Purdue University College of Liberal Arts
Information for
Purdue Creative Writing Program
Welcome to Purdue's Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts homepage. We have an ongoing admissions policy and begin reading applications in late Fall for the following Fall semester. We appreciate receiving applications by January 1, though the official deadline for Teaching Assistantship applications is January 15.
Please look around and if you have any questions feel free to contact us.
Overview
Established in 1987, the English Department's graduate program in creative writing gives poets and fiction writers the opportunity to develop their work in a supportive atmosphere which values originality and a vital literary tradition. The three-year program is small and flexible, allowing writers to design study plans according to their specific needs. With full funding for all and one of the best student to faculty ratios (3.5 to 1) in the country, the program ensures personal attention and a friendly writing community. Workshops and classes are completed in the first two years; the third year is dedicated to work on the thesis--a novel or a book-length collection of poetry or fiction--through individual tutorials with a writer chosen from our award-winning M.F.A. faculty.
Teaching assistantships can include composition and creative writing courses, administrative positions within the program such as Assistant Director and Visiting Writers Series Coordinator and editorial positions with Sycamore Review, a nationally recognized literary journal. Accomplishments of program graduates include recipients of Best New American Voices, Playboy College Fiction Contest, Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Contest, The Nation/"Discovery" Prize, numerous AWP "Intro" awards, the Loft/McKnight Prize in poetry, the Witter-Byner Fellowship, O. Henry and Pushcart Prizes, a range of national and state arts fellowships, and multiple book publications.
Coursework
Craft and theory of fiction or poetry (3 hours), four workshops in fiction or poetry (12 hours), and five other departmental and university electives including an optional course in another art form (15 hours).
Thesis
A novel or a book-length collection of poetry or fiction (12 hours).
Financial Support
Teaching assistantships in any of the composition programs, including creative writing, provide a stipend of approximately $13,000 for ten months, remission of tuition and most fees, plus merit raises. A few merit fellowships provide tax-free stipends of more than $18,000 for 12 months and remission of tuition and fees.
To Apply
Please refer to the English Department's graduate web site.