Writing Programs

Whether you’re looking for a creative writing program that leads to an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree at a US or international school, and whether you want a residency or low-residency program, here you’ll find easily searchable listings of our selection of the most worthwhile programs. The listings include links to author bios and works by each program’s graduates and by current and former faculty members who are published in Narrative.


Location:
Degree:
Season (Northern):
Duration:
University of Alabama

University of Alabama

MFA, BA
TUSCALOOSA, AL
The Program in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama offers a lively and innovative forty-eight-hour course of study, culminating in the MFA degree. The MFA thesis and its oral defense are required of all degree candidates.
Narrative Author Faculty: Charlie Smith
Narrative Author Graduates: Anthony Caleshu, Brad Watson
University of Alaska, Fairbanks

University of Alaska, Fairbanks

MFA, BA
FAIRBANKS, AK
The Master of Fine Arts program is a rigorous three-year residency combining in-depth study of literature with an intensive focus on poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The program is made up of a core of writers who have come to Alaska looking for a different, more attentive way of life and the support of a community of like-minded artists.
Narrative Author Graduates: David Abrams
University of Arizona

University of Arizona

MFA
TUSCON, AZ
A fully funded three-year program in three genres: poetry, fiction and nonfiction, with active encouragement to work across genres. Students have funding opportunities for research and travel via the departmental English Graduate Union, the Graduate and Professional Student Council, the Confluence Center, and the Institute of the Environment, among other organizations.
Narrative Author Faculty: Jane Miller
Narrative Author Graduates: Alma García, Antonya Nelson
University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas

MFA
FAYETTEVILLE, AR
Our sixty-hour curriculum enhances the typical workshop experience with coursework in craft and literary studies so that students develop their own creative voices. Our small class sizes and dedicated faculty—award-winning writers themselves—guarantee that students receive hands-on attention through their four years of study.
Narrative Author Faculty: Molly Giles
Narrative Author Graduates: Adam Prince, C. D. Wright (d. 2016)
University of Baltimore

University of Baltimore

MFA, BA
BALTIMORE, MD
Most students complete the forty-eight-credit degree in three years. Students take an average of two classes a semester, sometimes three, which meets the requirements for financial aid.
Narrative Author Faculty: Jane Delury
University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

BA, PHD
BERKELEY, CA
The Creative Writing Program is an interdisciplinary minor program offered by the Office of Undergraduate and Interdisciplinary Studies in the Division of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Letters & Science. The approved courses students take to satisfy the minor course requirements are offered by over forty departments and programs on campus.
Narrative Author Graduates: Javier Zamora
University of California, Davis

University of California, Davis

BA
DAVIS, CA
Students major in English by taking courses in a wide variety of media, genres, topics, and historical periods. All students are introduced to the major by completing twenty units spread over courses in writing, any one of many topics courses, and the gateway series to the English major.
Narrative Author Faculty: Lynn Freed, Tom Jenks, Clarence Major
Narrative Author Graduates: Melissa Stein
University of California, Los Angeles Extension

University of California, Los Angeles

CERTIFICATE
LOS ANGELES, CA
Our curriculum includes four hundred annual writing courses, offered both onsite and online, taught by a diverse corps of two hundred published and produced professionals. We also offer certificate programs, specializations, literary and screenplay competitions, scholarships, a Writers Studio, and one-on-one mentorships and consultations.
Narrative Author Faculty: Michelle Bitting
University of California, Riverside

University of California, Riverside

MFA
RIVERSIDE, CA
The MFA program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts offers study in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, and playwriting. Our program consists of workshops in chosen genres, culminating in a final project (the master’s thesis/manuscript) that showcases the writer’s cultivated talents.
Narrative Author Faculty: Maurya Simon, Jane Smiley
Narrative Author Graduates: Douglas Wood
University of California, San Diego

University of California, San Diego

MFA, PHD
SAN DIEGO, CA
The MFA Program in Writing is a two-year residency program that offers interdisciplinary approaches to verbal art. Our cross-genre curriculum allows students to explore poetry and prose and encourages the exploration of writing that falls between or beyond genre categories.

Narrative Author Faculty: Malachi Black
University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati

BA, MA, PHD
CINCINNATI, OH
For undergraduates, we offer a track within the English major, as well as a certificate in Creative Writing. For graduate students, we offer an MA and a PhD. Students at all levels focus on either fiction, poetry, or literary nonfiction. We are home to an undergraduate journal, Short Vine, and the nationally prominent literary journal The Cincinnati Review.
Narrative Author Faculty: Tessa Mellas
Narrative Author Graduates: Peter Grimes, Katie Knoll, Sarah Rose Nordgren
University of Colorado, Denver

University of Colorado, Denver

BA, MA
DENVER, CO
The Composition Program introduces students to academic conversations at the university and continues the lifelong process of preparing students to engage the many reading and writing opportunities they face in their communities and in the world.
Narrative Author Faculty: Nicky Beer
University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

MA
STORRS, CT
Graduate students may opt to take creative writing workshops (ordinarily, at least one workshop in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction is offered each academic year) as well as submit their work to the numerous writing contests open to UConn graduate students.
Narrative Author Faculty: Susan Kinsolving
University of Denver

University of Denver

BA, PHD
DENVER, CO
The masters program in creative writing at the University of Denver focuses on craft as well as the business side of publishing, including working with agents and publishers and creating a personal brand. The doctoral program resembles a pure mathematics or philosophy PhD. Doctoral students do a good deal of hard critical reading and research, and some of them write and publish traditional literary critical works.
Narrative Author Faculty: John Williams (d. 1994)
University of Florida, Gainesville

University of Florida, Gainesville

BA, MFA, PHD
GAINESVILLE, FL
We require an equal interest in writing and in reading literature. We don’t believe in any particular school of writing; we have no wish to foster or found one. Criticism in the writing workshop here attempts to fulfill the design of a poem or a story on its own terms.
Narrative Author Faculty: Padgett Powell
Narrative Author Graduates: Peter Grimes
University of Georgia

University of Georgia

MA, PHD
ATHENS, GA
The Creative Writing Program at the University of Georgia directs and supports the emergence of the artistic voice in print by offering a PhD in English with a creative dissertation.
Narrative Author Faculty: Ed Pavlić
University of Idaho, Moscow

University of Idaho, Moscow

MFA, BA
MOSCOW, ID
Polish your craft and develop your voice as a professional writer in a program that features intensive theoretical and practical training across genres. Enjoy a supportive learning environment with an award-winning faculty and benefit from opportunities to be published and mentored through the Distinguished Visiting Writers Program.
Narrative Author Graduates: Jerry D. Mathes II
University of Illinois

University of Illinois

MFA, BA
URBANA, IL
The primary goal of the MFA in Creative Writing is to give literary artists time and space to work on perfecting their art. Upon completion of the program, students will have the pedagogical skills necessary to teach writing and will produce a book-length, publishable manuscript.

University of Iowa

University of Iowa

IOWA CITY, IA
Offering BA, MFA, and PhD programs, the Department of English has promoted a rich tradition of reading, writing, and critical thinking since 1861. The Department has developed a curriculum that facilitates a comprehensive exploration of people, places, and topics from all eras and cultures, linking to numerous other disciplines.
Narrative Author Faculty: Robin Hemley, Stephen Kuusisto
Narrative Author Graduates: Jane Smiley
University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

MFA, BA
LEXINGTON, KY
The course of study for the UK MFA in Creative Writing is very flexible and interdisciplinary in scope, combining a curriculum of studio and research. We place equal emphasis on fostering the artistic process of the student, as well as his or her literary study and related creative or scholarly work.
Narrative Author Faculty: Wendell Berry, W. Andrew Ewell, Hannah Pittard
University of London

University of London

MA
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
The course is taught through small, dynamic seminars and one-to-one tuition. We offer modules in fiction writing and options in playwriting, poetry, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction. All teaching is done by regularly published and produced award-winning writers, who will help you strengthen and professionalise your identity as a writer.
Narrative Author Graduates: Alistair Daniel
University of Louisville

University of Louisville

MA, BA
LOUISVILLE, KY
We offer an MA with a concentration in Creative Writing, where students take a variety of courses, including Graduate Level Creative Writing Workshops. These students have the opportunity to participate in Master Classes with notable visiting writers. The MA features a choice between a thesis or a nonthesis option.
Narrative Author Faculty: Paul Griner
University of Manchester

University of Manchester

MA
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM
Offers aspiring fiction writers and poets a one-year apprenticeship (or two years part-time) during which time they will study literary technique through reading and discussing the work of other contemporary writers in seminars, and will have the opportunity to develop their own work via regular workshops and individual tutorials.
Narrative Author Faculty: M. J. Hyland
University of Maryland

University of Maryland

MFA, BA
COLLEGE PARK, MD
The MFA in Creative Writing provides a professional course of study for graduate students seeking to perfect their ability to compose poems, stories, and novels. While primarily affording students intensive studio or practical work within their chosen genre, the MFA in Creative Writing requires that students incorporate such work with a traditional study of literature.
Narrative Author Faculty: Susan Sonde
Narrative Author Graduates: Tyler Mills, Patrick Phillips
University of Massachusetts, Lowell

University of Massachusetts, Lowell

BA
LOWELL, MA
Students who enter the creative writing concentration learn, hands-on, about craft, genre, and audience. The sequence requires an introduction to creative writing, coursework that focuses on acquiring the various skills of different forms of writing, and a capstone that generally is a large body of work
Narrative Author Faculty: Andre Dubus III
University of Miami, Coral Gables

University of Miami, Coral Gables

MFA, BA
CORAL GABLES, FL
The University of Miami’s MFA Program offers a fully funded, two-year course of study in the writing of poetry, fiction, or cross-genre literature while providing substantial training in the teaching of creative writing and composition.
Narrative Author Faculty: Maureen Seaton
University of Michigan

University of Michigan

MFA, BA
ANN ARBOR, MI
Students spend two years taking craft classes and workshops, attending readings, and meeting individually with faculty members. At the end of their second year, our students submit their MFA theses.
University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

MFA, MA
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
This three-year degree provides advanced graduate-level coursework in writing, language, and literature, as well as study in a related field. The third year of the program focuses on the final development of a book-length manuscript suitable for publication, the MFA essay, and the MFA thesis defense.
Narrative Author Faculty: Alex R. Jones
Narrative Author Graduates: Alex R. Jones
University of Mississippi, Oxford

University of Mississippi, Oxford

MFA
OXFORD, MS
Our program is small and supportive: Eight students are accepted with full funding each year. Students benefit from our well-endowed reading series and interactions with fresh talent.
Narrative Author Faculty: Willie Morris
University of Missouri, St. Louis

University of Missouri, St. Louis

BA, MFA
ST. LOUIS, MO
At UMSL most of our MFA classes take place in the evening. This allows students with daytime jobs and busy family lives to take courses at times convenient to their schedules. Some students complete their MFA in two or three years. Others take four or five years to earn their degree.
Narrative Author Faculty: Seido Ray Ronci
University of Montana

University of Montana

MFA, BA
MISSOULA, MT
Students take four workshops in fiction, nonfiction or poetry; one techniques course; four literature or special topics courses; and a year-long, one-on-one mentorship with a faculty member that results in a thesis manuscript.
University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska

MFA
OMAHA, NE
The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s low-residency MFA in Writing program is composed of four sixteen-week at-home semesters and five ten-day conference-style residencies.
Narrative Author Faculty: Kwame Dawes, Ted Kooser
Narrative Author Graduates: Seido Ray Ronci
University of New Mexico

University of New Mexico

MFA
ALBUQUERQUE, NM
This three-year degree combines studio-based workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction with craft seminars and coursework in literature, teaching pedagogy, and professional writing.
Narrative Author Faculty: Nick DePascal
Narrative Author Graduates: Nick DePascal, Nora Hickey
University of New Orleans

University of New Orleans

MFA, BA
NEW ORLEANS, LA
The Creative Writing Workshop—Low Residency (CWL) is our nonresident graduate program in fiction writing, nonfiction writing, poetry writing, playwriting, and screenwriting, which culminates in the MFA degree.
Narrative Author Graduates: Lindsay Allen, Skip Horack
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

MA, MFA
CHARLOTTE, NC
The UNC Charlotte English graduate program offers an M.A. in English, an M.A./M.F.A. dual degree in creative writing (with Kingston University London), a certificate in Technical/Professional Writing, and a certificate in Applied Linguistics, as well as an English Education strand of the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction.
Narrative Author Graduates: Jessica Dionne

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

BA
CHAPEL HILL, NC
The Creative Writing Program, centered in the Department of English and Comparative Literature , offers four different levels of workshops—introductory, intermediate, advanced, and senior—which can lead to graduation with Honors in Creative Writing and/or a Minor in Creative Writing.
Narrative Author Faculty: Jill McCorkle, Reynolds Price (d. 2011)

University of Oxford

University of Oxford

MFA, MST
OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM
The MSt in Creative Writing is a two-year, part-time master's degree course offering a unique combination of high contact hours, genre specialisation, and critical and creative breadth.
Narrative Author Graduates: Cally Fiedorek, Maya Catherine Popa
University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

MFA, BA
PITTSBURGH, PA
Ours is a three-year degree providing students with the time and opportunity to produce a book-length final manuscript. Our graduate writing faculty have distinguished nationally and internationally through numerous publications and awards.
Narrative Author Graduates: Eugene Cross
University of Southern Mississippi

University of Southern Mississippi, Center for Writers

MA, PHD, BA
HATTIESBURG, MS
Between thirty-five and forty students work toward MA and PhD degrees in English, with emphases in fiction or poetry, and each student completes a creative thesis or dissertation to fulfill requirements for the degree.
Narrative Author Graduates: James Kimbrell
University of St. Andrews

University of St. Andrews

MFA, MA, MLITT
ST. ANDREWS, UNITED KINGDOM
The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a two-year postgraduate degree, and consists of two distinct phases of study. MFA Year One is taught through technical seminars, workshops, and individual tuition; MFA Year Two consists of two semesters of postgraduate supervision.
Narrative Author Graduates: Andrew Deloss Eaton
University of Stirling

University of Stirling

MLITT
STIRLING, UNITED KINGDOM
Offers the opportunity to produce a body of work—poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction—over the course of a creative and stimulating year. The degree combines intensive writers’ workshops, technique-focused option modules, and one-to-one tuition by the distinguished writers on staff, along with stimulating visits from authors, agents, and publishers.
Narrative Author Graduates: Alistair Daniel
University of Tampa

University of Tampa

BA
TAMPA, FL
The University of Tampa Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a low-residency program designed to help poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers advance their command of craft through exposure to literature from a writerly perspective and with supportive critique and mentoring.
Narrative Author Faculty: Steve Kistulentz
University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

MA, PHD
KNOXVILLE, TN
Students receive critical feedback on their poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction in writing workshops, scrutinize aspects of genre in special topics classes, and investigate larger theoretical and historical contexts for creative work in literature, rhetoric, writing, and linguistics courses.
Narrative Author Faculty: Michael Knight
Narrative Author Graduates: Adam Prince
University of Texas at El Paso

University of Texas at El Paso

MA, BA
EL PASO, TX
The Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso offers a bilingual (English and Spanish) course of study in fiction, poetry, literary translation, and nonfiction. The MFA program requires a forty-eight-hour commitment over the course of three years.
Narrative Author Faculty: Benjamin Alire Saénz
Narrative Author Graduates: Benjamin Alire Saénz
University of Texas, Austin, Michener Center for Writers

University of Texas, Austin, Michener Center for Writers

MFA
AUSTIN, TX
The MFA in Writing is a three-year, full-time residency program, unique in its interdisciplinary focus. While writers apply and are admitted in a primary field of concentration—chosen from fiction, poetry, playwriting, or screenwriting—they have the opportunity to develop work in a second field during their program of study.
Narrative Author Faculty: Lisa Olstein, Laurie Saurborn Young
University of Victoria

University of Victoria

MFA
VICTORIA, CANADA
The two objectives of the program are to create a publishable or producible body of work, as a Major Writing Project, in one of five genres (fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, film, and poetry) and to train students in the teaching of writing at the postsecondary level.
Narrative Author Graduates: Portia Elan
University of Virginia

University of Virginia

MFA, BA
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
A two-year graduate program that admits five poets and five fiction writers each academic year. Our program is full-time, and residency is required for both years of study.
Narrative Author Faculty: John Casey, Rita Dove, James Alan McPherson (d. 2016) , Gregory Orr
University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin

MFA, BA
MADISON, WI
All of our MFA candidates receive generous financial aid, the opportunity to teach courses both in Creative Writing and English Composition, and a semester of teacher-training and support. Our MFAs also have the opportunity to take workshops in other genres, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, playwriting, and screenwriting.
University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

BA
WHITEWATER, WI
A degree in Creative Writing provides opportunities to cultivate and improve upon your craft. You will learn about the industry from published writers, study literature from a writer’s point of view, and participate in a variety of writing courses across a variety of genres.
Narrative Author Faculty: Holly Wilson
University of Wyoming

University of Wyoming

MFA
LARAMIE, WY
An intensive two-year studio degree in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Special features include a flexible curriculum, cross-genre opportunities, opportunities for interdisciplinary study, and our Eminent Writers in Residence program, which brings distinguished authors to campus to work closely with our students.
Narrative Author Faculty: Brad Watson