lsu creative writing mfa

The MFA in creative writing requires 42 hours of coursework, six hours of thesis research, a creative thesis, and defense of that thesis. Please see the Department of English website for specific course distribution requirements.

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Louisiana State University

Louisiana, united states.

LSU offers a BA in English with a concentration in creative writing and an MFA in Creative Writing.

LSU 's MFA Program is a fully-funded, intensive three-year program. Our core genres are fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, but we offer numerous courses in screenwriting, playwriting, translation, and new media. We are truly genre-flexible: all workshops are open to all students. The program is small (6 or7 incoming students each year). The intimate size affords students extensive professionalization opportunities and a low teacher/student ratio.

The current assistantship is $23,000. We fund all graduate students equally. Health insurance is subsidized by the university. (Students are responsible for student fees.) Teaching assistants enjoy a light teaching load (one class per semester). Most students will teach a creative writing workshop in their third year. The program also offers administrative and editorial assistantships, including assistantships on NDR and The Southern Review. Requirements include 42 hours of coursework in workshops and literature seminars, and 6 hours of thesis research. An oral defense of the thesis takes place before graduation.

Most theses are in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, but the program also supports theses in new media, screenwriting, drama, and hybrid genres. Applicants applying in screenwriting or playwriting must submit a second sample in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Applicants in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry can elect to apply in a second genre, but it is not required.

Students edit NDR, the graduate literary magazine, and curate and organize the Delta Mouth Literary Festival, which has a prominent national reputation.

The LSU English Department has a distinguished and growing national reputation for scholarship and critical study

The deadline for applications is Jan. 15.

The application process to LSU's MFA is a largely online process through LSU's Graduate School. The writing sample should be 8-10 poems, 20 double-spaced pages of fiction or creative nonfiction. Please include a writing sample for all genres in which you are applying. Any questions about applications to the MFA Program should be addressed to Shannon Slaughter at [email protected]. There is no GRE requirement.

Graduates of LSU's Creative Writing Program have been published by Atlantic Monthly Press, Atria/Simon & Schuster, Black River Journal, South Carolina Review, Northern Review, The Atlantic, High Plains Literary Review, Writer's Forum, Cutting Edge Quarterly, Sub Rosa, Gin Mill, Great River Review, South Central Review, The New Yorker, Lear's Magazine, Harper's, Puerto del Sol, Houghton Mifflin, William Morrow, Coconut Books, FuturePoem, Bloof, and Ballantine Books--among other presses.

Baton Rouge--state capital, home to the Blues, crawfish boils, zydeco, and swamp tours--is situated in a unique and culturally rich part of the country on the east bank of the Mississippi. Only 70 miles from the buzz of New Orleans, Baton Rouge enjoys its own diverse and active literary community. The English Graduate Students Association organizes readings and an annual critical and creative conference. There are many opportunities to enjoy and participate in literary events in the area--too many to name!

Contact Information

260 Allen Hall English Department/Creative Writing Baton Rouge Louisiana, United States 70803-5001 Phone: 720-3339182 Email: [email protected] http://lsu.edu/hss/english/creative_writing/index.php

Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing +

Undergraduate program director.

The undergraduate Creative Writing concentration at LSU offers a wide range of writing courses and other opportunities for undergraduates interested in poetry, prose fiction, screenwriting, and playwriting. With over 200 undergraduate students each year, Creative Writing is the largest English concentration at LSU.

The Creative Writing program offers introductory and advanced courses in each genre. To round out the undergraduate experience, the Creative Writing Concentration offers Capstone courses in poetry, fiction, and screenwriting.

LSU undergraduates edit their own literary journal, delta, which recently celebrated its fiftieth year of publication. delta regularly sponsors readings, performances, and workshops, often in collaboration with visual artists and musicians.

Creative writing students also have the opportunity to share in the exciting creative endeavors of our nationally recognized MFA Program, including readings, literary festivals, and other events. Students can choose to work with Readers and Writers, a reading series that brings internationally acclaimed authors to our campus.

Recent LSU graduates in creative writing have gone on to study in prestigious MFA programs including those at the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Florida State University, the UCLA film school, and UNC Greensboro, and publish their poetry and prose in numerous prestigious literary journals. The BA in English with a concentration in creative writing requires students to take at least 4 writing workshops from choices in poetry, fiction, playwriting, screenwriting, and nonfiction (in addition to six literature courses).

Bachelor of Arts in English/Literature +

Minor / concentration in creative writing +.

The BA in English with a concentration in creative writing requires students to take at least 4 writing workshops from choices in poetry, fiction, playwriting, screenwriting, and nonfiction (in addition to six literature courses).

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing +

Graduate program director.

The MFA program is a small, intensive program, limited to 6-7 incoming students per year. Requirements include 48 hours of coursework: 18 hours in workshop (no more than 12 hrs in a genre), 12 hours in literature (graduate level), 6 hours of thesis work (tutorial, with a committee, to complete a final project), and 12 hours of electives. An oral defense of the thesis takes place before graduation.

The MFA emphasizes fiction and poetry, but encourages work in playwriting, screenwriting, and literary nonfiction. A thesis can be written in any of these genres.

The LSU English Department, which offers the Creative Writing Program, has a distinguished and growing national reputation for scholarship and critical study, as well as creative writing. Our tradition goes back to Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks, founders of The Southern Review, which has published the early works of Eudora Welty, Jean Stafford, Robert Lowell, Katherine Anne Porter, and Peter Taylor, up through Miller Williams and Walker Percy.

The application process to LSU is split; part of the application (the writing submission) is mailed directly to us, and the other part (transcripts, letters, GRE scores) is mailed to the Graduate School, which evaluates, then passes these materials on to us. The writing submissions should be 8-10 poems, 20 double-spaced pages of fiction, or a play or screenplay. We have a yearly award ceremony with awards available in all five genres.

Graduates of LSU's Creative Writing Program have been published by Atlantic Monthly Press, Black River Journal, South Carolina Review, Northern Review, Cimarron Review, High Plains Literary Review, Writer's Forum, Cutting Edge Quarterly, Sub Rosa, Gin Mill, Great River Review, South Central Review, the New Yorker, Lear's Magazine, Harper's, Puerto del Sol, Houghton Mifflin, William Morrow, and Ballantine Books.

Baton Rouge - state capital, home to crawfish boils, zydeco, swamp tours, and Huey Long - is situated in a unique and culturally rich part of the country on the east bank of the Big Muddy. Only 70 miles from the buzz of New Orleans, Baton Rouge also enjoys its own diverse and active literary community. Readers and Writers sponsors readings and talks throughout the year, and the English Graduate Students Association organizes readings and an annual critical/creative conference. A local park museum and some coffee houses also have occasional readings by students and other local writers. For the last two years, many students have held full scholarships to the gala Words and Music Writers Conference held in New Orleans in November.

Joshua Wheeler

Joshua Wheeler is from Alamogordo, New Mexico. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, New Mexico State University and has an MFA in Nonfiction from the University of Iowa. His essays have appeared or are forthcoming in many literary journals including The Iowa Review, Sonora Review, [Pank] and The Missouri Review. He’s written feature stories for BuzzFeed News and Harper’s online. He is a coeditor of the anthology, We Might as Well Call it The Lyric Essay. His first book, Acid West: Essays, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux (FSG Originals) in 2018. He is an Associate Professor in English.

http://lsu.edu/hss/english/creative_writing/index.php

Ariel Francisco Henriquez

Ariel Francisco Henriquez Cos is the author of Under Capitalism If Your Head Aches They Just Yank Off Your Head (Flowersong Press, 2021), A Sinking Ship is Still a Ship (Burrow Press, 2020), All My Heroes Are Broke (C&R Press, 2017) which was named one of the 8 Best Latino Books of 2017 by Rigoberto Gonzalez, and Before Snowfall, After Rain(Glass Poetry Press, 2016). Born in the Bronx to Dominican and Guatemalan parents, he was raised in Miami and completed his MFA in Poetry at Florida International University and an MFA in Literary Translation at Queens College CUNY. He was named one of the Five Florida Writers to Watch in 2019 by The Miami New Times and one of the 6 Guatemalan Authors You Should Know in 2021 by the Latino Book Review. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New Yorker Podcast, The Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, The Rumpus, The New York City Ballet, Performance Today, American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. His first translation collection, Carolina Sanchez’s Viaje/Voyage (Editorial Ultramarina, 2020) was just published in Spain.

https://arielfrancisco.com/

Mari Kornhauser

Mari Kornhauser is a screenwriter and director whose work includes "Kitchen Privileges." She has been on the writing staff of the award-winning HBO series, "Treme."

Femi Euba is the Louise and Kenneth Kinney Professor of Theatre. He has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, an MA in Afro-American Studies from Yale, and a PhD from the University of Ife (Nigeria). His plays have appeared in Black Drama Vol. II. He's also written radio monographs for the BBC. His directing credits include "The Tempest" at the Reilly (LSU) Theatre.

Lara Glenum

Lara Glenum's poetry collections, The Hounds of No and Maximum Gaga, have won wide acclaim.

Jennifer S. Davis

Jennifer S. Davis's first collection of stories, Her Kind of Want, was the winner of The Iowa Short Fiction Award (Univ. of Iowa Press 2002). Her second collection of stories, Our Former Lives in Art, was published by Random House in 2007. A new collection of stories if forthcoming from Press 53 in May of 2022.

Jason D. Buch served as an associate producer on the 2007 Telly award-winning PBS documentary "American Creole" and as a producer on "Air Racers (a multi-screen, multimedia experience for the Louisiana State Museum), as an associate producer on the LPB co-production "Harvest to Restore" and as a producer on "Katrina and Beyond." He is also a founding partner in 9th Ward Studios, a sound stage facility in New Orleans geared toward independent film. Jason Buch wrote and directed the interactive iPhone/iPad video app "So You're Dating a Vampire" for Neutral Ground films. He is an Associate Professor in English and Screenwriting/New Media.

Zack Godshall

Zack Godshall is an Associate Professor in English at Louisiana State University. He makes films about unsung people and places that exist along the fringes of culture. In his four feature films and three shorts, he blends documentary and dramatic forms to explore subjects ranging from claim adjusters working in post-Katrina New Orleans to divinely inspired folk architects. His first two narrative films, Low and Behold and Lord Byron, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and his documentaries have played on The Documentary Channel and garnered awards at film festivals around the country. His latest film, The Boatman, is part the Time, Inc. documentary series New Orleans: Here and Now, made in honor of the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is available to watch on Time.com.

http://zackgodshall.com

Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of We Cast a Shadow (Penguin/Random House, 2019) and the story collection, The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You (Penguin/Random House 2021). He has been a recipient of an Iowa Review Award in fiction and a winner of the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for Novel-in-Progress. His work has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, AGNI, The Kenyon Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas. A native of New Orleans, Ruffin is a graduate of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop and a member of the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance.

https://twitter.com/MauriceRuffin?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Publications & Presses +

New Delta Review

The Southern Review

Delta (undergraduate journal)

Visiting Writers Program +

Metta Sama, Keija Parssinen, Ronaldo V. Wilson, ZZ Packer, Jen Fawkes

Reading Series +

LSU Creative Writing Program's Distinguished Visiting Writers Series ( https://www.facebook.com/LSUMFA/ )

Underpass Reading Series (MFA series) ( https://www.facebook.com/underpass/ )

Delta Mouth ( https://deltamouthfestival.com/ )

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Louisiana State University

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MFA Program

Poetry: Lara Glenum, Ariel Francisco Fiction: Jennifer S. Davis, Maurice Ruffin Nonfiction: Joshua Wheeler Screenwriting and New Media: Jason Buch, Zachary Godshall, Mari Kornhauser

The program offers a variety of assistantships in teaching, editing, and arts administration. All students receive full tuition waivers and an assistantship. All admitted students who request funding are fully funded; self-funded students are accepted in special circumstances. The current stipend is $23,000.

New Delta Review , Southern Review , LSU Press

The program is genre-flexible; all students are welcome in all workshops. Though the core genres are poetry, nonfiction, and fiction, workshops are offered regularly in screenwriting, playwriting, and new media. The program offers several reading series, including the Underpass Reading Series and Delta Mouth Festival.

Applicants with financial hardships can apply for an application fee waiver with the LSU Graduate School.

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Master of Fine Arts

The LSU School of Art offers graduate students seven concentrations leading to the Master of Fine Arts: ceramics, digital art, graphic design, painting & drawing, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The MFA is a three-year program. Students are required to complete 60 hours of coursework, a thesis paper, a public exhibition, and oral defense of their work.

Download the MFA Graduate Student Handbook .

Admission requirements.

Admissions are selective and applicants are evaluated on the basis of GPA, letters of recommendation, and portfolio quality. Applicants must have an undergraduate degree—Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), or a Bachelor of Science (BS)—to be considered for the graduate program. Up to 12 hours of graduate credit may be transferred from NASAD-accredited institutions within the United States. For restrictions, please see the Graduate School Bulletin under “Transfer of credit.” Please note that a GRE score is not required for admission to the MFA program.

Admission Procedures

Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art graduate applicants MUST apply to both the LSU Graduate School and the LSU School of Art.

LSU Graduate School Admissions

Candidates can apply online at the  Graduate Admission Application . Please direct questions to the graduate school at 225-578-2311. Application deadline for assistantship eligibility is February 1 for the following fall semester.

The following materials are required:

• Application for admission to the LSU Graduate School, including a narrative statement of purpose
• Application fee
• One set of official transcripts for all previous college or university work
• Appropriate test scores (for many international applicants, TOEFL)

LSU School of Art Admissions

To apply for the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Studio Art program at the LSU School of Art, candidates must also complete a short online form for admission into the School of Art indicating their proposed concentration at lsuart.slideroom.com .

• Completed online application
• Letter of intent
• Twenty images of recent work
• Three letters of Recommendation

Learn more about our graduate programs in our MA/MFA Brochure

View the 2021 virtual graduate student exhibition catalog: Virtuality

View past graduate thesis work here: Thesis Portfolios

Find more information about all of our programs here: School of Art Programs

Find more resources & connect on social media here: Resources & Social Media

Additional questions may be directed to [email protected] .

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Program Administration | LSU Creative Writing

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Director of Creative Writing

Jennifer S. Davis, Associate Professor [email protected]  

Undergraduate Studies

Lauren Coats, Director [email protected]  

Randolph Thomas, Creative Writing Advisor [email protected]

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Michael Bibler, Director [email protected]

Shannon Slaughter, Graduate Program Coordinator [email protected] 

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Living Writers' Series

Why Choose Our Program?

At SDSU, we believe our Creative Writing program is uniquely situated to provide writers with an exciting, informative, personalized—and affordable—path to attaining their MFA.

Inspired by Experiences

Inspired by our place in the world, the program provides a rich and diverse experience that goes beyond the classroom.

A Beautiful Location

Our campus is situated in the heart of San Diego, the site of early Californian history, and only minutes from the U.S./Mexico border.

A Global Approach to Writing

Our international approach is reflected in our course work and faculty expertise.

A History of Excellence

Established in 1989 by Poet Sandra Alcosser, SDSU became the second MFA Creative Writing program in California.

In the Spotlight

Matt de la Peña

Matt de la Peña is the New York Times Bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning author of seven young adult novels (including Mexican WhiteBoy , We Were Here , and Superman: Dawnbreaker ) and six picture books (including Milo Imagines the World and Last Stop on Market Street ). 

The Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers' Series at SDSU is one of the longest continuously running series in the nation. The series has featured an impressive slate of award-winning authors, many of them who are alumni of our program. All of the events are free and open to the public.

Erin Rodoni

Erin Rodoni is the author of two poetry collections:  Body, in Good Light  (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2017) and  A Landscape for Loss  (NFSPS Press, 2017, winner of the Stevens Award). Her third collection,  And if the Woods Carry You , won the 2020  Southern Indiana Review  Michael Waters Poetry Prize and is forthcoming in fall 2021.

MFA student Robert Lang Wins Creative Writing Story Slam

Congratulations to MFA student Robert Lang who won the Creative Writing Story Slam for his presentation titled "Five Minutes in Heaven," which was inspired by his experience working in a psychiatric hospital. Robert's performance opened the recent Association of Graduate and Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP) conference alongside two other talented writers.

Creative Writing Currently: SDSU Adds New Faculty; Shares Student & Alumni Highlights

Wrapping up the spring semester, we want to take a moment to celebrate what we’ve accomplished this year and what we have in place for 2023–24. We’re excited to welcome Matt de la Peña and Lashon Daley to the MFA faculty at San Diego State University. Matt de la Peña is the #1 New York Times Bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning author of seven young adult novels and five picture books. Lashon Daley is the author of Mr. Okra Sells Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and the director of the National Center for the Study of Children's Literature at San Diego State University.  Read the full article on the Association of Writers & Writing Programs website .

Congratulations to Stephen-Paul Martin !  His new book, TwentyTwenty , was published by Spuyten Duyvil. 

Editorial Review: S tephen-Paul Martin’s TwentyTwenty reminds us that in his finest moments, he’s the king of writing degree zero, the American Albert Camus, if Camus had a sense of humor. “He stares at the seemingly random combination of numbers and letters, then shrugs and clicks. There’s a flash on his screen, a clip of someone jerking off in a bedroom. Clark thinks it might be a picture of himself right before the phone rang, but the image is gone before he can see it clearly.” His straightforward yet unaccountably insane prose is anomie trapped in a bounce house. His seemingly relaxed narrative is “a leash that can be jerked at any moment,” as his hapless protagonists, in stories like “Almost Famous” and “Just Another Emergency” obsess over people’s fake smiles, mermaids who appear out of nowhere, and the political soul destroyers who mask their evil intentions with bland and obvious gestures in a nation soothed to boredom by the grotesquerie of the commonplace. --Johnny Payne, author of Confessions of a Gentleman Killer

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CSU's CREATIVE WRITING MFA

Poetry, fiction & nonfiction.

3 Years | 3 Genres | Infinite Possibilities

Full funding opportunities available

The  Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing  is for students with advanced abilities in the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Our three-year program offers a balance of intimate and intensive writing workshops with courses in literature, form and technique, and related electives both in and out of the English Department. Writers work closely with a distinguished faculty of publishing writers that includes winners of prestigious national awards and fellowships. Coursework culminates in a thesis—a collection of poetry, short stories, or essays; or a novel or memoir—and the completion of a comprehensive portfolio. A dual-genre thesis option is available to students with exceptional promise in a second genre of writing.

Applicants should familiarize themselves with the program and the department, including course offerings and degree requirements. A complete application includes a two-page statement of purpose; a writing sample (12-20 pages of poems; two short stories or a chapter or two of a novel; two short essays or a chapter or two of a memoir); three letters of reference; and transcripts. Those applying for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship must also complete a separate GTA application.

The application deadline is January 1.

The MFA Program at CSU is a WICHE Western Regional Graduate Program . Residents of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming are eligible for in-state tuition.

For information about the application process  click here .

To apply now,  click here .

Learn More About Our Program

The Creative Writing Program at CSU recognizes and affirms the value of, and the need for, stories from people of all backgrounds. We believe that a healthy literary culture must seek out and support work from communities whose voices have historically been marginalized. Our pedagogy, including close mentoring in a supportive community and an embrace of wide-ranging approaches, strives to hear these stories, to respect them, and to bring them into the world.

MFA Program Information

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Completion of forty-eight (48) semester credits
• E640—Graduate Writing Workshop: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, or Poetry (12 credits)
• E513—Form & Technique in Modern Literature: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, or Poetry (3 credits)
• One pre-20th Century literature course at the 500-level or above (3 credits)
• One course (300-level or above) outside the English Department (waived if your undergraduate degree is not in English or Creative Writing—3 credits)
• E699—Thesis (12 credits)
• Completion of portfolio
• Additional requirements for dual-genre thesis option
• For more details, consult the Guide to CSU’s MFA Program .

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) are available on a competitive basis and are the primary funding opportunity for our graduate students. To be eligible you must complete the separate application. These positions are fully funded and come with a tuition waiver and monthly stipend for the 9-month academic year.

A required orientation and pedagogy seminar provide GTAs with extensive training in teaching college composition. The GTA application includes a written statement that should speak to your qualifications and enthusiasm for college teaching. Emphasize any formal or informal teaching experience, such as tutoring, writing-center counseling, or even coaching. In addition, remind your references to speak to your potential for college teaching in their letters.

All applicants who are not awarded a GTA will be automatically considered for a number of other available fellowships. Other options for financial support are detailed in the Guide to CSU’s MFA Program .

Most MFA students, regardless of whether they hold a GTA, are given the opportunity to teach a (paid) section of Beginning Creative Writing during their third year in the program.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

We offer a variety of for-credit internships (some paid) in such areas as college teaching, public education, arts administration in literature, and literary editing – including the Center for Literary Publishing and the Colorado Review . A paid internship as editor of Greyrock Review , a literary magazine staffed by CSU undergraduates, is also available to a first-year student selected by the faculty.

Click here  for Colorado Review internship information.

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“My MFA has helped me realize the value of my voice and the importance of giving myself permission to create art.”

– colin raunig, 2018, “my teachers taught me invaluable lessons in craft that i carry with me in my writing to this day.”, – andrew mangan, 2016, “my mfa degree taught me different ways of thinking, of approaching, of making… a large part of the reason why i loved the mfa program at csu was because of the people i got to work with.”, – melissa hohl, 2016, “not only did i learn an incredible amount about writing and poetry from my classes, professors, and the reading i did because of these, but i learned about the necessity of community building and literary citizenship that comes with being a poet.”, – cl young, 2018, “the m.f.a. degree was essential to my artistic and professional life… my craft deepened and focused during my time at csu, and the professors and the work helped me refine my voice and develop an artistic aesthetic.”, – claire boyles, 2018, “my mfa connected me to a group of writers who continue to nurture me and my work, who push me and my work in ways that make us both smarter and better.”, – aliceanna stopher, 2019, “great training for my life as a teacher, writer, and person. three years to concentrate on study was a gift that allowed me to grow and challenge myself to see if i could be a writer.”, – devin murphy, 2009, “i teach writing now and think often of my csu professors… i learned plenty about craft at csu, but more importantly i learned about practice and process.”, – cornelius fitzpatrick, 2015, creative writing mfa faculty.

Andrew Altschul

• Associate Professor

Ramona Ausubel

• Assistant Professor

Dan Beachy-Quick

• Assistant Chair & Undergraduate Coordinator
• University Distinguished Teaching Scholar

Harrison Candelaria Fletcher

Matthew Cooperman

• Professor of English

Camille Dungy

• University Distinguished Professor
• Director, Creative Writing Program

Stephanie G'Schwind

• Director, Center for Literary Publishing

Nina McConigley

Todd Mitchell

• Associate Professor, Director of Creative Writing Teaching Program

Sasha Steensen

• Full Professor of English

Vauhini Vara

• Visiting Assistant Professor of English

Debby Thompson

Creative writing reading series.

Each semester at Colorado State University, the Department of English welcomes major literary voices to the Lory Student Center to share their work live and to engage with the local community. Visiting writers hold audience question and answer sessions, book signings, class visits and other outreach activities.

The series features Pulitzer Prize winners, U.S. poets laureate, National Book Critics Circle Award winners, Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award winners, NAACP Image Award nominees, Oprah’s Book Club selections, National Book Award finalists and recognized voices in young adult literature among others.

Recent visitors include: Dorothy Allison, Julie Carr, Ross Gay, Eduardo C. Corral, Jennifer Egan, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Pam Houston, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dinty W. Moore, Gregory Pardlo, Khadijah Queen, Susan Steinberg, Cheryl Strayed, Ira Sukrungruang, Mary Szybist, and Brian Turner.

Click in the events calendar for author information and details about upcoming readings.

• MFA Thesis Reading: Furman, Seebeck, Pagliari Apr 25 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Hoffert Learning Center, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art

Recent Books

Below is a selection of recent books by Creative Writing MFA Faculty in the Department of English at Colorado State University. Click on the book cover for more information about each selection.

What do CSU Writers Do?

Our graduates have appeared in a vast array of prestigious publications including The Atlantic, McSweeny's, Cincinnati Review and many others. They have found success in equally many exciting fields including communications consultant, college dean, professor, research administrator, journal editor, and many others. And their accolades include awards like the Pulitzer Prize, Colorado Book Award in Poetry, Chicago Writers Association book of the year, and more!

"If there's a book that you want to read but it hasn't been written yet then you must write it"

- toni morrison, organization of graduate student writers.

The OGSW consists of representatives from the Creative Writing MFA and is dedicated to providing students with opportunities to practice, enjoy, and participate in the creative writing community. We do this by organizing readings, workshops, visiting speakers, and other free events and services for the MFA/CSU community.

Creative Writing MFA Blog

The Creative Writing MFA blog is written by graduate students at various stages of degree completion and features posts by writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction about their lives as writers and members of the CSU community. Scroll through the carousel of entries below or click the button for a full listing of blog submissions.

Beginning to Remember

By Jake Friedman It’s been over ten years since I was in the academy. Though I’m beginning to remember now. The last couple of days I’ve been sick. I’d forgotten how hard the end of semester is—the Sisyphean incline of […]

On Not Writing About My Father by Dorothy Angle

I promised myself I was done writing about my father. What feels like a lifetime ago, I took my first Creative Writing class to satisfy an elective for a Masters in education. Nearly all my stories were about a young […]

On Ambition, Vision, and Voice by Henry Dykstal

One of the things that most separates my MFA experience from the workshops I’ve taken before, from undergraduate to conferences to private classes at literary centers or what have you, is voice. At all of the places but the MFA, […]

Writing as Letting Go

I knew getting an MFA would entail, well, writing a lot — and that this would hopefully make me a better fiction writer. (I mean, duh.) Maybe it’s because I don’t come from an English background, but what I didn’t […]

RELATIVE TIME: A RELFECTION ON THE FIRST YEAR(?) OF MFA

Somehow, it is spring. The branches wear shriveled green promises. The undergrads have, for the most part, abandoned pants. The birdcalls along the Spring Creek trail have swelled to cacophony. Somehow, in a few short weeks, the first year of […]

On Friendship

To 2021 recently graduated me (one year ago): You get a phone call from Harrison letting you know that you got into this program. It is wild, I know: you get the opportunity to focus on your writing, your craft, […]

The Ice Persists

It’s been winter for a long time now. It’s been winter in the insistent way of Colorado, snow weighing over the earth like the X-ray apron at the dentist. I crunch to the bus stop over thick, complicated patterns of […]

An Exceptional Day in the Life

You’re living with a poet who is also in the MFA program. She taught you how to make ice cream out of peanut butter, frozen bananas, cocoa powder, and honey when you’re craving something sweet late at night. You’re making […]

And to the West, Mountains

In Fort Collins, the mountains usually mean west. As I walk to campus, I walk north, west, then north again. True north is usually Eddy Hall – home of the English department. I suppose I will not yet stop having […]

When You Know, You Know

“The biggest mistake you can make is going before you’re ready.” I remember feeling absolutely crushed when someone who I looked up to, someone who I admired, said those words to me. We were on the phone, I was asking […]

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Creative Writing

MFA Requirements | LSU Creative Writing

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Required Courses

Program of Study

Creative thesis, thesis defense, degree requirements.

In order to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, candidates must:

• Complete 42 hours of course work plus 6 hours of Thesis Research (ENGL 8000)
• Write a Creative Thesis and pass a Final Examination (oral thesis defense)

Nearly all students complete the program in three years. The degree must be completed within five years of entrance into the program.

Required courses for the MFA degree:

15 hours of writing workshops in the following genres . At least 3 of these hours must be outside your primary genre. No more than 12 hours of any one of these courses may be counted toward the degree:

• Fiction (ENGL 7006)
• Poetry (ENGL 7007)
• Drama (ENGL 7008)
• Screenwriting (ENGL 7009)
• Literary Nonfiction (ENGL 7001)

3 hours of a forms course , usually in your primary genre:

• Forms of Prose Fiction (ENGL 7106)
• Prosody and Poetic Forms (ENGL 7107)
• Forms of Film Writing (ENGL 7109)

12 hours of non-Creative-Writing courses in the English Dept.

• 7915 (required for those teaching English composition at LSU for the first time)

12 more hours in any of the following:

• Additional non-Creative-Writing English courses (or courses outside the department with special permission from advisor or major professor, Director of Creative Writing, and Director of Graduate Studies)
• Additional workshops (note maximum hours of credit listed for each course in the General Catalog)
• Additional forms courses (note maximum hours of credit listed for each course in the General Catalog)
• Up to 6 hours of independent study (ENGL 8900)
• Up to 9 hours in related courses outside the department

6 hours of Thesis Research (ENGL 8000)

We require a Program of Study meeting with your unofficial/official Advisor or the DGS in the first or second semester of your first year in the program. Download the M.F.A. Program of Study form or contact the DGS Office. This form is an advising tool that reflects your plans and your discussion with your advisor. The form clarifies requirements for the degree, but it can evolve as your goals change: you are not bound to specific courses in the order set forth.

You must choose a thesis examining committee a minimum of nine months before the proposed M.F.A. Final Examination. The MFA thesis committee is comprised of three or more members of the graduate faculty.

Typically, students ask a faculty member to direct their thesis in March or April of their second year, though you are free to ask earlier. You may ask any faculty member of the English Department to direct your thesis committee. You do not have to ask a faculty member in your genre or in Creative Writing to direct your thesis. When choosing a director, you should generally select a person with whom you have an established working relationship

You may ask any faculty member in the English Department or any other department at LSU to serve as a reader on your thesis committee. When choosing other committee members, you should generally select people with whom you have an established working relationship or who you particularly value as mentors or as readers of your work. You can elect to have more than three faculty members on your committee.

The Chair of the committee (your Thesis Advisor) will confer with you and other committee members about the proposed thesis and will review the preliminary thesis work with you, informing you whether your proposed thesis is likely to fulfill the requirements for an M.F.A. degree.

The MFA Final Examination is a critical evaluation of your creative intentions and of how well those intentions have been actualized in the play, screenplay, or book-length work of prose or poetry that you have produced.

You are responsible for knowing the deadlines for submitting your thesis and for all other deadlines related to completing your thesis work. Visit the Graduate School office (114 West David Boyd Hall) the semester before the semester you plan to graduate for deadlines and procedures concerning requests for a Final Exam and submitting the thesis to your committee.

Thesis defenses usually take place in March or early April, though they can be scheduled earlier. The defense must be held two weeks before you formally submit your thesis to the university. You are responsible for coordinating the time and date of your thesis defense in consultation with your committee in the fall semester of your third year. You are also responsible for booking the room in which your defense will be held with the English Office and notifying your committee members of the location. If you wish to have an open defense, you must consult with the chair of your committee about the possibility early in the thesis process.

Theses may be formally submitted to the Thesis Committee no more than twice for defense. All members of your committee must agree to pass your thesis. If your thesis is not approved at the second submission, you are considered terminated from the graduate program at the end of the examination semester.

After your successful thesis defense, submit the approved and corrected thesis (including any corrections required by the Graduate School) to the Graduate School. Note the often surprisingly early deadlines in the LSU General Catalog's Academic Calendar.

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Program Administration | LSU Creative Writing

• Program Administration

Director of Creative Writing

Jennifer S. Davis, Associate Professor [email protected]  

Undergraduate Studies

Lauren Coats, Director [email protected]  

Randolph Thomas, Creative Writing Advisor [email protected]

Graduate Studies

Michael Bibler, Director [email protected]

Shannon Slaughter, Graduate Program Coordinator [email protected]