Creative Writing, MFA


At a Glance: program details

ASU's creative writing program, distinguished by an outstanding faculty whose works have received major national and international recognition, is consistently ranked among top-tier programs in poetry and fiction. The program's curricular strengths, community outreach and close mentorship combine to advance pragmatic, effective outcomes for students, graduates and artist-citizens.

Program Description

Degree Awarded: MFA Creative Writing

The MFA in creative writing at ASU has always been an unswervingly student-first program. Through small classes, intimate workshops and one-to-one mentoring, the centuries-old apprenticeship model thrives within the New American University. Poets and fiction writers work with outstanding faculty who have published more than 80 books and garnered national and international attention through awards and honors that include:

  • Guggenheim, Howard Foundation, Lannan Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and United Artists fellowships
  • international Griffin Poetry Prize and Whiting Award
  • multiple Pulitzer Prizes
  • two medals of achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters
  • two Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets
  • Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets

Additionally, in concert with the Master of Fine Arts program, several campus entities contribute to the MFA experience: the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing offers students a wide range of fellowships, support for professional development, and other teaching and leadership opportunities including a Community Outreach Graduate Assistantship. The Center for Imagination in the Borderlands brings writers and other artists for intensive workshops, classes and public events, and offers an artistic development and teaching assistant fellowship and two research assistantships. The Master of Fine Arts program also hosts a newly inaugurated series of craft lectures and an alumni reading series.

Furthermore, students have access to a variety of additional professional development opportunities, including serving on the editorial board of an international literary journal Hayden's Ferry Review, translation experience through the Thousand Languages Project and internships with award-winning independent literary press Four Way Books.

Sally Ball, Director of Creative Writing, Professor

Justin Petropoulos, Program Manager

Faculty in Creative Writing

The ASU MFA in Creative Writing is and has always been an unswervingly student-first program. Through small classes, intimate workshops, and one-to-one mentoring, the centuries-old apprenticeship model thrives within the New American University. Creative writing has been a part of the department of English since the 1930s. With the inception of the MFA degree in 1985, creative writing became an ascendant unit; the program was ranked within the top 20 MFA programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

ASU Creative Writing is distinguished by an outstanding faculty that has garnered national and international attention: Guggenheim and NEA fellowships, a Pulitzer Prize and several Pulitzer nominations, two Flannery O’Connor Awards, the Western States Book Award, PEN/Faulkner finalist recognition, the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, the International Griffin Poetry Prize, the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, and two Medals of Achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters.

The program's alumni are equally impressive, having won the Iowa Short Fiction Award, the Pen Southwest Book Award, the Prairie Schooner Book Prize, the May Swenson Poetry Award, the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award, and numerous Pushcart Prizes. They are the recipients of grants from the NEA and Fulbright and Stegner Fellowships.

Currently, all students admitted to the MFA program who submit a complete and approved teaching assistantship application are awarded a TA by the Department of English. Each assistantship carries a three course per year load and includes a tuition waiver and health insurance in addition to the TA stipend ($24,586 per year). Graduate students with assistantships must enroll in a minimum of six credit hours each semester.

In addition, students have diverse opportunities for additional financial and professional support via The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, including:

  • Graduate Assistantships in arts education and community programming (providing stipends and tuition remission)
  • Creative Research Fellowships and other funding and scholarship opportunities
  • Travel Funding to support tabling and presenting during the annual AWP Conference
  • A robust visiting writer event series, with exclusive opportunities to learn from and engage with highly acclaimed authors
  • Free admission to the annual Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference
  • Opportunities to moderate author panels and read creative work during the Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference and other events
  • A professional development program series for creative writing students, with a focus on creative lives, careers, and opportunities during and after graduation

The program requirements include 48 hours of study evenly divided between writing courses and literature courses designed to inform that writing. While students are expected to satisfy these requirements in the genre in which they were accepted, the program encourages cross-genre study, and electives can include courses taken outside of the creative writing program, even outside the English department. Courses such as “Creative Writing and the Professions” and “Internship for Community Outreach” encourage students to envision life beyond graduation. The Creative Writing Program at ASU has been able consistently to offer MFA students among the best funding packages in the nation through teaching and research assistantships, which are renewable for each of the program's three years. Additionally, in concert with the CWP, the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing offers a variety of graduate assistantships, international writing and teaching scholarships, and thesis fellowships to continuing students. Students who accept the TA offer are required to take the TA seminar, a pedagogy and training course designed to assist graduate students during their first year. TA seminar is credited as a literature elective. Successful TAs have the opportunity to teach introductory creative writing to undergraduates, under the supervision of one of the program faculty. In the second year students assemble their thesis committees and identify a committee chair. The second year is also when one-on-one mentorship begins. In the spring of the third year, students typically focus on completing the thesis manuscript with their committee chair.


Degree Requirements

48 credit hours including a written comprehensive exam and the required applied project course (ENG 593)

Coursework (39 credit hours)

Other Requirement (6 credit hours)
ENG 592 Research (6)

Culminating Experience (3 credit hours)
ENG 593 Applied Project (3)

Additional Curriculum Information
The creative writing program requires 48 credit hours of study evenly divided between writing courses and literature courses designed to inform that writing.

While students are expected to satisfy these requirements in the genre in which they were accepted, the program encourages cross-genre study, and electives can include courses taken outside of the creative writing program or even outside of the English department.

A written comprehensive exam and an applied project are required.


Admission Requirements

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution. Applicants should have an undergraduate major in English or creative writing; however, exceptional students who do not have either of these undergraduate majors may be admitted on the basis of writing excellence.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

  1. graduate admission application and application fee
  2. official transcripts
  3. statement of purpose
  4. resume or curriculum vitae
  5. three letters of recommendation
  6. creative manuscript
  7. proof of English proficiency

Additional Application Information
An applicant whose native language is not English (regardless of current residency) and has not graduated from an institution of higher learning in the United States must provide proof of English proficiency. Applications will not be processed without valid proof of English proficiency. Please note that official scores must be sent to ASU in order for the application to be processed.

The personal statement should include the applicant's writing background, intended area of specialization and a brief self-evaluation of recent work (double-spaced, up to three pages or 750 words). The creative manuscript should be up to 20 pages of poetry or up to 30 pages of prose (prose should be double-spaced). Students applying for a teaching assistantship must submit a statement of teaching philosophy and an academic writing sample.

Courses and Electives

MFA COURSE REQUIREMENTS - FICTION

A 48-hour Program of Study

For additional information please contact Justin Petropoulos, Program Manager of Creative Writing

WRITING COURSES (24 hours)

Students are expected to satisfy the degree requirements in the genre in which they are accepted. Exceptions must be approved by the director of creative writing, the chair of the student’s supervisory committee, the dean of the Graduate College, and the instructor. Electives may be taken out of genre, with the permission of the instructor.

Required (15 hours)
  • ENG 592 Research (Fiction) (6 hours)*
  • ENG 593 Applied Project (Fiction) (3 hours)
  • ENG 594 Conference and Workshop (Fiction) (3 hours)
  • ENG 563 Forms of Fiction (3 hours)

*Research Hours are dedicated the development of a student's creative thesis with the support of their committee.

Electives (choose 9 hours)
  • ENG 505 Writing Workshops (Special Topics)(3 hours)
  • ENG 591 Seminar, Selected Topics* (3 hours)
  • ENG 594 Conference and Workshop (Fiction) (3-6 hours)
  • ENG 663 Fiction Genres* (3 hours)
  • ENG 680 First Book Seminar (3 hours)

LITERATURE COURSES (24 hours)

Required (9 hours)

  • ENG 538 Studies in Modern and Contemporary American Literature (3 hours)
  • ENG 539 Studies in Modernist and Postmodern Literature and Theory (fiction topics, 3 hours)
  • ENG 665 Creative Methods, Fiction (3 hours)
Electives (choose 15 hours)

Any 400, 500, or 600 level English course relevant to the student’s program of study, and up to six hours of credit in class work outside the department of English (for example, courses at the 400, 500, or 600 level in theater, music, dance, photography, fine printing and bookbinding, papermaking, or editing and publishing), subject to the approval of the director of creative writing, the chair of the student’s supervisory committee (if designated), and the dean of the Graduate College.
 
Possible English courses include:

  • ENG 537 Studies in Modern and Contemporary British Literature (3 hours)
  • ENG 543 Studies in Anglophone Literatures (3 hours)
  • ENG 545 Studies in Women’s Literature (3 hours)
  • ENG 550 Translation (3 hours)
  • ENG 584 Internship* (3-6 hours)
  • ENG 591 Seminar (Selected Topics, 3 hours)
  • ENG 593 Pedagogy (3 hours)
  • ENG 594 Conference and Workshop (TA Seminar) (4 hours)
  • ENG 598 Special Topics* (3 hours)
  • ENG 667 Writing for the Professions (3 hours)

 *May be repeated for credit if topics are distinct.

MFA COURSE REQUIREMENTS - POETRY

A 48-hour Program of Study

For information about the program please contact Justin Petropoulos, Program Manager of Creative Writing

WRITING COURSES (24 hours)

Students are expected to satisfy the degree requirements in the genre in which they are accepted. Exceptions must be approved by the director of creative writing, the chair of the student’s supervisory committee, the dean of the Graduate College, and the instructor. Electives may be taken out of genre, with the permission of the instructor.

Required (15 hours)
  • ENG 592 Research Hours (6hours)*
  • ENG 593 Applied Project (3 hours)
  • ENG 594 Graduate Poetry Workshop (3 hours)
  • ENG 562 Forms of Poetry (3 hours)

 *Research Hours are dedicated the development of a student's creative thesis with the support of their committee.

Electives (choose 9 hours)
  • ENG 505 Writing Workshop (3 hours)
  • ENG 591 Seminar, Selected Topics* (3 hours)
  • ENG 594 Conference and Workshop (Poetry) (3-6 hours)
  • ENG 662 Poetic Genres* (3 hours)
  • ENG 680 First Book Seminar (3 hours)

LITERATURE COURSES (24 hours)

Required (9 hours)
  • ENG 538 Studies in Modern and Contemporary American Literature (3 hours)
  • ENG 539 Studies in Modernist and Postmodern Literature and Theory (poetry topics, 3 hours)
  • ENG 665 Creative Methods, Poetry (3 hours)
Electives (choose 15 hours)

Any 400, 500, or 600 level English course relevant to the student’s program of study, and up to six hours of credit in class work outside the department of English (for example, courses at the 400, 500, or 600 level in theater, music, dance, photography, fine printing and bookbinding, papermaking, or editing and publishing), subject to the approval of the director of creative writing, the chair of the student’s supervisory committee (if designated), and the dean of the Graduate College.
 
Possible English courses might include:

  • ENG 537 Studies in Modern and Contemporary British Literature (3 hours)
  • ENG 543 Studies in Anglophone Literatures (3 hours)
  • ENG 545 Studies in Women’s Literature (3 hours)
  • ENG 550 Translation (3 hours)
  • ENG 584 Internship* (3-6 hours)
  • ENG 591 Seminar (Selected Topics, 3 hours)
  • ENG 593 Pedagogy (3 hours)
  • ENG 594 Conference and Workshop (TA Seminar) (4 hours)
  • ENG 598 Special Topics* (3 hours)
  • ENG 667 Writing for the Professions (3 hours)

 *May be repeated for credit if topics are distinct.


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Application Deadlines

Fall

Session
Modality
Deadline
Type

Session A/C
In Person
January 1st
Final


Learning Outcomes

  • Analyze and critique the writing of other creative writers.
  • Explicate their creative works articulately.
  • Create original fiction or poetry that incorporates theoretical and foundational literary knowledge.

Career Opportunities

A Master of Fine Arts in creative writing graduate is prepared primarily for the professional creation of new art, including fiction, poetry and other written forms. In addition to working as novelists, poets and short story writers, graduates go on to careers in education, arts administration, media and entertainment, and in political and community organizations. Career examples include:

  • book designer or marketer
  • book or magazine editor
  • creative writing professor
  • essayist or journalist
  • grant writer and developer
  • literary or events coordinator
  • nonprofit administrator
  • novelist
  • poet
  • public relations and communications manager
  • screenwriter
  • secondary education teacher

Global Opportunities

Global Experience

With over 250 programs in more than 65 countries (ranging from one week to one year), study abroad is possible for all ASU students wishing to gain global skills and knowledge in preparation for a 21st-century career. Students earn ASU credit for completed courses, while staying on track for graduation, and may apply financial aid and scholarships toward program costs. https://mystudyabroad.asu.edu

Program Contact Information

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