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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with an Emphasis in Prose
(a minimum of 11 semester course credits)
The basic curricular components of this program consist of
- four writing workshops (4)
- three literature credits (3)
- three elective credits (3)
- thesis credit (1)
Students are admitted to one of three genres: poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction.*
Writing Workshop Credits (4):
At least three of the four required writing workshops must be in the admitted genre. Two of these workshops in the admitted genre must be taken consecutively during the first year. The department recommends that students work with several different instructors, as exposure to varied perspectives is crucial to one’s development as a writer. Registration for workshops is facilitated through the graduate coordinator’s office in the department, which places students in workshops based upon student requests and availability of seats. Please note that we can only guarantee each student one workshop in their admitted genre per semester. Students are welcome to take more than one workshop per semester on a space-available basis.
Literature Credits (3):
One of the literature credits must be a literature or theory class. Two of the literature credits must be craft classes. (Craft classes are literature courses taught from the perspective of practicing writers.) None of the required literature credits may be fulfilled through independent study.
Literature courses offered through the Ethnic Studies Department, as well as those offered in English in the modern languages and literatures programs, may be taken to satisfy the literature credit. Students who are unsure whether a course counts toward the literature requirement should check with their advisor.
Electives (3):
The 3 elective credits can be any graduate-level or upper-division undergraduate course offered by the College for academic credit. Students are urged to consult with their advisor about which electives would be most useful for their course of study.
Students interested in teaching composition in the future or in working as a teaching assistant (TA) at Mills, may want to consider taking ENG 272 Theories and Strategies of Teaching Writing as an elective. Students who are awarded a TA, either in the Writing Center or in the ENG 001 classroom, are required to take ENG 272.
Students interested in teaching creative writing may wish to consider taking ENG 271 Theories of Creativity and the Teaching of Creative Writing.
Pedagogy and advanced composition courses offered by the English Department, as well as book art courses, count as elective credit.
Thesis Credit (1):
ENG 250 is the two-semester course that is typically completed in the final year of study. The course does not have an assigned class period but requires regular meetings between the student and the thesis director. Students will submit their choices for thesis directors and readers and the department will finalize thesis committee assignments at the beginning of the final year of study. Please see the department’s graduate programs coordinator for full thesis schedule and guidelines.
*While students may apply to switch creative writing genres while they are in the MFA program, they should keep in mind that if their application is approved by the department, they are still required to take the three required workshop credits in the new genre of study which might extend their total number of semesters in the program. Students should contact the department’s graduate programs coordinator for more information and procedures.
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