing feedback on their work and helping them improve their writing skills.

Many MFA graduates combine multiple roles or pursue a mix of freelance and traditional employment opportunities to build a diverse career in the writing field.

The Elizabeth Peters-Barbara Michaels Scholarship Fund

Established in 1990 by Barbara Mertz, the scholarship is awarded annually to a student from an underrepresented background based on writing ability. Recipients for this scholarship will be identified and nominated by the MFA faculty.

Barbara Mertz, who used the pen name Elizabeth Peters, wrote more than 60 novels. Primarily known for her work in the mystery genre, Mertz won various awards, and her novels have been translated into dozens of languages. Mertz was also a long-time resident of Frederick, Maryland.

The Nora Roberts Foundation Scholarship

Established in 2010 by the Nora Roberts Foundation, the scholarship will be awarded annually to a creative write MFA student, with priority given to those with financial need and academic merit.

Nora Roberts, a Maryland native, is the bestselling author of more than 225 novels. She is primarily known for her work in the romance genre and was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.

For more information, please contact Program Director Elizabeth Knapp .

Pergola Magazine

MFA students will help develop Hood's brand new online literary magazine, Pergola, launching in spring 2025 and featuring original work!

Meet Our Guest Writers

Learn about our 2024 guest writers in this Q&A series!

Program Contact

Elizabeth Knapp, Ph.D.

MFA Program Director

Nick Masucci '17

Assistant Director of Graduate Admission & Data Management

James Allen Hall | Guest Writer for MFA Program

Hood’s creative writing MFA program welcomes James Allen Hall as guest writer for June 2024 residency.

Steven Leyva | Guest Writer for MFA Program

Hood’s creative writing MFA program welcomes Steven Leyva as guest writer for June 2024 residency.

Robert Eversz | Guest Writer for MFA Program

Hood’s creative writing MFA program welcomes Robert Eversz as a guest writer for June 2024 residency.

• College of Arts & Sciences
• Graduate Division
• College of Liberal and Professional Studies

Honors Program

English majors with a concentration in Creative Writing are invited to apply to complete a capstone project during senior year to earn Honors in English.

Declaring a major or minor

Declare your major in Creative Writing, your minor in Creative Writing, or your minor in Journalistic Writing in just a few steps.

Fall 2024 courses

Highlights of our Fall 2024 courses include Fantasy and Magical Realism, Writing Real Science, Writing and Politics, Nontraditional Writing for Young Adults, Investigative Journalism, and Writing and Witnessing!

We are home to a faculty of award-winning writers who teach more than sixty workshops each year in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, journalism, playwriting, screenwriting, and writing for children and young adults, as well as innovative workshops in cross-genre, experimental, and hybrid writing, including writing that engages with community organizing, multimedia and visual arts, and performance.

Creative Writing Program

Linda A. Cicero | Stanford News Service

Cultivating the power of individual expression within a vibrant community of writers

It’s here that I fell deeper and deeper in love with writing, and I can say without a shadow of doubt that I met mentors, peers, and friends for life. The generosity with which the Creative Writing Program has shaped me will sustain—it’s truly been life-changing.

Creative Writing Minor

Discover your writing prowess and push the imaginative bounds of prose, poetry, and screenwriting with our undergraduate minor.

Stegner Fellowship

An opportunity for promising writers to develop their craft in the company of peers and under the guidance of Stanford faculty.

Stanford University

Our Community

Meet the faces of Creative Writing--the faculty, lecturers, staff, and visiting writers who guide and support our students and fellows.

In the Spotlight

Associate Professor of English, Kirstin Valdez Quade awarded John S. Guggenheim Fellowship

We are absolutely delighted to share the news that Kirstin Valdez Quade has been awarded a 2024 John S. Guggenheim fellowship.  

2023-24 Creative Writing Undergraduate Prizes

The Creative Writing Program is accepting submissions for 2023-24 Creative Writing Undergraduate Prizes. 

12th Annual Poetry Into Film Contest

The 12th Annual Poetry Into Film Contest is accepting submissions for the best short film inspired by a poem.

Recent News

• In the News

Description dances off the page at final Stegner Fellow reading

Familiar words in novel contexts: Arthur Sze translates the human condition

The beautiful and the terrible: Carmen Maria Machado reads queer horror and sci-fi

Upcoming events.

Native American Stories – Greg Sarris: A Reading, Conversation & Book Signing

This April, Greg Sarris, tribal leader, university professor, playwright, producer, and award-winning author, published …

This April, Greg Sarris, tribal leader, university professor, playwright, producer, and award-winning author, published…

Colloquium with Arthur Sze, the Mohr Visiting Poet

The Creative Writing Program is pleased to announce the next event with the Mohr Visiting Poet: A Colloquium with Arthur Sze…

Winter Stranger

The Fight Journal

When I Waked, I Cried To Dream Again

Things I Didn’t Do with This Body

All the Yellow Suns

Department of Creative Writing

The Department of Creative Writing at UCR offers the only Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in the University of California system and the MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts . It is a growing and dynamic program made up entirely of established writers and poets. Courses at UCR are designed for all students in the language arts, and they emphasize developing each student's skills and talents. Through writing fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and/or drama, students examine language and meaning both as practitioners and as readers as they develop and hone essential writing techniques.

Every writer needs to develop a critical sense to augment creative ability. For this reason, the Creative Writing Department offers two types of courses. Workshop courses are seminars that focus on writing and on the discussion of student work. Reading courses for writers focus on aspects of literature presented from a writer's point of view. Frequently, they employ writing in imitation as one of several approaches to understanding the craft of writing. Upper-division workshop courses are offered at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels in poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Several reading courses link two genres such as fiction and poetry, and poetry and drama.

Give to Creative Writing Department

Announcements

Katie Ford 's sequence of poems The Anchoress — set as a monodrama by composer David Serkin Ludwig — was performed this summer at Chamber Music Northwest.

Laila Lalami published the New York Times Magazine cover story “A State of Uncertainty” and was named a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard for 2023-2024.

Charmaine Craig ’s  My Nemesis  has been published this year by Grove Press.

Thalia Williamson ’s “The Silent Part” was published this summer in Joyland .

Quyen Pham ’s “Such Good Girls” was published this past spring in Room .

Emily Doyle  published “Thursdays for Haru” earlier this year in the Sun.

Tom Lutz 's  1925 A Literary Encyclopedia  is being published by Rare Bird Lit, and his novel  Archipelago  is coming out from Red Hen Press. His essay "Gravy Donuts" was published in Iowa Review .

Reza Aslan 's  An American Martyr in Persia was longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Beograd Weld Award.

Allison Benis White won the 2022 Pushcart Prize and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award.

Allison Hedge Coke  was a 2022  National Book Award finalist for  Look at This Blue ,  a 2023 finalist for  CLMP Firecracker Award  and  ASLE Best Creative Book of the Year .   Look at This Blue , was awarded the  Emory Elliott Book Award  by CHASS Center for Ideas and Society and Hedge Coke was awarded the  2023 Thomas Wolfe Prize & Lecture  by the University of North Carolina and the [http://Thomas Wolfe Endowment Fund]Thomas Wolfe Society in  fall 2023 .

Susan Straight 's  Mecca was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and named a Top Ten California Book of the Year by the New York Times and one of the best books of 2022 by NPR, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Juan Felipe Herrera  was a recent recipient of the Poetry Foundation’s Pegasus Award and the LARB/UCR lifetime achievement award. The Fresno Unified School District named its latest school Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary.

Conversations With Steve Erickson has been published by the University Press of Mississippi as part of a series that includes Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, James Baldwin, William Burroughs and Toni Morrison.

Employment Opportunities

None at this time.

Statement of Solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander Community

We are grieved by the recent killings in Atlanta, as well as by all other anti-Asian bigotry and violence, and stand in solidarity with our AAPI colleagues, students, and, more broadly, all AAPI across the nation. We stand against all anti-AAPI hate crimes, discrimination, and dehumanization, knowing that the group Stop AAPI Hate has reported 3,975 hate incidents against Asian Americans between March 19, 2020 and February 28, 2021.

To take action:

• Educational resources and petitions to sign: HERE .
• Report hate incidents HERE and HERE .
• Attend a bystander intervention training to learn ways to stop anti-Asian American and xenophobic harassment.  [ March 29 at 3 p.m. ] [ April 20 at 2 p.m. ]
• Send a message to elected officials.

To learn more:

• The New Yorker : Ed Park, "Confronting Anti-Asian Discrimination During the Coronavirus Crisis"
• The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans

Statement of Solidarity with Black Lives Matter

We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The brutal killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia are part of a pattern of state violence against Black people, which too often remains invisible and unpunished when it is not blamed on the victims themselves.

America’s institutionalized practice of settler colonialism, genocide, slavery, and segregation continues in the form of continued occupation, discrimination, mass incarceration, and racist policing.

The nationwide protests we are witnessing this week are an expression of anger at police violence, a rejection of white supremacy, and a call to our leaders that they live up to the nation's founding proclamation of equality. We demand accountability from the police, disinvestment from law enforcement in favor of education, housing, and community services, and, above all, justice for the victims.

Recognition of Native Lands Statement

We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the original and traditional territory of Tongva people [ Tongva and Cahuilla people] and within Tongva, Cahuilla, Luiseño & Serrano original lands and contemporary territories.

In the spirit of Rupert and Jeanette Costo’s founding relationship to our campus, we would like to respectfully acknowledge and recognize our responsibility to the original and current caretakers of this land, water and air: the Cahuilla , Tongva , Luiseño , and Serrano peoples and all of their ancestors and descendants, past, present and future. Today this meeting place is home to many Indigenous peoples from all over the world, including UCR faculty, students, and staff, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these homelands. Please also visit our university founder's  legacy page, Cahuilla Scholar Rupert Costo ,  California Indian Studies & Scholars Association , UCR's  California Center for Native Nations ,  Native American Student Programs  (NASP), and the page of UCR's  Rupert Costo Chair, Dr. Clifford Trafzer .

Download UCR Native American Student Programs Land Statement

Faculty Publications

Writers Week

Creative Writing Program Marks Three Decades of Growth, Diversity

By Luisa A. Igloria

2024: a milestone year which marks the 30 th  anniversary of Old Dominion University’s MFA Creative Writing Program. Its origins can be said to go back to April 1978, when the English Department’s (now Professor Emeritus, retired) Phil Raisor organized the first “Poetry Jam,” in collaboration with Pulitzer prize-winning poet W.D. Snodgrass (then a visiting poet at ODU). Raisor describes this period as “ a heady time .” Not many realize that from 1978 to 1994, ODU was also the home of AWP (the Association of Writers and Writing Programs) until it moved to George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

The two-day celebration that was “Poetry Jam” has evolved into the annual ODU Literary Festival, a week-long affair at the beginning of October bringing writers of local, national, and international reputation to campus. The ODU Literary Festival is among the longest continuously running literary festivals nationwide. It has featured Rita Dove, Maxine Hong Kingston, Susan Sontag, Edward Albee, John McPhee, Tim O’Brien, Joy Harjo, Dorothy Allison, Billy Collins, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sabina Murray, Jane Hirshfield, Brian Turner, S.A. Cosby, Nicole Sealey, Franny Choi, Ross Gay, Adrian Matejka, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Ilya Kaminsky, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Jose Olivarez, and Ocean Vuong, among a roster of other luminaries. MFA alumni who have gone on to publish books have also regularly been invited to read.

From an initial cohort of 12 students and three creative writing professors, ODU’s MFA Creative Writing Program has grown to anywhere between 25 to 33 talented students per year. Currently they work with a five-member core faculty (Kent Wascom, John McManus, and Jane Alberdeston in fiction; and Luisa A. Igloria and Marianne L. Chan in poetry). Award-winning writers who made up part of original teaching faculty along with Raisor (but are now also either retired or relocated) are legends in their own right—Toi Derricotte, Tony Ardizzone, Janet Peery, Scott Cairns, Sheri Reynolds, Tim Seibles, and Michael Pearson. Other faculty that ODU’s MFA Creative Writing Program was privileged to briefly have in its ranks include Molly McCully Brown and Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley.

"What we’ve also found to be consistently true is how collegial this program is — with a lively and supportive cohort, and friendships that last beyond time spent here." — Luisa A. Igloria, Louis I. Jaffe Endowed Professor & University Professor of English and Creative Writing at Old Dominion University

Our student body is diverse — from all over the country as well as from closer by. Over the last ten years, we’ve also seen an increase in the number of international students who are drawn to what our program has to offer: an exciting three-year curriculum of workshops, literature, literary publishing, and critical studies; as well as opportunities to teach in the classroom, tutor in the University’s Writing Center, coordinate the student reading series and the Writers in Community outreach program, and produce the student-led literary journal  Barely South Review . The third year gives our students more time to immerse themselves in the completion of a book-ready creative thesis. And our students’ successes have been nothing but amazing. They’ve published with some of the best (many while still in the program), won important prizes, moved into tenured academic positions, and been published in global languages. What we’ve also found to be consistently true is how collegial this program is — with a lively and supportive cohort, and friendships that last beyond time spent here.

Our themed studio workshops are now offered as hybrid/cross genre experiences. My colleagues teach workshops in horror, speculative and experimental fiction, poetry of place, poetry and the archive — these give our students so many more options for honing their skills. And we continue to explore ways to collaborate with other programs and units of the university. One of my cornerstone projects during my term as 20 th  Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth was the creation of a Virginia Poets Database, which is not only supported by the University through the Perry Library’s Digital Commons, but also by the MFA Program in the form of an assistantship for one of our students. With the awareness of ODU’s new integration with Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and its impact on other programs, I was inspired to design and pilot a new 700-level seminar on “Writing the Body Fantastic: Exploring Metaphors of Human Corporeality.” In the fall of 2024, I look forward to a themed graduate workshop on “Writing (in) the Anthropocene,” where my students and I will explore the subject of climate precarity and how we can respond in our own work.

Even as the University and wider community go through shifts and change through time, the MFA program has grown with resilience and grace. Once, during the six years (2009-15) that I directed the MFA Program, a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) university-wide review amended the guidelines for what kind of graduate student would be allowed to teach classes (only those who had  already  earned 18 or more graduate credits). Thus, two of our first-year MFA students at that time had to be given another assignment for their Teaching Assistantships. I thought of  AWP’s hallmarks of an effective MFA program , which lists the provision of editorial and publishing experience to its students through an affiliated magazine or press — and immediately sought department and upper administration support for creating a literary journal. This is what led to the creation of our biannual  Barely South Review  in 2009.

In 2010,  HuffPost  and  Poets & Writers  listed us among “ The Top 25 Underrated Creative Writing MFA Programs ” (better underrated than overrated, right?) — and while our MFA Creative Writing Program might be smaller than others, we do grow good writers here. When I joined the faculty in 1998, I was excited by the high caliber of both faculty and students. Twenty-five years later, I remain just as if not more excited, and look forward to all the that awaits us in our continued growth.

This essay was originally published in the Spring 2024 edition of Barely South Review , ODU’s student-led literary journal. The University’s growing MFA in Creative Writing program connects students with a seven-member creative writing faculty in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

Enhance your college career by gaining relevant experience with the skills and knowledge needed for your future career. Discover our experiential learning opportunities.

Picture yourself in the classroom, speak with professors in your major, and meet current students.

From sports games to concerts and lectures, join the ODU community at a variety of campus events. 

Creative Writing Programs Online

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Online Undergraduate and Graduate Creative Writing Programs

Do you want to learn how to tell stories or create art through your words? If you want to write poetry, script plays, or write novels, Liberty has creative writing programs that can help you learn the skills you need. You can start with the basics and develop your skills under the teaching and mentorship of teachers who know their craft. But what program is right for you?

Associate Degrees

Liberty’s 100% online Associate of Arts (A.A.) in Creative Writing offers you the opportunity to enhance your writing skills as you prepare for a future career or a bachelor’s degree.

Apply Now   Request Info  

Bachelor’s Degrees

Bachelor of science in creative writing – christian literature, bachelor of science in creative writing – english.

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Creative Writing – English offers you the chance to develop a deep understanding of the English language.

Bachelor of Science in Creative Writing – Journalism

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Creative Writing – Journalism allows you to develop investigative and reporting abilities and build your portfolio. 

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in English and Writing offers you advanced training in composition and literature, creative writing, and modern grammar.

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in English and Writing – Christian Literature can help you hone your writing and critical thinking skills as you explore the works of some of the greatest Christian writers in history.

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in English and Writing – Creative Writing degree offers advanced training in grammar, technical writing, and storytelling.

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in English and Writing – Journalism offers you a journalism education that can teach you to write compelling stories and help you pursue exciting writing opportunities.

Liberty’s 100% online Master of Arts (M.A.) in Composition will guide you through the fundamentals of writing and grammar and help prepare you to teach composition at the collegiate level.

Liberty’s 100% online Master of Arts (M.A.) in Professional Writing can help you craft effective communication using digital media, traditional publishing, and cutting-edge technology as you master advanced grammar and composition.

Liberty’s 100% online Master of Arts (M.A.) in Professional Writing – Research Administration and Sponsored Programs blends studies in writing with practical business applications, which can help you become a more marketable job candidate.

Liberty’s 100% online Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Creative Writing is designed to help you build on your writing skills with specific workshops dedicated to the craft of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, or screenwriting.

Creative Writing

Master’s Degrees

Composition

Professional Writing

Professional Writing – Research Administration and Sponsored Programs

Liberty’s 100% online Master of Arts (M.A.) in Professional Writing – Research Administration and Sponsored Programs blends studies in writing with practical business applications, which can help you become a more marketable job candidate.

Creative Writing – Christian Literature

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Creative Writing – Christian Literature allows you to study prominent authors and works of Christian literature of the past and present. 

Creative Writing – English

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Creative Writing – English offers you the chance to develop a deep understanding of the English language.

Creative Writing – Journalism

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Creative Writing – Journalism allows you to develop investigative and reporting abilities and build your portfolio. 

English and Writing

English and Writing – Christian Literature

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in English and Writing – Christian Literature can help you hone your writing and critical thinking skills as you explore the works of some of the greatest Christian writers in history.

English and Writing – Creative Writing

English and Writing – Journalism

Associate of Arts in Creative Writing

Apply Now Request Information  

Apply Now Request Information    

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Creative Writing – English offers you the chance to develop a deep understanding of the English language while sharpening your writing skills.

Bachelor of Science in English and Writing – Creative Writing

Liberty’s 100% online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in English and Writing – Creative Writing  offers you advanced training in composition and literature, creative writing, and modern grammar.

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Liberty’s 100% online Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Creative Writing can help you learn new concepts, grow your understanding, and hone your writing skills to their highest form.

Which kind of creative writing program fits my needs?

• If you don’t have a degree and aren’t ready to commit to a bachelor’s – Liberty’s online Associate of Arts in Creative Writing gives you an entry point into creative writing. Designed as a halfway step to a bachelor’s degree, our A.A. in Creative Writing will cover foundational courses and training that can help you get started while opening the door to a more in-depth Bachelor of Science in English and Writing – Creative Writing after you graduate. If you don’t have a bachelor’s degree and either want to get training for a career in creative writing or for your own personal writing projects, then the A.A. in Creative Writing could be the best track for you.
• If you want a full bachelor’s degree focused on creative writing and English language – Liberty’s Bachelor of Science in English and Writing – Creative Writing is designed to equip you with a thorough background in English language studies to support your creative writing skills. The skills you learn in this program can also help you pursue teaching or roles in communication and writing for business. If you want a practical way to study the creative writing process that will also help you build a career, Liberty’s B.S. in English and Writing – Creative Writing could be the best degree for you.
• If you already have a bachelor’s degree and want a career in writing – Liberty’s online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing could be the best choice for you. The M.F.A. in Creative Writing is designed to help you refine your craft and gain a mastery in your writing discipline. And because an M.F.A. is considered a terminal degree, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing can open the door to university teaching. If you want to reach your peak as a creative writer, Liberty’s M.F.A. in Creative Writing could be the best path forward for you.

In each creative writing program, you will study excellent writing and learn how to develop your style. With guidance from professors who have experience as professional writers, you can gain an insider’s view of the writing process, the publishing industry, and how to overcome the challenges of writing.

Karen Kingsbury Center for Creative Writing An exciting part of our creative writing programs is that you will have the opportunity to take courses that were created in partnership with #1 New York Times bestselling author and Christian novelist Karen Kingsbury. Kingsbury has contributed course content to the degrees above, providing firsthand training in all areas of interest. We are proud to partner with her through our Karen Kingsbury Center for Creative Writing .

Potential Career Options with a Creative Writing Degree

• Book and magazine writer
• Business communications specialist
• Creative writing instructor
• Professional blogger
• Public relations
• Publications editor
• Screenwriter
• Social media coordinator
• Website copy editor and writer
• Writing manager

What Are the Benefits of Studying Creative Writing at Liberty University?

• We are recognized by multiple institutions for our academic quality, affordability, and accessibility . Our commitment to excellence also helped us rank in the top 10% of Niche.com’s best online schools in America . Earning your online creative writing degree from a nonprofit university with this kind of recognition can help set you apart from others in your field.
• Liberty University’s state-of-the-art online learning environment offers you a wide variety of learning methods, including simulations, recorded lectures, and digital collaboration tools that will help you engage with your studies and learn practical teaching skills.
• The majority of tuition for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs has not increased in 9 years. While many other online colleges have raised tuition, Liberty has been able to keep costs low as a nonprofit university.
• You can complete your online creative writing program in less time than you think, due to our 8-week format and 8 start times per year.

Military Benefits

Service is important to us, so whether you’re currently serving in the Armed Forces, have served, or are married to someone who serves, we’re here to serve you. Liberty’s military benefits are available to:

• Active duty service members of the U.S. Armed Forces
• Reserve/National Guard
• Veterans/retirees
• Spouses of service members and veterans/retirees
• Current Department of Defense employees

We are proud to support you in your pursuit of a flexible and affordable online education by offering you the following benefits: 

For undergraduate programs:

• Tuition discounts –  $250 per credit hour for undergraduate courses
• Additional discount for veterans who serve in a civilian capacity as a  First Responder (less than $565 per course)
• 8-week courses, 8 different start dates each year, and no set login times (may exclude certain courses such as practicums, internships, or field experiences)
• Potential college credit for military training

For graduate programs:

• Tuition discounts – $275 per credit hour for graduate courses
• Additional discount for veterans who serve in a civilian capacity as a First Responder (less than $625 per course)

Areas of Interest

Choose your area of Interest:

Training Champions for Christ

Liberty’s promise to you is an education that expertly brings knowledge and faith together. Here, education is designed around you. It connects you to people and opportunities that help you develop the skills and confidence you’re looking for. At Liberty, you’ll find the knowledge, experience, and mentorship you want to make your career — and life — a fulfilling one.

Why Liberty

Liberty University is not just another school. It is the realization of a dream, the product of thousands of prayers. It was built to invite students into a bigger, better story. Discover the Liberty difference for yourself.

Scholarships

When it comes to choosing a college, finances make a difference. That’s why at Liberty, we believe in offering you a top-notch education — that’s also affordable. Discover how Liberty can help you keep your college costs down.

For residential students

Online Discounts

At Liberty University, we believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to pursue higher education, and it's our job to keep private education affordable. Explore the many ways a Liberty education can be an affordable one.

For online students

Academic Excellence

Liberty University is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and certain programs have earned additional field-specific accreditation as well.

Certificate in Professional Writing

The Professional Writing Certificate is an 18-hour credit certificate that provides students the opportunity to develop advanced workplace writing skills that combine creative thinking, analytical skills, and practical application. The certificate requires successful completion of six writing-focused courses above the freshman composition level, including five at the junior and senior levels. As part of their final coursework, students will take E 430 Advanced Professional Writing, a project-based course in which students apply the skills acquired in the other certificate program courses.

Flexible Delivery Format!

The Professional Writing Certificate allows flexibility: students can choose to complete the entire program online or in a hybrid model that allows them to complete some courses in face-to-face format and others online.

Pre-requisites

Successful completion of E 150 English Composition I and E 151 English Composition II

Why get a Professional Writing Certificate?

Communication skills and the ability to compose and edit workplace documents are consistently in the top ten list of skills employers look for in employees. This certificate program can benefit current SC State students in other degree programs and individuals currently in the workforce and desire to enhance their work-related skills for potential advancement.

Advanced oral and written skills, the ability to work in teams, and the ability to compose and edit workplace documents are consistently among the top desired workplace skills. This certificate will be beneficial for a variety of careers.

Students who earn a certificate in Professional Writing at SC State will be able to do the following:

• Compose public, technical, and workplace documents.
• Create documents appropriate for target audiences.
• Collaborate effectively with fellow writers/colleagues.
• Effectively employ a variety of tools used for writing in a digital environment.
• Evaluate primary and secondary research for use in specific writing contexts.
• Design effective documents, including graphics and page design.

Who will teach me?

The courses in the Professional Writing Certificate Program have experience in teaching advanced writing courses, including work-related writing. In addition, the faculty have experience in composing such documents in their fields of English, composition, and mass communications.

What courses will I take?

All of these courses focus on the development of skills that writers need in the 21st-century workplace, including writing for digital contexts. In addition to sharpening their composition skills, students will create workplace documents, such as reports and proposals, and also practice their online skills through the creation of webpages and other digital media.

• JOUR 210 Writing for Mass Communications
• E 302 Advanced Grammar and Composition
• E 313 Creative Writing
• E 314 Public Writing for the Digital Age
• E 330 Professional Writing
• E 430 Advanced Professional Writing

Will I get professional experience?

In E 430: Advanced Professional Writing, students will work throughout the semester on a realistic professional writing project, starting with a formal proposal at the beginning of the semester and closing with the final product. Students may choose a project related to a problem or issue at their current workplace that they would like to address. As they work on their individual projects, students will work in teams assisting each other with feedback on their projects and developing shorter team-composed documents to assist their classroom peers with their work.

It’s Never Too Late!

Application deadlines, more information, technical requirements.

A computer with Internet connectivity is required for coursework delivered online. Additional technology requirements are listed on the course syllabus.

Tuition and Fees

eTuition : $552 (per credit hour)* Fees : $84 (per semester)

*eTuition rates are the same for both in-state and out-of-state students.

Financial Aid

A variety of financial aid and scholarship programs are available for eligible students. Contact the  Financial Aid for more information.

Department of English and Communications [email protected]  

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Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration Program

The Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration program offers middle and high school students one-week intensive enrichment courses intended to introduce them to new areas of study or allow them to engage in content they may already have an interest in. In-person classes meet from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and are taught by Ohio State faculty, staff, and graduate students. Teaching is active, hands-on and encourages participants to engage with the instructional team and their fellow participants. These courses are not for grade or credit and are designed for self-motivated learners.  

Eligibility is based on a participant’s current grade level for the 2023-2024 school year. Students currently enrolled in 7 th and 8 th grades are eligible for middle school courses. Students currently enrolled in 9 th – 11 th grade are eligible for high school courses. 

If you have questions about this program, please contact [email protected] or call Courtney Price at 614-292-8208. 

The application deadline for Summer 2024 courses has passed. We invite you to sign up for updates  to receive information about our programs and be alerted when the when future application windows open.  

2024 Course Offerings

Explorations in creative writing.

Dates : June 3–7

Eligibility : Middle School (current grade 7-8)

Description : In this course, we will take a deep dive into poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing! In each genre, we’ll be thinking about what it means to develop our own individual writing voice that’s unique to who we are. During the week, we will experiment with daily writing exercises based off prompts crafted to spark creativity and seek inspiration from reading classic and contemporary literary work, as well as different forms of art, such as music and collage. 

Through this course, participants will hone their writing voice in multiple genres. By the end of the course, each participant will have an impressive portfolio of writing developed in our supportive writing community. 

Prerequisites:  Previous experience with the subject matter is not required for this course.

Astronomy as a Gateway to the Data Sciences

Eligibility : High School (current grade 9-11)

Description : Astronomy has entered the “big data” era, in which huge collections of measurements are analyzed to attack the most challenging problems. In this course, we will explore how even the simplest data – the positions and brightness of stars – can address an active research problem. We will build the components of a data analysis pipeline using the most basic parts of the Python programming language, and use real data to search for young stars that have diffused away from the clusters they were born in. 

This course will explore many aspects of competency in the data sciences. This is a true research project! We do not know the answers in advance but will discover them as part of our course. This course will include small group exploration, interviews, peer teaching, and pair programming. Through this course students will learn basic statistical analysis, and gain experience in several fundamentals in the Python programming language. 

Prerequisites: 

• Participants should have completed high school algebra or geometry prior to taking this course. 
• Previous experience with astronomy and programming is not required for this course. 

Specific Course Requirements:

• Contact  [email protected] if lack of access to a personal computer would limit participation.

Sensational Science: Exploring Human Perception

Description : Discover the wonders and mysteries of how we perceive the world around us. Participants will explore not only the traditional five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch — but also examine proprioception, nociception, balance, and the complex neural networks that integrate sensory information. 

Through a dynamic blend of lectures, hands-on experiments, interactive activities, and group discussions, participants will learn the science behind how we perceive our environment and ourselves. This course will enhance critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills through investigations of how our brains interpret sensory information. Going beyond the basics, this course will uncover the fascinating spectrum of sensory and perception disorders. From the challenges of navigating the world with color blindness or anosmia to the extraordinary experiences of synesthesia, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how diverse the human experience of the world can be. 

Prerequisites:  Previous experience with the subject matter is not required for this course. 

Printmaking

Dates : June 10-14 Eligibility : Middle School (current grade 7-8)

Description : This studio-based, hands-on course will be held in the Ohio State Print Shop in Hopkins Hall. Participants will be introduced to a variety of printmaking techniques including screenprinting, relief printing, monoprinting, risography, and bookmaking. Participants will have the option to focus their work through the lens of comics, storytelling, and character design, if they so choose. At the end of the week participants will visit the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library on Ohio State campus, where they will view exhibitions and archives of comics and sequential art. 

Through this course, participants will learn how to operate specialized printing presses, tools, and equipment. Participants will create an original portfolio of printed works on paper and fabric. Participants will have the opportunity to share their prints and acquire works by their fellow participants through a course print exchange.

During this course students will use sharp tools and operate printmaking equipment. Students will be supervised and provided with personal safety training for every technique, but there is an inherent risk of injury.

Prerequisites: Previous studio art experience is not required to successfully participate in this course.

Course Specific Requirements:

• Close-toe shoes are recommended.
• Clothing may get art materials on them. Participants should dress accordingly.

Intercultural Competence for Future Global Leaders 

Dates : June 24-28

Description : Intercultural competence is conceptualized as a lifelong process that includes the development of the attitudes (respect and valuing of other cultures, openness, curiosity), knowledge (of self, culture, sociolinguistic issues) skills (listen, observe, interpret, analyze, evaluate, and relate), and qualities (adaptability, flexibility, empathy and cultural decentering) in order to behave and communicate effectively and appropriately to achieve one’s goals. 

In this course, participants will learn what it takes to become globally-minded and acquire the skills to navigate in multiple, diverse, global and local networks. Participants will understand the core concepts related to culture and intercultural competence, learn the basics of American Sign Language (ASL), develop cultural self-awareness, and understand the relationship between intercultural competence, citizenship and leadership. 

Course Specific Requirements: 

Application and deadline

The 2024 Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration Program application will remain open through May 15 . Space in each course is limited, so individual courses may fill before the May 15 deadline. 

If a participant requires an accommodation such as interpretation to participate in this program, please contact the program at [email protected] or 614-292-8208. Requests should be made as soon as possible. Requests made two weeks before the first day of a course will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date. 

We invite you to sign up for updates  to receive information about our programs and be alerted when the when future application windows open.    

Costs and aid

The program fee for the Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration 2024 program is  $550 per one-week course , which includes all course materials and activities, lunch, and snacks.

Limited need-based financial assistance may be available in the form of partial support. Financial assistance can be requested on the program application.  

Payment deadlines

Applicants have one week to accept their offer of admission to the program and pay the program fee. All payments must be made through the applicant portal. Once an offer is accepted and payment made, the parent or legal guardian must submit emergency contact and medical information, as well as signed Policy Acknowledgement and Consent forms no later than May 27, 2024.   

Refund Policy

The Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration Program recognizes that sometimes plans change. Participants may request a refund of the program fee by emailing [email protected] according to the following schedule:

• On or before May 1, 2024: 100% of program fee paid
• May 2 – May 15, 2024: 50% of program fee paid
• On or after May 16, 2024: No refund of program fee paid

Program Details

While plans for each course may differ slightly, the daily schedule follows this general model:

• Drop off 8:15 - 8:45 a.m.
• Morning session 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
• Travel to lunch 11:30 - 11:45 a.m.
• Lunch at Traditions 11:45 - 12:45 p.m. 
• Travel time 12:30 - 12:45 p.m. 
• On campus activity 12:45 – 1:45 p.m.
• Afternoon session 2:00-3:45 p.m.
• Travel to pick-up location 3:45 - 4 p.m.
• Pick up 4:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Participants will always be escorted between pick-up/drop-off, their assigned classroom, the dining hall, and the on-campus activity by program staff. Additional information about the program will be emailed to participants and families, as needed, closer to the start of the program. 

Lunch will be provided daily at the Traditions at Scott dining hall and will be supervised by program staff. Traditions provides a wide variety of food options that meet the most common dietary needs and restrictions, including halal, gluten-free and vegetarian. However, kosher dining is not supported during summer term. 

The pick-up and drop-off location for students is the corner of Annie and John Glenn Avenue and Millikin Road, outside of the PAES building (see maps below). Please drop your child off from the eastbound lane of Annie and John Glenn Avenue. The drop-off/pick-up location will be marked with a sign and program staff will be present to check your child in and out of the program. 

If you are using a navigation system for directions, enter the following address: 305 Annie and John Glenn Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.

Please do not park in the drop-off/pick-up lane. If you need to park, or your child is driving themselves to and from the program, the closest surface lot parking is at the Ohio Stadium. The closest garage parking is Tuttle Garage. You can learn more about parking at Ohio State, including hourly rates, on the CampusParc website . 

The image above shows the ideal route to the drop off and pick up location. The image below shows the drop off and pick up lane from the street view. 

For those riding COTA, the closest bus stop to the drop-off/pick-up location is N. High Street & E. 15th Avenue. See the COTA website for more information. 

The first day of the program will kick-off with a brief orientation session. At 8:45 a.m. program staff will walk the students to the orientation location. At the orientation, students will receive a program t-shirt and lanyard, the program staff will be introduced, and the daily schedule will be reviewed. After orientation, students will be escorted to their classrooms and the morning session will begin.  

What to Wear

Participants should wear comfortable clothing appropriate for the classroom, as well as for a range of temperatures. For most courses, participants will spend most of the day inside air-conditioned classrooms. However, we will be walking between the drop-off/pick-up location, classrooms, campus locations and the dining hall. Dressing in layers and wearing comfortable walking shoes is recommended. Any course specific requirements are listed in the course description. 

Friday What to Wear

Each Friday on the last day of classes, we will take pictures of each class cohort. We encourage participants to wear their Arts & Sciences Summer Exploration t-shirt on Friday for this event!

Daily Packing List

• Cell phone and charger (optional)
• Any special academic materials needed for courses beyond this basic list will be provided by the program.
• Snacks and water: Participants should bring a refillable water bottle every day. While the program will provide an afternoon snack, participants are allowed to bring their own snacks. However, we request that, for the safety of participants with nut allergies, no snacks containing nuts be brought to the program.
• Personal medications in their original labeled containers (if taken during the day)
• Sunscreen and umbrella or rain jacket (optional)

The documents linked below are samples of the required program forms. Once an applicant accepts their offer of admission, the parent or legal guardian will receive an email from DocuSign with links to these forms. Forms must be reviewed and signed by May 27, 2024 .  

• Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration 2024 Policy Forms
• Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration 2024 Consent Forms