The MFA at UNCW

UNCW's Department of Creative Writing unites a community of passionate, dedicated writers who believe that the creation of art is a pursuit valuable to self and culture. Our faculty fosters a rigorous yet supportive environment in which writers can grow as artists and individuals. The department devotes itself to the pursuit of excellence in writing through an informed application of craft. We value versatility, and we encourage writers to explore aesthetics and methods across genre lines.

A writing community's spirit begins with the individual's commitment to other visions—the desire to help others fulfill their aspirations, too. Our MFA program—an intensive, three-year studio-academic experience in the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction—joins students who share a common passion and faculty members who provide critical support of their work.

The MFA at UNCW is a 48-hour apprenticeship, requiring a total of 21 hours of writing workshops, 21 hours of literature or other elective courses, and 6 thesis hours, leading to completion and defense of a substantial book-length manuscript of literary merit and publishable quality. While students apply in and focus primarily on one genre, cross-genre study is encouraged. Coursework in editing and publishing is offered through our book publishing imprint and experimental press, The Publishing Laboratory. Coursework in magazine production is also offered in conjunction with Ecotone, our department's national literary magazine.

Our MFA students and alumni have published books with major commercial and university presses (Crown, Random House, Algonquin, St. Martin's, University of Nebraska Press), and have contributed dozens of poems, stories, articles and essays to many of the nation's finest periodicals, including Boulevard, Oxford American, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ms., GQ, Minnesota Review, Ontario Review, Cimarron Review, Mississippi Review, Puerto del Sol, The Vermont Literary Review, Princeton Arts Review, and many others.

In a recent review of our program, the national nonprofit organization Associated Writing Programs wrote: "Although UNCW's MFA program in creative writing is a young upstart . . . we know of no other program that has achieved so much, so well, so quickly. . . . If UNCW continues to build upon this well-designed and well-managed program, it could compete with the very best creative writing programs, including the oldest and most prestigious programs in North America.”

For general questions about the MFA program, contact Tim Bass, 910.962.7711.

For questions regarding the application process, contact Lisa Bertini, 910.962.3070.

Department of Creative Writing

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

601 South College Road

Wilmington, NC 28403–5938