Creative Writing (MFA)

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Offered by the Department of Literature , College of Arts and Sciences .

Admission to the Program

Applicants must meet the minimum university requirements for graduate study. An undergraduate major in literature is desirable, but applications from candidates who have majored in other fields will be considered. Admission is based on samples of previous writing (25 pages of prose or 15 pages of poetry), academic record, and two letters of recommendation.

Degree Requirements

48 credit hours of approved graduate work
Advancement to candidacy is automatic on admission to the program, but subject to yearly review
A book-length manuscript of fiction, poetry, or nonfiction to be approved by the creative writing faculty
One oral examination on the candidate’s manuscript: its merits, characteristics, and relations to the works of others

Course Requirements

Writing Workshops (12 credit hours)

Note: Students may concentrate on one genre or work in several.

Complete 12 credit hours in writing workshops:

Literature Courses (12 credit hours)

12 credit hours in literature courses selected from among the regular graduate level literature offerings of the department

Required (12 credit hours)

LIT-705 Seminar on Translation (3)
LIT-710 The Art of Literary Journalism (3)
LIT-691 Graduate Internship (1-6) (6 credit hours required)
Note: Possible internship sites include the National Endowment for the Arts, Library of Congress’s Poetry and Literature Center, 826DC, Bethesda Writer’s Center, Pen/Faulkner Foundation, Folger Shakespeare Library, Writopia Lab, Split This Rock Foundation, and D.C. Creative Workshop.

Electives (6 credit hours)

Complete 6 credit hours from the following:

Additional writing workshops, offered at American University
Additional courses in literature, cinema studies, or performing arts
With the approval of an advisor, courses in foreign languages, journalism, or in any other discipline which seems germane to the individual student’s interest and consistent with the objectives of the program

Thesis (6 credit hours)

LIT-797 Master’s Thesis Seminar (1-6) (6 credit hours required)