Our M.F.A. in Creative Writing is distinguished by a dedicated writing community comprised of award-winning writers and students from around the United States and beyond. M.F.A. students may focus on one of four genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or playwriting/screenwriting. The Midnight Sun Visiting Writers Series hosts an impressive array of writers, including Patricia Hampl, Li-Young Lee, Lucille Clifton, Mark Doty, Charles Baxter, and Yusef Komunyakaa. 

 

Our M.A. in English predates statehood, having been established in 1954.  Since inception, the program has offered opportunities for study and research in British, American, and world literatures.  Thesis topics in the past several years illustrate the broad range of faculty expertise and the diverse potential for incoming students; recent studies on Shakespeare, on the six novels of Jane Austen, on New Zealander Janet Frame (The Carpathians), on Nigerian-American writer Uzodinma Iweala (Beasts of No Nation) attest to the real nature of that potential.  Our graduates frequently move on to doctoral programs or to a professional life as a teacher in secondary or post-secondary institutions.

 

Combined MFA/MA in Creative Writing and Literature: Combining the MFA and MA Programs gives you the unique opportunity to work with talented and dedicated teaching writers, while at the same time working with specialists in American, British, and Comparative Literature in preparation for a PhD program. This degree is designed for students who wish to pursue the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, but who are, at the same time, seriously considering going on for the PhD. By carefully coordinating your Literature and Creative Writing courses, you receive the combined MFA/MA degree in the same time it normally takes to receive the MFA alone.