the program

In the beautiful lakes region of Western Kentucky, something extraordinary is happening. Masters in their craft—some of the most widely respected novelists, poets and essayists working today—are guiding a group of talented and diverse writers in Murray State University's Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing program.

The primary objective of the low-residency MFA program is to provide advanced instruction to creative writers while allowing them to live where they choose. The MFA is a terminal degree and provides the necessary academic credentials for a writer to teach creative writing at the college or university level. It also provides a foundation in writing that can help prepare graduates for careers in a variety of fields such as writing, publishing, advertising, or teaching at the secondary level. Our foremost goal, however, is to facilitate the growth of writers.

The select and eclectic students that make up this increasingly competitive MFA program come from Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, Kansas City, Louisville, Conway (Arkansas), and many more American cities and towns, big and small. They are professional journalists, radio announcers, television producers, professors and teachers, horse farmers, web designers, entertainers, parents and friends. They come to Murray State seeking a competitive, low-residency, affordable alternative to the traditional MFA program. They end up finding much more—a world-class faculty and a bubbling cauldron of peer talent, mixed in a package of open-mindedness and artistry that moves.

Also please check out New Madrid , the official literary journal of the Murray State Low-Residency MFA program.