Creative Writing, M.F.A.

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For admission to the MFA Program, applicants must submit the application form, official transcripts, three letters of recommendation, GRE general test scores, and a personal essay describing the nature of their writing and their writing process. Also required is a portfolio of creative work: for poets, 20 pages of poetry; for fiction and creative nonfiction writers, 40 pages of prose.

General Requirements

Fulfillment of the general requirements for admission to the graduate program.
Completion of a baccalaureate degree in the arts and sciences from an accredited college or university, with a GPA of 2.75 or better (on a 4.0 scale).
Completion of 36 hours of graduate-level course work, with a GPA of 3.0 or better.
Completion of the MFA thesis (minimum 30 poems or 5 short stories [at least 100 pages] or 150 pages of a novel or creative non-fiction).
Completion of a comprehensive examination in African American or non-African American literature.
Completion of an oral presentation of excerpts from the student’s thesis.

Specific Requirements

Workshops/Forms Courses (15 credit hours)

Publishing/Practicum (6 credit hours)

ENG 5456 - Seminar in Publishing-Writing Credit Hours: 3
and 3 additional hours.

Literature (9 credit hours)

Select 9 hours, of which 3 hours must be a seminar from

ENG 5321 - Black Women Writers Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5322 - Black American Poetry Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5323 - Wright, Ellison, and Baldwin Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5324 - Gwendolyn Brooks Seminar Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5331 - Literary Criticism Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5332 - Black American Fiction Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5370 - The American Ethnic Experience in Literature Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5371
ENG 5382 - The Harlem Renaissance Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5384
ENG 5390 - Women’s Voices Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5411 - Studies in Shakespeare Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5428 - History of Literary Criticism Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5441
ENG 5442
ENG 5443
ENG 5447 - Seminar in Black Literature Credit Hours: 3
ENG 5452 - Seminar in English Literature Credit Hours: 3
or
ENG 5453 - Seminar in American Literature Credit Hours: 3

Thesis (6 credit hours)

Take 6 hours of ENG 5498 and give a public reading of excerpts of the thesis. *

*Note: After it has been approved by the thesis advisor, the manuscript and other required documents must be properly uploaded to the ProQuest database, and also reviewed by administrators of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies, in order for the degree to be conferred.