General Information

This studio-academic graduate program equips students with the training necessary to become published writers by focusing on advanced craft, contemporary literature, publishing, and professional development.

As a terminal degree program, MFA graduates are qualified for careers in college-level teaching, contract and freelance writing, editing, and publishing.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the MFA Creative Writing program are required to submit a portfolio of work in their desired concentration (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction) to the Department’s MFA committee and have the work approved. The writing sample will consist of 15 pages of poetry or 20 pages of prose. The portfolio will also include a two-page statement of purpose that addresses the applicant’s reasons for applying. Applicants should also have completed an undergraduate bachelor’s degree, with at least a minor in English and/or be prepared to complete additional hours to remove any deficiency in their undergraduate preparations. Ordinarily, a 3.0 standing must have been achieved in upper-division English courses. Applicants must also meet the general requirements of the Graduate School. Applicants with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of less than 2.5 are required to complete the GRE and achieve satisfactory scores of 150 or higher on the Verbal and 4.0 or higher on the Analytical Writing sections of the exam. The committee reserves the right to waive certain departmental requirements in the event that a writing sample is exceptional.

Program Requirements

CIP Code: 23.1302

Students must complete 48 hours in the program, as well as an approved creative thesis. Students must also pass a written exit examination. Each year in the program, full-time students generally attend two ten-day residencies (for a total of six credit hours), and enroll in 18 credit hours of online classes. The Winter MFA Residency (ENW 800 Winter MFA Residency:____) is held in early January each year at a hotel/conference center in Lexington, KY. The Summer Writing Residency (ENW 801 Summer MFA Residency) is held each year during June/July in an international location, such as Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Summer Writing Residency is hosted by the EKU MFA program in partnership with the Brief-Residency MFA program of the University of New Orleans. EKU students who attend the Summer Residency study with students and faculty from a consortium of other creative writing programs from across the United States, including the creative writing programs of California State University at Fresno, Georgia State University, the University of Memphis, and the University of New Orleans. During both residencies, MFA students attend intensive creative writing workshops (in a selected genre), craft classes, lectures, public readings, and other events.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
Students must complete four sections of any combination of the following: 1		12
ENW 800	Winter MFA Residency:____
ENW 801	Summer MFA Residency
Students must complete four sections of the following: 1		12
ENW 810	Topics in Creative Writing: (three-hour course)
Students must complete four sections of the following: 1		24
ENW 820	MFA Writing Workshop (six-hour course)
Exit Requirements
GRD 858F	MFA Creative Wrtg Comp Present	0
Total Hours		48

¹

Topic must vary in each section. Course content is not to be repeated.

Exit Requirement

Thesis

By the time a student has completed the fourth required section of ENW 820 MFA Writing Workshop (6 credits) he/she will have produced a book-length creative thesis of publishable quality. The thesis must be approved by the MFA Committee. (Detailed information concerning the preparation and submission of the creative thesis may be obtained from the MFA program coordinator.)

Exit Examination

During the student’s final residency, he/she will be required to successfully pass a written exit examination (GRD 858F MFA Creative Wrtg Comp Present). (Detailed information concerning the requirements for the exit examination may be obtained from the MFA program coordinator.)