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Creative Writing, MFA

Intensive, Three-Year Studio-Academic Experience in Writing
  • Lab

    Publishing Laboratory Enjoys a Relationship with Harpercollins, the World’s Second-Largest English Language Publisher

  • 3

    2 Literary Magazines & 1 Literary Book Imprint - We Offer Graduate Students Experience Working for All 3

  • Week

    Writers’ Week is a Literary Festival Featuring a Diverse Lineup of Writers

STUDY OF CREATIVE WRITING PREPARES STUDENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS. OUR ALUMNI ARE:

Graduates have published books with top commercial, university and independent presses, garnering critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Many have careers as technical writers. Most importantly, they learned the skills and habits to pursue a satisfying and sustainable writing life.

The MFA is a terminal degree and qualifies graduates to teach at the university level. We provide teaching assistantships and pedagogical training. Our graduates go on to teach writing and publishing throughout the country.

Our graduate students gain hands-on experience in the editing, design, production and marketing of books and magazines and go on to careers as agents, marketing coordinators, art directors, managing editors, and small press publishers.

Organize and manage arts programming for communities, organizations and institutions.
program completion feature
program completion feature

Learn TO

Generate complex, original writing of literary merit and personal value

Utilize form, style, and technique in effective and sophisticated ways

Critically analyze literary works

Articulate your own evolving aesthetic as a writer

“ I gained valuable teaching experience, served as managing editor of Ecotone, and relished my time with mentors who encouraged and challenged me. Simply put, it changed my life. ”
Jay Varner MFA nonfiction '07, author of Nothing Left to Burn
Creative Writing MFA Program Overview

A Community of Writers

Our MFA program joins students who share a common passion and faculty members who provide critical support of their work. The faculty of the Department of Creative Writing view MFA students as colleagues-in-the-making. To help initiate them into the profession, we offer a series of panels and workshops designed to address practical issues that lie outside the scope of the writing workshop.

Apprenticeship Leading to Publishable Quality Manuscript

The MFA at UNCW is a 48-hour apprenticeship, requiring a total of 21 hours of writing workshops, 21 hours of literature or other elective courses, and 6 thesis hours, leading to completion and defense of a substantial book-length manuscript of literary merit and publishable quality.

While students apply in poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction, and focus primarily on that genre, some cross-genre study is required. Coursework in editing and publishing is offered through our Publishing Laboratory. Experience in magazine and book production is also offered in conjunction with our imprint Lookout Books and with Ecotone and Chautauqua, our department's national literary magazines.

author signing autograph on book

SAMPLE COURSES

View sample courses
CRW 503 Creative Writing Pedagogy
CRW 523 Bookbuilding
CRW 525 The Publishing Process
CRW 542 Poetry Writing Workshop
CRW 544 Fiction Writing Workshop
CRW 550 Creative Nonfiction Workshop
See The Full Curriculum

Admission Deadlines & Requirements

Information: MFA Creative Writing

Apply Now

  • Complete applications are considered for admission as a group, after the published deadline.
  • All application and supporting documents must be received by the published deadline.

Coordinator

Location/Delivery Method

  • Main Campus

Concentrations

  • Creative Non-Fiction
  • Fiction
  • Poetry

Deadlines (11:59 p.m. EST)

  • Fall 2025:  January 15, 2025

Transcripts

  • One official transcript is required from each U.S. post-secondary institution attended. Refer to the Getting Started page for international transcript instructions.

Test Scores

  • None Required

Recommendations

  • None Required

Additional Requirements

  1. Upload Supplemental Documents After Application Submission
  2. Writing Sample:
    A typed manuscript in the applicant’s primary genre, labeled “poetry,” “fiction" or “creative nonfiction”: 10 pages of poetry, 30 pages of fiction or 30 pages of creative nonfiction (double-spaced prose, single-spaced poetry). The manuscript should demonstrate mastery of basic craft and unmistakable literary promise. Applicants are advised not to apply with a mixed-genre manuscript.
  3. Essay: An essay (300-500 words) on the applicant’s goals in pursuing the MFA, including previous educational experience.
  4. Assistantship Essay: If you are interested in being considered for an assistantship in the Creative Writing classroom, or in the Publishing Laboratory (or both), please include a brief (one- to two-page) supplemental statement of relevant experience and interest. (If interested in both, upload a single combined essay.) 

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