Creative Work: Students will produce a publishable written creative work.
Professional Preparation for fields related to literature and/or creative writing: Includes skills in publishing, writing, teaching, editing, book arts, and arts management.
Literature: Students will understand and appreciate work of a broad range of writers, develop an awareness of literature in general, and his/her own genre in particular as it relates to larger human experience.
Craft Elements: Students will have a working knowledge of the major elements in the craft of creative nonfiction, fiction, literary translation, playwriting, and/or poetry and consciously incorporate these elements in the revisions of their work and be able to discuss craft elements in written responses to their peers' work.
Students interested in this program must submit, via Cal State Apply a meaningful sample of their writing (15 to 20 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction, or 15 to 20 pages of literary translation, or a full-length stage play or two short plays, or 15 to 20 poems), three letters of recommendation, and transcripts. All application materials are to be uploaded by January 15 for the fall semester.
Applicants from creative writing programs at other colleges or universities may transfer nine units to the M.F.A. program, on review and recommendation of the Creative Writing Admissions Committee and approval of the Division of Graduate Studies. For further clarification, contact the Creative Writing Department.
Students in the Master of Arts in English with Concentration in Creative Writing at SF State who wish to enter the M.F.A. program are required to apply for admission and are subject to the same admission standards as are all other applicants. For students entering with an earned M.A. in English: Creative Writing from SF State, the M.F.A. is a 30 unit degree as described below.
Enrollment priority in M.F.A. classes is given to classified M.F.A. students accepted in the genre of the course.
Statement of purpose (500–1500 words) and writing sample (15 to 20 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction, or 15 to 20 pages of literary translation, or a full-length stage play or two short plays, or 15 to 20 poems) scored 8.0 or higher on a scale of one to 10 based on the following criteria:
fluency and precision of expression;
ability to embody and illustrate ideas creatively; and
appropriateness of the applicant's interests, life experiences and goals to the program.
Satisfactory completion of C W 893MFA on the following criteria: work deemed by two faculty readers to be publishable as a book and evaluated along the following criteria:
ability to use the craft of the art form to illustrate ideas, vision, and imagination creatively, using fresh, precise language;
ability to suggest, via the craft to the art form, a subtext and themes that display the writers' complex relationship with her/his ideas, vision, imagination, and form (story, poem, dramatic monologue and/or play); and
mastery of at least one genre form per the above.
Selected upper-division courses offered by the department may be used for the degree upon approval of a department advisor. Enrollment is not required in the semester of graduation.
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing — Minimum 54 Units
Writing Workshops at the M.F.A. Level (6 Units)
Select a minimum of 6 units in the genre of admission selected from the following:
C W 852 MFA Workshop in Creative Nonfiction 4 3
C W 853 M.F.A. Workshop in Fiction 4 3
C W 854 M.F.A. Workshop in Poetry 4 3
C W 855 M.F.A. Workshop in Playwriting 4 3
C W 856 M.F.A. Workshop in Short Plays 3 3
M.A./M.F.A. Level Creative Process Directed Writing/Special Study/Writing Workshops (12 Units)
Select 12 units from the following:
C W 785 Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Creative Writing 3
C W 803 Advanced Short Story Writing 3 3
C W 804 Advanced Poetry Writing 3 3
C W 806 The Business of Creative Writing 3
C W 807 Developing the Novel 3
C W 808 Novel Writing 3 3
C W 809 Directed Writing for Graduate Students 3 3
C W 810 Seminar in the Creative Process 1 3
C W 814 Contemporary World Poetry 3
C W 820 Writers on Writing 3
C W 825 Playwright's Theatre Workshop 3 3
C W 840 Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine 2 3
C W 850 Poetry Center Workshop 3
C W 859 Practicum in Teaching 3
C W 860 Teaching Creative Writing 3
C W 866 Craft of Translation 4 3
C W 867 Theory of Translation 3
C W 875 Community Projects in Literature 2 3
C W 899 Independent Study 1-3
Creative Process Courses at the M.F.A. Level. (6 Units)
Select 6 units in the genre of admission from the following:
C W 880 M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Fiction 1,4 3
C W 881 M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Poetry 1,4 3
C W 882 M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Playwriting 1,4 3
Literature or Theatre Arts Courses or Graduate Creative Process Courses (12 Units)
Upper division/graduate (300 level and above) literature courses in the English or Comparative and World Literature or Theater Arts Departments, to be taken on advisement, with the consent of an M.F.A. advisor.
Theater Arts courses include:
TH A 401 Theatre Backgrounds: 500 B.C. - 1642 3
TH A 660 Advanced Play Development Workshop 3
TH A 705 Playcrafting and Dramaturgy 3
Graduate Creative Writing process courses include:
C W 810 Seminar in the Creative Process 3
C W 825 Playwright's Theatre Workshop 3
C W 840 Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine 3
C W 875 Community Projects in Literature 3
C W 880 M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Fiction 4 3
C W 881 M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Poetry 4 3
C W 882 M.F.A. Craft and Process Tutorial in Playwriting 4 3
C W 899 Independent Study 3
Correlative courses related to the candidate's interests (12 Units)
To be taken upon advisement from an M.F.A. advisor. Sequences and patterns are especially appropriate. The English Department's certificate in the teaching of reading and composition is an option in this sequence. For students planning a culminating project in playwriting, the following courses in Theatre Arts are acceptable:
Other correlative tracks include careers in Creative Writing:
Teaching Creative Writing
Book Arts (under development with the Art Department), and a different genre than the student's own within the department. A poet, for instance, can have a fiction correlative. More specialized correlatives in other areas of study pertaining to the student's interests as a writer can also be taken in consultation with an advisor.
Culminating Experience (6 units)
C W 893MFA Written M.F.A. Creative Work 6
Priority in M.F.A. classes is given to classified M.F.A. students accepted in the genre of the course, with the exceptions of C W 854, which is open to both M.A. and M.F.A. students whose emphasis is Poetry, as well as C W 855 and C W 856, which are open to both M.A. and M.F.A. students whose emphasis is Playwriting.
For students with a B.A. degree, the M.F.A. degree is 54 units as stated above.
For students with an earned M.A. in English: Concentration in Creative Writing from SF State, the M.F.A. degree requires an additional 30 units composed of the following elements:
M.F.A.-level workshops
C W 853 M.F.A. Workshop in Fiction 3
C W 854 M.F.A. Workshop in Poetry 3
C W 855 M.F.A. Workshop in Playwriting 3
C W 856 M.F.A. Workshop in Short Plays 3
M.F.A.-level Creative Processes Classes
Select 12 units from the Correlative Area listed above
May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
May be taken for two semesters of credit.
May be taken for three semesters of credit.
May be taken for six semesters of credit.