The Creative Writing Minor offers substantial training for students wishing to supplement their major area work, prepare themselves better for graduate work, prepare for classroom teaching and other fields, or who simply have an interest in the art of literary writing. Admission: Must be admitted to the university and enrolled in a baccalaureate program.

Requirements: The Creative Writing Minor consists of three creative writing workshops and one course in a literary topic, for a total of 20 semester units, at least 12 of which must be upper division units. Opportunities to work on a student literary magazine, participate in the annual Young Writers Conference, and other activities.

The Creative Writing Minor offers substantial training for students wishing to supplement their major area work, prepare themselves better for graduate work, prepare for classroom teaching and other fields, or who simply have an interest in the art of literary writing. Admission: Must be admitted to the university and enrolled in a baccalaureate program.

Requirements: The Creative Writing Minor consists of three creative writing workshops and one course in a literary topic, for a total of 20 semester units, at least 12 of which must be upper division units. Opportunities to work on a student literary magazine, participate in the annual Young Writers Conference, and other activities.

Graduate Program Director

Located in the heart of California, the Fresno State MFA Program enjoys a long history of literary excellence in the study of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We believe that the best artists are necessarily well educated in the history and practice of their art. We offer a substantial 54-unit, 3-year degree program that gives students the opportunity to focus acutely on their writing while gaining a strong background in literature and professional experience in publishing and editing. We offer small, intensive workshops and seminars taught by award-winning poets and prose writers; we work very closely with individual students; and we bring prominent visiting writers to campus as often as possible.

Many of our students work as Teaching Associates for the English Department's First-Year Writing Program, as Graduate Assistants for the MFA Program, as writing consultants for the campus Graduate Writing Studio, and as tutors for the campus Writing Center. Several students are selected each year to teach beginning creative writing. In addition to employment opportunities, students are eligible for scholarships, research and travel grant funding, assistantships in publishing and editing, and annual creative writing prizes in each genre. In addition, we offer up to three nonresident fee waivers to qualified incoming students for their first year of study.

Students in the MFA Program are encouraged to get actively and professionally involved in literary publishing and events programming. Opportunities include: serve on editorial staff for The Normal School literary magazine; serve on editorial staff for the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry book contest; lead workshops for high school students at our Young Writers Conference; serve on editorial staffs for our campus journals, the San Joaquin Review and Flies, Cockroaches & Poets; participate in Fresno's annual Rogue Performance Festival and LitHop festival; take intensive courses during CSU Summer Arts; participate in our high school outreach programs; and more. There is a wonderful and supportive community of Fresno writers that includes multiple student organizations, an alumni chapter, and community reading series of all kinds.