Introduction:
On Choosing the Writing Program Best for You
"Great simplicity is only won by an intense moment or by years of intelligent effort,
or both. It represents one of the most arduous conquests of the human spirit: the triumph of feeling and thought over the natural sins of language." |
1. Ranking the Best Programs
In 1967, the writers who taught at thirteen colleges and universities formed the nonprofit organization that became the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). In those days, only a few programs offered instruction in the art of writing fiction and poetry, and such programs were regarded with suspicion by the scholars of English departments, where the most esteemed authors were long-dead and safely entombed in libraries. One scholar quipped that it was no more appropriate to have a writer teach literature than it was to have an elephant teach zoology. The founders of AWP argued, of course, that living writers could certainly help their students understand and appreciate literature; and for students who wished to become writers themselves, there was no better way for them to expedite their artistic development than to study with accomplished writers. It was a convincing argument, and it gathered plenty of supporting evidence as young writers graduated from universities and began to publish books as noteworthy as those by their former teachers. At Duke, William Blackburn taught William Styron, Fred Chappell, and Reynolds Price. Price, in turn, taught Josephine Humphries and Anne Tyler. E.L. Doctrow taught Richard Ford at the University of California, Irvine. Donald Dike taught Joyce Carol Oates at Syracuse. Andrew Lytle taught Harry Crews. At Stanford, Wallace Stegner taught Robert Stone, Barry Lopez, Ken Kesey, Edward Abbey, Wendell Berry, Raymond Carver, and many others. Annie Dillard, Madison Smartt Bell, Lee Smith, and Henry Taylor studied at Hollins College. Many winners of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry are also graduates of writing programs: Rita Dove, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, and many others. And there are many other examples, as more universities have become more successful in helping one generation of writers to educate and encourage the next.
Much has changed since a baker’s dozen of writing programs formed AWP over three decades ago. AWP has grown, and so have the opportunities for writers. This guide lists more than four hundred academic programs and more than two hundred colonies, conferences, festivals, and centers for writers. These institutions and organizations provide the time, place, instruction, friendly advice, and fellow spirits to help a writer master a difficult and lonely craft.
Here at the offices of AWP, we often receive letters and phone calls from aspiring writers of all ages. “Which are the very best programs? How would you rank such-and-such?” they ask. Since these are questions they should answer for themselves, we can only refer them to this guide and reply with other questions: Which authors do you love to read? With which contemporary authors would you like to study? Do you need to improve your knowledge of literature’s long history? Some callers become annoyed with us. Hearing questions in response to their own questions, they feel we are being evasive, cowardly, too diplomatic. But really, we have their best interests in mind. After all, no brand-name degree nor any amount of schmoozing with literary movers and shakers will necessarily make someone a better writer. Ultimately, a writer’s career is forged in solitude, individual choice by individual choice, word by word, line by line, sentence by sentence. If you succeed as a writer, you will make billions of such choices; you can’t let others make your artistic choices for you. The same is true for choosing a writing program. Rather than rely on any top-ten list made by others, you should rank these programs yourself. Just as a good writing teacher will help you see how many options you have in telling a story or shaping a poem, this guide will help you realize how many choices you have; but in the end, you must decide what’s best for you and your work.
No artist wants to work without a full palette, but there are countless ways of filling and mixing the colors on that palette. Some writers need to study 16th-century literature to learn how to make their rhetoric stretch with pleasure—to impart allusive music, grace, and a greater elasticity to their sentences. Other writers may find such study silly or oppressive—an antique corset stuffed with stays of whale bone—and prefer to keep only the company of moderns and fellow contemporaries. Others may wish to reclaim a heritage not represented in the literature of English-speaking countries. Some writers will find teaching assistantships necessary or inspiring; others will not. Some writers will thrive in the ruckus and hustle of a large urban university, while others would only be intimidated there. This guide will help you clarify your own preferences. The hallmarks of successful writing programs, which you may find at this website, will also help you list the features you may seek in a writing program.
2. More Questions & the Great Variety of Answers
So who are the contemporary writers you most admire? With whom would you like to study? In what genre do you plan to specialize, or do you plan to work in more than one genre? From which authors would you learn the most for the particular style of writing you hope to perfect? Which teachers write about the subject matter that inspires you most? Or do you need to find the time and financial support to write apart from the nine-to-five, work-a-day world? Would you benefit most from working on your own writing or from studying the work of other writers? Or both? Would you like, in addition to practicing the art of writing, to complete some scholarly research as well? Are you looking for teaching experience? Editorial experience? Can you spend a year, two years, or three or more years to educate yourself in your craft? Would your writing benefit from your living in a city? Beside an ocean? Close to mountains? Or a desert? A small town? Would you prefer a big program or a small program—having a dozen classmates or a hundred? Happily, the programs listed here are as various as the answers to these questions.
You should keep in mind that one writing program may differ greatly from the next, even if both programs offer the same degree. The basic requirements are listed in this guide so you may decide which curriculum is best for you. In some programs, students must satisfy many traditional requirements for literary scholarship: proficiency in one or more foreign languages; distribution requirements in the arts, sciences, and humanities; an overview of literature from three or more centuries; and a command of scholarly research and documentation skills. Other programs have few of these requirements, if any, as the emphasis is mainly on the progress of the student’s writing. Most programs offer writing workshops in two genres only: poetry and fiction. A few programs offer workshops in only one genre, and an increasing number of programs offer workshops in a multitude of genres: creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, technical writing, translation, and writing for children. For admission, some programs require previous study in literature, a high grade-point average, and good scores on aptitude tests or graduate examinations; other programs will require only an original writing sample that demonstrates talent and promise.
In a writing program or conference, students learn their craft by studying the works of past and present writers; by writing and rewriting; and by examining, defending, satirizing, supporting, criticizing, and nurturing their own works in workshop, which is a small class of twelve or fewer students under the guidance of an accomplished writer. Conferences require short residencies, and most do not offer academic credit. Academic programs, of course, require longer residencies; the programs’ workshops are complemented by courses in the study of literature; and this curriculum leads to a degree. For a graduate degree, each student must complete a thesis, which may be a novel, a collection of stories, a book-length collection of poems, a play, a memoir, or a collection of essays. The graduate programs listed in this guide are only those that accept an original work of literary writing for the thesis.
If you will soon graduate from high school and you are seeking a college with a strong course of study in creative writing, you should keep in mind that every great writer was, at first, a voracious and omnivorous reader; and many great writers, as part of their apprenticeships, also became fluent in two or more languages. Nothing makes one’s mother tongue more vivid and mysterious than seeing its limitations and powers from the vantage point of thinking and speaking in another language. You must become an expert and wide-ranging reader before you can hope to be a serious writer; so you may benefit the most from an undergraduate course of study in which the majority of your work is in classes of literature and languages, rather than in workshops. You should seek a college that features a strong and diverse curriculum in the liberal arts in addition to classes in creative writing and a lively series of visiting writers.
Most graduate programs require coursework in literature and other fields as well; and in regard to this requirement, the programs vary the most. One graduate program may require 48 semester hours (s/hrs) of coursework, 24 of which may be workshops. Another program may require 48 s/hrs of total coursework, but only 12 of those may be workshops, as most of the credit must be acquired in literature courses. (A few schools are on the quarterly system; their requirements are listed in quarter hours—abbreviated q/hrs.) AWP classifies each program as one of three basic types: a Studio Program, a Studio/Research Program, or a Research/Theory/Studio Program. Studio Programs allow the most coursework in workshops and independent studies while Research/Theory/Studio Programs require most of the coursework to be in the study of literature and various theories of cultural criticism. The Studio/Research Program, the most common type of graduate program, seeks to strike a balance between the study of literature and the practice of the art of writing. If you already have a strong background in literature and you have already been writing a great deal—and perhaps you have been publishing some of your work, too—a Studio Program may work best for you; otherwise, you may benefit more from one of the other types of programs.
A variety of degrees are offered. At the undergraduate level, most programs confer a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English literature, with a minor, an emphasis, or a concentration in creative writing. Many undergraduate programs, some of which confer the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree, offer majors in creative writing. There are also Associate of Arts (AA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) programs that offer studies in creative writing. At the graduate level, the following degrees are offered: Master of Arts (MA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Doctor of Arts (DA), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). There are also a few postgraduate or fellowship programs that offer no degree, like the Stegner Fellowships offered by Stanford University. Most degree-conferring programs require a residency of a year or more, but a few MFA programs are low-residency programs. These programs combine brief residencies (usually of ten days, twice a year) along with extended, independent studies which are directed through written correspondence with instructors.
The best writing programs are member institutions of AWP, and they are designated in this guide by a checkbox and a heading that designates their status as members. These programs can all be found on the member programs page. These programs receive the publications and collective support of our association, which upholds professional standards in the teaching of writing, and which provides writers with services, advocacy, and information on employment and publishing opportunities. The students of the member programs receive free access to AWP’s publications via AWP eLink, our members-only website. This site provides students with many helpful articles on the art of writing, on strategies for teaching, and on pursuing a career as a writer.
The conferences, centers, retreats, and festivals listed on our Writers' Conferences & Centers website also provide the times, places, and workshops in which writers may improve their work and meet other writers. The conferences and retreats require residencies of a few days to a few months. If you live close to a literary center, you can commute to their writing workshops and literary readings.
3. Be Prepared to Become Unlike Yourself
While you are mulling over the questions raised in this introduction, look over the many programs listed in this guide. After you have answered these questions to your own satisfaction, you should be able to narrow down your prospects to ten or fewer programs. Once you have done so, write to each school and request complete information on the program: brochures, listings of current faculty, catalog, information on financial aid, and requirements for admission and for completion of your degree. We make every effort to make sure this guide provides you with up-to-date information, but the entries here are merely introductions to these programs. It is also a good idea to visit a few schools if you can afford to do so, or, at the very least, to talk with a few students or graduates of the programs that interest you. The same advice applies to conferences, colonies, and centers. If you plan to attend one of them, you should talk to a past attendee, if it’s possible, to confirm that the organization really provides the experience you are seeking.
You will probably not be familiar with all the writers at any particular writing program, but you should acquaint yourself with their work before you apply, and certainly before you make your final decision as to which program you will attend. Even though you may not ever hope to emulate the kinds of work some of those writers produce, do you still find merit in their work? The best advice here is paradoxical: be prepared to study with writers you like and with writers you don’t like, but in whom you still find substance, inventiveness, and intelligence. If you study only with writers you already admire, you may run the risk of becoming merely eclectic or imitative. Studying with a wide range of talents will probably serve you best, so look for variety in the faculty. You may learn, for example, to construct your own extraordinary stories of the ordinary in the unadorned style of Barbara Pym or one of your teachers only by first studying the redounding rhetoric of Henry James, the caustic satires of Dawn Powell, and the encyclopedic narratives of yet another one of your teachers (all of whom you may have previously resisted). In the end, you may find yourself—master of influences—writing simply in your own voice. Or you may improve your free verse by studying with advocates of formal poetry and by writing sonnets and sestinas. By doing things unlike themselves, writers grow, mature—and become artists.
Once you have selected the programs to which you will apply, you should prepare a sample of your own writing, which most programs will require, especially at the graduate level. This is what writing programs are all about; so put forward only your best work in its best form. Send only clear copies, free of errors. For many programs, this will be the most important part of your application.
4. A Few Warnings & Some High-Minded Encouragement
“‘Nothing’ is the force / that renovates the world,” wrote Emily Dickinson. And every day, facing the empty page, the writer feels the burden and the exhilaration of that force. Unfortunately, it is also what writers are usually paid at first: nothing. In choosing a writing program, you may also want to consider the practical side of writing: what to do for a living, until both your avocation and vocation become one and the same. Please keep in mind that—although academe has never been more hospitable to living authors—the competition for full-time teaching jobs has never been more fierce.
Most graduates with advanced degrees in literature and creative writing will not find tenure-track jobs as professors. The number of graduates exceeds the number of good, full-time academic jobs, while colleges and universities continue to create a larger percentage of temporary and part-time positions with low pay and poor benefits. There are, however, many vocations that require a writer’s skills and creativity; and many graduates of creative writing programs have enjoyed successful careers in advertising, public relations, journalism, publishing, arts administration, and technical writing. Many programs provide internships, editorial opportunities, and courses in various kinds of professional writing that might improve your prospects in securing professional work in these fields; but if wealth and job security are your main goals, an MBA will serve you better than an MFA. Your main goal in attending a writing program must be artistic, or you will be disappointed. If you aspire to become a literary writer, you will benefit from attending one of the programs listed in this book.
As is the case in the study of music, dance, theater, painting, or sculpture, an advanced degree in writing will not ensure your artistic success. No enterprise is more challenging than the effort to become a successful artist; but no enterprise is more rewarding or more sublime, even if you fail—and failure is surely part of the process when it comes to making art, even if you do finally succeed. While the poet Frank O’Hara was still in college, he wrote, “Life for all its travails has far more zest than any ideal utopia ever would.” O’Hara could just as well have been referring to a writer’s career. If you love literature, it’s worth the trouble and the risk. If you love literature, there is no better way to spend a year or more of your life than in the study of the art of making stories and poems. To be surrounded by people who love books is a thrilling experience—life-changing for many. In a mind-blurring age that keeps accelerating the production of disposable icons of celebrity and consumerism, the slow and profound pleasures of reading and writing are much needed antidotes. The communities created by these programs have enabled many of us to develop life-long friendships based on a shared devotion to literature. This support sustains many writers long after they have graduated. And for those graduates who finally choose other careers, the study of writing and literature remains an enduring personal asset.
“Character is higher than intellect,” declared Emerson. Writers know this to be true because character includes intellect. Academic study alone will not make a great artist, nor will unique experiences alone, nor will smart ideas alone, nor will a wonderful style alone, nor will passion alone. It has been the wisdom of writing programs to include many kinds of writing, learning, thinking, and feeling. Writing programs may or may not be able to convert a mediocre scribbler into a lasting luminary, but they can certainly improve a writer’s heart, intellect, or both. Writing programs can exercise and develop a stronger character—a greater range of sympathies, resourcefulness, and playfulness. Writers today have more means than ever by which they may sharpen their pencils and wits. And we as readers, too, are richer for that.
—D.W. Fenza
Executive Director
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs
