Transform Your Work & the World.

At Mills, our English graduate programs balance traditional academic disciplinary training with cutting-edge work in new media, critical theory, and diverse cultural traditions. Publish, teach, perform, and exhibit while engaging the world around you.

Our English Department is distinguished by its long-established reputation, innovation, outstanding faculty, and commitment to a vision of the literary arts as socially transformative. As a graduate student in English, you’ll have the flexibility to tailor your degree program for your long-term professional goals. Your workshops and seminars will be intimate, interactive, and intellectually challenging. Interdisciplinary study is encouraged; you can take literature courses outside the department or cross-register at other institutions. You’ll push your limits as you work on a focused MA or MFA thesis that serves as the capstone of your experience. In and outside of the classroom, a wide range of professional development opportunities will help you prepare for a career in teaching or publishing.

We offer the following degree options:

MA in English Language & Literatures

MFA in Creative Writing with an Emphasis in Poetry or Prose

MFA in Book Art & Creative Writing

Pursuing graduate study is a big decision, and it’s important to choose the program that’s a fit. Discover why Mills may be right for you.

Beyond the Classroom

Mills offers a close-knit community of scholars and artists who come together on a regular basis for literary events, creative projects, and opportunities to use literature as a force for social change.

The Place for Writers, staffed by Mills graduate students, produces programs and events that build relationships outside the classroom, such as the Works in Progress reading series and the Contemporary Writers Series featuring talks with renowned writers, scholars, and artists.

580 Split, an annual journal of arts and literature published by graduate students, features innovative and risk-taking fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art.

Project Verb trains students in designing and leading writing workshops to share the transformative power of words with people in nearby communities. Students conduct these workshops in after-school programs, halfway houses, and community-based organizations.

Faculty and students often come together off campus to attend events at the annual Litquake literary festival, Small Press Traffic Literary Arts Center, San Francisco Center for the Book, Oakland Art Murmur, La Peña Cultural Center, and the Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley.