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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
Alan Soldofsky, Director of Creative Writing
(408) 924-4432
Faculty Offices 106
soldofsk@email.sjsu.edu
MFA News
Important Dates for current MFA Students
Andrew Altschul has joined the MFA faculty and is the new director of the Center for Literary Arts.
"My writing process is fairly businesslike. I write first thing in the morning, before other concerns can crowd into my head. I'm very distractible. E-mail may be the single worst thing that has ever happened to me," says Altschul. Read more about Professor Altschul in an interview from Esquire.
Program Description:
- The MFA program in Creative Writing at SJSU is a 48 semester-unit studio/research program. Graduation requirements include writing workshops in the primary and secondary genres, literature seminars, and professional training courses and/or internships. In addition, students must complete a full-length creative thesis and pass a comprehensive exam .
- The MFA program at SJSU is a dual-genre program that provides concentrations in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and playwriting/screenwriting. Students must declare a primary and a secondary genre to apply for admission.
- Admission is based on a writing sample in the primary genre, in which the student will complete a full-length thesis.
- MFA students have the opportunity to apply for teaching associate positions in the English Department in their second year. Teaching associates are limited to taking two courses (6 semester-units) while teaching one or two sections of lower-division General Education courses, usually Freshman Composition. Teaching associates receive, in addition to a modest salary, a 6-unit fee waiver.
Ten reasons to apply:
- Small seminar classes (averaging 15-16 students) taught by actively publishing, available faculty
- Opportunities to study with the Lurie Endowed Chair in Creative Writing—a visiting faculty member who teaches every Spring semester, plus opportunity to be involved in the department’s Center for Literary Arts (CLA), one of the premier programs of visiting authors in California;
- Unique MFA requiring extensive work in a primary and a secondary genre from among four emphases: fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, scriptwriting
- Unique MFA requiring not only extensive workshop experience in creative writing but also seminars in literary studies/research and offerings in literary production, craft and theory, rhetoric and composition, and advanced individual research/projects;
- Teaching opportunities while completing the degree through the department’s Graduate Assistant and Teaching Assistant programs
- Numerous cash awards for student writing
- Opportunities to work on Reed, the oldest literary journal west of the Mississippi ;
- Terminal degree with required Thesis that may lead to teaching in a junior college, college, or university setting;
- Successful publication records of a number of recent graduates
- Opportunity to be part of an active intellectual, artistic, and social community .
See the Graduate Newsletters for important deadlines, upcoming course offerings, Teaching Assistant positions, etc.
Main Website:
Visit the Main MFA Program website for details about requirements, application deadlines and more: http://www.sjsu.edu/cwmfa/index.html
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