Evaluating degree programs is a complex task, even when talking about disciplines associated with objective measurements, like business, medicine, or engineering. Thus, evaluating Master of Fine Arts programs in creative writing (MFA) involves a certain risk of being subjective. The situation gets even more difficult because such programs may vary from school to school, including such disciplines as fiction, screenwriting, poetry, playwriting, and non-fiction. However, students still need to compare different programs in order to determine which one will be the best choice for them. Fortunately, most students and professionals agree that some programs should be included in the top 10 list.
Writers-House team decided to provide you with such a list of the best creative writing programs, based on the information from such well-known magazines as Atlantic, Poets & Writers, and U.S. News & World Report.
10 Best Creative Writing Programs
1. University of Iowa
Most experts agree that the University of Iowa’s program, also known as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is the best creative writing program in the country. For example, the list of their present and past students includes such names as Robert Lowell, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Penn Warren, John Cheever, Philip Roth, Jane Smiley, John Berryman, Michael Cunningham, Marilynne Robinson, Jorie Graham, etc. If you ask someone to recommend a creative writing program, the University of Iowa will likely be the first suggestion. The Iowa Review is also based here.
2. University of Michigan
The University of Michigan also has the two-year Helen Zell Writers’ Program. Nicholas Deblanco is the most well-known member of the faculty. This program sponsors Zell Visiting Writers series, which brings authoritative guests from all over the world to the campus. The program is also home to The Michigan Quarterly Review.
3. University of Virginia
This is a two-year residency MFA program, which is called The Creative Writing Program. However, the English department is also involved in many other projects, including such journals as Virginia Literary Review and Meridian. The most famous names associated with this program are a former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove and the author of Chilly Scenes of Winter Ann Beattie.
4. New York University
The Creative Writing Program of the New York University is located in the Greenwich Village — a legendary place for American literature. The faculty is associated with such names as Breyten Breytenbach, Junot Diaz, E.L. Doctorow, Zadie Smith, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Mary Gaitskill, as well as poets like Anne Carson, John Ashberry, Sharon Olds, and Charles Simic. NYU is also home for the Washington Square journal.
5. University of Texas
The MFA program of the Michener Center for Writers is a full-residency three-year program located in the University of Texas campus in Austin. The faculty is known for such names as Tomaž Šalamun, Denis Johnson, Colm Toibin, Peter Carey, Jorie Graham, and Richard Ford. The Michener Center for Writers is a stand-alone institution related to UT-Austin, and therefore shouldn’t be confused with the English Department’s MFA Creative Writing program.
6. University of California Irvine
The English Department of the University of California Irvine also offers the MFA in Writing. It’s a three-year residency program. The faculty is known for the world-famous Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, as well as American writers Richard Ford (Independence Day), and Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay).
7. Cornell University
The university’s English Department offers two creative programs: the MFA program, and a combined MFA/Ph.D. program. The MFA Program in Creative Writing is known for the great Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov, as well as for such contemporary writers as Alison Lurie (Foreign Affairs), and other authors. Every year, only eight students enroll in this program so it’s very selective and demanding. First-year students practice their skills by working as editorial assistants for the literary magazine Epoch.
8. Johns Hopkins University
Also known as “The Writing Seminars,” it’s the MFA program in fiction and poetry. It’s a two-year residency program which requires students to create a meaningful manuscript by the end of their education. This manuscript may be a book of poetry, a novel, or a collection of short stories. Poets work with such members of the faculty as Mary Jo Salter and Dave Smith, while fiction writers work with Brad Leithauser and Alice McDermott. The faculty also supports The Hopkins Review, a well-known literary magazine.
9. Boston University
This is one of the oldest creative writing programs in the country. It lasts only one year and is quite intensive. Students who want to become a playwright get an opportunity to collaborate with the Boston Playwrights’ Theater. A list of the faculty’s well-known members includes such names as Elie Wiesel, Leslie Epstein, Ha Jin, Louise Glück, and Robert Pinsky. It also has an authoritative literary magazine Agni.
10. Brown University
This MFA program is managed by the Department of Literary Arts. It’s a two-year residency program created by Edwin Honig, a famous poet and translator, in 1960. A list of well-known members of the faculty also includes John Edgar Wideman (Sent for You Yesterday), Robert Coover (The Public Burning), and C.D. Wright. This faculty is also home to The Brown Literary Review.
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