The MFA Program in Creative Writing consists of a vibrant community of writers working together in a setting that is both challenging and supportive. This stimulating environment fosters the development of talented writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The program is not defined by courses alone, but by a life built around writing.
Our renowned faculty are Catherine Barnett, Jeffrey Eugenides, Nathan Englander, Jonathan Safran Foer, Terrance Hayes, Edward Hirsch, Katie Kitamura, Hari Kunzru, Yusef Komunyakaa, Nick Laird, Deborah Landau, Joyce Carol Oates, Sharon Olds, Matthew Rohrer, Zadie Smith, and Darin Strauss. Visiting faculty members in 2020-2021 will include Ken Chen, Kiran Desai, Alex Dimitrov, John Freeman, Kimiko Hahn, Uzodinma Iweala, Major Jackson, Robin Coste Lewis, David Lipsky, Meghan O’Rourke, Julie Orringer, Parul Sehgal, Hannah Tinti, Idra Novey, Monica Youn, and Rachel Zucker.
Through innovative literary outreach programs, a distinguished public reading series, an exciting public student reading series, special literary seminars with master writers, and the production of a high-quality literary journal, students participate in a dynamic literary community actively engaged in all aspects of the literary arts—writing, reading, teaching, publishing and community outreach. Students also have the opportunity to enjoy America's most literary terrain; New York University is situated in the heart of Greenwich Village, a part of the city that has always been home to writers.
Over recent years, program alumni have received many of the nation's most distinguished literary honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Guggenheim Fellowship, The MacArthur Fellowship, The National Endowment of the Arts Literary Fellowship, The Wallace Stegner Award, The Whiting Award, and the National Poetry Series, among many others.
The annual application deadline is December 18. We do not require GRE test scores. For further information about how to apply, please visit the GSAS Application Resource Center's useful online publication, "Application Requirements and Deadlines for Departments and Programs." Specific departmental requirements can be found here. You may also contact the Creative Writing Program at (212) 998-8816 or creative.writing@nyu.edu
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Our information sessions are offered each fall, so the next ones will be happening during the Fall 2021 semester. Reservations for those sessions will begin in late summer, closer to the start of the 2021-2022 academic year.
UPDATE ON SPRING 2021
The University and the Graduate School have committed to providing as robust an onsite experience as possible in the spring. The plan is that graduate courses will be mounted in person while also being made accessible remotely to students who are unable to travel to New York. This is considered a “hybrid” mode.
With these guidelines in mind—and because all of our courses are small—the CWP will aim to offer all graduate workshops and craft classes in person in Spring ’21.
That said, we will make every effort to accommodate the needs of our community. Faculty who have requested and received accommodation to teach remotely will be given the option to do so. Students who are unable to make it to campus will be granted access to classes remotely, in accordance with the hybrid mode. We are working with NYU IT to acquire necessary equipment for our classrooms, and will do all we can to ensure the hybrid model will work seamlessly come fall.
Our plan is to hold only one class at a time in the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, and to maintain a “low-density” environment with only 12-15 students in the house at any one time.
Accordingly, we will be using all of the available time slots for our course scheduling this fall (M-F, morning/afternoon/evening).
All classes will be held in our largest classroom (#103). Students (and faculty) will be seated at maximum distance from one another; hand hygiene and mask wearing will be required.
Our popular Reading Series will be offered remotely; we will also continue to offer a robust array of colloquia, lectures, panel discussions, and special events for our community remotely throughout the fall semester.
We are hoping to provide the very best fall semester possible under the circumstances, and will be in touch with any updates.