Wash U Creative Writing Mfa

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Department of English, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

55 Credits

Graduate Faculty

Anderson, Katherine, PhD, British literature, empire/postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality studies, critical terrorism studies.
Araki-Kawaguchi, Hiroki, MFA, long form fiction, speculative fiction.
Beasley, Bruce, PhD, creative writing (poetry), American literature.
Brown, Nicole, PhD, rhetoric and composition, technical writing, visual rhetoric, service learning and cybercultural studies.
Cushman, Jeremy, PhD, rhetoric and composition, workplace writing, public rhetorics, digital humanities and postmodern research methodologies.
Dietrich, Dawn, PhD, cinema studies, literature and technology, cyberculture, critical theory.
Geisler, Marc, PhD, Renaissance literature and culture, literary theory, politics and literature.
Giffen, Allison, PhD, American literature, women's literature.
Goebel, Bruce, PhD, American literature, postmodern literature, English education.
Guess, Carol, MFA, creative writing (creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry), gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender literature and theory.
Laffrado, Laura, PhD, American literature, gender studies.
Loar, Christopher, PhD, British literature, early American literature, eighteenth-century culture, critical theory, literature and science.
Lucchesi, Andrew, PhD, rhetoric and composition, professional and technical writing, disability studies.
Lyne, William, PhD, American literature, African-American literature, cultural studies.
Magee, Kelly, MFA, creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, multi-genre).
Metzger, Mary Janell, PhD, early modern literature, critical theory, English education, women's literature.
Miller, Brenda, PhD, creative writing (fiction and nonfiction), autobiography.
Odabasi, Eren, PhD, film studies, global cinema, screen industries, auteur theory.
Paola, Suzanne, MFA, creative writing (nonfiction and poetry), women's studies.
Qualley, Donna, PhD, composition theory and pedagogy, literacy, rhetoric and social class.
Rivera, Lysa, PhD, American literatures and culture, Chicana/o and African-American literature, cultural studies, critical theory.
Shipley, Ely, PhD, creative writing (multi-genre, poetry).
Trueblood, Kathryn, MFA, creative writing (fiction), publishing and editing.
VanderStaay, Steven, PhD, English education, creative writing (nonfiction), and linguistics.
Vulić, Kathryn, PhD, medieval British and Continental literatures and culture, manuscript studies.
Warburton, Theresa, PhD, feminist theory, women's literature, Native literature, transnational and multiethnic literature, and memoir.
Wise, Christopher, PhD, comparative literature and critical theory.
Wong, Jane, PhD, creative writing (poetry).
Youmans, Greg, PhD, film and media studies, LGBTQ history and historiography, queer and feminist theory.
Yu, Ning, PhD, American literatures, science and literature.

Introduction

Western Washington University's English Department offers a 2-year MFA program in Creative Writing within a community that values creative development and intellectual versatility. We encourage a focus on multigenre or cross-genre writing, based on our view that creative writing graduates need to be versatile in their comprehension of genre conventions and conversant in the way diverse genres inform one another. A variety of courses we offer stress either a multigenre focus or encourage experimental works that blur genre boundaries.

Creative writing practice and literary study are synergistic in our program. Students take seminars in creative writing and literature, as well as courses in rhetorical thinking and composition, digital and technical writing, film studies, and linguistics. We offer Graduate Assistantships that provide quality teacher training, as well as opportunities to gain editorial experience with the award-winning journal Bellingham Review.

Goals

The MFA program in English is designed for those who desire to prepare for:

• Life as a serious author, with an understanding of the literary marketplace and publication
• PhD programs, as well as other advanced degrees in fields such as law or teaching
• Teaching at both two- and four-year colleges and universities
• Public or private teaching (elementary, middle, secondary)
• Careers in technical writing and communication
• Careers in editing and publishing
• Careers in nonprofit and other business organizations

Students will attain the following skills:

• Fluency in multigenre or cross-genre writing and comprehension of genre conventions, as well as the way diverse genres can inform one another
• Professionalism in creative writing, along with in-depth literary study in areas that might include national and global literatures and cultures, critical and cultural theory, film and media, pedagogy, composition and rhetoric, technical writing, professional writing, editing and publishing, and linguistics
• Teaching experience (if awarded a teaching assistantship or internship)
• Professional editing with scholarly and creative writing journals, such as the Bellingham Review
• Professional communication, oral and written
• Competency in the use of classroom and communications technologies
• Awareness of diversity, educational equity, and social justice issues
• Awareness of ethical and reflective pedagogical practices

Prerequisites

Undergraduate major in English or Creative Writing, or departmental permission. Candidates with an insufficient background in English are normally requested to acquire 30 upper-division credits in creative writing, literature, and/or criticism with a grade of B or better in each course. The department reserves the right to approve a course of study.

Application Information

Deadlines: Applications for the following academic year must be complete — all materials on file — by January 15 for priority consideration. Applications completed after that date may be considered on a space-available basis. Applications completed after June 1 will be considered for the following year. Admission into the program is for fall quarter.
Teaching Assistantship Deadlines: Same as above.

The materials submitted for admission must include:

• A statement of purpose: this statement should explain intellectual and/or creative interests, and professional goals. If you are interested in being considered for a funded Teaching Assistantship, please include relevant experience and information that will aid the department in making funding decisions.
• Two writing samples. Creative Writing: 10 to 15 pages of prose (fiction or creative nonfiction); or 10 to 15 pages of poetry; or a combination of genres, 15 pages total; AND a Critical writing sample: 7 to 12 pages of analytical work in literary study.
• Appropriate admissions forms.

Program Requirements

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• ❑ ENG 501 - Literary Theories and Practices Credits: 5

• ❑ 20 credits in creative writing courses, to be taken in at least two different genres from the following:

• ENG 502 - Seminar in the Writing of Fiction Credits: 5
• ENG 504 - Seminar in the Writing of Poetry Credits: 5
• ENG 505 - Seminar in the Writing of Nonfiction Credits: 5
• ENG 506 - Seminar in Creative Writing: Multigenre Credits: 5
• ENG 520 - Studies in Poetry Credits: 5 *
• ENG 525 - Studies in Fiction Credits: 5 *
• ENG 535 - Studies in Nonfiction Credits: 5 *

• *These courses may be taken as either creative writing or literature credits, depending on the nature of the final project. To use them as part of the creative writing core requirement, students must take them as creative writing courses.

• ❑ 20 credits in literature, composition/rhetoric, pedagogy, or critical theory, to be taken from the following:

• ENG 500 - Directed Independent Study Credits: 1-5
• ENG 509 - Internship in Writing, Editing and Production Credits: 1-5
• ENG 510 - Seminar: Topics in Rhetoric Credits: 5
• ENG 513 - Seminar in Teaching College Composition Credits: 5 (for Teaching Assistants)
• ENG 515 - Studies in Literary and Critical Theory Credits: 5
• ENG 540 - Studies in Global Literatures Credits: 5
• ENG 550 - Studies in American Literatures Credits: 5
• ENG 560 - Studies in British Literature Credits: 5
• ENG 570 - Topics in Literary and Cultural Criticism Credits: 5
• ENG 575 - Studies in Women's Literature Credits: 5
• ENG 580 - Studies in Film Credits: 5
• ENG 594 - Practicum in Teaching Credits: 2-5
• ENG 598 - Seminar in the Teaching of English Credits: 5

• ENG 520, 525, and 535 (see creative writing courses) may also be used for literature credit, depending on the nature of the final project. The same course may not be used for both literature and creative writing credit.

• ❑ ENG 690 - Thesis Writing Credits: 2-10 (10 credits)

• NOTE: With the permission of the graduate advisor, a student may take up to 10 credits of some combination of approved 400-level courses, ENG 500, ENG 509, and ENG 594. No more than 5 credits of ENG 500 may be applied toward the degree.

  Students are encouraged to fill out their two years of study with electives that stress creative writing, pedagogy, editing/publishing, literature, or rhetoric, as dictated by the student's interests and career goals.

Other Requirements

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A written exam in the student's concentration.

A successful creative thesis, with a critical preface, approved by the student's Creative Writing Thesis Committee and the Graduate School.

Wash U Creative Writing Mfa

Source: https://catalog.wwu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=18&poid=8688&returnto=4807

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