Creative Writing - M.F.A. Download to print

A consortium of four universities (Kent State, Cleveland State, Youngstown State and University of Akron), the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a unique collaborative program that allows students to take advantage of an award-winning 15-member faculty and to concentrate in the writing of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and playwriting. The number and variety of faculty guarantee consistent individual attention to student work. The range of study gives students opportunities to take classes with other writers from different backgrounds and in different genres. An annual series of readings and visiting writers in all genres supports the regular curricular offerings.

Official transcript(s); acceptance to a gateway school and admission to the consortial degree program in English; and three letters of recommendation. For more information about graduate admissions, please visit the Graduate Studies website.

The program requires 48 semester hours of graduate-level coursework, including a three-hour internship in teaching, editing or arts administration. There are six areas of coursework in the M.F.A.: Writing Workshops (15 hours); Craft and Theory Courses (9 hours); Literature Courses (6 hours); Internship (3 hours); Electives (9 hours); and Thesis (6 hours). The thesis must be submitted according to the general requirements established by Graduate Studies. The student is required to defend the thesis in an oral presentation before a committee of graduate faculty from a minimum of two consortium schools.

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Critique creative literary works in a workshop environment.
2. Critique and revise their own material.
3. Create a high quality publishable work of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, drama , or literary translation.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of theories and practices of creative writing and the creative process.
5. Develop skills in creative writing in real world job situations.