Johns Hopkins University - MFA in Fiction and Poetry Posted on April 23rd
The Writing Seminars offers a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in fiction and poetry. Students admitted to the M.F.A. program will enroll in two years of course work, and produce a substantial manuscript in the form of a novel or collection of fiction or poetry. M.F.A. candidates will be chosen on the basis of a manuscript evaluation, college transcripts, GRE scores and appropriate letters of recommendation that testify to the students’ ability and willingness to undertake serious study in the literary arts. Since all students will receive financial aid in the form of full tuition and a teaching assistantship, applicants should be able to demonstrate aptitude for college teaching.
The program will require two full years of residency in Baltimore. Students will enroll each semester in two courses: a writing workshop in poetry or fiction and a second course in craft or literature taught within the department. Poets will study with Dave Smith, John T. Irwin and Greg Williamson, among others. Fiction-writers will take courses with Alice McDermott, Stephen Dixon, Jean McGarry and Tristan Davies. At the end of the first year, students will present half of their theses for faculty review. Successful completion of this work is a requirement for continuation in the second year.
The M.F.A. degree in The Writing Seminars is designed for students committed to the study and practice of literary writing at the highest level of accomplishment. Approximately five poets and six fiction-writers will be admitted annually. They will maintain continuous enrollment in workshops, forms courses and selected electives in literature studies. Our procedure emphasizes genre-informed discussions, faculty conferences, independent readings of various texts, and interactions with visiting writers. Culminating in a book-length thesis, and guided by faculty, this immersion in the practice of writing is intended to establish habits and skills necessary to lead the life of a writer.
Students applying to the M.F.A. program should have a bachelor’s degree and sufficient study in a foreign language to pass a multiple-choice or translation test at the second-year college level. Having a second language allows a writer the syntactic flexibility to experiment with the first, and to develop and refine a literary voice with a deeper understanding of language.
Dave Smith
Department Chair
The Writing Seminars
136 Gilman Hall
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone (410) 516-6286
Fax (410) 516-6828
