MFA Writing Program

The two-year School of Critical Studies MFA Creative Writing Program offers a variety of options for study: the Creative Writing Program—the choice of most students; Interschool Writing; and Integrated Media (IM). At any time during their residency, MFA Creative Writing students may choose to complete one of four interdisciplinary concentrations: Writing + Performativity, Documentary Poetics, Writing and Its Publics, or Image + Text.
Genre experimentation and an emphasis on critical contexts for creative work characterize each of these options.  In support of their writing and thinking, students are paired with a faculty mentor, and work closely with them throughout their time in the Program
The goal of our MFA Creative Writing Program is to enable students to shape their own unique practice, while familiarizing themselves with an international range of aesthetic and critical traditions through our inclusive and future-forward curriculum.  MFA Creative Writing Program students will

• Cultivate a writing practice that allows them to produce work to the best of their creative and analytical potential

• Become fluent in a vocabulary that encourages communication and understanding of their own practice as well as of the work of their peers

• Prepare to become practitioners in a career that may include teaching through training in critical thinking and pedagogy

• Produce a thesis that accurately reflects their capacities as writers and that embodies their aesthetic foundation and vision

• Become good citizens of the workshop/seminar and learn to function within a community of artists, understanding the value of that community while following their own compass as writers

• Draw meaningfully from the other arts and academic disciplines to inform their own writing, or to develop an interdisciplinary practice

• Develop a sustainable writing dynamic as they enter a world of increasing artistic risk and diversity

Our Program is designed to inspire students to explore and employ both "creative" and "critical" modes in their practices, without seeking to draw a hard line between the two. All students attend closely to questions of form and aesthetics, as well as to the historical, cultural and critical contexts of literary work. Many classes offer a mix of seminar and workshop, and as such provide opportunities for discussions and presentations on both assigned texts and student-generated work. In addition to the more traditional forms of lyric poetry, short story, essay, memoir, novel, literary/arts theory, and reviewing, Program courses also cover genre-fluid forms, such as prose poetry, micro-fiction, and "hybrid" writing that blurs the boundaries between memoir and theory, fiction and nonfiction, criticism and poetry, among other cross-pollinations. While not all classes are offered every year, over the two-year program students take a wide selection of courses, and are all encouraged to experiment with and create new forms and approaches.

The CalArts MFA Creative Writing Program is ideal for students keen to develop their confidence and range as writers and to benefit from CalArts' uniquely interdisciplinary and experimental atmosphere. The Program is also attractive to students who seek a formally expansive and critically challenging alternative to existing creative writing programs.

The requirements for being awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree in the Creative Writing Program are as follows:

1. Students must maintain two years of residence (minimum). The residence requirement may be extended for students specializing in writing for mixed media or interactive media formats depending on technical skills and in some cases for Interschool Writing students.

2. Students must complete a minimum of 40 semester units (see chart below for minimum requirements). To ensure graduation in a timely manner, students are expected to complete at least 10 units per semester.

3. Students must take two (2) Core MFA creative writing courses per semester.  

4. Students may also take upper level/Special Topics Critical Studies offerings and/or institute wide electives. Students interested in earning one of our named interdisciplinary concentrations need to take at least four elective classes in their area of concentration over the course of their time in the program.

5. All students meet with their mentors a minimum of three times per semester for advisement with an additional meeting in spring semester to conduct mid-residency or graduation reviews.

MFA Interschool Writing

Interschool Writing students enroll in both Critical Studies and in an MFA program offered by another school of the Institute-Art, Dance, Film/Video, Music or Theater. Applicants must apply separately to each school. Requirements for the other métiers are set on an individual basis or according to that school’s requirements. The following list refers only to the Critical Studies component of the Interschool degree.

To receive the MFA degree in Interschool Writing, students are required to:

1. Maintain two years of residence (minimum). The residence requirement may be extended for students specializing in writing for mixed media or interactive media formats depending on technical skills. It may also be extended for students whose Interschool requirements exceed a two-year residence (for example, the School of Film/Video).

2. Complete the same requirements as for the MFA Writing Program, except as noted in the chart of minimum requirements given below.

MFA Writing Program, Integrated Media

Students who choose Integrated Media (IM) are enrolled as, and must complete the same requirements as the MFA Writing Program except as noted in the following chart of minimum requirements.

Additional requirements-including IM seminars and critiques, specified Critical Studies courses, and electives from throughout the Institute-are set on an individual basis in consultation with the Office of Integrated Media.

MFA Creative Writing Program, Minimum Requirements (40 Credits)

To maintain financial aid eligibility, students are required to take a minimum of 9 units per semester; they are not encouraged to take more than 13.

Year One Program Requirements

Year 1, Fall Semester

Core MFA course

Core MFA or Elective course

Writing Now First Year Seminar

Year 1, Wintersession

Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence course

Year 1, Spring Semester

2 Core MFA courses

Core MFA or Elective course

Writing Now Reading Series

Year Two Program Requirements

Year 2, Fall Semester

Core MFA or Thesis Workshop course

Core MFA or Graduate Teaching Practicum or Elective course

Core MFA course

Writing Now Reading Series

Year 2, Wintersession

Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence course

Year 2, Spring Semester

Exit Strategies: Professional Development for Writers course

Core MFA or Elective course

Directed Thesis Study with Mentor

Writing Now Reading Series

Interschool & IM MFA Writing Program, Minimum Requirements (30 Critical Studies + Integrated Media Courses)

Year One

Year 1, Fall Semester

Core MFA course

Writing Now First Year Seminar

Year 1, Wintersession

Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence course

Year 1, Spring Semester

Core MFA course

Core MFA or Elective course

Writing Now Reading Series

Year Two

Year 2, Fall Semester

Core MFA or Thesis Workshop course

Core MFA or Graduate Teaching Practicum or Elective course

Writing Now Reading Series

Year 2, Wintersession

Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence course

Year 2, Spring Semester

Core MFA course

Exit Strategies: Professional Development for Writers course

Directed Thesis Study with Mentor

Writing Now Reading Series

Course Descriptions

Core MFA courses are courses designed and taught by core MFA Creative Writing Program faculty.

Elective courses include upper-level (500) courses taught by faculty in the School of Critical Studies and upper-level and graduate courses taught in the other schools at the Institute.

Writing Now is a core requirement for every semester in the Creative Writing Program. It is structured around the work of contemporary writers who will also be visitors to the Program.  The course, taught by a member of the MFA Creative Writing faculty, includes discussions, presentation, and workshops. The fall semester of the first year, Writing Now requires attendance at weekly meetings as well as the visitor events.  Every semester thereafter, attendance is only required at the visitor events.

Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence is the required course during Wintersession. This course centers around the Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence’s lecture, reading, seminars, and/or individual meetings with students. The Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence is selected by Program faculty, and is focused on the Writing + Its Publics concentration.

"Exit Strategies: Professional Development for Writers" is required in the spring semester of the second year. This course provides students focused consideration of all aspects of students’ transition out of graduate school, including publishing, agents, public speaking, and maintaining creative practice. In addition to developing skills and dossiers for job-seeking or doctoral work, Exit Strategies connects insights from Writing Now and the Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence to course readings, guest-run workshops and seminars, webinars, presentations, and panels.

The Thesis Workshops, while not required are recommended for all 2nd year students in the fall semester. This course is intended to provide students an opportunity to share, revise, and refine their thesis among peers with faculty guidance.

The Graduate Teaching Practicum is a course designed to support students while teaching as well as prepare them for future pedagogical opportunities. All students teaching on the BFA Level 100 curriculum at the Institute must be concurrently enrolled in this course.

The Directed Thesis Study with Mentor is a core requirement for all students in their final semester. This course supports the completion of the thesis required for graduation.