Program Overview

English, M.F.A. - Creative Writing

The M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Southern Connecticut State University is a full-residency, terminal-degree program, preparing students for careers as writers, teachers, editors, and professionals in the publishing world. With its main focus on the writing workshop and the creative thesis, the M.F.A. also requires students to study literature at the graduate level and provides opportunities for students to train for teaching collegiate-level writing.

Application Deadline

For Fall semester, applications are due the last Friday in June. If you wish to be eligible to apply for an English Department GTA award or a Graduate School GSGA or GRF award, applications are due the first Friday in February. For Spring semester, applications are due the last Friday in November.

Admissions Procedures

Candidates for any graduate degree or certification program in English should make certain that they have all materials on file with the Office of Graduate Admissions. Prospective degree candidates may register as part-time non-matriculated students in graduate courses. Up to nine credits of non-matriculated course work may be applied toward the degree if the student is admitted to a program.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships in Composition

The graduate teaching assistantship in English Composition offers graduate students the opportunity to observe and teach in the college classroom. Applicants must either be matriculated graduate students in English who have completed 6 credits or more in graduate English courses with at least a 3.5 average in those classes or newly admitted students whose GPA in undergraduate English courses is strong enough to warrant consideration.

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Degree

To be accepted into the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program, candidates must:

• meet the general admission requirements of the Office of Graduate Admissions
• have completed a minimum of 30 undergraduate credits in English with a grade point average of 3.2 or higher
• have an overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher
• send in a completed MFA Program Application Form
• submit a 1,000-word Statement of Purpose
• include a sample of their creative work in the genre to which they are applying
• three letters of recommendation

Program Sequence (Fiction) - 48 Credits

The program sequence for Fiction includes:

• Four workshop classes in major genre (12 credits)
• One workshop class in minor genre (3 Credits)
• Five classes in literature or literary theory (15 credits)
• Twelve elective credits (minimum of 6 in the English Dept)
• Thesis: book-length manuscript of original fiction (6 credits)

Program Sequence (Poetry) - 48 Credits

The program sequence for Poetry includes:

• Four workshop classes in major genre (12 credits)
• One workshop class in minor genre (3 Credits)
• Five classes in literature or literary theory (15 credits)
• Twelve elective credits (minimum of 6 in the English Dept)
• Thesis: book-length manuscript of original poetry (6 credits)

Courses

Available courses include:

• ENG 502: Prose Fiction Writing I
• ENG 503: Prose Fiction Writing II
• ENG 506: The Writing of Poetry I
• ENG 507: The Writing of Poetry II
• ENG 508: Contemporary Critical Theory
• ENG 509: Contemporary Poetic Theory
• ENG 511: Love and the Body in Medieval Consciousness
• ENG 512: Literature of the Anglo-Saxons
• ENG 514: English Medieval Literature
• ENG 515: Writing the Novel I
• ENG 516: Writing the Novel II
• ENG 517: Research Methods
• ENG 521: Feminist Theory and Literary Criticism
• ENG 522: Wright, Ellison, and Baldwin
• ENG 523: Contemporary African American Literature
• ENG 524: The Harlem Renaissance
• ENG 525: 17th Century Poetry
• ENG 529: African American Rhetorical Theory
• ENG 531: Feminist Rhetorical Theory
• ENG 536: Early Victorians
• ENG 537: Later Victorians
• ENG 538: Victorian Novel
• ENG 540: Classical Drama
• ENG 542: Shakespeare
• ENG 548: Modern and Contemporary Drama
• ENG 552: English Renaissance
• ENG 555: The 18th Century: Age of Satire
• ENG 557: Romantic Period
• ENG 559: 20th Century English Literature
• ENG 560: 20th Century American Drama
• ENG 562: The American Novel Before 1850
• ENG 564: Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville
• ENG 565: Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman
• ENG 566: 20th Century American Poets
• ENG 567: Mark Twain, Howells, and James
• ENG 568: American Novel
• ENG 569: American Novel Since 1945
• ENG 570: The Epic
• ENG 571: Myth and the Contemporary Hero
• ENG 572: The Short Story
• ENG 576: Comparative Study of the 19th Century Novel
• ENG 578: Comparative Study of the 20th Century Novel
• ENG 579: Comparative Studies of the Essay
• ENG 580: Chaucer
• ENG 581: Medieval Women and Literature
• ENG 583: Arthurian Legend
• ENG 584: Milton
• ENG 586: Seminar in American Literature
• ENG 587: Seminar in British Literature
• ENG 588: Seminar in Comparative Literature
• ENG 597: Graduate Internship in Teaching Writing
• ENG 600: Independent Study and Research