MFA in Creative Writing

Prepare for a Life as a Literary and Dramatic Artist

Our low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program is devoted not only to the education of literary and dramatic artists but to community engagement and the pursuit of social justice. The program features one-on-one mentoring with a variety of successful, publishing writers and includes instruction in craft, revision, and critical reading and thinking skills. The rights and ethical responsibilities of creative writers are also addressed, along with practical career concerns related to the business of writing and publishing. The MFA program prepares adult learners for careers and meaningful lives as writers, editors, teachers, and engaged literary citizens.

This degree is offered by AU Los Angeles.

Program Overview

Antioch University’s MFA in Creative Writing is comprised of residencies—which include seminars, readings, and workshops—complemented by five-month online project periods during which students live and write in their home communities.

The low-residency model supports and mirrors the lives that professional writers actually live. The Antioch Los Angeles MFA program provides both the nurturing literary community and the solitary discipline of writing that working writers need. An MFA semester consists of an intensive 10-day residency, followed by a five-month online project period during which each student writes fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, playwriting, and literary translation, as well as scholarly work, under the supervision of a faculty mentor each term. Students also participate in online discussions covering assigned readings and literary issues, and produce other work specified in their individualized Project Period Contract.

MFA students are admitted in a single genre (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, and playwriting), but can write and study more than one genre including literary translation—and even challenge the notion of genre itself. Our faculty members publish successfully in multiple genres and are often glad to support students in their cross-genre explorations.

The MFA Field Study is what sets this creative writing program—and the people who graduate from it—apart from others. The Field Study asks students to put their knowledge and skills as writers to work in service of something they personally value in their local communities. Each Field Study must address at least two of the three aspects of the MFA program’s unique purpose: the education of literary and dramatic artists, community engagement or service, and the pursuit of social justice. MFA Field Studies have changed the lives not only of the students but of those their efforts have served.

Degree Requirements

Core requirements are completed during the 10-day residencies or the 5-month online project periods that follow each residency.

On-Campus Residency Core Requirements

During each residency, students in the MFA in Creative Writing program are required to participate in an assigned genre writing workshop, and to attend at least seven additional learning activities (faculty/guest seminars and graduating student presentations). Some of these learning activities are listed below; required seminars are denoted by an asterisk (*).

• Arts, Culture, and Society I & II*
• Faculty and Guest Seminars on Craft, Aesthetics, Dramatic Writing, and Critical Reading
• Orientation to the Field Study *
• Genre Studies
• Writing Workshops*
• Critical Paper Seminar*
• Teaching of Creative Writing
• Art of Translation Seminar*
• Writers at Work Sessions
• Reading Like a Writer*
• Graduating Student Presentation *
• Graduating Student Reading *
• Orientations*

Online Project Period Core Requirements

• Monthly packets of student creative work and book annotations
• Participation in Book Circles
• Art of Translation Course
• Field Study
• Critical Paper
• Final Manuscript
• Cumulative Annotated Bibliography

For detailed curriculum and degree requirements, please visit the AU Catalog.

A Low Residency MFA

The low residency model supports and mirrors the lives that professional writers actually live.

It provides both a nurturing literary community, as well as time to write independently, inspired by real-world engagement. The two years in AULA’s MFA in Creative Writing program will be spent alternately in two rhythms:

• Five 10-day Residencies – Students attend classes at AULA’s Culver City campus, and form a collective of working writers. The residency builds a strong literary community around engagement with language, literature, and social and aesthetic issues that working writers must confront.
• Four 5-Month-Long Online Project Period – Spent in your home city (or the location of your choice), students will write and read extensively, examining and confronting issues of tradition and craft. The online project period pairs you with an assigned mentor (an actively publishing writer who is also an excellent teacher) and a small group of other MFA students with whom you will read and discuss a variety of books and other publications. The online project period provides you with a dedicated apprenticeship in words and craft, a time of exploration and risk-taking in your developing life as a writer.

10-Day On-Campus Residencies

• • Faculty and guest seminars and graduating student presentations: Small and large classes on craft taught by graduating students, faculty, and visiting faculty.
  • Genre workshops: 10 hours of intensive peer and faculty review of student work.
  • One-on-one meetings with your assigned mentor: Plan out your individual study with your faculty mentor for the term.
  • Community: Meet with students and faculty in your class and genre.
  • Readings: Experience new work by faculty and students.

5-Month Project Periods

• Mentor correspondence: During your time at AULA, you will select 4 to 5 different faculty mentors with whom to work.
• Reading and writing: You’ll turn in new and revised creative work, and read to explore issues of craft.
• Narrative critiques: Your work will be subject to constructive analysis by your instructors and peers.
• Special projects: These may include translation projects, field study, and independent research.

New Student Orientation

MFA Genres

Although MFA students are accepted into the program in a single genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, or playwriting), they have many opportunities to read, write, and study multiple genres, as well as to explore the relationships among them.

Lectures and faculty-led seminars often pull material from two or more disciplines—for instance, poets might talk about rhythm in fiction; creative nonfiction writers might address the importance of staging a scene. Our faculty members publish successfully in multiple genres and are often glad to support students in their cross-genre explorations.

Reading assignments during the project period may pull from any genre, or film and music—if relevant to the student’s exploration of craft. Every seminar and lecture during the residency is open to all students, regardless of the genre, they are studying during the ensuing project periods.

Learning Outcomes

Some MFA programs are designed to help aspiring writers complete a manuscript and find a publisher. The goals of Antioch’s program are much broader. We place an emphasis on preparing writers for the complete life of a literary artist. Our MFA in Creative Writing graduates will demonstrate:

• Proficiency in at least one of the following genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, young people, writing for the screen, and playwriting.
• Critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are required of a literary and dramatic artist.
• Knowledge of ethical dilemmas and social values of the literary and dramatic arts.
• Commitment to a broad range of issues and activities associated with a literary writer and the communities in which the writer lives and works.

Professional Development Semester

Designed to further the professional aspirations of MFA students and alumni at affordable prices. The Professional Development Semester is offered exclusively for continuing MFA students and returning alumni, the Professional Development Semester (5 units) offers an additional semester of mentoring to help begin or complete a manuscript, work in a new genre, or consult with a trusted mentor about matters of writing, career, and publication.

Post-MFA Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing

In a single semester, our low-residency Post-MFA Certificate program takes aspiring teachers from theory to practice, focusing on methods of teaching writing and allowing the student to gain practical classroom experience through either a face-to-face or an online supervised teaching placement. Experienced writing instructors may pursue the certificate for professional development purposes, as well as to improve their personal classroom pedagogy.

Learn More About the Certificate