Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

The center of the MFA Program in Poetry is the graduate Seminar in Writing. The seminar offers a continuing semester-by-semester opportunity for students and faculty to discuss student writing in an atmosphere of critical collaboration. In addition to workshop, students take other English graduate-level courses in literature, theory, and directed reading.

The goal of the program is to further the development of talented creative writers who will continue writing throughout their lives. Our students come to us already having demonstrated significant levels of accomplishment in their writing, and a serious long-term commitment to the craft. To maximize direct faculty-to-student instruction, the program keeps enrollment low, limiting admission to the fall semester.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Fine Arts degree is a two (2) year, forty-eight (48) unit degree normally requiring full-time residency. Course requirements (refer to the CSULB Catalog for course descriptions) are arranged according to the following structure:

Core Courses

32 units, to be chosen on the basis of consultation with a faculty advisor, to include:

Elective Courses

28 units, to be chosen on the basis of consultation with a faculty advisor, to include:

The center of the MFA Program in Prose is the graduate Seminar in Writing. The seminar offers a continuing semester-by-semester opportunity for students and faculty to discuss student writing in an atmosphere of critical collaboration. In addition to workshop, students take other English graduate-level courses in literature, theory, and directed reading.

The goal of the program is to further the development of talented creative writers who will continue writing throughout their lives. Our students come to us already having demonstrated significant levels of accomplishment in their writing, and a serious long-term commitment to the craft. To maximize direct faculty-to-student instruction, the program keeps enrollment low, limiting admission to the fall semester.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Fine Arts degree is a two (2) year, forty-eight (48) unit degree normally requiring full-time residency. Course requirements (refer to the CSULB Catalog for course descriptions) are arranged according to the following structure:

Core Courses

32 units, to be chosen on the basis of consultation with a faculty advisor, to include:

Elective Courses

28 units, to be chosen on the basis of consultation with a faculty advisor, to include:

Up to six (6) units of the following courses may also be used to fulfill the electives requirement, UNLESS you obtained credit for these courses as an undergraduate at CSULB. The classes taken must not be in the student’s degree focus.

*May be counted for graduate credit

**May not be taken for graduate credit if you received credit for 400-level course as a CSULB undergraduate.

Admission to the program is limited to the fall semester. Students applying for admission to the MFA Program generally have completed a bachelor’s or master’s degree in English from an accredited institution with a 3.2 GPA in upper-division English courses, meet University admission requirements, and submit evidence of creative ability in prose or poetry. When an undergraduate degree has been completed in a program having different requirements from those of CSULB or in some field other than English, additional preparation may be required.

Admission to the MFA program in Creative Writing is based in part on an evaluation of a representative sample of the applicant’s recent work. The sample should consist of 10 pages of poetry or 20-30 double-spaced pages of prose (one or more short stories, one or more creative nonfiction essays, or a section of a novel). Admission to the program will be in one genre only, and applicants are discouraged from submitting in both genres in the same year.

In addition to the writing sample, a complete application will include official college or university transcripts, two letters of recommendation (not from CSULB Creative Writing tenured faculty), and a brief “statement of background and purpose” addressing the student’s preparation and potential for commitment to our MFA program.

The Admissions Committee reads each application carefully, paying particular attention to the quality of submitted writing samples. The Program is committed to selecting those applicants who not only satisfy all the admission requirements but also demonstrate the highest levels of achievement and promise in their writing.

Application Process

Applications are accepted from October 1 through February 15 for entrance into the following year’s Fall semester only. Notification will be given after March 15. The completed CSU Graduate Application should be uploaded in Cal State Apply.

In Cal State Apply, select “CREATIVE WRITING MFA” as your major.  It is not under “English,” but rather within programs starting with the letter “C.”

Through CSU Apply, you will be asked to provide transcripts, a writing sample/statement of purpose (in one document), and two letters of recommendation. Links to upload these components of the application will be found there.

The MFA degree is a 48-unit degree (32 core units + 16 elective units) normally requiring full-time residency. The final thesis must be finished and accepted by all committee members in the spring of the second year of study. Requests for a waiver of this time limit are granted only for such reasons as documented serious health or personal problems. These requests require formal petition to the Creative Writing faculty, and must be approved unanimously by all members of the thesis committee and the English Department Chair. Any grade of “Incomplete” must be completed prior to the student’s graduation date.

This program should be completed in two years at roughly 11-13 units per semester. The following coursework sequence is highly recommended. Departures from this schedule may take place only after consultation with and approval by the chairperson of the student’s thesis committee. Course requirements are arranged into “core” and “elective” categories.

The specific courses listed form the mandatory core coursework for all MFA students. These required courses have been designated with the following unit value towards the completion of the 48-unit degree:

English 505A, 505B, 605A and 605B are 4-unit seminar-workshops in Prose Writing. English 506A, 506B, 606A and 606B are 4-unit seminar-workshops in Poetry Writing. Of the 48 units, 16 are comprised of these graduate creative writing seminar-workshops. Please note that only MFA students are permitted to enroll in these classes and audits are not allowed.

English 696 is a 4-unit Seminar in Theory, Criticism and Research that must be taken in the first year, preferably in the fall semester. Like the graduate Creative Writing seminar-workshops, English 590 is required of and restricted to MFA students. Only second-year MFA students are allowed to enroll in this sequence, which is taken by both the prose and poetry students. As with the creative writing seminars, this course rotates among the professors.

During both semesters of the second year, MFA students will also enroll in a three-unit “thesis writing” course (English 698). This course provides academic credit for the work of writing the final thesis draft.

All of these core courses amount to 32 units of the required 48 units. The remaining coursework is made up of Electives, listed below.

(NOTE: Students who graduated from CSULB with a B.A. degree in English, and have taken the equivalent 400-level course, will not receive credit for the 500-level course. For example, if a student took English 455 as an undergraduate at CSULB, the student will not receive graduate credit for English 555.)

Electives

*Students may NOT enroll in any 500-level course if they earned credit for the class at the 400-level as an undergraduate at CSULB.

Up to six units total of 400-level coursework may also be taken to fulfill the electives requirement, subject to the following restrictions.

Students may NOT enroll in any 400-level Creative Writing course if they earned credit for that class as an undergraduate at CSULB.

Students may NOT enroll in any 400-level Creative Writing course that is in their own degree focus.

Students wishing to take any 400-level course must obtain advance written approval from an MFA advisor.

Students wishing to take any class in another department must obtain advance written approval from an MFA advisor.

MFA Thesis

The MFA thesis can be a challenging and yet exceptionally satisfying part of the MFA program. The thesis may not contain all of the creative writing you produce and revise as part of your workshop seminars, but it does organize your best representative work and gives you an opportunity to describe the poetics and process of your prose and poetry. In a sense, your thesis is a creative writing portfolio and it can serve as a draft of a future manuscript that you can circulate for publication. In general, a prose thesis will contain approximately 100 pages of stories, creative nonfiction essays, or an excerpt of a novel, plus a substantial introductory section called “Methodology.” A poetry thesis will contain around three dozen poems plus the “Methodology.” The contents and length of each student’s methodology should be discussed with the chairperson of his or her thesis committee.

MFA students need to remember that the thesis is primarily an academic document that will become a permanent part of their record. As such, each thesis is available as part of the CSULB library’s public collection, and each student must submit the thesis in a format that meets the library’s template. It is the student’s responsibility to visit the Thesis and Dissertation Office and become familiar with the template needed to complete this process.

Formation of a Thesis Committee

Each MFA student must assemble a committee of three professors who will serve as readers for the thesis. One of these professors will serve as committee chair and will be the primary person to whom the student turns for advice on the Methodology and arrangement of the creative writing that will constitute the Appendix. The other two professors will also contribute their advice and recommendations. Faculty outside the genre can occasionally serve as a third reader on a committee. Prose professors may serve on poetry committees, and poetry professors may serve on prose committees, but it is recommended that you choose readers from the faculty of your own genre.

It is the responsibility of MFA students to determine which combination of professors would best suit the formation of a thesis committee. Since second-year students are actively focused on the completion of their thesis projects, first-year students should seek recommendations from their senior peers in the workshop about potential combinations of professors on MFA committees. It is highly recommended that students make appointments to meet and confer with professors who are not teaching the 505/506 seminars in the first year of a student’s residence. Each first-year student must obtain the written consent of three professors to be on his or her thesis committee by May 1st of the academic year.