Arizona State University The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 14 courses 48 total credits
In the Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, you gain foundational knowledge of literary craft, developing a deep capacity to read as writers read --- for pleasure and surprise, and also for strategy, technical dexterity, and how language works on the page. You take two workshops in your primary genre (fiction or poetry) as well as one workshop in another genre. The department offers courses in creative nonfiction, translation and creative methods, designed each year in alignment with student curiosity, faculty interests and pressing questions in the field at large. Mentorship at ASU includes artistic vision and practice, as well as framing career goals and planning for a writer's life --- potentially within, and often outside --- the academy. Unlike the usual two-year MFA offered at most institutions, ASU offers three years of study, allowing more time for you to grow as a writer and immerse yourself in multiple genres and cross-genre innovations, collaborative artistic or community projects, and the deep engagement of your own work, often a book-length manuscript. The program is unswervingly student-first. Incoming poets and fiction writers work with an outstanding faculty who have received major national and international recognition, including fellowships from the Guggenheim, Howard, Lannan, and MacArthur Foundations; the National Endowment for the Arts and United States Artists; the Freedom Scholar Award; National Book Critics Circle Award; National Magazine Award; OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature; and Whiting Writers Awards; multiple Pulitzer Prizes; medals of achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters; two former Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets; and the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. In concert with the MFA program in creative writing, three additional ASU entities extend the programming, funding opportunities and training available to MFA students. The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing offers fellowships, support for professional development and other teaching and leadership opportunities including a Community Outreach Graduate Assistantship. They also host an annual conference that brings major writers to campus each fall. The Center for Imagination in the Borderlands brings writers and other artists for intensive workshops, classes and public events throughout the year, and it offers research and pedagogy-based fellowships. The Worldbuilding Initiative brings major external writers together with ASU writers --- from the MFA program and elsewhere in the university --- for workshops and events. The creative writing program also hosts the Craft and Content lecture series and the Stellar Alumni reading series featuring creative writing graduates with recent books. As an MFA poet or writer, you may also serve on the editorial board of an international literary journal, Hayden's Ferry Review, gain translation experience through the Thousand Languages Project, and intern with award-winning independent literary press Four Way Books.
| Required Core | 6 credits |
| Track Requirement | 12 credits |
| Additional Writing Courses | 6 credits |
| Reading and Conference for Project Development | 6 credits |
| Electives | 15 credits |
| Culminating Experience | 3 credits |
| Total Credits | 48 credits |
Required Core
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 585 | Artful Attention Writers as Readers | 3 |
| ENG 665 | Creative Methods | 3 |
| Total Required Core | 6 credits | |
Track Requirement
Fiction Track Poetry Track
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 563 | Forms of Fiction | 3 |
| ENG 564 | Fiction Workshop | 6 |
| ENG 565 or ENG 566 | Poetry Workshop or Creative Nonfiction Workshop | 3 |
| ENG 562 | Forms of Poetry | 3 |
| ENG 564 or ENG 566 | Fiction Workshop or Creative Nonfiction Workshop | 3 |
| ENG 565 | Poetry Workshop | 6 |
| Total Track Requirement | 12 credits | |
Additional Writing Courses
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 550 | Translation | 3 |
| ENG 598 | Special Topics | 3 |
| ENG 664 | Mixed Genres | 3 |
| ENG 667 | Creative Writing and the Professions | 3 |
| ENG 680 | Practicum | 3 |
| Total Additional Writing Courses | 6 credits | |
Reading and Conference for Project Development
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 590 | Reading and Conference | 3 |
| Total Reading and Conference for Project Development | 6 credits | |
Electives
Culminating Experience
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 593 | Applied Project | 3 |
| Total Culminating Experience | 3 credits | |
Additional Curriculum Information
Electives must consist of ASU courses at or above the 500-level from an approved list. The required six credit hours of ENG 590 Reading and Conference must be taken over two semesters (3 credit hours each semester). As part of their track requirements, students must taken one workshop in a genre other than their track focus. A written comprehensive exam and an applied project are required.
Click a course code or title to read the full course description.
Our subject experts help with essays, research papers, case studies, discussion posts, and capstone projects for these programs β written from scratch to your course requirements.
Program and course information is reproduced from each university's published academic catalog for informational purposes and may change. Always confirm current requirements with your university. We are an independent academic support service and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the universities listed.
Expert guides on essay writing, citation styles, study skills, and academic success.
View All Articles
Learn how to write a good research question for a paper. Narrow your topic, identify a research problem, and create a focused question with practical examples.
Learn how to choose a research topic you can actually research. Discover how to narrow broad ideas, find reliable sources, and develop a focused research question.
Learn how to cite sources in a research paper using APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, with in-text citation examples and reference-list tips.