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, Fiction Track, MFA 

Creative Writing, Poetry Track, MFA  

Dual-genre Course of Study (80 credit degree)

Creative Writing, Dual-genre Track, MFA 

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

Creative Writing, Dual-focus Track, MFA 

Programs

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