Undergraduate Program Director

Writer’s Workshop at the University of Nebraska-Omaha is a community of creative writers united by the study of the literary craft. The department offers studio-based instruction from professional writers in a collegiate context incorporating visual arts, journalism, communication, and design. The Writer’s Workshop provides coursework toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. The undergraduate program is built on the apprenticeship model. All teaching faculty, both full and part-time, are publishing writers who strive to personalize instruction and bring out emerging artists’ creative potential.

Graduate Program Director

The low-residency MFA in Writing is a two-year program of focused instruction for writers who have a strong commitment to a literary career but are unable to leave home, family, or job for prolonged periods to pursue their ambitions. The program is composed of four 16-week home-based seminars sandwiched between five 10-day residencies in Nebraska, the home of the program. For those who have made a deliberate choice to focus on their writing skills, the seminars and residencies are intended to help prepare them to participate successfully in the wide domain of contemporary American letters. Students devote an average of 25 hours per week to their studies, which allows them time to maintain commitments to family or job while they pursue their literary studies within a flexible structure of writing, guided readings, and critical response under the guidance of individual writing mentors. Over a two-year course of study, the student earns 60 credit hours toward a Masters of Fine Arts degree in one of six emphases: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, young adult, playwriting, or screenwriting.