university of oregon mfa creative writing application

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http://crwr.uoregon.edu

Daniel D. Anderson, Program Director 541-346-3944 108 Alder Building 5243 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 97403-5243

Daniel Anderson, professor (poetry). BA, 1987, Cincinnati; MA, 1989, Johns Hopkins. (2010)

Jason Brown, associate professor (fiction). BA, 1991, Bowdoin; MFA, 1995, Cornell. (2011)

Marjorie Celona, associate professor (fiction). BA, 2006, Victoria; MFA, 2009, Iowa. (2015)

Geri Doran, professor (poetry). BA, 1986, Vassar; MFA, 1995, Florida. (2007)

Garrett K. Hongo, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor (poetry). BA, 1973, Pomona; MFA, 1980, California, Irvine. (1989)

Mat Johnson, Philip H. Knight Chair of the Humanities, professor (fiction), BA, 1993, Earlham College; MFA, 1999, Columbia. (2018)

Brian Trapp, Kidd Program Director, career instructor (fiction), BA, 2005, Ohio University; PhD, 2015, Cincinnati. (2015) 

Karen Thompson Walker, assistant professor (fiction). BA, 2002, California, Los Angeles; MFA, 2006, Columbia. (2017)

Richard M. Lyons, professor emeritus. BA, 1957, Brooklyn; MFA, 1962, Iowa. (1969)

The date in parentheses at the end of each entry is the first year on the University of Oregon faculty.

Undergraduate Program

Graduate program, major - master's degree.

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Admissions menu, creative writing.

Undergraduate minor

About the minor

Creative writing minors study the craft of writing with award-winning faculty writers. Closely reading the work of exemplary authors, students hone their skills through writing exercises and create their own stories and poems. In courses ranging from introductory to advanced level fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, students develop imaginative and critical thinking and interpretive skills, in the process producing a portfolio of original work.

A little more info

• Kidd Workshops allow peers in a learning community to collaboratively deepen their intellectual lives and develop themselves as literary artists throughout the course of a year. Kidd Workshops offer students a unique opportunity to receive sustained and close attention to their writing.
• Each year the department offers the Walter and Nancy Kidd Memorial Writing Competition in Poetry and Fiction

Career opportunities

A minor in creative writing can enhance a wide range of majors. Creative writing helps prepare students to pursue careers in copy editing, journalism, web content editing, marketing, social media, publishing, film or screenplay writing, television, psychology, and therapy.

University of Oregon Fully Funded MFA in Creative Writing

University of oregon.

The University of Oregon based in Eugene, OR offers a two-year residency fully funded MFA in creative writing. The students of this MFA program concentrate on either poetry or fiction. The Program emphasizes the workshop, integrating concentrated time for writing with craft seminars and individualized reading tutorials. All incoming MFA students are funded with a teaching appointment. Student instructors receive tuition remission, monthly stipends of approximately $18,000.

• Deadline: Dec 01, 2024 (Confirmed)*
• Work Experience: Any
• Location: North America
• Citizenship: United States
• Residency: United States

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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

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General questions, is the gre required for admission.

The GRE is not required; however, you are welcome to send your scores if you have taken the test.  The GRE code for OSU is 4586.

Am I able to apply to the MFA program in two separate genres?

Yes, however, applicants are only accepted in ONE genre. Applicants wishing to apply to both the MFA in Poetry and the MFA in Nonfiction, for example, should submit separate applications to the Graduate School, including separate writing samples and statements of objectives, and will be required to pay separate application fees. If you are submitting one application, please send only the writing sample that reflects your genre of choice on screen #4 of the online application.

What qualifications do I need for admission?

The writing sample is the most important part of the application.  Beyond the writing sample, admission to OSU’s Creative Writing Program is also based on three letters of recommendation, the student’s personal statement of objectives, and college transcripts. Applicants must have a four year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, and a combined GPA of at least 3.00 on the last 90 quarter (60 semester) credit hours of graded undergraduate work toward the first baccalaureate degree plus all work completed thereafter.

Can I apply to the MAIS (Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies) with Creative Writing as one of my three fields?

No. Graduate study in Creative Writing is only available through the MFA Program.

Can I upload my writing sample with my online application?

Yes. The writing sample, statement of objectives, resume, and recommendation letters may be submitted online. This is the preferred method. Alternatively, you may send these materials via the postal service to the following address:

School of Writing, Literature, and Film

Oregon State University

238 Moreland Hall

Corvallis, OR 97331

What application materials are required?

Please visit the Application Guide for a list of application materials and guidelines.

How do I apply?

To apply for a graduate degree at Oregon State University, simply use the online portal . You will be able to save your application and continue at your convenience.

What is the application deadline and fee?

The application deadline is in mid-December. Please check the  application guide  for the deadline that applies to any particular year. The fee is $75 for domestic students, and $85 for international students.

Are there application fee waivers?

The Graduate School offers application fee waivers under very limited conditions.  To see if you meet the requirements, visit the Graduate School website .

What is the most important part of my application?

The writing sample plays the biggest role in the selection process.

How many pages of poetry/prose need to be submitted?

The poetry sample should consist of no more than 10 to 12 poems. The prose sample (fiction or creative nonfiction) should be between 15-20 pages in length.

What are the requirements for letters of recommendation?

Three letters of recommendation should be written by individuals who can discuss an applicant’s creative writing in detail, as well as academic interests and aims; letters for teaching assistant applicants should include discussion of teaching potential.

Will you accept application materials past the deadline?

We will accept late recommendation letters, as long as this information gets to us within about a week of the deadline. Please encourage your recommenders to send their letters on time.

Does the MFA program offer spring admission?

There are no spring admissions to the graduate MFA program.

If I am not offered admission and I reapply the following year, will my application materials still be on file?

You must complete a new application and re-submit relevant material, including letters of recommendation, writing sample, personal statement of objectives, and transcripts each year.

I wasn’t an English major. Can I still apply?

Absolutely. Our MFA students come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds.

How many students are admitted each year?

We typically receive between 360 and 400 applications for 10-14 spots across three genres (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry).

What is your acceptance rate?

Our acceptance rate is under 4%.

Is Oregon State University a signatory to the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants?

Program requirements, what is required to graduate.

Creative writing at OSU is a 2-year, 60-credit program. OSU runs on the quarter system. Most quarters, a student takes a 4-credit workshop in their genre (poetry, fiction, or nonfiction), a 4-credit literature or craft course, and 4 credit hours of thesis advising, for a total of 12 credits each quarter. Click here for more.

Within the 60 required credits, each MFA candidate must take at least 1 pre-1800 English course.  Students holding a GTA position must also complete at least 1 composition theory course as part of their coursework.

Students produce a thesis at the end of their second year of study. The thesis is a sustained piece of imaginative writing of literary merit. Generally, length, form, and content are mutually agreed upon by the student and the thesis advisor, with final approval resting with the advisor. Typically, a  thesis is between 75 and 120 pages in length for fiction and nonfiction, and may be a short-story or essay collection, a novel, or a sustained nonfiction work. Poetry theses are between 35 and 48 pages in length.

An oral examination, or “thesis defense” is given in the student's final term of study. It measures a writer's growth, and involves questions on theory and technique, on the history of the genre, on the student's own creative work, and on the student's grasp of the contemporary situation in the field of Creative Writing. The committee consists of the student's thesis advisor, a second representative from Creative Writing, a representative from Literature or Rhetoric and Writing (or, in some cases, from another field of study in which a student has a particular interest), and a Graduate School representative.

Does your MFA program have a second language requirement?

Do i have to take comprehensive finals.

No. The MFA degree culminates, for each student, in a 2 hour Thesis Defense. See above, under “What is required to graduate” for more details.

Program Details

Creative writing at OSU is a 2-year, 60-credit program. OSU runs on the quarter system. Most quarters, a student takes a 4-credit workshop in their genre (poetry, prose, or nonfiction), a 4-credit literature or craft course, and 4 credit hours of thesis advising and/or teaching-practicum credits, for a total of 12 credits each quarter. Click here for more information.

What is the teacher/student ratio?

The teacher student ratio is approximately 1:3.

Is there a reading series?

Our MFA program features three reading series. The Visiting Writers Series brings 4-5 nationally known writers and poets to campus each year. With each visiting writer, colloquiums, craft talks, and other related events are scheduled specifically for the MFA students.

Our Literary Northwest Series celebrates the burgeoning literary scene in the Willamette Valley and the Northwest.

Our program also hosts a monthly reading by our MFA students.

Can I teach?

All our MFA students are fully funded through Graduate Teaching Assistantships. In addition to teaching courses in composition, our MFA students have the opportunity to teach creative writing during their second year.

What is the size of the program?

We typically admit 4 poets, 6 fiction writers, and 4 nonfiction writers a year, for a total of 28 students at any given time.

What is the demographic of your students?

Our graduate students come to us from top-ranked universities all over the country, from a wide variety of academic majors and post-collegiate careers. We have accepted students of all ages and backgrounds. We welcome diversity, and seek to attract a diverse graduate cohort by actively recruiting, as well as offering Diversity Recruitment Bonus scholarships.

Do you teach creative nonfiction writing?

Yes. We offer a nonfiction track with grad-only creative nonfiction workshops and magazine writing courses.

Do you admit playwrights?

No. At this time, we do not offer a playwriting workshop, or have a playwriting concentration.

Do you teach screenwriting?

A screenwriting workshop is offered once a year.

Do you accept students who write fantasy, science fiction, or other “genre fiction”?

The MFA program welcomes experimentation with literary forms new and old. While we do not wish to restrict our students from pursuing the writing that most excites them, the workshop emphasizes literary fiction, and encourages students to complicate generic conventions and subvert clichés, rather than recreating and reinforcing them.

Does the MFA program offer opportunities to study abroad?

Study abroad is not a part of our program at this time.

What is the Stone Award?

The Stone Award in Lifetime Literary Achievement is one of the nation’s most generous life-time achievement prizes in the field of literature. Our inaugural recipient was Joyce Carol Oates who visited Corvallis in May, 2012, meeting our graduate students in a small group session, and giving an evening public reading. The award will be granted every other year.

Finances / Scholarships

What types of funding do you offer.

Our program is committed to providing full funding for all admitted MFA students through Graduate Teaching and Research Assistantships.  

Though the GTAship is offered to students on a yearly basis, it is extremely rare that a student’s contract is not renewed for the second year of study. As a GTA, you are often the sole instructor for the courses that you teach; you may also apply to be a teaching assistant in an introductory literature course. First-year GTAs teach an introductory composition course capped at 23 students. Second-year GTAs have the opportunity to teach creative writing (fiction, poetry, or nonfiction). OSU’s academic calendar is on a quarter system, and GTAs typically teach 1/1/1 (one section per term).

Is tuition waived?

Yes, tuition is covered for all admitted GTAs.

Do you offer Health Insurance?

OSU provides health care coverage through an 89% GTA-only health insurance premium subsidy.

How long can I teach and how do I apply for a GTA position?

All GTA positions are for two years. You do not have to apply. You are automatically granted a teaching position upon acceptance into the program.

Any chance of receiving additional funding?

We submit our top candidates for prestigious university-wide fellowships, scholarships, and the Diversity Recruitment Bonus. In order to qualify for the Diversity Recruitment Bonus, a student must belong to an acknowledged minority group. Students who may qualify are strongly urged to indicate their ethnic identity on the Graduate School web application. On rare occasions, students receive additional funding by working with other departments.

Contact Info

Email: [email protected]

College of Liberal Arts Student Services 214 Bexell Hall 541-737-0561

Deans Office 200 Bexell Hall 541-737-4582

Corvallis, OR 97331-8600

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University of Oregon

Eugene , OR

http://crwr.uoregon.edu

Degrees Offered

Fiction, Poetry

Residency type

Program length, financial aid.

The Creative Writing Program funds all incoming students with a Graduate Teaching Fellowship (GTF) appointment. These positions are not teaching assistantships (TAs) in which students teach discussion sections of a course taught by regular faculty; students are the “instructors of record” for all of these courses. Previous teaching experience is not required for the GTF appointments; training is provided by the Program. However, applicants will need to demonstrate their probable success as a first-time teacher through their application materials and letters of recommendation.

Teaching opportunities

All students how graduate teaching fellowships

• T. K. Dalton MFA (Fiction) 2007
• Stephanie Dickinson MFA (Poetry)
• Eugene Gloria MFA (Poetry)
• Erin Hoover MFA 2005
• Major Jackson MFA (Poetry) 1999
• Keetje Kuipers MFA (Poetry) 2006
• Chang-Rae Lee MFA (Fiction) 1993
• Claire Luchette MFA (Fiction) 2017
• Sarah Murphy MFA
• Jude Nutter MFA (Poetry) 1997
• Alycia Pirmohamed MFA (Poetry) 2014
• Kirstin Valdez Quade MFA (Fiction) 2009
• Chloe Garcia Roberts MFA (Poetry) 2008
• Jennifer Ruden MFA
• Maxine Scates MFA 1975
• Lysley Tenorio MFA (Fiction) 1998
• Brian Turner MFA (Poetry) 1996

Send questions, comments and corrections to [email protected] .

Disclaimer: No endorsement of these ratings should be implied by the writers and writing programs listed on this site, or by the editors and publishers of Best American Short Stories , Best American Essays , Best American Poetry , The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Pushcart Prize Anthology .

Master of Fine Arts

Creative and environmental writing.

Unique, affordable, and rigorous, the Eastern Oregon University low-residency MFA in Creative Writing is where your writing practice and intellectual curiosity will find a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive community of writers. We also offer a special (optional) concentration in Landscape, Ecology, and Community.

Renowned poets discuss nature, injustice at Ars Poetica 

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke joins MFA faculty members for a virtual reading and talk April 28.

The 2nd Annual La Grande Lit Week

July 17-22, 2023, update: due to mid-afternoon heat concerns, the events scheduled, between 3:45-5:45 pm on july 22 at hq have been shifted., please see updated schedule below., free literary readings and conversations,, showcasing our great downtown, daily one-hour classes led by lit week authors for just $20, ( click here for registration ; full class descriptions available here ).

The La Grande Lit Week is a project of the Eastern Oregon University MFA Program in Creative Writing , bringing together faculty and visiting writers during its annual residency for seven days of literary events in Northeastern Oregon on the I-84 corridor. The line up features winners of the Oregon Book Awards, the Washington State Book Awards, and the Pacific Northwest Book Awards, as well as authors touring new or recent books. Most of the featured authors will be in conversation with EOU MFA faculty after their readings. Please see the full schedule below.

We give thanks to our partners and sponsors. In 2022, the Union County Chamber of Commerce provided a helpful seed grant for the inaugural La Grande Lit Week. Other partners include Fishtrap, JaxDog Café and Books, Liberty Theatre Cafe, Side A Brewery, Cook Memorial Library, La Grande Parks and Recreation, hq, The Local, Elgin Opera House, and Art Center East. And all thanks to our students and faculty who are our biggest supporters.

We also humbly acknowledge the original inhabitants of the land that La Grande and EOU are upon: the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce people. We celebrate their traditions, languages, and stories. We acknowledge their continuing connection to this land, water, and community and pay our respects to these original stewards of northeastern Oregon.

All readings and conversations are free and open to the public. For those interested in honing their own writing craft, one-hour “community classes” will be offered by Lit Week writers on special topics. Registration for each class is $20. Classes will be held in Badgley Hall on the EOU campus. Click here for registration. Further questions may be directed to Nick Neely, Assistant Professor of English/Writing, [email protected] .

2023 La Grande Lit Week Schedule

Monday, july 17, 6:30 pm, cook memorial library, 2006 4th st.

Michelle Nijhuis is an award-winning science journalist and the author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in the Age Extinction . She’ll be in conversation with MFA faculty member Kathryn Miles , whose most recent book is Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders .

Wednesday, July 19

6:30 pm, market place fresh foods (rooftop), 1912 fourth st.

EOU MFA faculty reading featuring Megan Kruse , Melissa Matthewson , and Joe Wilkins .

7:30 pm, Market Place Fresh Foods (rooftop)

Eileen Garvin is the author most recently of the bestselling novel The Music of Bees , which is set in Hood River where she lives, and the memoir How to Be a Sister . She’ll be in conversation with MFA faculty member Claire Boyles , author of Site Fidelity.

Friday, July 21

12:45-3:45, badgley hall, eou, one university blvd.

One-hour community classes offered by Sindya Bhanoo, John Daniel, Jessica Gigot and others. Registration required.

4 pm, Loso Hall Lobby, EOU

Kathleen Flenniken , Jessica Gigot , and John Daniel . Flenniken’s most recent poetry collection is  Post Romantic ; she is a winner of a Washington State Book Award and the state’s former poet laureate. Gigot’s latest book is the essay collection A Little Bit of Land , and her second book of poems, Feeding Hour , won a Nautilus Award and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Daniel is the winner of three Oregon Book Awards in poetry and nonfiction; his latest book of poetry is Lighted Distance s : Four Seasons on Goodlow Rim and his previous book is the novel Gifted .

7 pm, The Local, 1508 Adams Ave

Sindya Bhanoo is a journalist and the author of the story collection  Seeking Fortune Elsewhere , winner of the 2023 Oregon Book Award for Fiction and the New American Voices Award. She’ll be in conversation with EOU MFA faculty member Megan Kruse , author of Call Me Home.

8 pm, The Local

EOU MFA Alumni Reading

Saturday, July 22

9 am-12 pm, badgley hall, eou.

One-hour community classes taught by Garrett Hongo, Kathleen Flenniken, Emme Lund, and others. Registration required.

1:15 pm, Schwarz Theatre (Loso Hall), EOU

MFA student thesis readings: Gabriel Boehmer , Christen Careaga , Rebecca DeLore, Christopher Densmore , Jensen Heike , Patsy Lally , Becky Murray , Gregory Rawlins , and Kasey Zmrhal .

Followed by the MFA program graduation ceremony.

4:45 pm, hq 3 pm, Schwarz Theatre

Garrett Hongo is the author most recently of the memoir The Perfect Sound and is a previous finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. He’ll be in conversation with EOU MFA faculty member Christopher Kondrich , author of Valuing: Poems , a winner of the National Poetry Series.

Followed by Hongo’s playlist related to The Perfect Sound .

3:45 7 pm , hq, 112 Depot Street

A group reading from Cascadia Field Guide , featuring poets and writers John Daniel, Kathleen Flenniken, Garrett Hongo , Nick Neely , Dao Strom , and Joe Wilkins .

7 8 pm , hq, 112 Depot Street

Emme Lund is the author of the novel The Boy with a Bird in His Chest , which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award in Fiction and a Pacific Northwest Book Award, and longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2022 First Novel Prize. She lives in Portland. She’ll be in conversation with EOU MFA faculty member Molly Reid , author of The Rapture Index: A Suburban Bestiary .

8:15 9 pm , hq

To conclude Lit Week, a visual-audio-poetry performance by Dao Strom , author of Instrument which won the 2022 Oregon Book Award in Poetry.

Admission Requirements

Applications for the 2024-2025 academic year are now closed. The next application period for the EOU low-residency MFA will open in October 2024 with a priority application deadline in January 2025 for best consideration (please check back for the updated deadline). After the priority deadline, applications will reviewed on rolling basis if space remains available. Accepted applicants must signal their intention to enroll in the program within one month of official acceptance by making a nonrefundable $500.00 deposit. The Master of Fine Arts degree requires two types of admission: (a) Admission to Eastern Oregon University with “Graduate Student” status; and (b) Admission to the MFA program. Both applications should be submitted at the same time.

Admission requirements for the MFA program

Admission requirements for the MFA program:  1. Admission to Eastern Oregon University with “Graduate Student” status. 2. Grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0, calculated on either of the following two options: (a) Last 60 quarter hours completed of undergraduate upper-division coursework; or (b)  15 quarter hours of approved graduate-level coursework. 3. Official college transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate coursework. 4. Two letters of professional reference attesting to the applicant’s ability to be successful in a graduate program. 5. A short (750 word) essay explaining your reasons for wishing to pursue the MFA in Creative Writing at EOU and how you will integrate the demands of the program with your current responsibilities. 6. Creative Portfolio of your best creative work (10-15 pages of poetry; 15-20 pages of fiction or non-fiction).

Transfer Credit

The MFA Program allows a limit of 15 graded graduate-level credits (quarter hours) to be transferred from another accredited graduate-level institution.   If you have regularly attended Summer Fishtrap Gathering, Fishtrap Outpost, and/or Fishtrap’s Yearlong Workshop, you also may petition the MFA Director directly to convert up to 15 hours to graduate-level credits.  All graduate-level courses taken prior to program admission, and all graduate-level transfer courses, will be reviewed for appropriateness of transfer into the MFA program. Courses will not be accepted that are not appropriate to the MFA degree requirements. Courses completed prior to seven academic years before admission will be reviewed for appropriateness of transfer into the MFA program, but are not guaranteed to be accepted.

Applying for the MFA program

Submit electronically both the EOU Graduate Admission application and the MFA Program Application (i.e., cover sheet and creative portfolio), along with all required supporting documents, and official transcripts. Students who would like to participate in the Landscape, Ecology, and Community concentration should express this wish in their cover letters. Student who would be interested in studying on a part-time basis that would extend their time in a program to a third year should also highlight this intention in their cover letter.

Special note regarding admission to EOU

All MFA students are required to be fully admitted to the MFA program and EOU in order to complete the MFA degree. However, some students may desire to enroll in genre courses or elective courses on a part-time/non-admitted status. Enrollment in graduate writing workshops, seminars, and Individualized Studies requires full MFA program and EOU graduate student admission. Part-time and/or non-admitted course enrollment is permitted, but with the following exceptions: 1. Graduate student admission to EOU is required if a student will be registering for more than eight credits in any given term. 2. Graduate student admission to EOU and MFA Program admission is required, regardless of the number of registered credits per term, in order to receive financial aid. Financial aid is available both for full-time and part-time graduate students. Contact the EOU Financial Aid office at 541-962-3550 for information regarding submission of the FAFSA form and application procedures. Remember: All MFA students must be fully admitted both to EOU and the MFA program in order to enroll in any of the writing workshops and to receive the MFA degree. Students are strongly encouraged to apply for admission early in the program. For any application questions, please contact the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences program assistant Kayla Standley at 541-962-3508.

Our MFA is flexible in requiring just one residency commitment a year: back-to-back weeks in July at the storied Fishtrap Gathering of Writers at Wallowa Lake near the artsy town of Joseph, and in nearby La Grande on EOU’s campus. These experiences offer distinct vibes under the same skies, separated by a scenic 1.5-hour drive around the Wallowa Mountains, known as the Little Alps of Oregon. Students may opt to attend just two summer residencies or they may attend a third on-campus week in a third summer and take slightly less distance-based coursework.

At Fishtrap, students enjoy a morning generative workshop with the conference’s world-class faculty (see the 2023 line-up ) and gather in the evenings for faculty readings and open mics under the lakeside tent. There’s ample time for writing by the lake or taking trails into the Wallowas. For those unable to get away from home for two weeks, a virtual Fishtrap workshop option is also available (see the 2023 offering ). Of course, we whole-heartedly encourage in-person attendance: this place, this community, is stunning.

In La Grande, on EOU’s view-filled campus, students take a morning craft class and an afternoon critique-based workshop with our award-winning MFA faculty and in the evenings attend La Grande Lit Week readings and conversations with more award-winning authors at downtown mainstays like our local brewery, coffeeshops, or a brick-lined music venue (Lit Week is open to the public and runs concurrently with the residency). In the afternoon, Lit Week visiting writers also teach 1-hr classes on special topics that are optional for students. During free hours, students write, hike or otherwise explore this outdoorsy area, watch a film, go bowling, and drink a lot of coffee. Meals and conversation late into the night inspire imaginative leaps and grow bonds between fellow students and faculty mentors.

Through the rest of the summer, students continue to work one-on-one at a distance with their EOU workshop instructor to push forward a project they started or shared during the on-campus week.

Rigorous coursework continues remotely during the academic year (see the full course of study ). Our faculty work closely with students on their writing and provide instruction in contemporary literature, rhetoric, and special topics crafted to address student interests. We also provide students with meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities such as optional practicum classes in creative writing pedagogy, editing and publishing, and “professional portfolio,” in which students build professional materials specific to their long-term goals. Opportunities also exist to participate in the editing of our literary journal Oregon East and help with program communications and event planning, whether for credit or as a volunteer.

“My time in the MFA program at EOU was the one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences for me as a writer. Working with my professors and classmates helped me gain confidence in my work and submit it for publication. Now, as a doctoral student in creative writing, I’m able to draw upon the extensive foundation of genres and writing styles I encountered at EOU. Today I participate in readings in my local literary community and my school’s literary magazine. In all, EOU’s beautiful atmosphere and its knowledgeable and talented faculty are truly inspiring.”

Amy Parker, '17 Master of Fine Arts in Writing New York state

Tuition, Fees & Aid

We are committed to being the best value for a low residency creative writing MFA in the west. Click "learn more" below for more details on tuition, fees, and financial assistance. Learn More

• Course of Study

EOU offers a traditional genre-based two-year low residency program that requires 60 credits of course work, including two 14-day summer residencies followed each year by online courses. Learn More

• Faculty Biographies

EOU’s creative writing faculty are an award-winning and committed group drawn from all over the country. Learn More

Applications are now closed for the ’24-’25 academic year

Applications for the ’25-’26 cohort will be accepted starting in october 2024.

At Eastern Oregon University, we share a core belief that creative individuals are an under-appreciated and under-used resource. The creative makers among us have much to offer their communities and we commit ourselves therefore to fostering that creativity. It is our belief, too, that finding community-based solutions to the real problems communities face can and should be a collaboration in which the creativity of artists and writers play vital, enduring roles for enriching the lives of all. The Grande Ronde Valley and nearby Wallowa Valley are gateways to Eastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains and Oregon’s largest wilderness, the Eagle Cap Wilderness, all of which provide an exceptional resource for student writers in our Landscape, Ecology, and Community concentration. In collaboration with our program partner, Fishtrap: Writing and the West , and the Summer Fishtrap Gathering of Writers at Wallowa Lake near Joseph, Oregon, we strive to create a truly one-of-a-kind literary experience for our students .

Subscribe to our program writing digest, The Mutineer

(which curates online events and opportunities from the region and beyond), read recent news from students, alumni, and faculty, explore our visiting writers series , check out the 2nd annual la grande lit week, july 17-23, 2023, study with an eou/fishtrap student teacher, (we’re pleased to announce this new program), contact info.

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Discover your true nature with the Eastern Edge. Learn more .

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Creative writing (mfa).

Oregon State University has a long tradition of excellence in producing and teaching creative writing, going all the way back to the 1950s when the future distinguished novelist William Kittredge was a student here, and Bernard Malamud won a National Book Award while teaching in the English Department.

This is a distinguished past, but our present is even more remarkable.

Creative Writing has never been more vital or successful at OSU than it is right now, with a nationally competitive pool of applicants in fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction, full funding for all our students through GTA positions, with full tuition waiver, a vibrant Visiting Writers Series, and the new Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement. For information on the high-residency program and its GTA fellowships, please contact the SWLF main office at [email protected] , call 541-737-3244, or visit their website.

A low-residency variant of the program is also available on the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend, Oregon.

  Creative Writing Website

  College of Liberal Arts

 Corvallis  OSU-Cascades

Primary Contact

Creative writing director, admissions requirements, required tests, english language requirements .

English language requirements for international applicants to this program are the same as the standard Graduate School requirements .

Additional Requirements

Please, before applying to this program, always refer to the application guide to confirm application requirements.

Application Process

Please review the graduate school application process and Apply Online .

Dates & Deadlines ?

Admissions deadline for corvallis students, admissions deadline for osu-cascades students, funding deadline for all applicants, concentrations , mais participation.

This program is not offered as a MAIS field of study.

AMP Participation ?

This program does not participate in the Accelerated Master's Platform (AMP)

Contact Info

Graduate School Heckart Lodge 2900 SW Jefferson Way Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331-1102

Phone: 541-737-4881 Fax: 541-737-3313

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