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Creative Writing Graduate Programs in California

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Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Los Angeles, CA •

University of Southern California •

Graduate School

University of Southern California ,

Graduate School ,

LOS ANGELES, CA ,

UC Irvine School of Humanities

Irvine, CA •

University of California - Irvine •

University of California - Irvine ,

IRVINE, CA ,

Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts

Loyola Marymount University •

Blue checkmark.

Loyola Marymount University ,

University of North Texas

Graduate School •

  • • Rating 4.63 out of 5   126

Southern California Institute of Architecture

LOS ANGELES, CA

  • • Rating 4.56 out of 5   9

LaFetra College of Education

University of La Verne •

LA VERNE, CA

  • • Rating 4.44 out of 5   9

Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Orange, CA •

Chapman University •

Chapman University ,

ORANGE, CA ,

University of San Francisco College of Arts and Sciences

San Francisco, CA •

University of San Francisco •

University of San Francisco ,

SAN FRANCISCO, CA ,

College of Liberal Arts - California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA •

California State University - Long Beach •

California State University - Long Beach ,

LONG BEACH, CA ,

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College of Arts and Letters - San Diego State University

San Diego, CA •

San Diego State University •

  • • Rating 5 out of 5   2 reviews

Master's Student: The SDSU program for Social Work is amazing!! You get to practice real scenarios and are prepared for when you have to apply tools when emplyed. Professors are amazing and help you throughout your journey! By far the best experience. ... Read 2 reviews

San Diego State University ,

SAN DIEGO, CA ,

2 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says The SDSU program for Social Work is amazing!! You get to practice real scenarios and are prepared for when you have to apply tools when emplyed. Professors are amazing and help you throughout your... .

Read 2 reviews.

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Riverside, CA •

University of California - Riverside •

  • • Rating 4.25 out of 5   4 reviews

Master's Student: I hope to learn a lot from the Teacher Education Program at UCR! I love the opportunities that are offered to me and my peers. ... Read 4 reviews

University of California - Riverside ,

RIVERSIDE, CA ,

4 Niche users give it an average review of 4.3 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says I hope to learn a lot from the Teacher Education Program at UCR! I love the opportunities that are offered to me and my peers. .

Read 4 reviews.

Saint Mary's College of California

Moraga, CA •

  • • Rating 4.26 out of 5   34 reviews

Alum: As a former student at Saint Mary's College, I can confidently say that the best part of my experience was my exceptional education. The dedicated and supportive teachers fostered a stimulating learning environment, encouraging us to think critically and strive for academic excellence. The picturesque campus provided a tranquil setting for studying and reflection. Most importantly, the coursework was thoughtfully designed, balancing theoretical knowledge and practical application. However, what truly made my time at Saint Mary's memorable was the strong sense of camaraderie among students, creating a supportive and inclusive community. Overall, the education I received at Saint Mary's College was unparalleled and prepared me for future success in my career. ... Read 34 reviews

MORAGA, CA ,

34 Niche users give it an average review of 4.3 stars.

Featured Review: Alum says As a former student at Saint Mary's College, I can confidently say that the best part of my experience was my exceptional education. The dedicated and supportive teachers fostered a stimulating... .

Read 34 reviews.

Mills College at Northeastern University Graduate Programs

Oakland, CA •

Mills College at Northeastern University •

Alum: I did a Post Baccalaureate in Pre-Medicine and the instructors and advisors were top-notch. I learned a lot and did very well. Highly recommend although they have been taken over by another school Northwestern they are still a great school and campus! ... Read 2 reviews

Mills College at Northeastern University ,

OAKLAND, CA ,

Featured Review: Alum says I did a Post Baccalaureate in Pre-Medicine and the instructors and advisors were top-notch. I learned a lot and did very well. Highly recommend although they have been taken over by another school... .

School of Critical Studies - California Institute of the Arts

Valencia, CA •

California Institute of the Arts •

California Institute of the Arts ,

VALENCIA, CA ,

Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles

  • • Rating 4.52 out of 5   42 reviews

Alum: I enjoyed the community and atmosphere. I met so many amazing peers, staff, and faculty who impacted my life in more ways than one. As with any school or program, there are cons. Unfortunately, I did experience a time where my advisor was not helpful and I struggled to understand my next steps. I quickly reached out for help from another faculty member who then became my new advisor. I learned how to advocate for myself through this experience. ... Read 42 reviews

42 Niche users give it an average review of 4.5 stars.

Featured Review: Alum says I enjoyed the community and atmosphere. I met so many amazing peers, staff, and faculty who impacted my life in more ways than one. As with any school or program, there are cons. Unfortunately, I did... .

Read 42 reviews.

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College of Letters and Sciences - National University

National University •

National University ,

College of Arts and Humanities - California State University - Fresno

Fresno, CA •

California State University - Fresno •

California State University - Fresno ,

FRESNO, CA ,

College of Humanities and the Arts - San Jose State University

San Jose, CA •

San Jose State University •

San Jose State University ,

SAN JOSE, CA ,

California State University - San Bernardino College of Arts and Letters

San Bernardino, CA •

California State University - San Bernardino •

Master's Student: This tight knit community is surrounded by students, faculty, and staff who encourage and uplift each other in order to reach personal and acadmic goals. It is just as connected inside the classroom as it is outside. There is not trouble reaching out to other for questions and concerns as it is always an open door. ... Read 2 reviews

California State University - San Bernardino ,

SAN BERNARDINO, CA ,

Featured Review: Master's Student says This tight knit community is surrounded by students, faculty, and staff who encourage and uplift each other in order to reach personal and acadmic goals. It is just as connected inside the classroom... .

Otis College of Art and Design

  • • Rating 4.33 out of 5   3 reviews

Master's Student: It’s a great school, and I’m glad I was accepted based upon my art portfolio. This is my dream school to attend, and the courses are very well organized, and educational. This contribute s to my knowledge, and prepares me for a great career in my field. ... Read 3 reviews

3 Niche users give it an average review of 4.3 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says It’s a great school, and I’m glad I was accepted based upon my art portfolio. This is my dream school to attend, and the courses are very well organized, and educational. This contribute s to my... .

Read 3 reviews.

California College of the Arts

  • • Rating 4.5 out of 5   4 reviews

Master's Student: The application process was very smooth. The admissions team gave me good advice about how to put together my portfolio. ... Read 4 reviews

4 Niche users give it an average review of 4.5 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says The application process was very smooth. The admissions team gave me good advice about how to put together my portfolio. .

Antioch University Los Angeles

Culver City, CA •

  • • Rating 4.44 out of 5   18 reviews

Master's Student: I am a new student to Antioch University & so far my experience has been wonderful. They have provided multiple resources such as a writing workshop for the admissions letter. Additionally, the orientation was very informative & helpful for getting my courses selected. ... Read 18 reviews

CULVER CITY, CA ,

18 Niche users give it an average review of 4.4 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says I am a new student to Antioch University & so far my experience has been wonderful. They have provided multiple resources such as a writing workshop for the admissions letter. Additionally, the orientation was very informative & helpful for getting my courses selected. .

Read 18 reviews.

Antioch University Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA •

  • • Rating 4 out of 5   18 reviews

Master's Student: Antioch University's emphasis on holistic education and social justice resonated deeply with my evolving worldview. The curriculum's integration of real-world scenarios and hands-on experiences aligns perfectly with my desire to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. As I immerse myself in this rigorous learning environment, I am confident that I will emerge not only with the required expertise but also with a profound understanding of the diverse needs of clients. Antioch's commitment to social justice mirrors my aspiration to create an inclusive therapeutic space that recognizes and values the uniqueness of each individual. The university's focus on addressing systemic inequalities resonates with my intent to offer culturally sensitive and equitable care to all clients, irrespective of their backgrounds. Additionally, the vibrant community at Antioch encourages collaboration, peer learning, and the exchange of ideas. ... Read 18 reviews

SANTA BARBARA, CA ,

18 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says Antioch University's emphasis on holistic education and social justice resonated deeply with my evolving worldview. The curriculum's integration of real-world scenarios and hands-on experiences... .

Loyola Law School

  • • Rating 4.8 out of 5   5

College of Communication, Architecture and The Arts - Florida International University

Florida International University •

College of Science and Engineering - San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University •

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Showing results 1 through 20 of 20

Application deadline: December 1

The program provides dual emphasis in literature and creative writing, culminating in the dissertation, which combines critical analysis with creative originality. Roughly half of the dissertation is based on original research, that is to say, research contributing to knowledge which enriches or changes the field. Doctoral candidates not only read and write texts as finished products of scholarship in researching their creative work’s literary and historical milieu, but also consider the text as writers create it, then compose texts as writers, a process that goes to the source of the study of literature and of literature itself. This integration of literature and creative writing is reflected in the structure of the dissertation, which introduces the creative work within a context of critical inquiry, bringing together the examination and embodiment of the literary act, a new model of scholarship and creative innovation.

PhD candidates in literature and creative writing must pass the same departmental screening examination taken by PhD candidates in Literature who are not working in the area of creative writing. The exam tests students in various areas of emphasis (British literature, American literature, poetry, prose, etc.) and literature and historical periods as a measure of their preparedness to undertake independent research.

The literature and creative writing student takes 64 units in all, 32 in literature, 24 in creative writing workshops and seminars and 8 units of dissertation studies credits.

Admission Requirements

Requirements for admission to study in the department of English include: scores satisfactory to the department in both the verbal and quantitative General Test and the literature Subject Test of the Graduate Record Examinations; evidence of experience and ability in creative writing, as demonstrated by a creative writing sample; evidence of competence in writing English and interpreting English literature, as demonstrated by a sample of written work by the applicant on literary subjects; a satisfactory written statement by the applicant of aims and interests in graduate work; letters of recommendation from at least three college instructors; and grades satisfactory to the department earned by the applicant at other institutions. This program will accept applicants with BA degrees or transfer students with an MA or MFA in creative writing.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Graduate School    section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Graduate Curriculum and Unit Requirements

The graduate curriculum is divided into 500-level foundation courses and 600-level advanced courses. The 500-level courses offer fundamental work in theory and in the history of British and American literatures and cultures. The 600-level courses feature advanced studies in theory, creative writing seminars and workshops and special topics. Although students will normally take 500-level courses leading up to the screening procedure (see Screening Procedure) and 600-level courses thereafter, students after consultation with their advisers may be permitted to take 600-level courses in the first semester of their graduate training.

The student’s course work must total at least 64 units. No more than eight units of 794 Doctoral Dissertation and no more than four units of 790 Research may count toward the 64 units. A maximum of 12 transfer units, approved by the graduate director, is allowed toward the 64 units minimum required by the PhD (See Transfer of Course Work .)

The student will be assigned a faculty mentor in his or her first semester in the graduate program and will be encouraged in subsequent semesters to begin putting together an informal qualifying exam committee. The makeup of the qualifying exam committee may change as the interests of the student change. The faculty mentor and informal qualifying exam committee will assist the student in planning a program of study appropriate to the student’s interests leading to the screening procedure.

Screening Procedure

At the end of the student’s fourth semester (second semester for students who enter with an MA or MFA degree or near equivalent), the student will sit for a departmental examination, which is part of a comprehensive screening procedure. Rarely, and only with the approval of the graduate director and the graduate committee, will a student be allowed to postpone the departmental examination and the screening procedure, and then only for one year. Prior to the screening procedure, the student will be allowed to take a maximum of four units of independent study ( ENGL 590   ), and that independent study will normally be used to prepare for the departmental examination; all other units must be in the 500- or 600-level seminar.

Qualifying Exam Committee

Immediately following successful completion of the screening procedure, the student will nominate formally a five-member qualifying exam committee, including a chair and three other members from the English Department who are in the student’s areas of interest and an outside member from another PhD-granting department. The committee must be in place and approved by the Graduate School at the time the student chooses a dissertation topic, writes the dissertation prospectus and schedules a qualifying examination.

Qualifying Examination

Following completion of course work, the student must sit for a qualifying examination, at a time mutually agreed upon by the student and the qualifying exam committee.

This is a field examination given in the subject of the student’s proposed dissertation research. No less than one month before the qualifying examination, the student will submit to the qualifying exam committee a dissertation prospectus. The prospectus, it is understood, will not be a polished dissertation proposal, but at a minimum it should display a strong knowledge of the subject, much of the relevant secondary material and other contexts crucial to the writing of the dissertation, and should present a workable plan of attack as well as a reasonably sophisticated understanding of the theoretical assumptions involved in the subject.

The qualifying examination will consist of both written and oral portions with special emphasis areas in creative writing. It will focus on the dissertation area and its contexts with the specific format and content of the examination being negotiated among the student and all members of the examination committee. Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination the student proceeds to the writing of the doctoral dissertation.

Dissertation

The final stage of the program is the submission of a creative dissertation that makes an original, substantial and publishable contribution to creative literature: a book of poems, a novel, a collection of short stories.

Foreign Language

PhD students are required to demonstrate proficiency in at least one foreign language. This may be demonstrated by completing a course in the literature of that language at the 400 or 500 level (with a grade of B [3.0] or better) or by passing a foreign language exam that tests proficiency in reading comprehension and translation. PhD students may also be required to demonstrate proficiency in additional languages, as determined by the qualifying exam committee in view of the student’s proposed field of research.

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Admissions - mfa in creative writing.

The 2023-2024 Graduate Admissions Application is now OPEN! https://grad.ucdavis.edu/apply The deadline to apply to our program is January 5, 2024

Graduate Studies' Applications Page covers most campus-level admissions questions, but feel free to contact our graduate program staff for more details and specific guidance. Applications are reviewed once all supporting materials have been received. For more information about your application status, please check online or contact our graduate program staff.

Application Requirements:

  • Writing sample

Statement of Purpose

  • Personal History & Diversity Statement
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • TOEFL or IELTS scores, if applicable
  • Copies of transcripts
  • Application Fee (2023-2024 cycle): $135 for U.S. and $155 for international applicants
  • Admissions Requirements and Eligibility as set by UC Davis Graduate Studies

Either ten to twelve poems or up to thirty pages (double-spaced) of prose. Hybrid-form work must not exceed thirty pages.

To apply for admission to our Creative Writing MFA program, you are encouraged to include, as a writing sample, your very best creative writing.  Typically, two—or at the most three—genres exist in a graduate Creative Writing program: Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction.  At UCD, we think of genre as a useful thing to consider… but we do not think of the various genres—however many you would like to list—as necessarily unmixable modes.  

For us, the value of a piece of writing is better gauged directly—by what it says to its readers, and by what that saying does to those readers—rather than by its successful or unsuccessful identification with one or another of the historically certified genres.  This is not to say that we don't believe in genre, or in the usefulness of plumbing each purported genre's history; it is to say, rather, or  to notice…  that the border between one genre and another is not so much a Great Wall as a small fence.

Please highlight your academic preparation and motivation; interests, specialization and career goals; and fit for pursuing graduate study at UC Davis.

Preparation and Motivation  may include your academic and research experiences that prepare you for this graduate program (for example: coursework, employment, exhibitions, fieldwork, foreign language proficiency, independent study, internships, laboratory activities, presentations, publications, studio projects, teaching, and travel or study abroad) and motivation or passion for graduate study.

Interests, Specializations, and Career Goals may include your research interests, disciplinary subfields, area/s of specialization, and professional objectives.

Fit may include how your preparation, experiences, and interests match the specific resources and characteristics of your graduate program at UC Davis. Please identify specific faculty within your desired graduate program with whom you would like to work and how their interests match your own.

When writing your Statement of Purpose for Creative Writing:

Address any prior coursework, literary involvement, publications and other experiences that will help launch you into the graduate study of Creative Writing. Your Statement of Purpose must be entered directly into a text box in the application, and has a 4,000 character limit including spaces .

The University of California Davis, a public institution, is committed to supporting the diversity of the graduate student body and promoting equal opportunity in higher education. This commitment furthers the educational mission to serve the increasingly diverse population and educational needs of California and the nation. Both the Vice Provost of Graduate Education/Dean of Graduate Studies and the University of California affirm that diversity is critical to promoting lively intellectual exchange and the variety of ideas and perspectives essential to advancing higher education and research. Our graduate students contribute to the global pool of future scholars and academic leaders, thus high value is placed on achieving a diverse graduate student body to support the University of California’s academic excellence. We invite you to include in this statement how you may contribute to the diversification of graduate education and the UC Davis community.

The purpose of this essay is to get to know you as an individual and potential graduate student. Please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. You may include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, community service, outreach activities, residency and citizenship, first-generation college status, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how your life experiences contribute to the social, intellectual, or cultural diversity within a campus community and your chosen field; or how you might serve educationally underrepresented and underserved segments of society with your graduate education.

This essay should complement but not duplicate the content in the Statement of Purpose. Your Personal History and Diversity Statement must be entered directly into a text box in the application, and has a 4,000 character limit including spaces .

Letters should be from professors or other persons situated to speak about your potential for graduate Creative Writing study. You might also think of potential letter-writers in terms of their ability to speak to your participation in a dedicated community.

Applicants must submit TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo scores unless they have earned or will be earning a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree from either a regionally accredited or foreign college/university which provides instruction solely in English. See the English Language Requirement section for details. 

Transcripts are required from each post-secondary institution you have attended.

Copies or unofficial transcripts are allowed. If admitted, you’ll be required to send official transcripts for every institution listed on your application.

The application fee is set by the UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies. The application fee for the 2023-2024 cycle is $135 for domestic students and $155 for international students, payable online. Waivers of this fee are only available to participants in one of several graduate preparatory programs .  The MFA program has no ability to grant application fee waivers. 

Application FAQs : https://grad.ucdavis.edu/admissions-process-overview

We aim for a class of 10 to 12 writers, hoping for a balance between genres. The writing sample is the most important part of your application; the committee is looking for high quality work in the applicant’s genre of choice.  All students in the MFA program at UC Davis take at least one workshop outside their primary genre, so you need not apply to a second genre in order to have access to it as a student.

The committee makes admissions and financial aid decisions simultaneously.  We offer a limited number of first-year funding packages; all second year students have access to full funding.

For the Fall 2021 cohort, we received 137 applications, admitted 16 (13 initial applicants and 3 waitlisted applicants), and 11 of those students will be joining us in the Fall.

At UC Davis, we offer you the ability to fund your MFA. In fact, all students admitted to the program are guaranteed full funding in the second year of study, when students serve as teachers of Introduction to Creative Writing (English 5) and receive, in exchange, tuition and health insurance remission as well as a monthly stipend (second year students who come to Davis from out of state are expected to establish residency during their first year). We have a more limited amount of resources – teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and out of state tuition wavers – allocated to us for first year students, but in recent years, we’ve had excellent luck funding our accepted first years. We help students who do not receive English department funding help themselves by posting job announcements from other departments during the spring and summer leading up to their arrival. We are proud to say that over the course of the last twenty years, nearly every incoming student has wound up with at least partial funding (including a tuition waiver and health insurance coverage) by the time classes begin in the fall.

We have other resources for students, too – like the Miller Fund, which supports attendance for our writers at any single writer’s workshop or conference. Students have used these funds to attend well-known conferences like AWP, Writing By Writers, and the Tin House Conference. The Davis Humanities Institute offers a fellowship that first year students can apply for to fund their writing projects. Admitted students are also considered for University-wide fellowships.

For additional information, please contact:

Sarah Yunus [email protected] Department of English Graduate Program Coordinator for the MFA Program in Creative Writing (530) 752-2281

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Prospective Student Information

The UC Santa Cruz doctoral program in literature offers an innovative multilingual and multidisciplinary approach to literary studies, involving the use of more than one language literature. The program is relatively small, and students work closely with faculty throughout their graduate careers. They are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of intellectual and cultural events, research clusters, and lectures offered on campus.

The doctoral program combines critical and independent thought with global perspectives. Working across linguistic, national, and period boundaries, students blend critical approaches, literary traditions, and/or cultural archives in comparative and interdisciplinary projects.

A Creative/Critical Writing concentration within the Ph.D. program is available, for which prospective students apply during the admissions process. Creative/Critical applicants submit additional creative writing samples of poetry, prose fiction, creative nonfiction or hybrid/cross genre. Students in the Creative/Critical concentration complete all the requirements for the literature Ph.D. with the addition of a creative/critical degree component in the form of coursework, original creative work with a critical introduction and, if desired, work in poetics, translation, form and/or critical writing focused on creative practices.

Students may apply for a designated emphasis on the literature doctoral diploma in programs and departments such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Education, Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, Latin American and Latino Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology, and the History of Art and Visual Culture. Applications and requirements are available at the respective department offices.

Course Requirements

  • LIT 200, Proseminar, to be taken in fall quarter of the first year;
  • LIT 201, Pedagogy of Teaching/Teaching Assistant Training, to be taken prior to or in conjunction with the first Teaching Assistant appointment;
  • Twelve additional courses leading to the definition of an area of concentration. At least two of these must be in a second-language literature; at least one must focus on pre-modern literature and culture. A minimum of six courses must be regularly scheduled Literature seminars;
  • LIT 291F, a two-credit advising course, each quarter.

Second Language Requirements

The program requires significant literary work in two languages. All students are required to complete the Literature Department's intensive three-week Graduate Summer Language Program or its equivalent and a minimum of two graduate courses in a second-language literature in which 50 percent or more of the reading is done in the original language. The second-language literature must serve as a component of the qualifying examination.

Teaching Requirements

Students must complete at least three quarters of supervised teaching experience. 

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination must be taken by the first quarter of the fourth year. It consists of three components: 

  • a portfolio with a field statement and comprehensive bibliography, a topic statement, a paper of publishable quality, and a dissertation sketch; 
  • translation examination; and 
  • oral examination. 

Post-Qualifying Requirements

Students must submit a prospectus outlining and defining the dissertation project within a quarter following the qualifying examination, but no later than the end of the fourth year. The prospectus identifies the research problem, methodologies, and case studies, with chapter outlines, footnotes, and bibliography.

Non-Terminal Master’s Degree

A master of arts (M.A.) degree is conferred upon request to doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) candidates who have successfully completed the literature Ph.D. qualifying examination or who have completed the coursework required for the doctorate (Teaching Assistant training and supervised teaching experience exempted) and elect to write a master’s thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

Dissertation

The dissertation is a substantial piece of original research in the field of literature.

A dissertation submitted for the Creative/Critical concentration may take alternative forms:

  •  A book-length original creative project—novel, novella, collection of poems, collection of stories, creative nonfiction, or a hybrid/experimental form (including but not limited to digital/new media, performance/performativity/screenplay, the lyric essay) with a critical chapter or chapters totaling at least 75 pages exploring the historical, methodological, and/or theoretical foundations of the creative work; or
  • A dissertation on theory, form, poetics or literary history; a translation of a creative work with a 30-50-page, substantive, critical introduction; a critical edition.

The dissertation committee is composed of three members, with the dissertation advisor acting as chair. The majority of the membership of a dissertation committee shall be members of the Santa Cruz Division of the Academic Senate. 

Detailed instructions for the preparation of the dissertation are available on the Graduate Division website .

Academic Progress

To maintain satisfactory academic progress and eligibility for fellowships and other benefits, students must:

  • complete required coursework in the first two to three years;
  • satisfy the department’s second-language requirement;
  • pass the qualifying examination (QE) during the third year or fall quarter of the fourth year;
  • complete a dissertation prospectus and advance to candidacy by the end of the fourth year; and
  • complete the dissertation by the end of the seventh year.

Applying for Graduation

For information on how to apply for graduation, visit the Graduate Division website .

Further Information

Additional detailed information for prospective graduate students, including procedures for application and admission to graduate studies, examinations, and requirements for the doctor of philosophy degree, is available from the Division of Graduate Studies and on the department website .

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  • February 4, 2024 Mia Boykin's Newest Poetry Collection Published by City Lights
  • January 30, 2024 Kristen Nelson Publishes Article in Feminist Studies Journal
  • November 26, 2023 Nghiem Tran's "We're Safe When We're Alone" Appears on NPR's Best Books of 2023

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The Creative Writing Program program is administered by the Literature Department at UCSC .

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D’aguiar, fred, huneven, michelle, kessler, jascha, mullen, harryette r., simpson, mona, snelson, daniel, stefans, brian kim, torres, justin, wilson, reed, yenser, stephen, torres, joseph, williams, alexander.

Department of Creative Writing

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The Department of Creative Writing at UCR offers the only Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in the University of California system and the MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts . It is a growing and dynamic program made up entirely of established writers and poets. Courses at UCR are designed for all students in the language arts, and they emphasize developing each student's skills and talents. Through writing fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and/or drama, students examine language and meaning both as practitioners and as readers as they develop and hone essential writing techniques.

Every writer needs to develop a critical sense to augment creative ability. For this reason, the Creative Writing Department offers two types of courses. Workshop courses are seminars that focus on writing and on the discussion of student work. Reading courses for writers focus on aspects of literature presented from a writer's point of view. Frequently, they employ writing in imitation as one of several approaches to understanding the craft of writing. Upper-division workshop courses are offered at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels in poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Several reading courses link two genres such as fiction and poetry, and poetry and drama.

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Announcements

Katie Ford 's sequence of poems The Anchoress — set as a monodrama by composer David Serkin Ludwig — was performed this summer at Chamber Music Northwest.

Laila Lalami published the New York Times Magazine cover story “A State of Uncertainty” and was named a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard for 2023-2024.

Charmaine Craig ’s  My Nemesis  has been published this year by Grove Press.

Thalia Williamson ’s “The Silent Part” was published this summer in Joyland .

Quyen Pham ’s “Such Good Girls” was published this past spring in Room .

Emily Doyle  published “Thursdays for Haru” earlier this year in the Sun.

Tom Lutz 's  1925 A Literary Encyclopedia  is being published by Rare Bird Lit, and his novel  Archipelago  is coming out from Red Hen Press. His essay "Gravy Donuts" was published in Iowa Review .

Reza Aslan 's  An American Martyr in Persia was longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Beograd Weld Award.

Allison Benis White won the 2022 Pushcart Prize and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award.

Allison Hedge Coke  was a National Book Award finalist for 2022’s Look at This Blue .

Susan Straight 's  Mecca was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and named a Top Ten California Book of the Year by the New York Times and one of the best books of 2022 by NPR, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Juan Felipe Herrera  was a recent recipient of the Poetry Foundation’s Pegasus Award and the LARB/UCR lifetime achievement award. The Fresno Unified School District named its latest school Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary.

Conversations With Steve Erickson has been published by the University Press of Mississippi as part of a series that includes Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, James Baldwin, William Burroughs and Toni Morrison.

Employment Opportunities

None at this time.

Statement of Solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander Community

We are grieved by the recent killings in Atlanta, as well as by all other anti-Asian bigotry and violence, and stand in solidarity with our AAPI colleagues, students, and, more broadly, all AAPI across the nation. We stand against all anti-AAPI hate crimes, discrimination, and dehumanization, knowing that the group Stop AAPI Hate has reported 3,975 hate incidents against Asian Americans between March 19, 2020 and February 28, 2021.

To take action:

  • Educational resources and petitions to sign: HERE .
  • Report hate incidents HERE and HERE .
  • Attend a bystander intervention training to learn ways to stop anti-Asian American and xenophobic harassment.  [ March 29 at 3 p.m. ] [ April 20 at 2 p.m. ]
  • Send a message to elected officials.

To learn more:

  • The New Yorker : Ed Park, "Confronting Anti-Asian Discrimination During the Coronavirus Crisis"
  • The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans

Statement of Solidarity with Black Lives Matter

We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The brutal killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia are part of a pattern of state violence against Black people, which too often remains invisible and unpunished when it is not blamed on the victims themselves.

America’s institutionalized practice of settler colonialism, genocide, slavery, and segregation continues in the form of continued occupation, discrimination, mass incarceration, and racist policing.

The nationwide protests we are witnessing this week are an expression of anger at police violence, a rejection of white supremacy, and a call to our leaders that they live up to the nation's founding proclamation of equality. We demand accountability from the police, disinvestment from law enforcement in favor of education, housing, and community services, and, above all, justice for the victims.

Recognition of Native Lands Statement

We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the original and traditional territory of Tongva people [ Tongva and Cahuilla people] and within Tongva, Cahuilla, Luiseño & Serrano original lands and contemporary territories.

In the spirit of Rupert and Jeanette Costo’s founding relationship to our campus, we would like to respectfully acknowledge and recognize our responsibility to the original and current caretakers of this land, water and air: the Cahuilla , Tongva , Luiseño , and Serrano peoples and all of their ancestors and descendants, past, present and future. Today this meeting place is home to many Indigenous peoples from all over the world, including UCR faculty, students, and staff, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these homelands. Please also visit our university founder's  legacy page, Cahuilla Scholar Rupert Costo ,  California Indian Studies & Scholars Association , UCR's  California Center for Native Nations ,  Native American Student Programs  (NASP), and the page of UCR's  Rupert Costo Chair, Dr. Clifford Trafzer .

Download UCR Native American Student Programs Land Statement

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Writers Week 2023

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Bruce Nauman, Vices and Virtues, UCSD Stuart Collection

Our offices are not currently open to in-person walk-ins, but we are here to help.

If you are an MFA student and you have any questions for our advising staff or would like to schedule a Zoom meeting, please contact us at [email protected] .

We appreciate your flexibility, and we hope everyone stays healthy.  If/when we are able to re-open in-person advising, we will update you.

MFA in Writing

Welcome. The MFA Program in Writing welcomes brave and innovative writers and encourages the formation of mutually-supportive, inspiring literary communities. The program is small, with typically 4 to 8 new students admitted and funded each year. The intimate nature of the program allows students to work very closely with writing faculty and each other within the quarterly cross-genre workshop.

The MFA program is a two-year full-time, in-person program foregrounding the interconnectedness of literary arts practice, modes of production and distribution, and the rigorous study of literatures, arts, and cultures. The program offers the option of extending to a third year; the majority of students choose to do so.

All graduate writing workshops are cross-genre and often interdisciplinary, investigating and often undermining a studio-versus-academic distinction in advanced literary education. Moreover, the program encourages interdisciplinary research and holistic approaches to teaching and learning. Therefore, teaching creative-critical reading and writing skills as a Teaching Assistant is a popular choice among all Writing students in the MFA program, most of whom are eligible for scholarships and fellowships in addition to union-represented compensation for Teaching Assistant work.

Program participants are encouraged to focus exclusively on writing, teaching, research, and art-making during their residency, allowing writers to integrate pedagogical training and artistic practice as a way to prepare for future scholarly endeavors while creating a book-length work of literature. To that end, each quarterly cross-genre workshop discusses writing-in-progress and published works in terms of poetics, prosody, and literary conventions alongside the interrelationship between aesthetic intervention/ experiment and radical social change across cultures, nations, regions, and movements.

While each writer’s extra-departmental coursework is flexible, program participants are expected to take five workshops. The cross-genre workshops function less as editorial sessions or as explications of craft techniques than as vibrant skill-sharing intellectual roundtables. UCSD’s writers generate dazzlingly diverse collaborations in writing and literary/arts events, many of which result in various forms of publication. Both faculty and graduate projects tend to repurpose, interweave, hack, and muddle generic categories and/or radically elasticize their conventions.

UC San Diego is a tier-one research university respected internationally for untangling mysteries and manifesting world-altering possibilities in the arts, humanities, and sciences. The MFA in Writing is part of the Department of Literature, a world literature department with a focus on critical theory, social justice, and cultural, ethnic, and gender studies, where faculty members work in multiple languages, geographies, and historical periods. All graduate writing workshops are offered in English, but program participants may work with Literature and extra-departmental faculty on bilingual or multilingual projects, including works in translation.

With ties to   Visual Arts ,   Music ,   Ethnic Studies ,   Science Studies ,  the   Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop  and the   Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination , along with other departments, centers, and programs, unprecedented entanglements of artistic and scholarly experimentation are encouraged. The MFA program co-exists with a thriving undergraduate writing major and benefits from the long-established   New Writing Series   and the   Archive for New Poetry . Current MFA Writing Faculty include   Kazim Ali , Amy Sara Carroll ,  Ben Doller ,   Camille Forbes ,   Lily Hoang ,   Jac Jemc ,  Casandra Lopez ,  Brandon Som , Anna Joy Springer , and Marco Wilkinson . Emeriti Writing Faculty include   Rae Armantrout   and   Eileen Myles .

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MFA Admission 2024

Application Period 9/6/2023 - 12/6/2023

Decision Notifications February - April 2024

Program Begins Fall 2024

[ Admission Overview  ]

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Berkeley Berkeley Academic Guide: Academic Guide 2023-24

Creative writing.

University of California, Berkeley

About the Program

The Creative Writing Program is an interdisciplinary minor program offered by the Office of Undergraduate and Interdisciplinary Studies in the Division of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Letters & Science. The approved courses students take to satisfy the minor course requirements are offered by over forty departments and programs on campus. Interested undergraduate students in any major may earn an interdepartmental minor in creative writing by completing the requirements listed in the Minor Requirements tab. For further information, please also see the Creative Writing Minor website  and the program's Frequently Asked Questions pages .

There is no major program in Creative Writing.

Declaring and Completing the Minor

Information regarding declaring the minor and completing the minor, including deadlines, is available on the Creative Writing Minor website . See Declaring and Completing . 

Students who are interested in the Creative Writing minor are encouraged to subscribe to the Creative Writing minor email list serve to receive important news about the minor, including special approval courses for the minor that are not published on the website. To subscribe, email [email protected] .

Visit Program Website

Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript, but are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

All minors must be declared before the first day of classes in your Expected Graduation Term (EGT). For summer graduates, minors must be declared prior to the first day of Summer Session A. 

All upper-division courses must be taken for a letter grade. 

A minimum of three of the upper-division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.

A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required in the upper-division courses to fulfill the minor requirements.

Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.

No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.

All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which the student plans to graduate. If students cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, they should see a College of Letters & Science adviser.

All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)

Course Requirements

 At least two of the three writing courses must be taken at UC Berkeley.

Students may be allowed to include courses that are not on the following lists with the approval of the creative writing minor faculty advisor. It is the responsibility of the student to provide the faculty advisor with documentary evidence to support the claim of course eligibility. Contact the creative writing minor student academic advisor at  [email protected]  for more information.

Contact Information

Creative writing minor.

Undergraduate and Interdisciplinary Studies

235 Evans Hall

Program Director and Faculty Advisor

Fiona McFarlane, PhD (Department of English)

413 Wheeler Hall

[email protected]

Student Academic Advisor

Laura Demir

[email protected]

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When you print this page, you are actually printing everything within the tabs on the page you are on: this may include all the Related Courses and Faculty, in addition to the Requirements or Overview. If you just want to print information on specific tabs, you're better off downloading a PDF of the page, opening it, and then selecting the pages you really want to print.

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Creative Writing Minor

Graduate programs, university of california, berkeley graduate admissions office.

http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/prospective/

The University of California, Berkeley does not offer a graduate program in Creative Writing. Below is a list of selected Creative Writing graduate programs offered by other colleges and universities:

Creative Writing graduate programs

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY – Los Angeles, California – Creative Writing M.F.A. at AULA ARIZONA STATE – Tempe, Arizona – Creative Writing M.F.A. at ASU BOSTON UNIVERSITY – Boston, Massachusetts – Creative Writing M.F.A. at BU BROOKLYN COLLEGE – Brooklyn, New York – Creative Writing M.F.A. at BC COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY – New York, New York – Creative Writing M.F.A. at Columbia CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY – Montreal, Quebec, Canada – M.A. in English (Creative Writing Option) at Concordia GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY – Fairfax, Virginia – Creative Writing M.F.A. at GMU GODDARD COLLEGE – Plainfield, Vermont – Creative Writing M.F.A. at Goddard INDIANA UNIVERSITY – Bloomington, Indiana – Creative Writing M.F.A. at IU NEW YORK UNIVERSITY – New York, New York –  Creative Writing M.F.A. at NYU or M.A. in English with Concentration in Creative Writing at NYU SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA – Moraga, California – Creative Writing M.F.A. at SMC SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY – San Francisco, California – Creative Writing M.A. and M.F.A. at SFSU TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY – San Marcos, Texas – Creative Writing M.F.A. at Texas State STANFORD UNIVERSITY Stegner Fellowship – Palo Alto, California UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA – Birmingham, Alabama – Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Alabama UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA – Tucson, Arizona –  Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Arizona UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS – Fayetteville, Arkansas – Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Arkansas UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Creative Writing M.F.A. Options at UBC UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS – Davis, California – English M.A. with an Emphasis in Creative Writing at UCD UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE – Irvine, California – English M.F.A. in Writing at UCI UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE – Riverside, California – M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at UCR UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA – Norwich, United Kingdom – Creative Writing M.A. at UEA UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA – Gainesville, Florida – Creative Writing M.F.A. at UF UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON – Houston, Texas – M.A. and Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing and M.F.A. in English: Creative Writing at UH UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO – Moscow, Idaho – Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Idaho UNIVERSITY OF IOWA – Iowa City, Iowa – Creative Writing M.F.A. in English at U of Iowa and M.F.A. in Nonfiction Writing at U of Iowa UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND – College Park, Maryland – Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Maryland UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN – Ann Arbor, Michigan – Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Michigan UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA – Missoula, Montana – Creative Writing M.F.A. at U of Montana UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA – Las Vegas, Nevada – Creative Writing M.F.A. at UNLV UNIVERSITY OF OREGON – Eugene, Oregon – Creative Writing M.F.A. at UO WARREN WILSON COLLEGE – Asheville, North Carolina – MFA Program for Writers at WWC

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  • Berkeley Holloway Poetry Series – Fall 2023
  • UC Berkeley Lunch Poems 2023-24
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  • Completion of L&S Minor Form – Must complete during EGT.
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UPEI Creative Writing Master Class Reading

2024 UPEI Creative Writing Master Class

The annual public reading by UPEI’s Creative Writing Master Class will take place on Wednesday, March 13, at 7:00 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall.

The reading will showcase 16 of the Island’s talented emerging writers: Kylee Bustard, Madalyn Clempson, Brian Collins, Meghan Dewar, Theodora Douglas-West, Arielle Dunn, Alice Levesque-Carreau, Olivia Jalbert, Donna MacCormac, Peter Macmillan, Claire MacPhee, Noah Manholland, Delphina Morgan, Cybelle Rieber, Larissa Storey, and Emma Willoughby.

The students will read excerpts of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, scriptwriting, and young people’s fiction. Visit a private academy for young mermaids, travel with a Canadian soldier to France for the First World War, walk with young Nigerians in the teeming streets of Lagos, and hear a front-line health worker’s poetic recipe for comfort food. The audience will also hear about meeting police inspector Tronzomyr Rhodes, a raccoon, and forensic analyst Remus the giant white rat, and witness a conflict between rural residents and an outsider developer. From climate change and murderous rivalry to enchanted hotels and the vicissitudes of love and sex, the evening will celebrate vibrant writing.

The master class reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department and Faculty of Arts, and admission is free.

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Genre: poetry

Aria Aber was born and raised in Germany and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. Her debut book Hard Damage won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry and was published in September 2019. Her poems are forthcoming or have appeared in The New Yorker, New Republic, The Yale Review, Poem-A-Day, Narrative, POETRY, and elsewhere. A graduate of the NYU MFA in Creative Writing, she holds awards and fellowships from Kundiman, the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing, and the Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. She is the recipient of a 2020 Whiting Award in Poetry.

Website: https://www.ariaaber.com/

Amelia Ada is a trans poet and essayist. She holds an MFA in poetry from Vanderbilt University, and she graduated with honors from both the undergraduate journalism and creative writing programs at Northwestern University. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including  ZYZZYVA,   Denver Quarterly, Boston Review, Southwest Review , and  West Branch.  Her first book manuscript was a finalist for the 2020 National Poetry Series Open Competition. She lives in Los Angeles and co-hosts the podcast  You Shouldn’t Let Poets Lie To You .

Website: https://amelia-ada.com/

Akhim Alexis

Genre: fiction

Akhim Alexis is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago. He received his BA and MA from The University of the West Indies. He is the winner of the Brooklyn Caribbean Lit Fest Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean. He was also a finalist for the Barry Hannah Prize in Fiction, the Grist Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors Contest and the Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize for poetry. His writing has appeared in The Massachusetts Review , Electric Literature , The Rumpus , and elsewhere.

Taneum Bambrick

Taneum Bambrick is the author of Intimacies, Received ( Copper Canyon Press 2022), and Vantage ( American Poetry Review /Honickman First Book Award 2019). A 2020 Stegner fellow, their work can be found in the New Yorker , The Nation , American Poetry Review, PEN,  and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, Sewanee Writers Conference, and a scholarship from Bread Loaf Writers Conference.

Remy Barnes

Remy Barnes’s fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, The Southampton Review, Southern Humanities Review and elsewhere. He received his MFA from Cornell University where he taught courses on fiction, poetry and film. He is at work on a novel.

Website: www.remybarnes.org

Mayookh Barua

Genre: nonfiction

Mayookh Barua is a writer belonging to the Ahom community in Northeast India. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in nonfiction in the Creative Writing and Literature Department at USC and holds an MFA in Fiction from North Carolina State University. His work explores sexuality, art, mythology, education and family through a queer South-Asian voice. A 2023 Roots.Wounds.Words Non-Fiction fellow, MOZAIK Philanthropy’s 2023 Future Art Writers Award winner, and a Dorianne Laux Poetry Prize 2023 Finalist, his works appear in The Audacity by Roxane Gay, The Gay & Lesbian Review , Litro Magazine , Espace Art Actuel , The Third Eye , Mezosfera Magazine and elsewhere.

Damien Belliveau

Damien Belliveau is a fiction fellow at the University of Southern California. As a creative writer, he has two dissertation projects: one creative, the other critical. The creative project is an autobiographical coming-of-age story inspired by his time serving as a medic in the U.S. Army during the mid-90s. The critical project examines book-to-film adaptations where he explores the editorial strategies employed to translate literature to cinema. Damien’s been a reality television editor for nearly two decades; his credits range from “The Real World” to “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” to “Bill Nye Saves the World.” He’s directed episodes of reality TV, but in the non-scripted space, he prefers the power of the edit bay. A PEN Emerging Voices Fellow, his work has appeared in  The Los Angeles Review of Books ,  Epiphany Magazine ,  The Spectacle , and more.

Website: www.damienbelliveau.com

Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a 2017-2018 Fulbright Fellow to Bulgaria, and a Dornsife Fellow at the University of Southern California creative writing PhD program. His fiction has appeared in  The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Yeti, The Fanzine , and  Vol. 1 Brooklyn . His non-fiction and interviews have appeared in  Bookforum, The Believer, Poets & Writers, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Bitch , and the  Los Angeles Review of Books . He has received fellowships and scholarships from the Truman Capote Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Wesleyan Writers Conference, Kimmel Harding Nelson, Sozopol Fiction Seminars, and Key West Literary Seminars. He is a former managing editor of the Organist podcast from McSweeney’s and KCRW and has taught creative writing in Morocco, Bulgaria, and at the University of Iowa.

Bryan Byrdlong

Bryan Byrdlong is a Black poet from Chicago, Illinois. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the Helen Zell Writers Program. He has been published in Guernica Magazine , The Kenyon Review , and Poetry Magazine , among others. Bryan received a 2021 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. He is currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at USC in Los Angeles.

Website: https://bryanbyrdlong.com/

Amanda Choo Quan

Amanda Choo Quan is a Trinidadian/Jamaican writer. Though she writes in all genres, her concentration at USC is in nonfiction. Previously, she attended the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, where she was a valedictorian nominee, and CalArts, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. She’s former UN staff as well as a journalist who has published in Harper’s , Teen Vogue , NYLON , and Caribbean Beat . Most recently, she was a correspondent for NY, London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks. Her interests are eclectic: race, culture, aesthetics, humour, and the psychologies of the above. She’s always rooting for everybody Black. She tweets at @amandachooquan.

Ariel Chu is a PhD student in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University, where she was awarded the Shirley Jackson Prize in Fiction. Ariel’s work has been published by The Rumpus , Black Warrior Review , and The Common , among others. Her writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net Award, and Best Short Fictions Anthology, and she has received support from Kundiman, the Steinbeck Fellowship, the Luce Scholars Program, and the P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Ariel is currently writing a collection of short stories about queer suburban hauntings. She also serves as the fiction editor of Nat. Brut and translates contemporary queer Taiwanese fiction into English. Her research interests include queer Taiwanese and Taiwanese American literature, hybrid Asian American writing, and experimental fiction.

Website: ariel-chu.com

James Ciano

James Ciano holds an MFA from New York University. His poetry  appears in  Prairie Schooner ,  The Literary Review ,  Poetry Northwest ,  Bennington Review ,  Greensboro Review , and  Alaska Quarterly Review , among others. His reviews and writings on poetry have appeared in  The Adroit Journal ,  Poetry Northwest , and  Los Angeles Review of Books . Originally from New York, he lives in Los Angeles, California where he is currently a Provost Fellow and PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California.

Website: https://jamesciano.com/

Marcus Clayton

Marcus Clayton is a multigenre Afrolatino writer from South Gate, CA, with an M.F.A. in Poetry from CSU Long Beach. Currently, he pursues a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California, focusing his creative work on genre-bent nonfiction, and his critical work on the intersections between Latinx literature, Black literature, Decolonization, and Punk Rock. He has a poetry chapbook,  Nurture the Open Wounds , through Glass Poetry Press, and will be releasing a full-length book of mixed-genre prose titled  ¡PÓNK! with Nightboat Books. A few other publications include the Los Angeles Review of Books , Joyland Magazine , Indiana Review , Apogee Journal , Passages North , Black Punk Now! , and  The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock. In his free time, he also screams and plays guitar for local LA punk band, tudors.

Website: https://marcus-clayton.com/

Antonia Crane

Genre: nonfictoin

Antonia Crane is a queer sex worker, activist, and filmmaker. She’s the author of the memoir, Spent (Rare Bird Lit/Barnacle Books). She was awarded the Outstanding Community Service & Activism Award from Antioch University Alumni Association in 2018. PRISM International magazine named Antonia the grand prize winner of their 2019 creative nonfiction contest. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Quartz:  Atlantic Media, CNN.com, Buzzfeed, N+1 , Playboy, Los Angeleno, Cosmopolitan, Salon.com, The Huffington Post, DAME, The Los Angeles Review, Bustle , and lots of other places. Most recently, her work has appeared in the anthologies: Whorephobia: Strippers on Art, Work and Life , edited by Lizzie Borden, and Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21 st Century: Documents of Hope and Resistance, edited by Anthony Arnove & Haley Pessin. She lives in Los Angeles.

Website: https://www.antoniacrane.com/

Ashley Dailey

Ashley Dailey (she/her) is a writer and multimedia artist from Sargent, Georgia. She mostly writes about family and the cultural legacies of the American South. Her work has received support from the Academy of American Poets and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and is published or forthcoming in Sonora Review ,  Tupelo Quarterly ,  Waxwing , Breakwater Review , New Delta Review , Plume Poetry , The Florida Review , and elsewhere. She was a 2021 Best of the Net nominee and a finalist for the 2021 Peseroff Poetry Prize. Her work has also been featured on Ada Limón’s podcast The Slowdown . She received her MFA from the University of Tennessee, where she served as the Poetry Editor for Grist , volume 14, and hosted the interdisciplinary reading series Chiasmus. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Website: https://www.ashleydaileypoetry.com/

Michael Deagler

Michael Deagler is the author of the novel Early Sobrieties (Astra House, 2024). His short fiction has appeared Harper’s , McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern , and Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading . Originally from Bucks County, PA, he received his BA from Temple University and an MFA from Rutgers University-Camden.

Website: michaeldeagler.com

Joseph De La Torre

Joseph is a fiction writer from Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Darren Donate

Darren Donate is a Mexican American writer. He previously received an MFA in poetry at the University of New Mexico where he taught courses in creative writing and technical communication. He is interested in the intersections of race and labor. You can find his work in Berkeley Poetry Review, the minnesota review, ANMLY  and others.

Cyrus Dunham

Cyrus Dunham is the author of  A Year Without a Name  (2020), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards. His writing on grassroots anti-prison organizing and trans politics has appeared in  The New Yorker , Granta , and The Intercept , among other publications and anthologies. He is a co-founder and editor of Deluge Books.

Kyle Edwards

Kyle Edwards grew up on the Lake Manitoba First Nation in Manitoba. A graduate of Ryerson University, he has worked as a journalist for Native News Online , ProPublica and Maclean’s , and has been a Nieman Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He is a Provost Fellow at the University of Southern California, where he is pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature. His debut novel is forthcoming from Pantheon in spring 2025.

Jonathan Escoffery

Jonathan Escoffery is a Jamaican American writer from Miami. He is the recipient of the 2020 Plimpton Prize for Fiction, a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fellowship, and the 2020 National Magazine Award for Fiction from the American Society of Magazine Editors. His writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in The Paris Review, American Short Fiction, Electric Literature, Prairie Schooner, Passages North, ZYZZYVA, AGNI, Pleiades, The Best American Magazine Writing 2020, Creative Nonfiction , and elsewhere. He has received fellowships and support from Aspen Words, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Kimbilio Fiction, the Anderson Center, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and elsewhere. Jonathan earned his MFA in Fiction from the University of Minnesota, and attends the University of Southern California’s Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature Program as a Provost Fellow.

Website: https://jonathanescoffery.com/

Lessa Fenderson

Leesa Fenderson’s work has appeared in Callaloo Journal , Uptown Magazine , Moko Magazine , and she was a Finalist in Paper Darts’ Short Fiction contest. Leesa completed her MFA at Columbia University. She is an attorney, a teacher, and a Jamaican immigrant who hails from New York. She currently writes in Los Angeles where she is a PhD fellow in USC’s Writing and Literature Program.

Website: https://www.leesafenderson.com/

Seth Fischer

Seth Fischer is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor. His work has twice been listed as notable in  The Best American Essays , and his publications have appeared in Guernica, Zocalo Public Square, Slate, Buzzfeed, and elsewhere. He’s been an editor at The Rumpus, Gold Line Press, Air/Light, and The Nervous Breakdown, and he’s been awarded fellowships and residencies by, among others, Ucross, Disquiet, the Jean Piaget Archives, Lambda Literary, Jentel, and Ragdale. Prior to starting the PhD program in Creative Writing and Literature at USC, he taught at UCLA-Extension Writer’s Program and Antioch University Los Angeles, where he also received his MFA.

Website: https://www.seth-fischer.com/

Emily Geminder

Emily Geminder is the author of  Dead Girls and Other Stories , winner of the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize. Her work has appeared in  AGNI, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Prairie Schooner, Tin House,  and elsewhere. She is currently a Stegner Fellow in fiction at Stanford University.

Website: emilygeminder.com

Carrie Guss

Carrie Guss is a Canadian writer and artist. She has worked with clients including Dzanc Books, The Baltimore Review , CBC shortDOCS, the Florida Writers Festival, Persea Books, Quarter After Eight , Lucky Peach , and AOL News, and held editorial positions at Subtropics and Ricochet Editions. Her fiction has been shortlisted for the MASH Stories Prize, longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize, and has appeared most recently in Nat. Brut , NANO Fiction , and The Collagist . She has been awarded two Writers’ Reserve Grants by the Ontario Arts Council, and was honored on the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Top Prospects List. She holds a BA in Politics from Pomona College, an MFA in Fiction from the University of Florida, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California.

Alexandria Hall

Alexandria Hall is the author of Field Music (Ecco, 2020), a National Poetry Series winner. She holds an MFA from NYU and is currently a PhD candidate in Creative Writing and Literature at USC. She is a founding editor of Tele- and co-host of You Shouldn’t Let Poets Lie to You . Her poetry and prose have appeared in The Yale Review , Bennington Review , LARB Quarterly Journal , No Tokens , and other publications.

Website: https://www.alexandria-hall.com/

David Haydon

David Haydon (they/them) is essayist and poet originally from Springfield, KY. They are a student in the Creative Writing and Literature PhD program at the University of Southern California and completed an MFA in Creative Writing at Western Kentucky University. Their writing has appeared in Taunt magazine and is anthologized in Once a City Said: An Anthology of Louisville Poets (Sarabande). They are the nonfiction editor for Gold Line Press.

Stephanie Horvath

Stephanie Horvath’s poems have appeared in Gulf Coast , Poetry Northwest , Bennington Review , and Denver Quarterly , among other journals. She completed her MFA at Indiana University, where she was awarded the Yusef Komunyakaa Fellowship in poetry. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California.

Lucas Iberico Lozada

Lucas Iberico Lozada is a PhD candidate (ABD) in nonfiction writing. He is working on a book about the many tombs of Christopher Columbus. His reporting—from Brazil, Peru, and across the US—and essays have appeared in magazines and newspapers including the  Virginia Quarterly Review, the New York Times , The Nation , and Dissent. 

Victor Imko

Victor Imko is an essayist from Charleston, SC. They studied queer theory and literature as a Mellon Fellow at Northwestern University. They’ve taught classes in composition and creative writing at the University of Florida and Trident Technical College. Today they live in LA, writing as a Dornsife Fellow at the University of Southern California.

Mitchell Jacobs

Mitchell Jacobs is a poet and fiction writer from Minnesota. He earned an MFA from Purdue University, where he served as managing editor of Sycamore Review . Currently, he is a PhD candidate in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California, where he serves on the editorial board of Ricochet Editions. His work has appeared in journals such as the Cincinnati Review , Massachusetts Review , Ploughshares , and Southern Review , as well as the Best New Poets anthology and The Slowdown podcast through American Public Media.

Website: mitchellbjacobs.com

Jane Kalu’s work has been featured or is forthcoming in American Short Fiction , Boston Review , The Hopkins Review , Isele Magazine , Munyori Journal , and elsewhere. She’s a graduate of the MFA program at the University of New Mexico, where she was the recipient of the Joseph Badal Prize and the Hillerman/McGarrity Prize. Other awards include residencies and fellowships from StoryKnife and American short fiction. She is at work on a novel and a collection of short stories.

Website: https://janekalu.com/

Rebecca Kantor

Rebecca Kantor is a writer from Plano, Texas. She taught English in Madrid, Spain, for two years, then received her MFA in fiction from Vanderbilt University. Her fiction often deals with themes of girlhood and hauntings. She is currently at work on a novel.

Matt Kessler

Matt Kessler grew up in Mobile, Alabama and has since called many places home, including Chicago, Oxford and the Hudson Valley. His writing has appeared in  The Guardian, The Atlantic, MTV News, Dazed and Confused, Pitchfork, Candy, Vice  &  The Rumpus . His radio work has been broadcast on  Mississippi Public Broadcasting  &  Illinois Public Media . He holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Mississippi, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Southern California.

Website: www.matt-kessler.com

Victoria Kornick

Victoria Kornick is a writer from Virginia. Her creative nonfiction and poetry appear in  American Chordata ,  Copper Nickel ,  The Greensboro Review ,  No Tokens Journal , and  The Yale Review , among other publications. She holds an MFA from New York University, where she was a Rona Jaffe and Goldwater Hospital fellow. She has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, the Community of Writers, and the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. Victoria lives in Los Angeles, where she is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California.

Website: victoriakornick.com

Cameron Lange

Cameron Lange is a British-Iranian writer from London. His work has appeared in Roads & Kingdoms, Zócalo Public Square, and Lodestars Anthology . He holds an MSc in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Brian Lin is a doctoral candidate in Creative Writing and Literature. He has attended the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and the VONA Summer Workshop. He was a resident at Ragdale and The Cabins and a fellow at the Community of Writers Workshop and the Writing by Writers Workshop. His stories and essays can be found in  Electric Literature ,  The Rumpus ,  The Margins ,  Lambda Literary ,   Hyphen Magazine , and the  Los Angeles Review of Books . Brian is working on a novel and other books of prose.

Website: https://www.brianlinlit.com

Erin Marie Lynch is the author of Removal Acts (Graywolf Press, 2023). Her writing appears in POETRY, New England Review, DIAGRAM, Narrative , Best New Poets , and other publications. She has received awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, Indigenous Nations Poets, and the Wurlitzer Foundation. She lives in Los Angeles.

Website: http://www.erinmarielynch.com

Stephanie Mullings

Stephanie Mullings is a fiction writer from Chicago and a graduate of Boston University’s MFA program. She is a 2021 First Pages Prize winner and a finalist of the 2021 Arkansas International Emerging Writer’s Prize and CRAFT’s 2022 Short Fiction Prize. A PEN/O. Henry Prize nominee, her stories have appeared in Boulevard , Catapult , the Los Angeles Review , Ninth Letter , The Rumpus , Swamp Pink , Wigleaf , and elsewhere.

Charlie Napolitano

Charlie Napolitano was raised in Florida and received their MFA from the University of Central Florida. Their short story “Cobra” won the 2016 AWP Intro Journal Awards. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Rumpus, Quarterly West ,  The Florida Review , and elsewhere. Currently, they are a Ph.D. student in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California.

Rose Nguyễn

Rose Nguyễn is a writer from Honolulu, HI. She holds a BA from Princeton University and an MA in Literature from UC Berkeley. Her criticism has appeared in The Drift , and her essay in the Indiana Review, which won their 2021 Creative Nonfiction Prize, is a notable essay in Best American Essays 2023 . She is currently based in Los Angeles.

JoAnna Novak

JoAnna Novak’s debut memoir  Contradiction Days: An Artist on the Verge of Motherhood  was published in July. Her fourth book of poetry,  Domestirexia , will be published by Soft Skull in 2024. She is the author of the novel  I Must Have You  and  Meaningful Work: Stories. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review , and other publications.

Website: https://www.joannanovak.com/

Katharine Ogle

Katharine Ogle is a Provost Fellow at the University of Southern California, where she is pursuing a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing. She holds a BA with distinction from the University of Virginia and an MFA in poetry from the University of Washington. She has worked as an Associate Editor of  Poetry Northwest , as a writer-in-residence for Seattle Arts & Lectures, and as a lecturer for the University of Washington’s creative writing programs at Friday Harbor Laboratories and at the UW Rome Center. Her work has been published in Pleiades, Five Points, Poetry Northwest, by The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, and at a public bus stop in Seattle, among other places.

Michelle Orsi

Michelle Orsi is a writer from Spokane, Washington. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she is pursuing her PhD in Creative Writing & Literature at the University of Southern California. She received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Houston, where she was an Inprint Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones Fellow and worked as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. She was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Argentina in 2020.

Catherine Pond

Catherine Pond is the author of Fieldglass (Southern Illinois University Press 2021), winner of the Crab Orchard First Book Prize and a finalist for the National Poetry Series. Her poems have appeared in Best New Poets, Best American Nonrequired Reading, AGNI, Salmagundi, The Adroit Journal, Narrative , and other publications. Pond is a PhD candidate (ABD) in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Southern California.

Crystal Powell

Before devoting her time to writing, Crystal Powell was the VP of Production & Development for Electric City Entertainment and Silverwood Films, where she developed, co-produced, and associate-produced several features, including Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic starring Viggo Mortensen and Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond The Pines , starring Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, and Eva Mendes. Crystal was also a production executive on Tim Burton’s Big Eyes. She went on to study creative writing as a Lillian Vernon MFA Fellow at New York University. After graduating, she was a Center for Fiction NYC Emerging Writers Fellow, a Jack Jones Literary Arts Fellow, and a fiction finalist for both the Disquiet Prize and a New York Foundation For The Arts Fellowship. She’s working on her first novel while pursuing a PhD in creative writing and literature at the University of Southern California.

Jianan Qian

Jianan Qian writes in both Chinese and English. In her native language Chinese, she has published a story collection, a novel, an essay collection, and a letter collection. In English, she is a staff writer at The Millions and her works have appeared in The New York Times , Granta , Guernica Magazine , Gulf Coast , and elsewhere. She received her MFA in fiction from The Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student in English Literature and Creative Writing at The University of Southern California.

Thomas Renjilian

Thomas Renjilian is a fiction writer and poet originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He received his BA from Vassar College and MFA from Oregon State University. His stories and poems appear in  The Missouri Review, Gulf Coast, Kenyon Review, Denver Quarterly, DIAGRAM,  and other publications. He is the editor-in-chief of Gold Line Press and a fiction editor for  Joyland Magazine . He previously served as managing editor of Ricochet Editions. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is a PhD candidate in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Southern California.

Website: https://www.thomasrenjilian.com

Laura Roque

Laura Roque is the daughter of Cuban exiles and was raised in Hialeah, Florida. In 2018, she won Kenyon Review’s Short Fiction Contest and Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open Contest. She is currently a Wallis Annenberg fellow at the University of Southern California and a PhD candidate in their creative writing program. Her novel-in-progress, Aguanta, Diana, has received support from the American Association of University Women and was awarded a dissertation fellowship for the 2023-2024 academic year, as a project important to advances in equity for women and girls.

Website: lauraroque.com

Austen Leah Rose

Austen Leah Rose’s debut book of poems Once, This Forest Belonged to a Storm was the 2022 winner of the Juniper Prize and published by the University of Massachusetts Press. Her poetry has appeared in Zyzzyva, AGNI, The Southern Review, Narrative, The Adroit Journal,  and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Bread Loaf, and Djerassi. In 2018, she was awarded the Walter Sullivan Award from The Sewanee Review. She holds an MFA from Columbia University.

Website: https://austenleahrose.com/

Lindsey Skillen

Lindsey Skillen is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing (Fiction) & Literature at the University of Southern California, where she has taught in the honors writing program, directed the Association of English Graduate Students, and served on the editorial board of Ricochet Editions .  Her most recent publications can be found in -tele and  Cosmonauts Avenue,  where she was long-listed for a prize judged by Ottessa Moshfegh. She was the recipient of the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation Scholarship for the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley workshop, and the Vaclav Havel Scholarship for the Prague Summer Program for writers, and had also received support from Tin House Summer and Winter workshops and the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. She received an MFA in Fiction from New York University, where she was a Goldwater Fellow, Managing Editor of  Washington Square Review , and a Provost Visiting Graduate Student Fellow at the NYU Global Research Institutes in London and Prague. She’s read at the LA Times Book Festival, the NYU Emerging Writers reading series at KGB Bar in NYC, and The Wooly and Broken Shelves in Gainesville, FL. As an undergraduate at the University of Florida her work was featured in  Prairie,  The Fine Print ,  and  Tea Literary Magazine ,  where it was awarded the Palmetto Prize for Fiction. Her story “A Sunny Place for Shady People” was selected for publication in  plain china ,  a national anthology of the best undergraduate writing. She was hand-selected by Joyce Carol Oates for participation in her Master Class and spent a summer reading for The Book Group Literary Agency. She has volunteered her time with Still Waters in a Storm, Women Who Submit, and as a mentor with WriteGirl.

Sophia Stid

Sophia Stid is a poet from California. She is the author of the chapbooks But For I Am a Woman , winner of the 2022 Host Publications Chapbook Prize, and Whistler’s Mother , published by Bull City Press in 2021. A graduate of the MFA program at Vanderbilt University, Sophia has also received fellowships and support from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Collegeville Institute, and Georgetown University’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. She is the winner of the 2021 Barthelme Prize from Gulf Coast ; recent poems and essays can be found in Best New Poets , Poetry Daily, and the Kenyon Review .

Website: https://www.sophiastid.com/

Essy Stone is a PhD student in poetry at the University of Southern California. She holds an MFA from the University of Miami, and recently completed a Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. Her work has been published in the New Yorker , 32 Poems , and Prairie Schooner . Her first book, What It Done to Us , was awarded the Idaho Prize in Poetry and was published by Lost Horse Press in 2017.

Leah Tieger

A recipient of support from the Vermont Studio Center and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Leah Tieger is a doctoral candidate in the University of Southern California’s Literature and Creative Writing program. As a 2023 Wrigley Institute fellow, her ecopoetic practice led to a qualitative study of communities surrounding the Santa Susana Field Lab. Recent related work appears in Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, Blackbird, and Tupelo Quarterly . Her manuscript, Disaster Tourist, is a 2023 National Poetry Series finalist.

Website: https://leahtieger.com/

Clancy Tripp

Clancy Tripp is a queer Midwestern writer, graphic artist, and humorist. Her work has appeared in Black Warrior Review , Catapult , december magazine , Electric Literature , The Florida Review , The Greensboro Review , Indiana Review , Ninth Letter , Slice , The Rumpus , McSweeney’s Internet Tendency , Reductress , and elsewhere. She won the 2020 Iowa Review Award in Nonfiction (selected by Leslie Jamison), the 2021 Witness Literary Award in Nonfiction (selected by Cinelle Barnes), and the 2023 Spring Flash Fiction contest at F(r)iction. She has an MFA from the Ohio State University and an MA from Columbia University.

Website: www.ClancyTripp.com

Katrin Tschirgi

Katrin Tschirgi is a PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing. Her work has appeared in journals such as The Literary Review, Washington Square Review,  Quarterly West, and The Normal School. She is from Boise, Idaho.

Website: https://www.katrintschirgi.com/

Vanessa Villarreal

Vanessa Angélica Villarreal was born in the Rio Grande Valley to formerly undocumented Mexican immigrants. She is the author of the poetry collection Beast Meridian (Noemi Press, Akrilica Series 2017), recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award, a Kate Tufts Discovery Award nomination,  and winner of the John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine’s The Cut, Harper’s Bazaar, Oxford American, Paris Review, Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. She is a recipient of a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, and a doctoral candidate in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she is working on a poetry and an essay collection while raising her son in Los Angeles.

Website: https://vanessaangelicavillarreal.com/

Jorrell Watkins

Jorrell Watkins is from Richmond, VA. He received fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution, Fulbright Japan, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. His chapbook, If Only the Sharks Would Bite , won the inaugural Desert Pavilion Chapbook Series in Poetry and his debut full-length collection, PlayHouse: poems, is forthcoming in 2024 with Northwestern University Press.

Website: https://jorrellwatkins.com/

Thalia Williamson

Thalia Williamson is an essayist, fiction writer, and poet. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Joyland Magazine , The Audacity , Longreads , BRINK , The Masters Review , and the Los Angeles Review of Books .

She was a finalist for the 2023 BRINK Literary Journal Award for Hybrid Writing and a semifinalist for the 2022 Sewanee Review Fiction Contest. Her work has received support from the Tin House Scholarship for Trans Writers, the Marius DeBrabant Fund, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Sewanee Tennessee Williams Scholarship.

She was born in London and now lives in Los Angeles, where she is completing a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside and a BA in Philosophy from King’s College London.

Website: thaliaw.com

Joliange Wright

Joliange Wright’s short stories have appeared in Lunch Ticket , Midwestern Gothic , and  Consequence Magazine . She has an MFA from The Bennington Writing Seminars, where she was editor of The End of the World , June 2017. She is currently a PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California, where she holds a Wallis Annenberg Fellowship. She volunteers for 826LA and InsideOut Writers.

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  1. Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature

    The Ph.D. program provides dual emphasis in literature and creative writing, culminating in the dissertation, which combines critical analysis with creative originality.

  2. - PhD in Creative Writing & Literature

    the Ph.D. in CREATIVE WRITING & LITERATURE PROGRAM is one of the few dual Ph.D. programs in the country that weaves the disciplines of literature and creative work into a single educational experience. Students complete coursework in both creative writing and literature.

  3. 2023-2024 Top Creative Writing Graduate Programs in California

    1-20 of 20 results Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Los Angeles, CA • University of Southern California • Graduate School Add to List UC Irvine School of Humanities Irvine, CA • University of California - Irvine • Graduate School Add to List Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Los Angeles, CA • Loyola Marymount University •

  4. Ph.D. Requirements

    Departmental Screening Procedure Field Examination Foreign Language Requirement Qualifying Examination and Dissertation Procedures Dissertation Defense USC Dornsife PhD in Creative Writing & Literature

  5. About the PhD Creative/Critical Writing Concentration

    UC Santa Cruz offers a concentration in Creative/Critical Writing for Literature Ph.D. students. This is an individualized course of study in which students can write a creative dissertation with a critical introduction or a cross-genre creative/critical project.

  6. Creative/Critical Writing Concentration

    Admissions. For applicants to the Creative/Critical Writing concentration, the department requests the following additional materials: 20-25 pages of prose (at least one complete piece and an additional sample preferred), or 10-12 pages of poetry. The writing can be poetry, prose fiction, creative non-fiction or hybrid/cross-genre. Requirements.

  7. Literature and Creative Writing (PhD)

    Feb 15, 2024 HELP Literature and Creative Writing (PhD) Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) | Application deadline: December 1 The program provides dual emphasis in literature and creative writing, culminating in the dissertation, which combines critical analysis with creative originality.

  8. Admissions

    The 2023-2024 Graduate Admissions Application is OPEN! https://grad.ucdavis.edu/apply The deadline to apply to our program is January 5, 2024 Graduate Studies Application Components page covers many admissions questions, but feel free to contact our program's staff if you would like more details. For information regarding your application status, please check online or contact us.

  9. Admissions

    Funding Your MFA. For additional information, please contact: Sarah Yunus. [email protected]. Department of English. Graduate Program Coordinator for the MFA Program in Creative Writing. (530) 752-2281. The 2023-2024 Graduate Admissions Application is now OPEN! https://grad.ucdavis.edu/apply The deadline to apply to our program is January 5 ...

  10. Ph.D. Program

    A Creative/Critical Writing concentration within the Ph.D. program is available, for which prospective students apply during the admissions process. Creative/Critical applicants submit additional creative writing samples of poetry, prose fiction, creative nonfiction or hybrid/cross genre. Students in the Creative/Critical concentration complete ...

  11. Fully Funded PhD Programs in Creative Writing

    University of Southern California, PhD in Creative Writing and Literature (Los Angeles, CA): Students admitted to the Ph.D. program in Creative Writing and Literature receive financial support and assistance in the form of fellowships and teaching assistantships, which include full tuition remission, year-round health and dental benefits, and a ...

  12. Curriculum

    Curriculum - PhD in Creative Writing & Literature Curriculum The program provides dual emphasis in literature & creative writing, culminating in the dissertation, which combines critical analysis with creative originality. Courses

  13. UC Santa Cruz

    Feb 29 On Salon Mar 7 Peter Gizzi and Nathaniel Mackey Program Information The Creative Writing Program program is administered by the Literature Department at UCSC. Literature Major/Minor Advising: Humanities 1, room 303 (831) 459-4778 Alumni Site Click to visit the site! Support Creative Writing

  14. Creative Writing

    Renée & David Kaplan Hall. Box 951530 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1530 Tel 310 825 4173 University of California © 2022 UC Regents

  15. University of Southern California Fully Funded PhD in Creative Writing

    The University of Southern California (USC) based in Los Angeles, CA offers a combined fully funded PhD in creative writing and Literature. Students admitted to this program take a series of writing workshops taught by our internationally renowned creative writing faculty. Students apply to the program in one genre only: fiction, nonfiction, or ...

  16. Department of Creative Writing

    The Department of Creative Writing at UCR offers the only Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in the University of California system and the MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts. It is a growing and dynamic program made up entirely of established writers and poets.

  17. MFA in Writing

    Welcome. The MFA Program in Writing welcomes brave and innovative writers and encourages the formation of mutually-supportive, inspiring literary communities. The program is small, with typically 4 to 8 new students admitted and funded each year.

  18. Frequently Asked Questions

    Recommendations Campus Visit Dissertation USC Dornsife PhD in Creative Writing & Literature

  19. Creative Writing < University of California, Berkeley

    The Creative Writing Program is an interdisciplinary minor program offered by the Office of Undergraduate and Interdisciplinary Studies in the Division of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Letters & Science. The approved courses students take to satisfy the minor course requirements are offered by over forty departments and programs on ...

  20. PhD in Creative Writing & Literature at USC

    PhD in Creative Writing & Literature at USC, Los Angeles, California. 1,309 likes · 1 talking about this · 4 were here. Study and write in the rich cultural and literary milieu of Los Angeles with...

  21. Graduate Programs

    http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/prospective/ The University of California, Berkeley does not offer a graduate program in Creative Writing. Below is a list of selected Creative Writing graduate programs offered by other colleges and universities: Creative Writing graduate programs

  22. Application

    3601 South Flower St. #112 Los Angeles, CA 90089-091 OR [email protected] E-transcripts: USC now accepts official electronic transcripts, provided they meet the guidelines set by USC Graduate Admissions: https://gradadm.usc.edu/lightboxes/us-students-transcript-requirements/.

  23. UPEI Creative Writing Master Class Reading

    The students will read excerpts of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, scriptwriting, and young people's fiction. Visit a private academy for young mermaids, travel with a Canadian soldier to France for the First World War, walk with young Nigerians in the teeming streets of Lagos, and hear a front-line health worker's poetic recipe for ...

  24. Students

    Mayookh Barua Genre: nonfiction Mayookh Barua is a writer belonging to the Ahom community in Northeast India. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in nonfiction in the Creative Writing and Literature Department at USC and holds an MFA in Fiction from North Carolina State University.