Creative Writing MFA
The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at the University of Idaho is an intense, three-year course of study that focuses on teaching, learning and foremost on the craft of writing. It is the terminal degree for those wishing to teach creative writing at the college or university level; it is also among the credentials expected of those seeking employment in arts administration, editing, advertising, public relations and related fields.
The curriculum provides practical training in fiction, poetry and/or creative nonfiction, as well as the chance to work in editing and publishing. The program is small by design; graduate workshops generally have 10 to 15 students enrolled. Our faculty are themselves practicing, publishing and award-winning writers. Teaching assistantships, as well as fellowships, are available to the most qualified applicants.
Students from our program consistently publish their work in the nation’s leading literary magazines such as the The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, Tin House, Slate.com, Orion, Antioch Review, The Kenyon Review, River Teeth, The Missouri Review, Gulf Coast, Creative Nonfiction and numerous other publications. Likewise, our students have won several AWP Intro Awards, Pushcart Prizes, the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers distinction, and have been finalists for the National Magazine Award, the PEN/USA Award, and the Atlantic Monthly creative writing contest.
Thanks to a generous gift from Lynne McCreight we have established the Hemingway Fellowship which is awarded annually to a graduate fiction student in his or her third year. The purpose of the Fellowship is to give the student the time and space to work on a book-length work of fiction. This year’s inaugural winner, Steve Heim, was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up near the locks of the Erie Canal. He earned his BA from SUNY Fredonia in philosophy and English literature, and, before attending the University of Idaho, he worked as a technical writer in Irving and Ithaca, New York. He was awarded the Grace V. Nixon scholarship from the University of Idaho and is currently writing his first novel.
The MFA Program’s goal is to establish Fellowships for both poetry and nonfiction. For more information on the fellowship or for information on how you can contribute, please visit us online.
The curriculum provides practical training in fiction, poetry and/or creative nonfiction, as well as the chance to work in editing and publishing. The program is small by design; graduate workshops generally have 10 to 15 students enrolled. Our faculty are themselves practicing, publishing and award-winning writers. Teaching assistantships, as well as fellowships, are available to the most qualified applicants.
Students from our program consistently publish their work in the nation’s leading literary magazines such as the The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, Tin House, Slate.com, Orion, Antioch Review, The Kenyon Review, River Teeth, The Missouri Review, Gulf Coast, Creative Nonfiction and numerous other publications. Likewise, our students have won several AWP Intro Awards, Pushcart Prizes, the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers distinction, and have been finalists for the National Magazine Award, the PEN/USA Award, and the Atlantic Monthly creative writing contest.
Thanks to a generous gift from Lynne McCreight we have established the Hemingway Fellowship which is awarded annually to a graduate fiction student in his or her third year. The purpose of the Fellowship is to give the student the time and space to work on a book-length work of fiction. This year’s inaugural winner, Steve Heim, was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up near the locks of the Erie Canal. He earned his BA from SUNY Fredonia in philosophy and English literature, and, before attending the University of Idaho, he worked as a technical writer in Irving and Ithaca, New York. He was awarded the Grace V. Nixon scholarship from the University of Idaho and is currently writing his first novel.
The MFA Program’s goal is to establish Fellowships for both poetry and nonfiction. For more information on the fellowship or for information on how you can contribute, please visit us online.