Program Overview

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Creative Writing (M.F.A.)

The program gives talented authors the opportunity to develop their craft in a formal academic program and a community of writers.

Program Overview

The M.F.A. program offers students access to incredible resources, including readings and master classes given by acclaimed visiting writers, agent and editor talks, and facilities like the Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center in Kyle and the Clark House in Smithville. Each year, two graduates of the program hold residencies in these literary landmarks.

Course Work

The program requires 48 semester hours, including:

• writing workshops
• literature
• form and theory
• literary techniques
• minor or cognate (other than creative writing)
• thesis credit leading to the production of a book-length work of literary merit

Students may take literature courses in either poetry or fiction, but workshop classes are limited to students who are studying that particular genre. Students may also receive course credit for work on the program's literary journal.

Program Details

Degree | Concentration | Hours | Thesis Option | Minor Option | Location ---|---|---|---|---|--- M.F.A. | Fiction | 48 | Thesis | Minor required | San Marcos M.F.A. | Poetry | 48 | Thesis | Minor required | San Marcos

Program Mission

The program provides students with graduate-level knowledge of literature and theory, as well as the skills to function as advanced practitioners within their genre. Students will demonstrate their development as artists through proficiency with the elements of craft in their area of concentration, along with a mature understanding of writerly process and discipline.

Career Options

The M.F.A. is considered a terminal degree, which means that graduates can teach at a university level. Many graduates are working practitioners of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and screenplays and also possess highly-developed writing skills that are valuable in a wide variety of work environments. Graduates of the program are competitive with literature doctoral students.

Program Faculty

Our program offers students the opportunity to learn from renowned writers and committed mentors. Students workshop with Tim O'Brien, Naomi Shihab Nye, and our Endowed Chair, a position held on a rotating basis by internationally acclaimed writers, most recently by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Tea Obreht, and Karen Russell. They also work closely with our full-time faculty, including Doug Dorst, Jennifer duBois, Tom Grimes, and Debra Monroe in fiction, as well as Cyrus Cassells, Cecily Parks, Kathleen Peirce, Roger Jones, and Steve Wilson in poetry.

Admission Requirements

The items required for admission consideration are listed below.

• Completed online application
• $55 nonrefundable application fee, or $90 nonrefundable application fee for applications with international credentials
• Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited university
• A copy of an official transcript from each institution where course credit was granted
• A 2.75 overall GPA or 2.75 GPA in your last 60 hours of undergraduate course work (plus any completed graduate courses)
• Statement of purpose (maximum 750 words) discussing your goals for your time in the three-year program
• Three letters of recommendation that address your academic qualifications and your commitment to good citizenship in a collegial and diverse academic community
• Creative portfolio (combined into one PDF file)
• CV/resume

Application Deadlines

DEADLINES | U.S. CITIZEN | INTERNATIONAL ---|---|--- Fall - Priority | February 1 | February 1 Fall - Standard | August 1 | June 1 Spring - Priority | September 1 | September 1 Spring - Standard | November 1 | October 1

Additional Information

Recent graduates have won a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford, an AWP prize for Best Novel, and an honorable mention for the PEN/Faulkner Award.