MFA in Creative WritingMFA in Creative WritingThe low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program is a 48-credit, rigorous, student-centered program for writers who choose to live their lives and hone their writing skills at the same time. The MFA in Creative Writing Program is ideal for people with commitments to family, work, or other personal obligations, or for people who simply want to improve their writing in the way that most writers end up working—on their own. The low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program offers diversity through a distinguished, award-winning faculty that offers a wide range of specialties and life experiences and by allowing students to study a wide variety of genres and styles, including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, memoirs, playwriting, screenwriting, and cross-genre writing. Goddard developed the original model for low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing programs, and it continues this tradition by fine-tuning an academically rigorous and student-centered program in which writers can pursue their interests in an environment that offers a safe harbor and intellectual freedom.
Each semester in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program begins with an eight-day residency at the Goddard College campus. Students meet individually and in small groups with their faculty advisor to discuss their creative work and develop their study plan and bibliography for the semester. They also network within an inspiring community of their peers and attend keynote speeches, publishing panels, student and faculty readings, workshops on craft and literature, and master classes. Visiting writers, industry professionals, and program alumni enrich the residency, sharing their expertise and craft through readings, workshops, and informal discussions. The residencies provide an inspiring and invigorating week of complete immersion as a writer, thinker, and artist.
During the semester, students in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program work one-on-one with their advisors on a combination of creative writing projects and critical analyses of related readings. Over four semesters, students learn life-long writing skills and habits, complete a full-length creative manuscript of publishable quality, read more than 45 books, develop the ability to critically analyze through an individually-designed bibliography, and complete a teaching practicum in their own community. The teaching practicum can take place in a variety of settings, from high schools or colleges to community-based organizations and adult learning settings. Students interested in obtaining elementary or secondary teacher licensure may do so by transferring to the Goddard College Education and Licensure Program for two semesters following the completion of their MFA studies.
Site Options Students entering the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program choose one of two residency site options for the duration of their studies:
Related Conferences There are two conferences related to the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program:
* Goddard College is authorized by the Washington Higher Education Coordinating board (HECB) and meets the requirements and minimum educational standards established for degree-granting institutions under the Degree-Granting Institutions Act. This authorization is subject to periodic review and authorizes Goddard College to offer the following degree programs: Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts. Authorization by the HECB does not carry with it an endorsement by the board of the institution or its programs. Any person desiring information about the requirements of the act or the applicability of those requirements to the institution may contact the HECB at P.O. Box 43430, Olympia, WA 98504-3430. |