boston mfa creative writing

Boston University

Boston , MA

http://www.bu.edu/writing/

Degrees Offered

Fiction, Poetry, Drama

Residency type

Program length.

32 semester hours (1–1.5 years)

Financial Aid

All students receive a full tuition scholarship, a year of health insurance, and a stipend.

Teaching opportunities

All students teach for one semester during their time in the program. Most teach undergraduate Creative Writing at Boston University, but some (four per year) teach Creative Writing at Boston Arts Academy, a public school for the performing arts.

Editorial opportunities

All MFA students have the opportunity to intern at AGNI literary journal for a semester or year.

Cross-genre study

Yes, with approval from workshop leader

• D. M. Aderibigbe MFA (Poetry) 2016
• Elizabeth Alexander MA (Poetry) 1987
• Yu-Mei Balasingamchow MFA (Fiction) 2019
• Ellen Bass MA (Poetry) 1970
• Peter Campion MA (Poetry) 2001
• Christopher Castellani MFA 1999
• J. D. Daniels MFA 2003
• Peter Ho Davies MFA (Fiction) 1994
• Caitlin Doyle MFA (Poetry) 2008
• Emma Duffy-Comparone MFA (Fiction) 2012
• Pete Duval MFA (Fiction) 1995
• Suzi Ehtesham-Zadeh MFA (Fiction) 2016
• Kristin Ginger MFA (Fiction) 2010
• William Giraldi MA (Fiction) 2004
• Jowhor Ile MFA 2017
• Jillian Jackson MFA (Fiction) 2015
• Claire Jarvis MA (Poetry)
• Ha Jin MFA (Poetry) 1994
• Daphne Kalotay MFA (Fiction) 1994
• Julie Kane MA (Poetry) 1975
• Ted Kehoe MA (Fiction) 2006
• Marshall Klimasewiski MA
• Aviya Kushner MA (Poetry) 1998
• Jhumpa Lahiri MFA (Fiction) 1994
• Kathryn Maris MA (Poetry) 1996
• Jill McDonough MFA (Poetry) 1998
• Askold Melnyczuk MA 1977
• Jennifer Anne Moses MA (Fiction) 1982
• Andy Mozina MA (Fiction) 1990
• Patricia Park MFA (Fiction) 2010
• Carl Phillips MA (Poetry) 1993
• Dariel Suarez MFA (Fiction) 2012
• Shubha Sunder MFA (Fiction) 2012
• Pamela Sutton MFA (Poetry) 1999
• Lisa Taddeo MFA (Fiction) 2017
• Tess Taylor MFA (Poetry) 2006
• Melanie Rae Thon MA (Fiction) 1983
• Jessica Treadway MA 2002
• Farley Urmston MFA (Fiction) 2009
• Christopher Wall MA (Drama) 1996
• Anthony Wallace MA (Fiction) 1999
• Weike Wang MFA (Fiction) 2015
• Ryan Wilson MFA (Poetry) 2008
• Stefanie Wortman MA (Poetry) 2003

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

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

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UMass Boston

• Creative Writing MFA

Further your commitment to writing as the center of your professional life.

Intensive study and practice of fiction and poetry writing with award-winning and nationally renowned faculty at the most diverse university in new england..

UMass Boston's Creative Writing MFA offers you an intense, 3-year program and focused opportunity to further your commitment to writing as the center of your professional life. Through a combination of mentoring by accomplished faculty in a series of creative writing workshops, courses focused on the study of literature offered through the English MA Program, and electives that include the practice of literary editing, the teaching of creative writing, documentary poetics, the art of memoir, and more—you will have the guidance to develop and shape your work to the full extent of your talent.

All accepted students receive funding. Graduate assistantships offer the opportunity to work with students as teaching assistants and fellows, or in editorial positions with one of our sponsors, including 826 Boston, Hanging Loose Press, Write on the Dot, Consequence Magazine, Breakwater Review, and Arrowsmith Press.

Career Possibilities

Pursue a career as a professional writer, publishing your work in literary journals, magazines. Work as an editor and collaborate with writers to refine their work and shape the final product for publication. These are just a few of the possibilities.

Become a(n):

• Writer/Author
• Literary Agent
• Writing Instructor/Professor

Attend An Info Session     Start Your Application

Plan Your Education

How to apply.

Applicants must meet general graduate admission requirements in addition to the following program-specific requirements:

• A 3.0 GPA overall and in the student’s major
• Two substantive and detailed letters of recommendation, from former teachers familiar with the applicant’s most recent academic and creative work
• A 3-5 page personal statement focusing on the role of the candidate’s reading life in his or her development as a writer. (Note: The general Graduate Admissions application refers to this as a statement of interests and intent. They are one and the same.)
• Applicants must indicate whether they are applying in FICTION or POETRY in their Statement of Purpose. If you want to apply in both genres, include one writing sample in FICTION and one in POETRY and indicate in the Statement of Purpose that the application is for both.
• A writing sample of 10 manuscript pages of poetry or 20 manuscript pages of fiction

Deadlines & Cost

Deadlines: February 1 (priority) for fall. While rare, if space is available, we’ll happily consider applications until June 15 (final deadline).

Application Fee: The nonrefundable application fee is $75. UMass Boston alumni and current students that plan to complete degree requirements prior to graduate enrollment can submit the application without paying the application fee.

Estimate Your Program Cost: Get a feel for your expected program costs using the Graduate Program Cost Calculator .

Program Cost Information: For more detailed information on costs, please visit the Bursar's website .

Writing Workshops (24 Credits)

Complete one from below four times.

• CW 601 - MFA Poetry Workshop 6 Credit(s) or
• CW 602 - MFA Fiction Workshop 6 Credit(s)

Literature Courses (9 Credits)

Complete three graduate literature courses.

Electives (9 Credits)

Complete three from below.

• CW 605 - Memoir Workshop 3 Credit(s)
• CW 606 - Literary Editing and Publishing 3 Credit(s)
• CW 614 - The Teaching of Creative Writing 3 Credit(s)
• CW 675 - Creative Writing Internship 3 Credit(s)
• CW 697 - Special Topics in Creative Writing 1-6 Credit(s)

Students may elect courses offered by other graduate programs with approval from the graduate program director.

• ENGL 459 Seminar for Tutors may be taken for graduate credit (see Undergraduate Catalog)
• ENGL 675 - Reading and Writing Poetry 3 Credit(s)
• ENGL 676 - Reading and Writing Fiction 3 Credit(s)
• ENGL 681 - Advanced Workshop in Poetry 3 Credit(s)
• ENGL 682 - Advanced Workshop in Fiction 3 Credit(s)

Thesis Courses (6 Credits)

Complete the course below both semesters of the third year.

• CW 699 - MFA Thesis 3 Credit(s)

Graduation Criteria

Complete 48 credits from twelve courses including four writing workshops, three literature courses, three electives, and two semesters of thesis workshops.

The MFA degree requires six semesters of full-time study, with 9 credits required in each of the first four semesters, and 6 credits in the final two semesters, during which students will concentrate on completing a thesis in fiction or poetry under the direction of a faculty member. MFA workshops are limited to 12 students, and seminars are limited to 15. Students have the opportunity to interact with writers in our Global Voices Visiting Writer series (recent visitors have been Raquel Salas Rivera and Carole Maso), and work with visiting prose writers - recently these have included Jane Unrue, ZZ Packer, and Fanny Howe.

Capstone: Completion of an MFA thesis of 48 to 64 pages of poetry or 100 to 200 pages of fiction written under the supervision of a thesis advisor, reviewed by a thesis committee, and subject to a public defense.

Statute of limitations: Five years.

Contact & Faculty

Graduate Program Director John Fulton john.fulton [at] umb.edu (617) 287-6700

English & Creative Writing MFA Department englishmfaprogram [at] umb.edu (617) 287-6702

Fiction Faculty

John Fulton , Program Director & Associate Professor Askold Melnyczuk , Professor Eileen Pollack , Visiting Assistant Professor

Poetry Faculty

Jill McDonough , Professor Shangyang Fang , Associate Lecturer

English Department

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15 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in 2024

May 15, 2024

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

What are the best Creative Writing MFA programs?

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

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

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

Why should I get an MFA in Creative Writing?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Types of Creative Writing MFA Programs

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

Fully-Funded Full-Time Programs

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

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

Full-Time MFA Programs

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

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

Low-Residency MFA Programs

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

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

Online MFA Programs

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

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

The Top 15 Creative Writing MFA Programs Ranked by Category

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

FULLY FUNDED MFA PROGRAMS

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

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

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

2) University of Texas, James Michener Center

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

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

3) University of Iowa

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

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

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs (Continued) 

4) university of michigan.

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

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

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

5) Brown University

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

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

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

6) University of Arizona

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

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

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

7) Arizona State University 

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

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

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

FULL-RESIDENCY MFAS (UNFUNDED)

8) new york university.

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

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

9) Columbia University

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

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

10) Sarah Lawrence 

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

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

LOW RESIDENCY

11) bennington college.

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

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

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

12)  Institute for American Indian Arts

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

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

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

13) Vermont College of Fine Arts

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

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

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

ONLINE MFAS

14) university of texas at el paso.

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

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

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

15) Bay Path University

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

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

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

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs — Final Thoughts

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

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

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

Inspired to start writing? Get your pencil ready:

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

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs – References:

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

Julia Conrad

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

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Graduate Creative Writing (MFA)

Advance your storytelling skills in our MFA program

Genres to choose from: fiction, nonfiction, or poetry

Award-winning literary journals on campus

Credit hours

About the Graduate Creative Writing Program

At Emerson College, we understand that writing is your life. That’s why our on-campus Creative Writing MFA program focuses on the actual practice of writing, as well as its literary foundations. By the time you graduate, you will have completed a professional thesis, a novel or novel excerpt, a nonfiction book or excerpt, or a collection of poems, short stories, or essays—ready for consideration by agents and publishing houses or for digital publication.

Housed in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing in the School of the Arts, our MFA program boasts some of the most impressive faculty in writing and publishing. It is also home to two award-winning literary journals and is strongly connected to the Boston publishing community. 

Pursue your passion, choosing from the genres of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and explore writing as both an art form and a professional career.

Program Highlights

• Explore different forms of writing through your electives, including poetry to screenwriting, digital to traditional publishing, and more
• Experiences outside of the classroom include teaching creative writing in our Writing Studies Program and editing on-campus journals such as Ploughshares and Redivider
• No GRE requirements to apply
• Full-time and part-time options; classes are offered in the evenings to fit your schedule

Request More Information

Program details.

• Curriculum Requirements
• Emerson Advantage
• Tuition & Financial Aid

Upcoming Events

Graduate creative writing webinar.

September 24, 2024, 11:00 a.m. EDT

Join us for a virtual Creative Writing (MFA) Information Session! During this session, you'll get the opportunity to hear from our admissions staff and learn more about the Creative Writing program, the application process, life at Emerson, our community, and more.

Destination Grad School: Emerson College Overview

September 25, 2024, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT

Ready to take the next step in your academic journey at Emerson? Join us for a virtual Graduate Admission Overview! During this session, you'll get the opportunity to ask questions, hear from our admissions counselors, and learn more about Emerson College's diverse graduate programs, our vibrant community, our admissions process, and so much more.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Graduate Application Overview

October 15, 2024, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT

Join us to learn more about the process of applying to Emerson's graduate programs! Members of the admission team will be available to explain application requirements, answer your questions, and offer insider tips into the graduate school application process. We can’t wait to see you there!

Graduate International Student Webinar

October 23, 2024, 1:00 p.m. EDT

Join us for an international student information session! Staff from Graduate Admissions and the Office of International Student Affairs (OISA) will be available to explain application requirements for international students, funding opportunities, the F-1 Visa process, life at Emerson, and so much more. We look forward to seeing you there!

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• For Current Students
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Boston University Fully Funded MFA in Creative Writing

Boston university.

The Boston University based in Boston, Massachusetts offers a one-year fully funded MFA in creative writing program. This Master of Fine Arts in creative writing degree includes eight courses—four creative writing workshops and four literature courses; one of the literature courses can be BU’s well-known translation seminar. The program is small with ten students admitted in fiction and eight in poetry each year. All admitted students will receive stipend support of roughly $16,750 for the academic year, this will involve a teaching assistantship. All admitted students are qualified for a Global Fellowship upon completion of their degree requirements.

• Deadline: Jan 16, 2025 (Estimated)*
• Work Experience: Any
• Location: North America
• Citizenship: Any
• Residency: United States

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Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

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Find information about more than two hundred full- and low-residency programs in creative writing in our MFA Programs database, which includes details about deadlines, funding, class size, core faculty, and more. Also included is information about more than fifty MA and PhD programs.

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MFA Programs Contact Form

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

MFA Programs Database

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

Adelphi University

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

Albertus Magnus College

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

Alma College

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

American University

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

Antioch University

Poetry: Victoria Chang Prose: Lisa Locascio

Arcadia University

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

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

Arizona State University

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

Ashland University

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

Augsburg University

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

Ball State University

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

Bard College

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

Bath Spa University

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

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

Bay Path University

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

Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College

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

Binghamton University

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

Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University

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

Boise State University

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

Boston University

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

Boston University—MFA in Literary Translation

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

Bowling Green State University

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

Brigham Young University

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

Brooklyn College

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

The BU Creative Writing Global Fellowships

follow our MFA candidates as they travel the world for inspiration

• Current Fellows
• Past Fellows

A generous donor, Robert Hildreth, has made it possible for us to send most of our students abroad after they complete their degree requirements. The Robert Pinsky Global Fellows in Poetry and the Leslie Epstein Global Fellows in Fiction may go to any country and do there what they wish, for a typical stay of up to three months. After a year of study with our faculty–our core faculty members are Leslie Epstein and Ha Jin (fiction) and Karl Kirchwey and Robert Pinsky (poetry)–we are very pleased to offer our students an experience that will continue to challenge as well as delight.

The Global Fellowship adventure is not only intended to help our MFA candidates grow as writers, but also to widen eyes, minds, and hearts–from which better writing and poetry might eventually flow. Our students have traveled to every continent but Antarctica (so far), to places such as Greenland , Patagonia , Iran , Bhutan and Thailand , Cuba , Russia , and Brazil . Please follow the links in our navigation bar to read about each fellow’s journey.

Please click here for details on how to apply to the MFA program.

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BU Blogs | The BU Creative Writing Global Fellowships | Disclaimer | Contact Author

Boston University MA in Creative Writing

How much does a master’s in creative writing from boston u cost, boston u graduate tuition and fees.

Does Boston U Offer an Online MA in Creative Writing?

Boston u master’s student diversity for creative writing, male-to-female ratio.

Of the students who received their master’s degree in creative writing in 2019-2020, 50.0% of them were women. This is less than the nationwide number of 66.6%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Around 25.0% of creative writing master’s degree recipients at Boston U in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is about the same as the nationwide number of 24%.

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Nurture your writing to its fullest potential.

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

Program Summary

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

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

Program Structure

Low-Residency Program

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

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

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

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

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

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

Graphic Novels & Comics

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

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

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

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

Learn more about the Graphic Novels & Comics curriculum . 

Nonfiction & Memoir

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

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

Cindy House Rachel Manley Kyoko Mori Pamela Petro Janet Pocorobba

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

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

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

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

Erin Belieu Steven Cramer Joan Houlihan Kevin Prufer

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

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

Writing for Stage and Screen

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

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

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

Jami Brandli Barry Brodsky Ellen Lewis Cassie Seinuk Sinan Ünel

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

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

Writing for Young People

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

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

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

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

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

Why We Write

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

Aqueela Culbreath-Britt ’18

Axie Oh's 'Rogue Heart'

Katie Cotugno ’15

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

MFA in Creative Writing on Facebook #LesleyMFA

Writing books for kids who don't read books

Celeste Mohammed's 'Pleasantview' of Trinidad

Residencies in Cambridge, MA

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

Interdisciplinary Study

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

Study Abroad in Wales

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

Christine Bess Jones ’16

The 10 best us cities for creative workers.

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

Shakespeare documentarian at National Press Club

Top Ranking MFA Programs

Tracey Baptiste

Leland Cheuk ’08

Making hard science easy

Sara Farizan ’10

Read more about alumni accomplishments.

Janet Pocorobba

Professor and Director, MFA in Creative Writing

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

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

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

Carl Antonowicz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MFA in Creative Writing Faculty

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

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

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

Learn more about Tracey Baptise on her website .

Erin Belieu

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

Jami Brandli

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

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

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

An interview with Jami Brandli

Barry Brodsky

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

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

Steven Cramer

Professor, Creative Writing

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

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

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

Tony Eprile

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

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

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

Laurie Foos

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

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

Joan Houlihan

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

Cindy House

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

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

Rachel Kadish

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

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

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

Hester Kaplan

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

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

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

Michelle Knudsen

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

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

Ellen Lewis

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

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

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

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

Michael Lowenthal

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

Chris Lynch

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

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

Rachel Manley

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

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

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

Pamela Petro

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

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

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

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

Cynthia Platt

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

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

Kevin Prufer

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

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

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

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

Connect with Kevin through his website .

Jason Reynolds

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

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

Cassie Seinuk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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General Information

How to Apply: Application instructions are available at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website ; go directly to the online application  here .  The application fee is $95.

If you need technical assistance with your application, please call the application site customer service at 857-304-2002, or email them at [email protected].

The Boston University Creative Writing Program accepts applications for admission for the fall semester in any given calendar year.

Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year will be accepted beginning September 1, 2024. Our Final Application Deadline is January 9, 2025.

Your Application

The application for the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing will include the following:

• A writing sample. For poetry, submit ten poems. For fiction, submit no more than forty double-spaced pages; if you submit stories, please submit more than one.
• A personal statement. This should be no more than two double-spaced pages in length.
• At least two letters of recommendation. Our application system can accept up to three letters. Recommenders must upload letters online and our program does not accept letters through Interfolio.
• An up-to-date CV.
• Transcripts from any college or university you have previously attended. Please submit all transcripts, including those from institutions that did not award you a degree.
• Optional: examination scores from the GRE General Test. We no longer require you to take the GRE in order to be accepted into our program. If you have already taken the test, please feel free to send your scores. Our GRE code is 3087.

IMPORTANT:  Please DO NOT send any materials to the Creative Writing office. In the past we have asked for additional hard copies to be sent to us, but  this is no longer the case .

Important Information for Those Re-Applying to the MFA Program:

If you are  re-applying for Boston University’s MFA in Creative Writing, you may no longer re-use application materials (transcripts, test-scores, letters of recommendation, etc.) from your previous attempt.  You must apply online here .

For International Applicants:

You must supply additional paperwork, and in some cases, scores from the TOEFL exam. Please consult with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences .

Thank you, and best of luck with your application.

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These are the Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in the U.S.

This article offers a comprehensive guide to the top Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs in the U.S., tailored for aspiring writers aiming to refine their craft in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Highlighting the importance of faculty expertise, alumni success, curriculum diversity, financial support, and location, it delves into what makes each program stand out. Featured programs include the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, known for its prestigious alumni and faculty; the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program, offering generous funding; and the Columbia University School of the Arts, with its unparalleled access to the New York literary scene. These programs are evaluated on their ability to provide a nurturing environment for writers to develop their voice and style, alongside offering practical advice on navigating the literary world.

Reflection Questions

• Many MFA programs are intense and require a significant time commitment. How do you plan to balance writing, workshops, and any teaching responsibilities with your personal life and possibly other professional obligations?
• Considering the diversity of faculty and the curriculum, how important is representation to you in an MFA program? How do you hope to see your own experiences and perspectives reflected in the program?
• Receiving and giving feedback is a cornerstone of MFA programs. How do you approach critique, both in giving it to others and receiving it about your work? How do you plan to use critique to further your development as a writer?

Journal Prompt

Think about the stories of women that have influenced you the most. How do these narratives shape your own writing? Write about how you plan to contribute to the landscape of female narratives within the literary world through your work.

Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs play an important part in shaping the careers of aspiring writers, offering them a structured environment to hone their craft. The evaluation of these programs hinges on several key factors: the expertise and reputation of the faculty, the success and influence of alumni, the rigor and diversity of the curriculum, the availability of financial support, and the geographical location which can influence literary connections and opportunities. In this article, we will provide an in-depth analysis of the leading Creative Writing MFA programs in the United States, scrutinizing each of these criteria to guide prospective students in making informed decisions about their educational and professional trajectories in the field of creative writing. Whether you seek a poetry MFA program or one in creative nonfiction, read on to learn about the best MFA programs for creative writing students below.

The Role of MFA Programs in Creative Writing

MFA programs in Creative Writing fundamentally contribute to a writer’s development by providing a structured and rigorous academic environment. These programs are designed to immerse students in a world of literary critique and craft, offering dedicated time for writing, reflection, and improvement.

Through workshops, seminars, and individual mentoring, students gain critical feedback on their work, learn to refine their voice, and explore various genres and techniques. This intensive focus on writing, combined with exposure to a breadth of literary styles and theories, equips aspiring writers with the skills and knowledge necessary to advance their craft and develop a unique literary style.

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Community and networking opportunities in mfa programs.

MFA programs offer significant community and networking opportunities, serving as a nexus for like-minded individuals passionate about writing. These programs foster a sense of community through collaborative workshops, readings, and group discussions, creating an environment conducive to sharing ideas and experiences.

Networking opportunities with established writers, publishers, and literary agents are often facilitated by the program, providing students with valuable industry connections. Alumni networks further extend these opportunities, allowing graduates to remain connected to a supportive literary community that can play a crucial role in their professional development and success in the literary world.

What is the Coursework Like?

The coursework for a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing is designed to provide students with a comprehensive and immersive experience in writing, critical analysis, and literary theory. While specific course offerings and structures can vary by program, there are several common elements found across most MFA programs that graduate students can expect. These include the following.

Writing Workshops : These are the cornerstone of most MFA programs. Workshops focus on the student’s own writing, providing a space for peer review and critical feedback. Students typically submit their work—be it poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or another genre—and the class discusses each piece in detail, offering constructive critiques. These workshops are often led by experienced visiting writers and faculty members who can help guide the writing process as you pursue your graduate degree.

Literature Classes : Literature courses are a staple of many MFA programs. They offer a study of literary works from various genres, periods, and cultures. These courses are designed to give students a deeper understanding of literary traditions, styles, and techniques, which can then be applied to their own writing.

Craft Classes : Focusing on specific aspects of writing, such as narrative structure, character development, or dialogue, craft classes help students refine their skills in particular areas of writing. These might also include studies in genre-specific writing, like mystery, fantasy, or memoir.

Electives : Many programs offer elective courses that allow students to explore areas outside of their primary genre or delve into specialized topics like screenwriting, children’s literature, or digital storytelling.

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Thesis or Capstone Project : Most MFA programs culminate in a thesis or capstone project. This typically involves creating a substantial body of work, such as a novel, a collection of short stories or poems, or a nonfiction manuscript. The project is usually completed under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Professional Development : Courses or workshops focused on the business side of writing, such as publishing, literary agent representation, and marketing, are also common. These are designed to prepare students for the practical aspects of a writing career.

Guest Lectures and Readings : Many programs bring in established writers, editors, and literary agents to speak with students, providing insights into the literary world and opportunities for networking.

Teaching Opportunities : Some programs offer teaching assistantships, where MFA students teach undergraduate writing courses. A graduate teaching assistantship provides valuable teaching experience and often helps with funding. Low residency programs in particular offer these opportunities.

Top Creative Writing MFA Programs in the U.S.

The United States boasts a range of top-tier Creative Writing MFA programs, each with its unique strengths and focus. Many are low-residency MFA programs with both incredible tenured professors and amazing visiting faculty. Let’s take a look at a few creative writing programs.

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, a pioneer in the field, is known for its tradition of producing distinguished writers. Columbia University’s program in New York City stands out for its comprehensive approach and proximity to the publishing world.

The Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan offers an intimate setting with a strong emphasis on community and craft. The Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin distinguishes itself with its interdisciplinary approach and generous funding.

Other notable programs include those at New York University, Brown University, the University of Virginia, and Johns Hopkins University, each offering a blend of rigorous coursework, accomplished faculty, and a supportive writing community. Let’s delve deeper into these and a few more of the top graduate creative writing programs below. Bear in mind that the following MFA creative writing programs are not listed in any particular order.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop, University of Iowa

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa stands as one of the most prestigious Creative Writing MFA programs in the United States. Renowned for its history of nurturing successful writers, the program has been a seminal influence in the literary world. Incoming MFA students will walk in the footsteps of incredible writers like John Irving and Flannery O’Connor.

The workshop model of teaching, which fosters peer review and close interaction with faculty, has been instrumental in shaping the skills of budding writers. The program’s alumni include numerous Pulitzer Prize winners and acclaimed authors, underlining its significant impact on the literary landscape.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop Alumni

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa is renowned for its impressive roster of alumni, many of whom have achieved significant acclaim in the literary world. Some well-known alumni include the following.

Flannery O’Connor: An American novelist and short story writer known for her sardonic, Southern Gothic style and often grotesque characters.

John Irving: A bestselling novelist and screenwriter, famous for works such as “The World According to Garp” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany.”

Jane Smiley: A Pulitzer Prize-winning author, recognized for her novel “A Thousand Acres,” which is a modernized retelling of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”

Michael Cunningham: Known for his novel “The Hours,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

T.C. Boyle: A prolific writer known for his novels and short stories that often reflect on contemporary society and the human condition.

Marilynne Robinson: Celebrated for her novel “Gilead,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; she is also known for her essays and teaching at the Workshop.

Columbia University School of the Arts

Columbia University’s School of the Arts offers a Creative Writing MFA program known for its rigorous approach and outstanding faculty. Located in the heart of New York City, the program provides students with an immersive experience in one of the world’s most dynamic literary communities.

The curriculum emphasizes not only creative writing skills but also a critical understanding of literary theory and history, supported by a faculty comprising some of the most distinguished writers and intellectuals in the field.

University of Michigan, Helen Zell Writers’ Program

The University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program is celebrated for its unique blend of academic rigor and creative flexibility. This program distinguishes itself by offering a supportive and collaborative environment where students can explore a wide range of writing styles and genres.

The faculty, composed of esteemed writers, provides personalized guidance, ensuring a rich learning experience that fosters both technical skill and artistic expression.

New York University

Located in the vibrant literary heart of New York, New York University’s creative writing program is notable for its distinguished faculty and diverse student body. The program offers unparalleled access to the city’s rich cultural life, including readings, workshops, and networking events with industry professionals.

This urban setting, combined with the program’s strong focus on mentorship and development, creates an ideal environment for MFA students to flourish.

The Michener Center for Writers, University of Texas at Austin

The Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin is known for its interdisciplinary approach and generous funding opportunities for students. The program stands out for its emphasis on cross-genre exploration, allowing students to delve into various forms of writing. With its robust funding, the center attracts a diverse group of talented writers, creating a dynamic and supportive community.

Brown University

Brown University’s MFA program in Creative Writing is recognized for its innovative approach and strong emphasis on the literary arts. The program encourages experimental and boundary-pushing work, supported by a faculty renowned for their artistic contributions.

Brown’s emphasis on a wide range of literary styles and mediums provides students with a broad and enriching educational experience.

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University of virginia.

The University of Virginia’s MFA program in Creative Writing boasts a high-quality faculty and a strong alumni network. Known for its selective admissions and intimate class sizes, the program offers personalized attention and mentorship to each student. The alumni success stories speak to the program’s effectiveness in fostering literary talent and career development.

Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University offers a Creative Writing MFA program known for its tight-knit community and focus on craft and theory. The program emphasizes intensive writing workshops coupled with critical analysis, fostering a deep understanding of literary craft. This approach, along with the supportive environment of peers and faculty, makes it an ideal place for writers committed to honing their craft.

University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine’s MFA program is distinguished by its strong emphasis on both critical skills and creative work. The program blends rigorous writing workshops with a theoretical understanding of the craft, offering a comprehensive approach to literary study. This balance ensures that graduate students are well-equipped both as writers and critical thinkers in the literary field.

Boston University

Boston University’s Creative Writing MFA program is renowned for its intensive one-year curriculum and close mentorship. The program offers a fast-paced, deeply immersive educational experience, with a strong emphasis on completing a substantial body of work. The faculty’s close guidance helps students rapidly develop their skills and prepare for a professional writing career.

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Cornell University

Cornell University’s MFA program offers a diverse range of creative writing courses, supported by an experienced and accomplished faculty. The program is designed to cater to a wide array of interests and styles, allowing students to explore various aspects of creative writing. Cornell’s commitment to literary scholarship and creative excellence makes it a nurturing environment for aspiring writers.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, features a supportive Creative Writing MFA program that focuses on personal growth as a writer. The program is characterized by its welcoming community and emphasis on individual development. Students are encouraged to find their unique voice and explore their creative potential in a nurturing environment.

M. University of Wisconsin, Madison

The University of Wisconsin, Madison, offers a comprehensive Creative Writing MFA program with a vibrant writing community. The curriculum covers a wide range of genres and styles, providing students with a broad understanding of literary forms and practices. The program’s engaged community and comprehensive approach make it an ideal place for writers seeking both breadth and depth in their literary education.

Stanford University

Stanford University’s Creative Writing MFA program is notable for its unique fellowships and focus on creative innovation. The program offers significant financial support and resources, allowing writers to fully immerse themselves in their craft, whether that be fiction, poetry, or another form of creative writing. Stanford’s commitment to creative experimentation and innovation provides an ideal environment for writers looking to push the boundaries of their work.

University of Oregon

The University of Oregon’s MFA program is committed to teaching excellence and provides a supportive learning environment for aspiring writers. The program emphasizes both the artistic and professional aspects of writing, preparing students for a career in the literary world. With a focus on mentorship and development, the University of Oregon offers a nurturing space for writers to grow and succeed.

Other MFA Creative Writing Programs in the United States

Below is a selection of additional notable programs to give creative writing students a broader sense of the options available. Keep in mind this is not exhaustive but includes a range of well-regarded programs.

Syracuse University

Syracuse University’s MFA in Creative Writing is renowned for its rigorous, supportive atmosphere and a strong emphasis on teaching. The program is celebrated for its distinguished faculty and has produced a number of successful writers, such as George Saunders, a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and author of several acclaimed books, including “Lincoln in the Bardo.”

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt’s MFA program is known for its selective nature and intimate workshop environment, focusing primarily on literary fiction. Alumni include Beth Bachmann, a poet whose work has received significant recognition, including the Kate Tufts Discovery Award for her book “Temper.”

University of Pittsburgh

The MFA program at the University of Pittsburgh offers a balance of creative writing and academic study. Among its alumni is poet Terrance Hayes, a National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow, known for his innovative use of language and exploration of identity.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

UNCG’s MFA program is notable for its strong faculty-student relationships and emphasis on personal growth. Notable alumni include Craig Nova, an award-winning author known for his novels, including “The Good Son.”

University of Florida

The University of Florida’s MFA program emphasizes a balance between creative writing and critical analysis. Alumni include Padgett Powell, known for his novel “Edisto,” which was nominated for the American Book Award.

Indiana University

Indiana University’s MFA program is celebrated for its nurturing environment and community of writers. Notable alumni include poet Ross Gay, whose book “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

University of Maryland

The MFA program at the University of Maryland offers a diverse range of courses and workshops. Notably, it has produced alumni like Michael Collier, a poet and former director of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama’s MFA program is diverse in its genre offerings, from traditional literary forms to experimental writing. Its alumni include Alina Stefanescu, a Romanian-American poet and author noted for her unique prose style.

Temple University

Temple University’s MFA program is distinctive for its interdisciplinary opportunities, allowing students to engage with various forms of writing and media. A notable alumnus is Liz Moore, author of the acclaimed novel “Heft.”

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona’s MFA program is known for its strong faculty and commitment to student development. Alumni include Ander Monson, a versatile writer known for his essays, poetry, and fiction.

George Mason University

George Mason University’s MFA program offers a well-rounded approach with a diverse faculty. Notable alumni include Jennifer Atkinson, a poet whose work has been widely published and praised.

Louisiana State University

LSU’s MFA program places a strong focus on literary craft and theory. Among its alumni is Moira Crone, a novelist and short story writer recognized for her narrative craftsmanship.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

UNLV’s MFA program stands out for its international emphasis, offering students a global perspective on literature. Notable alumni include Claire Vaye Watkins, author of “Battleborn,” which received critical acclaim.

Oregon State University

OSU’s MFA program is distinct for its emphasis on community outreach and engagement, preparing students for a career in writing and teaching. Alumni include Marjorie Sandor, an award-winning author known for her short stories and essays.

University of New Hampshire

UNH’s MFA program is recognized for its supportive faculty and commitment to student development. Notable alumni include Tom Barbash, known for his novel “The Last Good Chance.”

Tips for Financing Your Creative Writing Degree

The financial aspect of pursuing a Creative Writing MFA can be significant, with tuition costs varying widely among programs. Many students will require some form of financial aid. Top-tier programs often have higher tuition fees, reflecting their prestigious faculty and comprehensive resources.

However, many of these programs offer a range of scholarships and fellowships to alleviate the financial burden. Scholarships may be merit-based, recognizing exceptional writing talent, while fellowships often provide a stipend for living expenses in addition to tuition waivers.

Some programs, like the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, are known for offering generous funding packages to all students. A few are fully-funded MFA programs. Prospective students should thoroughly research the funding opportunities available at each program to understand the financial commitment required.

Ways to Finance Creative Writing Degrees

Financing an MFA in Creative Writing requires careful planning and exploration of various funding sources. Applicants should start by seeking information on scholarships and fellowships directly from the programs they are interested in, as these can significantly reduce the cost. Additionally, teaching assistantships, where students teach undergraduate classes, can provide a salary and tuition remission.

External scholarships and grants, available through literary organizations and foundations, are also worth exploring. Students should also consider federal and private student loans, though these should be approached cautiously due to the long-term financial commitment they entail. Lastly, maintaining part-time employment or freelance writing during the program can offer financial support and practical experience in the field.

Career Prospects After Graduation

Graduates of Creative Writing MFA programs have a diverse array of career paths available to them, reflecting the versatile skills they acquire during their studies. Many pursue traditional literary careers as novelists, poets, or short story writers, often securing book deals and publishing contracts.

Others find success in related fields such as journalism, publishing, and editing, leveraging their strong writing and critical thinking skills. The digital age has expanded opportunities in content creation, copywriting, and writing for online platforms. Additionally, an MFA degree can lead to academic careers, with graduates taking up roles as educators and professors in universities and colleges.

The broad skill set developed in MFA programs also enables graduates to work in fields like public relations, advertising, and communications, where effective writing and storytelling are highly valued.

Success Stories of Alumni in Various Writing and Academic Fields

The success stories of MFA alumni highlight the potential for diverse and fulfilling careers in writing and academia. Numerous alumni have achieved critical and commercial success as authors, with their works published by prestigious publishing houses and translated into multiple languages.

For instance, alumni from programs like the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Columbia University have gone on to win major literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In the academic realm, many MFA graduates hold faculty positions at universities, contributing to literary scholarship and nurturing the next generation of writers.

Success is also evident in the digital space, with graduates excelling as content creators, bloggers, and digital marketing professionals.

Admission Requirements and Tips

Admission to Creative Writing MFA programs typically involves several key components. Foremost are writing samples, which are the most critical part of the application. These samples, either in the form of poetry, fiction, or non-fiction, should showcase the applicant’s unique voice and skill. Letters of recommendation are also required, generally from individuals familiar with the applicant’s writing and academic abilities, like former professors or mentors.

A statement of purpose or personal essay is another crucial element, where applicants articulate their reasons for pursuing an MFA, their literary influences, and their career aspirations. Additionally, most programs require transcripts from previous academic institutions to assess the applicant’s academic background. Some programs may also request a resume or CV, highlighting relevant experiences and achievements.

If you are pursuing a terminal degree in creative writing, you might need to provide further information.

Advice on How to Prepare a Strong Application

To prepare a strong application for a Creative Writing MFA program, candidates should focus foremost on their writing samples. These should be carefully selected and refined to reflect the applicant’s best work, showcasing originality, technical skill, and a clear artistic vision.

Letters of recommendation should come from individuals who can speak to the candidate’s potential as a writer and commitment to the craft. The statement of purpose needs to be well-crafted and thoughtful, clearly conveying the applicant’s goals and reasons for choosing the specific program. It’s beneficial for candidates to familiarize themselves with the faculty and ethos of the program to tailor their application accordingly.

Lastly, applicants should ensure all components of their application, including transcripts and resumes, are complete, accurate, and presented professionally, adhering to each program’s specific requirements and deadlines.

The Future of MFA Programs

The landscape of creative writing education, particularly within MFA programs, is continually evolving with emerging trends that reflect broader cultural and technological shifts. A notable trend is the increasing emphasis on diverse voices and global perspectives in writing, encouraging inclusivity and representation in literary works.

Additionally, there is a growing focus on interdisciplinary approaches, where students explore the intersection of writing with other art forms like digital media, film, and visual arts. Environmental and social justice themes are also becoming more prevalent, as writers engage with pressing contemporary issues. Furthermore, the rise of genre fiction, such as fantasy and science fiction, marks a departure from traditional literary norms, expanding the scope of creative exploration within these programs.

Impact of Digital Media and Online Learning Platforms on MFA Programs

Digital media and online learning platforms are significantly impacting MFA programs, transforming how writing is taught, shared, and published. Online platforms have made MFA programs more accessible, allowing for a broader range of participants, including those who may not be able to attend in-person due to geographical or financial constraints.

These platforms facilitate a more collaborative and interactive learning environment where students can easily share work and receive feedback. The rise of digital media also encourages writers to explore new forms of storytelling, such as interactive fiction and digital narratives. However, this shift poses challenges, including the need to adapt teaching methods for the digital realm and ensuring that the depth and quality of mentorship and peer interaction are maintained in an online setting.

Final Thoughts on Attending Graduate School for Creative Writing

Pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing in the U.S. presents a unique opportunity for individuals to refine their writing craft, connect with a community of like-minded peers, and launch a successful career in the literary world. The value of these programs extends beyond technical skill development. They serve as incubators for creativity, thought leadership, and cultural contribution.

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Dee Dee Vogt

I found this article timely and enlightening. I will be entering an MFA Creative Writing program at Belmont University in Nashville in 2024 and the article opened my mind about ways in which I might maximize the experience. Thank you for the inspiration!

Elizabeth Burton

We are so happy to hear that you gained useful information from this article. Please keep us posted on your journey! Best of luck in your program.

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