mfa creative writing texas

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Degree Requirements    |   Getting Started   |   Institution and Advisor   |   FAQs  

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) offers a bilingual, fully-online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. The goal of this unique bilingual program is to prepare writers for the publishing marketplace and for teaching and editing careers, both in the United States and Latin America.

Degree Requirements

The degree plan consists of 42 credits of coursework, followed by 6 credits of thesis during which the student completes a publishable manuscript in poetry or fiction. Refer to the Online MFA Curriculum page for a listing of available courses and course descriptions. Spanish is not a requirement for admission.

Many online MFA in Creative Writing courses are open to cross-campus enrollment. Check with your program advisor prior to registering for any of cross-campus courses to ensure they apply toward your degree program, and non-UTEP students who want to take MFA courses must get permission from the MFA Advisor.

To view Online MFA in Creative Writing program courses currently open for cross-campus registration, go to the Student Portal Course Schedule and select Creative Writing-Bilingual (MFA) from the Finish@UT Program menu, or search for a specific course name/number. UTEP students should refer to the UTEP Course Schedule and register directly through your home campus.

Getting Started

Interested in applying? Be sure to review the Online MFA Application Process , Application Check List , and FAQs . If you have any questions regarding the application process after reviewing this information, please contact Coordinator of Graduate Enrollment, Sally Vasko .

Refer to the Student Support section of our website for additional information on cross-campus registration and course access.

Institution and Program Advisor

Degree Awarded: Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Program Advisor:

Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny

Please send program-related questions to  [email protected] .

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to questions such as, "Do I need to know Spanish to be admitted into the program?" and, "Who do I contact about financial aid?" on the MFA Online website .

• College of Liberal Arts
• Creative Writing
• Academic Programs

The University of Texas at El Paso is proud to offer a fully online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Writers can complete the entire degree from anywhere in the world, as there is no residency requirement.

Our goal is to prepare serious writers for publishing and teaching careers. The degree plan consists of 48 hours of coursework - 42 hours of workshops and literature classes (14 courses), followed by 6 hours of thesis during which students complete a publishable manuscript in poetry or fiction.

We offer a workshop-heavy M.F.A., but we believe in the necessity of a background in theory and form. Our candidates enjoy a wide variety of graduate courses in literature, from the “Form of the Short Story” to “Asian American Poetry.”

We believe that the excellent reputation of our M.F.A. program is created by our faculty and the writers we graduate. Therefore, our primary goal is to connect our students with solid writers who will aid in their artistic and intellectual development.

The main criterion for admission is a writing sample in either fiction or poetry. We look for writers with distinctive or developing voices, a sense of cultural or social awareness, and a yearning to expand one’s use of the craft. It’s simple; if you’re good at what you do, we want you to study with us.

We encourage but do not favor undergraduate degrees in Creative Writing or English. Our students and graduates come from various fields, from physics to theater, and all of them enrich the writing experience. Some of our applicants are establishing themselves as writers, while some already have books published, but need the M.F.A. degree to advance in their teaching careers. Whatever level you find yourself at, we welcome your work.

Our classes and discussions are held in English, however if you feel more comfortable, or feel like exploring language, you may submit your creative assignments in Spanish.

We look forward to hearing from you.

No matter where you are in the world, write with us.

Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny, Advisor for the Online MFA

For questions concerning the M.F.A. curriculum itself, please write us at [email protected]

For questions about the application process, please contact  [email protected]

Maestría en Escritura Creativa en Línea de UTEP

La Universidad de Texas en El Paso se enorgullece en ofrecer la Maestría en Escritura Creativa en línea completamente en español. Ahora también los escritores latinos podrán realizar sus estudios de posgrado con nosotros en tu idioma y desde cualquier lugar del mundo. 

El programa consta de 48 créditos académicos a completar en el curso de tres años. Nuestras materias cubren un amplio rango de tópicos como traducción literaria, guión, crónica, novela corta y prosa poética, entre otros. Además, si eres bilingüe puedes optar por llevar materias en inglés.

Nuestro objetivo es preparar a los escritores para que publiquen y emprendan una carrera como maestros a nivel licenciatura y posgrado. La tesis a desarrollar dentro del programa es un libro en los géneros de poesía, ficción, o no ficción. Así que al graduarte estarás listo para el mundo editorial.

Aceptamos postulantes de cualquier parte del mundo y de diversas carreras. Aunque la gran mayoría de ellos vienen del área de literatura, nuestros alumnos y graduados provienen también de áreas como física, comunicación, y teatro, consolidándose así un diálogo enriquecedor.

Buscamos escritores que tengan conciencia intercultural y social, así como un deseo por ampliar la técnica de su oficio. Todos nuestros profesores son escritores activos y destacados en la escena literaria de las Américas. Cada uno de ellos habrá de contribuir en tu desarrollo artístico e intelectual. Esta es tu oportunidad de discutir tu trabajo con voces experimentadas y consolidar tu progreso literario.

Nuestras clases son impartidas en inglés, sin embargo, nuestro profesorado es bilingüe, esto te permite escribir en el idioma que más te sientas cómodo, español o inglés, como prefieras.

Envíanos tu solicitud, queremos que estudies con nosotros, no importa en qué parte del mundo estés.

Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny

Consejera del MFA en Línea

Universidad de Texas en El Paso. Para preguntas sobre el programa, por favor contactar a [email protected]

Preguntas sobre el proceso de admisión, por favor contactar a Samantharai Yrigoyen [email protected]

Program Information:

For prospective students, faq’s, step by step process, application check list, for current students, online mfa faculty, connect with us.

The University of Texas at El Paso Department of Creative Writing Education Building, Room 901 Additional Emails English: [email protected] Español: [email protected] MFA Online: [email protected] Undergrad: [email protected] 500 W University Ave El Paso, Texas 79968

E: [email protected] P: (915) 747-5237

Michener Center for Writers

Mfa in writing.

The Michener Center for Writers is the only Creative Writing M.F.A. program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer—yet it is our extraordinary faculty and sense of community that most distinguishes us. Our program is a three-year, fully-funded residency M.F.A. with a unique multi-disciplinary focus. Writers apply and are admitted in a primary genre—fiction, poetry, playwriting or screenwriting—and study in both their primary and a secondary genre(s). There are no teaching duties, a luxury that allows our Fellows to commit themselves fully to their writing. And because only twelve writers are admitted each year, our faculty can devote ample time and energy to every writer. With unparalleled support and the deeply held belief that literary art matters now more than ever, the Michener Center offers writers 3 years of unencumbered space to make the work that only they can make.

News & Events

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Event: Reading with Carolyn Forché on November 2nd, 6pm

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Event: Reading with Ayad Akhtar on September 26th, 6pm

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The Michener Center aims to be a welcoming, inspiring, and invigorating community where writers feel safe and supported to take chances on the page. We are extremely proud that there is no hierarchy here—all students receive equal funding—and we firmly believe that our egalitarian approach fosters a higher level of work that more competitive environments suppress.

Our MFA candidates have come from places as varied as western India, South Korea, eastern Europe, and northern Idaho. Their backgrounds and experiences lend to the pages they produce, which are unique and uniquely vital. We aren’t seeking writers of any particular aesthetic, but rather we are looking for writers whose work is distinct, urgent, and arresting.

Each year, we receive hundreds of applications for twelve seats in the cohort. We accept only full-time, in-residence candidates for the three-year program. There is no low-residency or part-time option.

Applicants must meet the UT Graduate School’s minimum requirements for consideration, which include completion of a Bachelor’s Degree prior to enrollment. The Michener Center no longer requires GRE scores.

James Michener was the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of over 40 books, including Texas , Hawaii , and Tales of the South Pacific . In his final years, he and his wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, moved to Austin, TX, where they endowed the Texas Center for Writers, a three-year MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas. The first cohort of Michener Fellows graduated in 1996. After Mr. Michener’s death in 1997, the Center was renamed in his honor.

To ensure both continuity and fresh perspectives, the Michener Center faculty is built with fixed and moving parts. Writers from UT’s departments of English, Theatre and Dance, and Radio-Television-Film comprise our Resident Faculty, and each year we also welcome an exciting roster of distinguished Visiting Faculty. That our faculty members—resident and visiting—are as passionate about their teaching as they are their writing is of the utmost importance. Like our students, our faculty afford the program a wealth of varied experience, an abiding sense of shared enterprise, and deep commitment to the making of literary art. For more on our outstanding faculty in each genre, visit our Faculty page .