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MFA in Creative Writing
Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing
Program Brochure
The
mission of the low-residency MFA program at Murray State University is
to provide quality advanced instruction to creative writers while
allowing them to live and work where they choose. We are looking for
candidates who show strong promise as creative writers and who also
demonstrate a commitment to the serious reading of literature.
Additionally, we seek students who are self-motivated, able to work
independently, and capable of making positive use of criticism to
improve their writing. Our foremost goal is to facilitate the creative
and professional growth of writers, but the degree also offers the
necessary academic credentials for a writer to teach creative writing at
the college or university level. It also provides a foundation for
careers in other writing-related fields.
Of the 49 hours required for the degree, 13 hours must be completed on
campus in January and July residencies. The remaining 36 can be
completed via distance learning. These 36 hours comprise three
semester-long Graduate Tutorials (6 hours each), a Creative Thesis (6
hours), the New Madrid Field Study (3 hours) and three graduate
literature courses (3 hours each). The graduate literature courses may
also be completed on campus at Murray State. (While students may
transfer up to nine semester hours—“B” or higher—of graduate-level
literature courses from another accredited graduate institution, they
must complete all residencies, tutorials and the field study within the
MFA program at Murray State).
MFA program welcomes new poetry mentor
Blas Falconer
The MFA program is delighted to welcome our newest poetry mentor, Blas Falconer. Falconer is an assistant professor at Austin Peay State University, where he serves as the poetry editor of Zone 3 Magazine/Zone 3 Press. He is the author of The Perfect Hour (2006) and A Question of Gravity and Light (2007). Falconer's awards include Maureen Egen Literary Award from Poets & Writers, the New Delta Review Eyster Prize for Poetry, the Barthelme Fellowship and a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.