Virginia Commonwealth University

Program Information

Degree Offered

M.F.A.

Program Description:

The Department of English in the College of Humanities and Sciences offers a 48-semester-hour program of advanced writing workshops and graduate course work leading to the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Primary tracks are poetry and fiction, and workshops are offered on a regular basis in poetry, short fiction, the novel, drama, creative nonfiction, and screenwriting.Among the many advantages the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing has to offer are its duration--three years for the full-time student--and its size--no more than 30 to 35 students enrolled at any one time. The three years of study allow students time to develop their writing, to produce a thesis of publishable quality, and, in most cases, to gain valuable teaching experience. The small size allows each student full access to faculty and helps create a familial atmosphere, one in which all students come to know each other and each other's work well and to thus offer the most useful support and criticism.Each year the University invites a number of writers to campus for readings, discussion sessions, workshops, or some combination of these. The visits, usually sponsored jointly by the Department of English, the Graduate Writers Association, and New Virginia Review, provide opportunities for M.F.A. students to meet and discuss their work with writers outside of the VCU community.

Accreditation:

Southern Association of Colleges & Schools

Tuition & Financial Aid

Financial Aid Offered: Yes

Format: Campus

Classification: Doctoral/Research Universities - Extensive

Institution Sector: Public

Locale: Midsize City

Size & Settings: 20,000 and above