The M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Southern Connecticut State University is a flexible full-residency, terminal-degree program that prepares students for careers as publishing writers, teachers, editors, and professionals in the publishing world. We work with students who attend full-time and students who attend part-time, and we are committed to working with each student’s needs in mind.
Curriculum
Our curriculum focuses on the development of the writer through experiences in the writing workshops and the creative thesis, but writers also need to be readers and study literature, so our students study literature from ancient world lit to contemporary lit with experts in each field. Other courses focus on literary theory, composition, and rhetoric, and teaching collegiate-level writing. In some cases, M.F.A. students may also teach their own courses.
Community and Collaboration
We pride ourselves on a sense of community that is fostered by students' working together, not only in the classroom, but on the undergraduate literary and arts publication, Folio, and on the graduate literary publication, Noctua Review.
In addition to these activities, the Creative Writing Program offers an exciting visiting writers and editors series, which brings to campus a number of nationally recognized fiction writers, poets, and nonfiction writers. Students and the public not only have the opportunity to hear these working writers read from their work but also an opportunity to speak with the writers. There are also ample opportunities for students to publicly read their own work, such as the monthly Folio readings, the annual Noctua Review reading, and the readings for the winners of Southern's fiction and poetry contests.
Student Achievements
Our students are an unusually diverse group, some of whom have returned to school to study writing after establishing careers in other fields or desiring a university that offers more access to professors. Our students also have a solid record of publications and awards. In addition to publishing poems and stories in national literary journals, our students have published novels, collections of stories, memoirs, and collections of poems. We celebrate these writers by bringing them back to campus for a public reading of their work.
Program Affordability
Southern's tuition is markedly lower than that of comparable private universities, and non-teaching Graduate Assistantships are offered each year to two incoming M.F.A. students on a competitive basis. Furthermore, our undergraduates have a solid record of going on to prestigious M.F.A. programs, including those at Iowa, Montana, Penn State, Emerson, University of Massachusetts, Bowling Green, Sarah Lawrence, and University of Arizona.
Program Features
Admission to the M.F.A. program is competitive, with roughly six poets and six fiction writers admitted each year. We work with students who attend full-time and students who attend part-time, and we are committed to working with the student’s needs in mind.
Learning Outcomes
The M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing is designed to graduate M.F.A. students in fiction-writing and poetry who will:
- have the necessary experience to become published writers
- have the experience to become university instructors of creative and expository writing
- have a comprehensive foundation in intensive literary study, literary analysis, literary theory, and critical writing
- be versatile critical thinkers and perceptive, able communicators, prepared for the post-graduate job market.
Careers
The program prepares students for careers as publishing writers, teachers, editors, and professionals in the publishing world.
Typical Job Titles
- Playwright
- Screenwriter
- Creative Writing Instructor
- Writing Coach
- Literary Agent
- Editor
- Freelance Writer
- Content Writer
- Grant Writer
- Copy Editor
- Reporters
- Game designers
- Publicists
Application Requirements / Deadlines
School / College
College of Arts & Sciences
Department
English
Contact
Jeff Mock