Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
Program Learning Outcomes
- Creative Work: Students will produce a publishable written creative work that demonstrates individual and universal vision and a high level of craft skills.
- Professional Preparation: Students will demonstrate professional level skills in fields related to literature and/or creative writing, including publishing, writing, teaching, editing, book arts, and/or arts management.
- Literature: Students will read, discuss, and analyze the work of a broad range of writers from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, as well as explain how literature in general, and their own genre in particular, relates to larger human experience.
- Craft Elements: Students will write and revise creative nonfiction, fiction, plays, and/or poetry using the elements of craft as well as analyze and discuss craft elements in their peers’ creative work.
Admission to the Program
Students interested in this program must submit, via Cal State Apply a meaningful sample of their writing (15 to 20 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction, or 15 to 20 pages of literary translation, or a full-length stage play or two short plays, or 15 to 20 poems), two letters of recommendation, and transcripts. All application materials are to be uploaded by February 15 for consideration for our entry scholarships, or by May 10th for admission to the following fall semester.
Applicants from creative writing programs at other colleges or universities may transfer nine units to the M.F.A. program, on review and recommendation of the Creative Writing Admissions Committee and approval of the Division of Graduate Studies. For further clarification, contact the Creative Writing Department.
Students in the Master of Arts in English with Concentration in Creative Writing at SF State who wish to enter the M.F.A. program are required to apply for admission and are subject to the same admission standards as are all other applicants. For students entering with an earned M.A. in English: Creative Writing from SF State, the M.F.A. is a 30 unit degree as described below.
Enrollment priority in M.F.A. classes is given to classified M.F.A. students accepted in the genre of the course.
Written English Proficiency Requirement
Level One
Statement of purpose (500–1500 words) and writing sample (15 to 20 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction, or 15 to 20 pages of literary translation, or a full-length stage play or two short plays, or 15 to 20 poems) scored 8.0 or higher on a scale of one to 10 based on the following criteria:
- fluency and precision of expression;
- ability to embody and illustrate ideas creatively; and
- appropriateness of the applicant’s interests, life experiences and goals to the program.
Level Two
Satisfactory completion of C W 893MFA on the following criteria: work deemed by two faculty readers to be publishable as a book and evaluated along the following criteria:
- ability to use the craft of the art form to illustrate ideas, vision, and imagination creatively, using fresh, precise language;
- ability to suggest, via the craft to the art form, a subtext and themes that display the writers’ complex relationship with her/his ideas, vision, imagination, and form (story, poem, dramatic monologue and/or play); and
- mastery of at least one genre form per the above.
Selected upper-division courses offered by the department may be used for the degree upon approval of a department advisor. Enrollment is not required in the semester of graduation.
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing — Minimum 54 Units
Writing Workshops at the M.F.A. Level (6 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select a minimum of 6 units in the genre of admission selected from the following: | ||
| C W 852 | Workshop in Creative Nonfiction 1 | 3 |
| C W 853 | M.F.A. Workshop in Fiction 1 | 3 |
| C W 854 | Workshop in Poetry 1 | 3 |
| C W 855 | Workshop in Playwriting 1 | 3 |
M.A./M.F.A. Level Creative Process Directed Writing/Special Study/Writing Workshops (12 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select 12 units from the following: | ||
| C W 785 | Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 803 | Advanced Short Story Writing 2 | 3 |
| C W 804 | Advanced Poetry Writing 2 | 3 |
| C W 806 | The Business of Creative Writing 3 | 3 |
| C W 807 | Developing the Novel | 3 |
| C W 808 | Novel Writing 2 | 3 |
| C W 809 | Directed Writing for Graduate Students 2 | 3 |
| C W 810 | Seminar in the Creative Process 4 | 3 |
| C W 814 | Contemporary World Poetry | 3 |
| C W 820 | Writers on Writing | 3 |
| C W 825 | Playwright's Theatre Workshop 2 | 3 |
| C W 840 | Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine 2 | 3 |
| C W 850 | Poetry Center Workshop | 3 |
| C W 852 | Workshop in Creative Nonfiction 1 | 3 |
| C W 853 | M.F.A. Workshop in Fiction 1 | 3 |
| C W 854 | Workshop in Poetry 1 | 3 |
| C W 855 | Workshop in Playwriting 1 | 3 |
| C W 859 | Practicum in Teaching | 3 |
| C W 860 | Teaching Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 866 | Craft of Translation | 3 |
| C W 867 | Theory of Translation | 3 |
| C W 875 | Community Projects in Literature 3 | 3 |
| C W 899 | Independent Study | 3 |
Creative Process Courses at the M.F.A. Level. (6 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select 6 units in the genre of admission from the following: | ||
| C W 880 | M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Fiction 1,4 | 3 |
| C W 881 | M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Poetry 1,4 | 3 |
| C W 882 | M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Playwriting 1,4 | 3 |
Literature or Theatre Arts Courses or Graduate Creative Process Courses (12 Units)
Upper-division/graduate (300 level and above) literature courses in the English or Comparative and World Literature or Theater Arts Departments, to be taken on advisement, with the consent of an M.F.A. advisor.
Theater Arts courses include:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| TH A 401 | Global Theatre History I | 3 |
| TH A 660 | Advanced Play Development Workshop | 3 |
| TH A 705 | Playcrafting and Dramaturgy | 3 |
Graduate Creative Writing process courses include:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| C W 785 | Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 806 | The Business of Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 810 | Seminar in the Creative Process | 3 |
| C W 814 | Contemporary World Poetry | 3 |
| C W 820 | Writers on Writing | 3 |
| C W 825 | Playwright's Theatre Workshop | 3 |
| C W 840 | Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine | 3 |
| C W 850 | Poetry Center Workshop | 3 |
| C W 859 | Practicum in Teaching | 3 |
| C W 860 | Teaching Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 866 | Craft of Translation | 3 |
| C W 867 | Theory of Translation | 3 |
| C W 875 | Community Projects in Literature | 3 |
| C W 880 | M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Fiction 1 | 3 |
| C W 881 | M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Poetry 1 | 3 |
| C W 882 | M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Playwriting 1 | 3 |
| C W 899 | Independent Study | 3 |
Correlative courses related to the candidate's interests (12 Units)
To be taken upon advisement from an M.F.A. advisor. Sequences and patterns are especially appropriate. The English Department's certificate in the teaching of reading and composition is an option in this sequence. For students planning a culminating project in playwriting, the following courses in Theatre Arts are acceptable:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| TH A 401 | Global Theatre History I | 3 |
| TH A 660 | Advanced Play Development Workshop | 3 |
| TH A 705 | Playcrafting and Dramaturgy | 3 |
Other correlative tracks include careers in Creative Writing:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Creative Writing | ||
| C W 785 | Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 806 | The Business of Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 840 | Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine | 3 |
| C W 875 | Community Projects in Literature | 3 |
| Teaching Creative Writing | ||
| C W 785 | Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 859 | Practicum in Teaching | 3 |
| C W 860 | Teaching Creative Writing | 3 |
| C W 875 | Community Projects in Literature | 3 |
Book Arts (under development with the Art Department), and a different genre than the student’s own within the department. A poet, for instance, can have a fiction correlative. More specialized correlatives in other areas of study pertaining to the student’s interests as a writer can also be taken in consultation with an advisor.
Culminating Experience (6 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| C W 893MFA | Written M.F.A. Creative Work | 6 |
Priority in M.F.A. classes is given to classified M.F.A. students accepted in the genre of the course, with the exceptions of C W 854, which is open to both M.A. and M.F.A. students whose emphasis is Poetry, as well as C W 855, which is open to both M.A. and M.F.A. students whose emphasis is Playwriting.
- 1
May be taken for six semesters of credit.
- 2
May be taken for three semesters of credit.
- 3
May be taken for two semesters of credit.
- 4
May be repeated for credit when topics vary.