Writing Programs

Whether you’re looking for a creative writing program that leads to an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree at a US or international school, and whether you want a residency or low-residency program, here you’ll find easily searchable listings of our selection of the most worthwhile programs. The listings include links to author bios and works by each program’s graduates and by current and former faculty members who are published in Narrative.


Location:
Degree:
Season (Northern):
Duration:
Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University

BA
SPOKANE, WA
The Writing Concentration is a curriculum within the English major offering a concentration on writing and literary studies that encourages students to explore their own creative writing in the context of the study of literary tradition. Writing Concentration students earn a BA in English with an emphasis in writing.
Narrative Author Faculty: Tod Marshall
Grub Street

Grub Street

NONE
BOSTON, MA
We address the entire writing journey from idea to craft to publication and audience development. Each year, we engage over 2,500 students in five hundred workshops and seminars on short fiction, the novel, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, young adult fiction, publishing, the writer’s life, and digital opportunities.
Narrative Author Faculty: Adam Stumacher
Hamilton College

Hamilton College

BA
CLINTON, NY
You will study literature in the broadest sense—canonical texts, popular literature, film, and new media—in English or in other languages. Faculty will help you to develop as a writer, whether you are interpreting the literary text of others or creating your own.
Narrative Author Faculty: Don Evans
Hampshire College

Hampshire College

BA
AMHERST, MA
Through workshop courses in fiction, literary journalism, and poetry that couple intensive writing with active reading, students practice elementary techniques, receiving detailed critiques from professors and peers. Our students discover and develop their own voices, and learn to read as writers.
Narrative Author Faculty: Chase Twichell
Harvard University

Harvard University

BA
CAMBRIDGE, MA
We offer courses each term in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, and playwriting. Courses are open by application to Harvard College undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and students from other institutions eligible for cross-registration. Workshops are small, usually no more than twelve students, and concentrate on one genre.
Holy Family University

Holy Family University

BA
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Students in our English program thrive in our small yet challenging learning environment. Students majoring in English will be given opportunities that go beyond the classroom, including hands-on experience, which is a key component of a college education.
Narrative Author Faculty: Liz Moore
Hunter College, City University of New York

Hunter College, City University of New York

MFA
NEW YORK, NY
The Creative Writing MFA is a full-time, two-year program in which students take three set classes per semester. Fiction, memoir, and poetry workshops normally consist of twelve students and a distinguished instructor who critiques and guides their writing.
Narrative Author Faculty: Roxana Robinson
Narrative Author Graduates: Liz Moore
Indiana University

Indiana University

MFA, MA, BA
BLOOMINGTON, IN
Our award-winning faculty works hands-on with candidates throughout a three-year program focused on the learning, application, and integration of craft concepts and the generation and workshopping of original student poetry and fiction. Your thesis is a book-length manuscript in the genre of your choice.
Institute of American Indian Arts

Institute of American Indian Arts

MFA
SANTA FE, NM
The Institute of American Indian Arts’s Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing is modeled on the most successful low-residency programs in the country, with one important difference: the program and the literature we read carry a distinct Native American and First Nations emphasis.
Narrative Author Faculty: Jon Davis
Narrative Author Graduates: Paige Buffington
Iowa State University

Iowa State University

MFA
AMES, IA
Iowa State University’s three-year MFA program in Creative Writing and Environment emphasizes study in creative writing—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama—that encourages writers to identify and explore in their stories and lyric impressions the complex influences of place, the natural world, and the environmental imagination.
Narrative Author Faculty: Debra Marquart
Narrative Author Graduates: Debra Marquart, Gina Ochsner
Iowa Writers’ Workshop

Iowa Writers’ Workshop

MFA
IOWA CITY, IA
The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a two-year residency program that culminates in the submission of a creative thesis (a novel, a collection of stories, or a book of poetry) and the awarding of a Master of Fine Arts degree.
John Carroll University

John Carroll University

MA
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH
The department welcomes students interested in preparing themselves for doctoral programs, teachers intent on deepening their understanding of literature, and people eager to enrich their lives through reading and writing. The program includes coursework spanning a range of historical periods, from the medieval to the present.
Narrative Author Faculty: Philip Metres
Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

MFA, MA
BALTIMORE, MD
Approximately four poets and four fiction writers are admitted annually. They will maintain continuous enrollment in workshops and “readings courses” that range across world literature. Our program emphasizes genre-informed discussions, faculty conferences, independent readings of various texts, and interactions with visiting writers.
Kalamazoo College in Michigan

Kalamazoo College in Michigan

BA
KALAMAZOO, MI
Through the study of literature in English across global and historical cultures, the study of film and critical theory, the discipline of writing in a variety of genres, and the constant practice of collaboration, we lead students toward a comprehension of the complexity of their world, of themselves, and of the way word and image shape reality.
Narrative Author Faculty: Diane Seuss
Kansas State University

Kansas State University

MA
MANHATTAN, KS
The program offers creative writing workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, and features individualized attention from highly published, award-winning faculty.
Narrative Author Faculty: Traci Brimhall
Korea University

Korea University

MFA
SEOUL, KOREA
Depending on the intensity and requirements of the curriculum, programs are offered either for two years or for three. Students in a two-year program will receive an MA or an MFA degree, while students in a three-year program will receive an Artist Diploma.
Narrative Author Faculty: Moon Chung-hee
Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & Clark College

BA
PORTLAND, OR
Lewis & Clark College has one of the longest-standing creative writing programs in America. We’ve been teaching creative writing for over fifty years, since the earliest years of the discipline. Our faculty members have been recognized for excellence in teaching and have won some of the country’s most prestigious writing awards.
Narrative Author Faculty: Michael McGriff, Don Waters
Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

MFA, BA
BATON ROUGE, LA
We offer a genre-flexible program of study designed for students who wish to engage in a dynamic exploration of the craft of creative writing. We prepare students for work in the literary arts, law, teaching, publishing, arts administration, writing for the entertainment industry, and other careers.
Narrative Author Graduates: Hannah Timmins Reed
Luther College

Luther College

BA
DECORAH, IA

Creative writing at Luther is messy, lovely, rigorous, alive. It means being immersed in a community of working writers—your classmates and your professor.
Narrative Author Graduates: Anna Lewis