Creative Writing

The New England College Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program is more than a graduate degree program: it is transformative education for writers. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program offers a rigorous graduate education in Creative Writing that is based on progressive pedagogy, individualized study, and academic/artistic mentorship. The program’s academic model is studio/research, integrating substantial work in the academic study and creative production of literary art. The Program’s academic format combines brief residential learning experiences on the New England College campus with individualized, home-based mentorship study. The Program’s educational model provides our students with an ideal structure for their academic coursework and individual development as writers-featuring an immersive, community-based educational experience in the residential setting, as well as independent home-based study that is supported by one-on-one faculty mentorship in a natural format for the writing life. The MFA Creative Writing Program’s progressive pedagogy and comprehensive curriculum guide students’ individual development in the study, process, practice, and profession of Creative Writing. Program graduates are well-prepared for the writing life and the pursuit of their individual goals and professional aspirations.

The Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program offers four primary areas of concentration for single-focus course of study: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Interdisciplinary Literary Arts. The MFA also offers a dual-genre option for students who wish to study two individual genres and a dual-focus option that combines study in the student’s primary genre with a specialized course of study in Social Practice.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program will:

1. Understand the history, theories, and movements that have shaped and continue to influence the writing, reading, and critical reception of literary works.
2. Be able to locate their own writing in historical, theoretical, and cultural contexts.
3. Be able to engage in rigorous critical discourse on their own writing and the work of others.
4. Demonstrate a keen awareness of the writer’s craft and effective use of craft in their own writing.
5. Effectively employ skills and methods of revision in their writing process.
6. Apply what they have learned and practiced to the production of a substantial body of high‐quality literary work.
7. Demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and discipline necessary for successful post-graduate professional life in Creative Writing.
8. Actively and ethically engage in their academic, literary, geographic, and cultural communities.
9. Meaningfully contribute to literary/artistic culture and the advancement of the literary arts.

Degree and Thesis Requirements

The Master of Fine Arts is a terminal degree in the field of Creative Writing, and it requires at least two years (four semesters/five campus residencies) of intensive full-time study and the completion of at least 64 credits for a single-focus degree or two and a half years (five semesters/six campus residencies) of intensive full time study and the completion of at least 80 credits for a dual-focus degree.

Single-focus Course of Study (64 credit degree)

Creative Writing Workshop (8 credits) Creative Writing Seminar (8 credits) Mentorship Study: Creative Writing (16 credits) Creative and Critical Process (6 credits)

Craft, Theory, and Practice I and II (4 credits) Form and Theory I-V (10 credits)

Thesis I-IV (8 credits)

Advanced Theory and Practice I and II (2 credits ) Professional Practice (2 credits)

Submission of Creative Thesis (a full-length manuscript or equivalent)

Final Residency: Lecture, Public Reading, Thesis Defense

Dual-genre Course of Study (80 credit degree)

Creative Writing Workshop (10 credits total) Creative Writing Seminar (10 credits total)

Mentorship Study: Creative Writing (24 credits, with coursework completed in both primary and secondary genres)

Creative and Critical Process (8 credits)

Craft, Theory, and Practice I and II (6 credits) Form and Theory I-V (10 credits)

Thesis I-IV (8 credits)

Advanced Theory and Practice (2 credits ) Professional Practice (2 credits)

Submission of Creative Thesis*

Final Residency: Lecture, Public Reading, Thesis Defense

*Note: Dual-genre degree candidates must successfully complete thesis projects in both areas of study. This will include a full-length manuscript (or equivalent) in the primary genre, and a substantive project in the secondary area of concentration (e.g., a student whose primary concentration is Fiction and secondary concentration is Poetry might submit a full length fiction manuscript and a poetry chapbook).

Dual-focus Course of Study: Creative Writing/Social Practice (80 credits)

Creative Writing Workshops (10 credits total)

Creative Writing Seminars (10 credits total)

Mentorship Study: Creative Writing (16 credits completed in primary genre) Mentorship Study: Social Practice (8 credits/1 semester)

Creative and Critical Process (8 credits)

Craft, Theory, and Practice I and II (6 credits) Form and Theory I-V (10 credits)

Thesis I-IV (8 credits)

Advanced Theory and Practice (2 credits ) Professional Practice (2 credits)

Submission of Creative Thesis*

Final Residency: Lecture, Public Reading, Thesis Defense

* Note: Dual-focus degree candidates must successfully complete thesis projects in both areas of study. This will include full-length manuscript in the student’s primary writing genre, and a completed substantive project in Social practice (e.g., a student whose primary concentration is Poetry would complete a full length poetry manuscript for fulfillment of the primary genre requirement and for the Social Practice thesis requirement, might complete a community-based literary arts practicum or submit a project that uses writing to effect social change).

Programs

• Creative Writing, Dual-focus Track, MFA
• Creative Writing, Dual-genre Track, MFA
• Creative Writing, Fiction Track, MFA
• Creative Writing, Poetry Track, MFA

Courses

• EN 2020 - Language and Grammar
• EN 5011 - Creative Writing Seminar I-IV
• EN 5011 - Poetry Seminar I
• EN 5012 - Poetry Seminar II
• EN 5013 - Poetry Seminar III
• EN 5014 - Poetry Seminar IV
• EN 5021 - Fiction Seminar I
• EN 5022 - Fiction Seminar II
• EN 5023 - Fiction Seminar III
• EN 5024 - Fiction Seminar IV
• EN 5111 - Creative Writing Workshop I-IV
• EN 5111 - Poetry Workshop I
• EN 5112 - Poetry Workshop II
• EN 5113 - Poetry Workshop III
• EN 5114 - Poetry Workshop IV
• EN 5121 - Fiction Workshop I
• EN 5122 - Fiction Workshop II
• EN 5123 - Fiction Workshop III
• EN 5124 - Fiction Workshop IV
• EN 5151 - Craft, Theory, and Practice I
• EN 5152 - Craft, Theory, and Practice II
• EN 5311 - Mentorship Study: Creative Writing
• EN 5311 - Mentorship Study: Poetry I
• EN 5311 - Mentorship Study: Social Practice
• EN 5312 - Mentorship Study: Poetry II
• EN 5313 - Mentorship Study: Poetry III
• EN 5314 - Mentorship Study: Poetry IV
• EN 5315 - Mentorship Study: Poetry V
• EN 5316 - Mentorship Study: Poetry VI
• EN 5317 - Mentorship Study: Poetry VII
• EN 5318 - Mentorship Study: Poetry VIII
• EN 5321 - Mentorship Study: Fiction I
• EN 5322 - Mentorship Study: Fiction II
• EN 5323 - Mentorship Study: Fiction III
• EN 5324 - Mentorship Study: Fiction IV
• EN 5325 - Mentorship Study: Fiction V
• EN 5326 - Mentorship Study: Fiction VI
• EN 5327 - Mentorship Study: Fiction VII
• EN 5328 - Mentorship Study: Fiction VIII
• EN 6131 - Form and Theory of Poetry I
• EN 6132 - Form and Theory of Poetry II
• EN 6133 - Form and Theory of Poetry III
• EN 6134 - Form and Theory of Poetry IV
• EN 6135 - Form and Theory of Poetry V
• EN 6141 - Form and Theory of Fiction I
• EN 6142 - Form and Theory of Fiction II
• EN 6143 - Form and Theory of Fiction III
• EN 6144 - Form and Theory of Fiction IV
• EN 6145 - Form and Theory of Fiction V
• EN 6151 - Creative and Critical Process I
• EN 6152 - Creative and Critical Process II
• EN 6153 - Creative and Critical Process III
• EN 6154 - Creative and Critical Process IV
• EN 6155 - Creative and Critical Process V
• EN 6156 - Creative and Critical Process VI
• EN 6511 - Advanced Theory and Practice of Poetry I
• EN 6512 - Advanced Theory and Practice of Poetry II
• EN 6521 - Advanced Theory and Practice of Fiction I
• EN 6522 - Advanced Theory and Practice of Fiction II
• EN 7050 - Professional Practice
• EN 7051 - Thesis I
• EN 7052 - Thesis II
• EN 7053 - Thesis III
• EN 7054 - Thesis IV