Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Established in 1980, American University's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing is dedicated to supporting the intensely personal act of creating literature that will illuminate and endure. Incoming students encounter an open, respectful community of writers and a curriculum that embraces the full range of writing experiences in the vibrant cultural and international capital of Washington, D.C. Through intensive workshops, seminars, and literature classes; teaching and internship experiences; and close contact with visiting writers; the MFA in creative writing program simultaneously challenges students to extend the possibilities of their craft and offers them a safe place to take risks as they develop a body of finished work. The full-time creative-writing faculty includes award-winning poets and fiction-writers Richard McCann, David Keplinger, Kyle G. Dargan, Andrew Holleran, and Mary Kay Zuravleff.

Curriculum and Degree Requirements

Students are required to complete 48 credit hours of graduate study and to maintain a (3.0) average. The course work requirements are as follows:

• Writing workshops (12 or 15 credit hours);
• Internship/teaching track (3 or 6 credit hours);
• LIT-710 Art of Literary Journalism (3 credit hours);
• LIT-705 Seminar on Translation (3 credit hours);
• Graduate literature courses (12 credit hours);
• Graduate level electives (6 credit hours);
• LIT-797 Master’s Thesis Seminar (6 credit hours);
• Advancement to candidacy is automatic on admission to the program, but subject to yearly review
• One oral examination on the candidate’s manuscript: its merits, characteristics, and relations to the work of others
• A book-length manuscript of fiction, poetry, or drama, to be approved by the creative writing faculty.

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university;
• 3.0 GPA in the last 60 hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate work;
• two letters of recommendation;
• samples of previous writing (30 pages of fiction or 15 pages of poetry);
• a well-written Statement of Purpose;
• TOEFL test scores of at least 600 (paper) /100 (internet) or a minimum IELTS score of 7 are required for international students whose native language is not English and who do not possess an undergraduate or graduate degree from an accredited U.S. institution.

Contact Information

Department of Literature
American University
Battelle-Tompkins, Room 237
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20016-8047
Phone: 202-885-2971
Email: lit@american.edu
http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/cas/lit/mfa-lit.cfm