ALL PROGRAMS | College of Arts & Sciences Programs
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What does it cost?

Check out our cost calculator or visit student financial services for information on estimated costs.

How long will it take?

The program is designed to be completed in three years.

Where will I take classes?
Atlanta Campus

Application Timeline View Admissions Requirements

This program is no longer accepting applications.

Creative Writing, M.F.A.

Director of Graduate Studies in English
Tanya Caldwell
[email protected]

The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Creative Writing is a terminal degree that prepares students for careers in writing, publishing and academia. It also provides students with an excellent foundation if they choose to continue their graduate work at the doctoral level.

The M.F.A. program offers concentrations in fiction and poetry, offering graduate students the opportunity to work closely with our award-winning faculty while living and writing in Atlanta, an international city with a vibrant literary culture.

Our faculty includes Danielle Cadena Deulen, Beth Gylys, John Holman, Sheri Joseph, and Josh Russell. Visiting writers & editors enrich the program by giving readings and leading workshops and Q&As.

We also offer a Ph.D. in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing, one of the top 15 programs of its kind in the U.S., as ranked by Poets & Writers.

Program Highlights
  • Teaching Assistantships, Editorial Assistantships and Fellowships are available.
  • Our students publish—recently with Random House, Algonquin Books, St. Martin’s, Alice James Books, Bloomsbury, Anhinga Press and Louisiana State University Press.
  • Our students also win important prizes and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from The Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Georgia Author of the Year Award.
  • Visiting writers & editors give readings and lead workshops and Q&As.
  • Georgia State’s Creative Writing Program is home to the award-winning Five Points: A Journal of Literature and Art, and the student-edited literary magazine New South.

Program Details
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Creative Writing Portfolio
  • Three Letters of Recommendation
  • Transcripts (one from each institution attended)
  • GRE not required!
  • Official TOEFL/IELTS Scores (international applicants only) *
    * Institutional code 5251 should be used for reporting TOEFL scores

The Statement of Purpose should be a one-page statement of your educational and career goals.

The Creative Writing Portfolio should include a minimum of 10 poems; or two or three works of fiction totaling no fewer than 30 and no more than 50 pages. One of the two or three fiction samples may be an excerpt of a longer work (novel, novella, etc.), and fiction samples may include short-short/flash fiction, but we ask that the applicant send at least one complete, stand-alone example of short fiction of 15 pages or more. The Portfolio should be uploaded to the “Writing Sample” section of the online application.

All Poetry and Fiction workshops (ENGL 8020 Poetry Writing, ENGL 8030 Fiction Writing), creative writing craft courses (ENGL 8201 Contemporary Poetry, ENGL 8202 Contemporary Fiction Craft, ENGL 8203 Twentieth-Century American and British Poetry Craft I), and form and theory coursework (ENGL 8160 Form and Theory of Literary Craft) must be completed at Georgia State during the degree program.

For complete degree requirements, visit the catalog.

MFA applicants who have earned a BA or BS, but do not hold a master’s, a Ph.D., or have not completed 18 or more graduate credit hours in Creative Writing, English or a closely related field are eligible for (but not guaranteed) funding packages that include an annual stipend of $6,000.00 and a tuition waiver. All applicants are considered for funding. No separate application is required.

When funding allows, we award to incoming Ph.D. and MFA students The Paul Bowles Fiction Fellowship, the Virginia Spencer Carr Prose Fellowship, and several scholarships. There is no additional application for these fellowships and scholarships. All applicants are considered.

M.F.A. students are well prepared for careers in writing, publishing and academia. Our students acquired a productive specific knowledge of their chosen genre/area of specialization.

Description

Careers

Alumni hold full-time positions at Texas A&M University, Spelman College, the University of Rhode Island, Norfolk State University, University of West Georgia, Augustana College, California Polytechnic University, Fort Lewis College, the Savannah College of Art and Design and elsewhere.

Contacts

Director of Creative Writing
Josh Russell

 

Director of Graduate Studies
Tanya Caldwell
Professor, English
[email protected]
404-413-5837

College of Arts & Sciences Lockup25 Park Pl NE #2500
Atlanta, GA 30303

The information shared provides an overview of Georgia State’s offerings. For details on admissions requirements, tuition, courses and more, refer to the university catalogs.