MFA in Creative Writing and Literature

The Creative Writing and Literature program at Stony Brook Southampton emphasizes creative work in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. However, the program also extends its emphasis beyond the familiar categories of creative expression to treat all forms of writing as equally relevant to understanding and mastering a world constructed out of words. Students are free to take workshops in all genres, in the belief that writing outside the lines informs their primary areas of interest. The 46 academic credits for the MFA program is divided among required courses that introduce students to the profession and discipline of writing and the skills necessary to teach writing to others; advanced writing workshops in a variety of writing genres; seminars designed to focus closely on an issue or type of contemporary writing; graduate-level literature courses; and an MFA thesis intended to be a publishable, book-length work. The program is offered in two academic semesters, two six-week summer sessions, and a credit-bearing writers conference.