phd creative writing durham

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Creative Writing MA

Durham university, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees

Entry requirements, similar courses at different universities, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

MA - Master of Arts

Subject areas

Creative Writing

Course type

The MA in Creative Writing is an exciting new course at Durham University. Taught by award-winning writers Dr Paul Batchelor, Dr Naomi Booth, Kayo Chingonyi, Professor Claire Harman, Sunjeev Sahota, and Dr Sam Riviere. This is an academically rigorous programme that will develop students’ practical knowledge of writing poetry and prose fiction. Students will receive structured support through writing workshops and one-to-one tutorials in order to develop their own ideas. Students will also study a broad range of literature from the 20th and 21st centuries, and produce new work in response.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

Students are usually required to have an Honours Degree at 2:1 level or higher or GPA average of 3.2 from a recognised national or international university. Students should submit a sample of 4-6 poems or 2,000 words of fiction. All students must provide two positive academic or professional references.

MA Creative Practice

Leeds arts university, city, university of london, creative writing mfa, scriptwriting ma, bath spa university, writing for young people ma.

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Creative Writing

Entry requirements.

Students are usually required to have an Honours Degree at 2:1 level or higher or GPA average of 3.2 from a recognised national or international university. Students should submit a sample of 4-6 poems or 2,000 words of fiction. All students must provide two positive academic or professional references.

Months of entry

Course content.

Our MA in Creative Writing is an exciting and rewarding course, taught with academic rigour by award-winning writers. It will help sharpen your practical knowledge of writing poetry and prose fiction and develop your knowledge and understanding of twentieth and twenty-first century literature.

The teaching and research provided offers a combination of conceptual and theoretical reflection, analysis of historical and cultural contexts, pays close attention to literary texts and primary sources, and enables the imaginative creation of new writing.

You will be supported with writing workshops and one-to-one tutorials where you will be encouraged to express and develop your own ideas. You will be based in an environment where your curiosity and imagination as well as your intellectual discipline and the individual nature of your responses is respected and valued.

Alongside the teaching modules you will have access to an extensive events programme, which includes the sharing of work and expertise by leading researchers and writers.

We are one of the most well-regarded English departments in the country. We are, in addition, one of few English departments in the world to teach and research in literature produced in Britain from the early medieval period to the present day as well as in anglophone literature from across the globe.

Consequently, with the learning opportunities provided by the department’s world-leading scholars, our course will give you the freedom to study broadly or to specialise, but always within a support structure where you will always be able to develop your own creative writing ideas.

Reading as a Writer introduces twentieth century poetry or prose, the writer’s technique and the way in which writers learn from each other. You will gain a high level of understanding of a range of individual authors, schools of writing and writing genres with the aim of extending your own powers of analysis through a writer’s eyes with the emphasis on poetic form, narrative architecture, voice and style. You will also be guided in choosing and developing ideas for your research project.

Reading as a Writer: The Workshop is a companion core module to the Reading as a Writer module and introduces you to the workshop format with short, directed writing assignments and their subsequent discussion. The focus of the module is on formal and technical experiments that develop your ability to draft and edit original work, with assignments reflecting the texts studied in the Reading as a Writer module. Prose and poetry students work together and share their work and ideas with subjects for assignments including adapting syntactical techniques, investigative creative non-fiction, experimenting with poetic forms, creative translation, writing an opening paragraph or trying out editing methods.

The Research Project is an extended critical essay on a subject of your own choosing and a portfolio of creative work, consisting of new works written after you have completed the workshop-style modules. You will be steered in your choice of essay topic by the module convenor. Exploring a particular subject in depth, it will encourage the development of sophisticated argument, the marshalling of evidence, the reading of the relevant criticism and contextual material, and the appropriate high level of bibliographical and presentational skills.

The remainder of the course comprises one option module from:

• Creative Writing Poetry
• Creative Writing Prose Fiction
• Creative Nonfiction

And one further module from:

• The Word in the World
• A module from another MA programme offered by the English Studies Board of Studies
• A module offered by another Board of Studies (subject to approval)

Information for international students

If you are an international student who does not meet the requirements for direct entry to this degree, you may be eligible to take a pre-Masters pathway programme at the Durham University International Study Centre .

Fees and funding

For further information see the course listing., qualification, course duration and attendance options.

• Campus-based learning is available for this qualification

Course contact details

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• About the Writing Studio

The Writing Studio is Online and In-Person

In 2023-2024, the Writing Studio will return to conducting our appointments both in-person and synchronously online. Please schedule the appointment type that best meets your needs. For online appointments, when it's time for your appointment, log into the scheduling software, click on your appointment slot, and click "start or join online conversation." You'll be able to share any writing you've done so far and to video-chat with your consultant. 

Schedule an Appointment Now

The TWP Writing Studio is dedicated to working with writers both within Duke and the broader Durham community. We facilitate writers' critical and creative thought through collaborative, non-evaluative consultations, workshops, writing groups, and events. In all of our work, we actively seek to support diverse, inclusive writing communities.

At the Writing Studio, you can meet with highly educated writing consultants to discuss your writing concerns. Discussing your work-in-progress with a writing consultant will help you develop the awareness and skills to improve as a writer.

Consultants help at any stage of the writing process – from brainstorming and researching to drafting, revising, and fine-tuning a final draft. Undergraduates may schedule a maximum of one appointment a day and two appointments a week, depending on availability.

Graduate student, upper-level undergraduate, and postgraduate, consultants from a variety of disciplines staff the Writing Studio. All consultants go through extensive and on-going education.

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Creative Writing

About the minor.

Creative Writing at Duke is guided by the belief that the experience of writing and reading creatively is a gift to a student for life. It is a source of imaginative enrichment, aesthetic discipline, heightened awareness and a vital means of re-integrating thoughts, feeling and practice that are too often disconnected in our contemporary world.

The creative writing program offers numerous courses in all genres of writing at every level and a Creative Writing Minor, as well as a Distinction Project in Creative Writing. Courses cover a spectrum of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, essay, memoir, travel writing, documentary writing, theater and more. The program is embedded in the curriculum of the Duke English Department, which has long occupied a vital and distinctive place both in the discipline and in the university, where it has served as one of the defining spaces of thought, conversation, teaching, and inquiry. Courses based in Documentary Studies , Arts of the Moving Image , and Theater Studies greatly expand and enrich the options for creative writing studies.

A regular series of writers-in-residence, visiting speakers, readings and on-campus conferences, as well as opportunities to work on a variety of campus publications supplement courses and support a vibrant creative community. Two outstanding journals publish student work: The Archive and Cantos .

Creative Writing Research PhD

Key information

The PhD in Creative Writing at King’s is a practice-led course, incorporating taught elements and aspects of professional development. It is designed to cater for talented, committed writers who are looking to complete a book-length creative work for publication and sustain a long-term career in writing.

Key Benefits

Our unique programme offers students:

• a varied, structured framework for the development of their creative work, with regular feedback from experienced author-lecturers in the department through supervision and workshops
• purposeful engagement with professionals from the publishing and performance industries throughout the course, building potential routes to publication
• valuable teaching experience in creative writing at HE-level through our Graduate Teaching Assistantship scheme
• practical experience in public engagement, through curating and chairing public literary events at King’s
• a community of fellow writers and collaborative projects

English Department

We have over 100 doctoral students from all over the world working on a wide range of projects. Together with our community of postdoctoral fellows, our early career researchers both organise and participate in our thriving seminar and conference culture.

The English department is home to award-winning novelists, poets, essayists, biographers, non-fiction authors, and literary critics, who supervise creative projects at doctoral level within their specialisms.

Works by our staff have won or been shortlisted for a number of literary accolades, including: the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize, the Man Booker Prize, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, the Costa First Novel Award, the Costa Poetry Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Commonwealth Book Prize, the Biographers’ Club / Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize, the U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award, the CWA Gold Dagger Award, the European Union Prize for Literature, the RSL Encore Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Letters, le Prix du Roman Fnac, le Prix du Roman Etranger, the Kiriyama Prize, the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award, and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Many of the creative writing staff are Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature.

Their most recent publications are:

Benjamin Wood

The Young Accomplice (Penguin Viking, 2022) – fiction

A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better (Scribner, 2018) – fiction

Edmund Gordon

The Invention of Angela Carter (Chatto & Windus, 2016) – creative non-fiction

Loop of Jade (Chatto & Windus, 2015) – poetry

Anthony Joseph

Sonnets for Albert (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022) – poetry

The Frequency of Magic (Peepal Tree Press, 2019) – fiction

Lara Feigel

The Group (John Murray Press, 2020) – fiction

Free Woman: Life, Liberation and Doris Lessing (Bloomsbury, 2018) – creative non-fiction

Homing: On Pigeons, Dwellings, and Why We Return (John Murray Press, 2019) – creative non-fiction

Daughters of the Labyrinth (Corsair, 2021) – fiction

Beethoven Variations: Poems on a Life (Chatto & Windus, 2020) – poetry

Emerald (Chatto & Windus, 2018) – poetry

Andrew O'Hagan

Mayflies (Faber & Faber, 2020) – fiction

The Secret Life: Three True Stories (Faber & Faber, 2017) – creative non-fiction

*may vary according to research leave and availability.

King's Alumni

The list of King’s alumni not only features many acclaimed contemporary authors—Michael Morpurgo, Alain de Botton, Hanif Kureishi, Marina Lewycka, Susan Hill, Lawrence Norfolk, Ross Raisin, Alexander Masters, Anita Brookner, and Helen Cresswell—it also includes major figures in literature, such as Maureen Duffy, Arthur C Clarke, Thomas Hardy, Christopher Isherwood, BS Johnson, John Keats, W. Somerset Maugham, and Virginia Woolf.

Course Detail

Our postgraduate writing students are given a supportive environment in which to enhance their technique, to explore the depths of their ideas, to sustain their creative motivation, and to prepare them for the demands of the writer’s life beyond the College.

At King's we know that writing well requires self-discipline and an ability to work productively in isolation; but we also appreciate that postgraduate writers thrive when they are part of a community of fellow authors, an environment of constructive criticism and shared endeavour.

That is why we offer our PhD students the guidance of knowledgeable and experienced practitioners. They will have frequent opportunities to interact and collaborate with peers and forge lasting connections within London’s writing industry.

Students will be expected to attend the quarterly Thesis Workshop, and also to take an active part in curating literary events at King’s, including the Poetry And… quarterly reading series. They will be invited to apply for positions teaching undergraduate creative writing modules as part of the Department’s Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) scheme.

After three years (full-time) or six years (part-time), students are expected to submit either:

• a novel or short story collection
• a poetry collection
• a full-length work of creative non-fiction

In addition, they are also required to submit an essay (up to 15,000 words) that examines their practical approach to the conception, development, and revision of their project, and which explores how their creative work was informed by research (archival, book-based, or experiential).

• How to apply
• Fees or Funding

Many of our incoming students apply for AHRC funding via the London Arts and Humanities Partnership. Please see their website ( www.lahp.ac.uk ) for more detail of deadlines, application procedure and awards available. Also the ‘Student Funding’ section of the Prospectus will give you more information on other scholarships available from King’s.

UK Tuition Fees 2023/24

Full time tuition fees:

£5,820 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

Part time tuition fees:

£2,910 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

International Tuition Fees 2023/24

£22,900 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

£11,450 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

UK Tuition Fees 2024/25

£6,168 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

£3,084 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

International Tuition Fees 2024/25

£24,786 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

£12,393 per year (MPhil/PhD, Creative Writing)

These tuition fees may be subject to additional increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King’s terms and conditions.

• Study environment

Base campus

Strand Campus

Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the Strand Campus houses King's College London's arts and sciences faculties.

PhD in Creative Writing students are taught through one-to-one sessions with an appointed supervisor in their chosen specialism (fiction, creative non-fiction, or poetry) as well as through quarterly thesis workshops. They are also appointed a second supervisor whose role is to offer an additional perspective on the work being produced.

We place great emphasis on pastoral care and are a friendly and welcoming department in the heart of London. Our home in the Virginia Woolf Building offers many spaces for postgraduate students to work and socialise. Studying in London means students have access to a huge range of libraries from the Maughan Library at King’s to the Senate House Library at the University of London and the British Library.

Our PhD Creative Writing students are taught exclusively by practicing, published writers of international reputation. These include:

Benjamin Wood (Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing)

Supervises projects in fiction.

Edmund Gordon (Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing)

Supervises projects in fiction and creative non-fiction.

Sarah Howe (Lecturer in Poetry)

Supervises projects in poetry.

Anthony Joseph (Lecturer in Creative Writing)

Supervises projects in poetry and fiction.

Jon Day (Senior Lecturer in English)

Supervises projects in creative non-fiction and fiction

Lara Feigel (Professor of Modern Literature)

Supervises projects in creative non-fiction and fiction.

Ruth Padel (Professor Emerita of Poetry)

Andrew O’Hagan (Visiting Professor)

*Teaching staff may vary according to research leave and availability.

Our programme also incorporates the following taught components:

Thesis Workshop

A termly writing seminar for the discussion and appraisal of works-in-progress. These are taught on a rotational basis by all members of the creative writing staff, so that students get the benefit of hearing a range of voices and opinions on their work throughout the course.

The Writing Life

A suite of exclusive guest talks and masterclasses from leading authors, publishers, and editors, in which students receive guidance from people working at the top level of the writing industry and learn about the various demands of maintaining a career as a writer.

Recent speakers have included Amit Chaudhuri, Chris Power, Rebecca Watson, Mendez, Frances Leviston, Joanna Biggs, Joe Dunthorne, Francesca Wade, Kishani Widyaratna, Jacques Testard and Leo Robson.

Other elements of professional development are included in the degree:

Agents-in-Residence

Candidates in fiction or creative-nonfiction will meet and discuss their work in one-to-one sessions with invited literary agents, who are appointed to yearly residencies. These sessions offer writers a different overview of the development of their project: not solely from the standpoint of authorial technique, but with a view towards the positioning of their writing within a competitive and selective industry. Poetry candidates will meet and discuss their work with invited editors from internationally recognised poetry journals and presses.

Undergraduate Teaching

Through our Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) training scheme, our PhD students can apply to lead undergraduate creative writing workshops in fiction, creative non-fiction, and/or poetry, enabling them to acquire valuable HE-level teaching experience that will benefit them long after graduation.

Reading Series

Our students are required to participate in the curation of literary events at King’s. They are also responsible for curating Poetry And… , a quarterly reading in which leading poets illuminate the powerful connections between poetry and other disciplines. Students will develop skills in public engagement by chairing discussions and may also perform excerpts of their own writing.

Postgraduate Training

There is a range of induction events and training provided for students by the Centre for Doctoral Studies, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the English Department. A significant number of our students are AHRC-funded through the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) which also provides doctoral training to all students. All students take the ‘Doctoral Seminar’ in their first year. This is a series of informal, staff-led seminars on research skills in which students can share and gain feedback on their own work. We run a series of ‘Skills Lunches’, which are informal lunch meetings with staff, covering specific topics, including Upgrading, Attending Conferences, Applying for Funding and Post-Doctoral Awards, etc. Topics for these sessions are generally suggested by the students themselves, so are particularly responsive to student needs. We have an Early Career Staff Mentor who runs more formal workshops of varying kinds, particularly connected to career development and the professions.

Through our Graduate Teaching Assistantship Scheme, doctoral students can apply to teach in the department (usually in their second year of study) and are trained and supported as they do so.

• Entry requirements

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0144 - Duke Creative Writers' Workshop

Course description.

Join an intensive writing community where getting words on the page is at the heart of every day. The Creative Writers’ Workshop program will take your craft to the next level. Each day you’ll dive into lessons addressing technique and process, such as Avoiding Sentimentality, Persona Poems, and Scalpel, Please: Aspects of Revision. You’ll offer and receive critiques in roundtable workshops modeled after college-level writing courses, and by program’s end, you’ll have completed a collection of poems, a short story, a one-act play, or another creative project of your choosing. If you’ve been craving time, space, and gentle pressure to put words on the page, Creative Writers’ Workshop will provide them in abundance. Step out of your “real life,” open your notebook, and be amazed at how quickly you can grow as a writer.

Program Highlights

• Improve your skills in a community of advanced writers
• Individual consultation with instructors
• Select an instructor who best matches your genre and learning style
• Share your work with your peers for support and feedback
• Daily time for reflection, recreation, and socializing

To check availability in the program for the appropriate category of student, click on the exclamation point next to the appropriate course fee (example: Day - Fee).

Session Time-Out

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Writing (M.F.A.)

Why get a Master of Fine Arts in writing?

Do you want to shape your gifts and passion for writing? Work one-on-one with nationally recognized faculty? Get the support of a talented community of peers? Focus on fiction, narrative nonfiction or poetry in our graduate M.F.A. program, which has launched the careers of hundreds of poets, novelists, storywriters, essayists and memoirists. What is notable is not just how hard students work on their own creative writing, but how much effort goes into their response to the work of their peers. Writers here care deeply about each other, and the production of honest work that captures life on the page.

Why choose UNH for your writing degree?

The M.F.A. writing program at UNH is small, highly-ranked and selective. We emphasize one-on-one contact between a nationally recognized faculty and talented students. Many exciting opportunities are available, including a visiting writers’ series, where you’ll have the chance to connect with some of the finest contemporary poets, novelists and essayists currently at work. You can take advantage of paid internships in local arts organizations, editorial positions at our online journal Barnstorm, teaching assistantships, tuition scholarships and grant awards. Our students typically complete the program in two to three years.

Potential career areas

• Fiction writing 
• Journalism 
• Literary agencies
• Public relations 
• Publishing 
• Screenwriting

Contact Information

Curriculum & Requirements

Program description.

The MFA Program in Writing at the University of New Hampshire has a clear and abiding focus: to help you shape your gifts and passion for the art, and to prepare you for the opportunities and demands that all writers will experience in a long professional career. Over the years, the graduate writing program has launched the careers of hundreds of poets, novelists, storywriters, essayists and memoirists. This is a small, highly-ranked, and selective program. We emphasize one-on-one contact between a nationally recognized faculty and talented students. Students typically complete the program in two to three years.

We are most proud of the supportive community we have created here, one in which cross-genre exploration is strongly encouraged. Six out of ten of our MFA students receive direct financial aid , with most funding taking the form of teaching assistantships, tuition scholarships, and grant awards. Other opportunities include paid internships in local arts organizations, and editorial positions at our on-line journal Barnstorm .

We also run an exciting visiting writers' series , so that students have a chance to connect with some of the finest contemporary poets, novelists and essayists currently at work. Add to all this the fact that we're located in a stunningly beautiful spot, close to mountains and sea coast, but within an hour of Boston and other cosmopolitan areas. We can't imagine that there is a more energizing and congenial place to pursue your talents and dreams anywhere in the country.

The fiction program centers on your fiction. The one goal of our two years together is to make your fiction stronger, more aesthetically powerful, and yes, more publishable. The small 10-person workshop, intense conferencing with multiple award-winning faculty such as Ann Joslin Williams and Tom Paine, craft seminars that range from "Joyce and Chekhov" to Novellas and Contemporary Short Story Collections", special topics classes on "American Short Fiction by Women" and "Sentence Experiments in Literary Fiction", an esteemed reading series that brings authors such as Dan Chaon and Elissa Schappell to class and campus, our nationally known literary magazine Barnstorm: all of this is here simply to advance your fiction. Maybe it is because we are in the Granite State, but what is notable in our program is not just how hard students work on their own fiction, but how much effort goes into their response to the work of their peers. Writers here care deeply about each other as people, and the production of honest work that captures life on the page.

Our narrative nonfiction program embraces a wide variety of forms, from memoir to travel writing, literary journalism to the personal essay and all of its permutations. Our focus, however, is not on labels but on nurturing your talent and developing your skills with the goal of helping you craft rich, compelling and publishable essays, stories and books. In short, we toil together to make facts dance. In our workshops and seminars we ask our students to read broadly and push themselves beyond their comfort zone, to experiment and exercise an array of literary muscles, to employ the imagery of a poet, the drama of a novelist and the content drive of a journalist. Our classes are small (average size is ten) and students meet frequently with instructors in individual conferences. As practical as the state of New Hampshire, our program emphasizes not only the art of writing narrative nonfiction, but also how to sell it. In one course students will learn how to write a book proposal and in others how to pitch travel stories and personal essays. The UNH nonfiction faculty is diverse in its expertise but united in its passion for reading and writing the literature of fact, and for sharing that passion.

We offer poetry workshops limited to 10 students and small seminars in craft and poetics in a dynamic, individual-oriented system that emphasizes intensive conferencing. Students have the chance to work with master teachers like the award-winning poets Mekeel McBride and David Rivard. We believe in grounding our students in the widest possible range of poetic technique and approach—with seminars offered in areas such as translation, 20th-century poetic movements, and ecstatic poetry—and no preconceived notions as to how anyone should write (other than well!). The poetic tradition of New England—one of the richest and most expansive in the world—serves as a backdrop for all our efforts. This is an area teeming with great poets, with numerous weekly opportunities for students to attend readings and lectures in the art.

Requirements for the Program

Degree requirements.

Students are required to take four workshops in their major genre. In addition, students take one form and theory course in their major genre, five elective courses that may include additional writing courses or courses from the English department's offerings in other fields (such as literature, linguistics, or composition studies), and 8 credit hours of the M.F.A. thesis ( ENGL 899 Master of Fine Arts in Writing Thesis ). Teaching assistants are required to take ENGL 910 Practicum in Teaching College Composition as one of their electives. There is no foreign language requirement.

May be repeated.

ENGL 910 Practicum in Teaching College Composition  is reserved for graduate teaching assistants.

The M.F.A. thesis is a book-length, publishable manuscript. For fiction writers, the thesis could be a collection of short stories, a story cycle (linked stories), or a novel. For nonfiction writers, the thesis could be a collection of themed essays and/or magazine articles or a book of creative nonfiction. For poets, the thesis would be a book-­length collection of poems. The minimum length of the thesis is 150 pages for fiction and nonfiction writers and 45 pages for poets. Students will work closely with a thesis adviser as they write and pass an oral defense of the thesis, a defense conducted by a three-­member thesis committee of writing faculty. Students will also conduct a public reading of their thesis in an event organized by the writing faculty.

In addition, the M.F.A. program offers students opportunities to publish in an online journal called Barnstorm , as well as intern at arts/cultural organizations and the university research department, as well as teach in community schools. A select number of students are chosen to teach UNH undergraduate writing courses and to work in the University's Writing Center.

The program admits an average of 15 new students a year, which creates a writing community of 45 student writers.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Have a firm grasp of all the elements of craft whether fiction, poetry or nonfiction, including narrative structure, imagery, dramatic tension, efficient dialogue, and believable character.
• Demonstrate expertise in the stylistic functions of language, including the use of simile and metaphor, unique language as opposed to clichés, resonating images or details, using all points of view, whether first, third or omniscient.
• Understand the role of research and external content to provide context, layers, and credibility.
• Be able to significantly revise work.
• Have experience reading out loud and presenting to an audience.
• Be able to flourish in the workplace for jobs in publishing, editing, communication, public relations, television, screenwriting, social media, news, advertising or any job where a writer is needed.

Application Requirements & Deadlines

Applications must be completed by the following deadlines in order to be reviewed for admission:

• Fall : Jan. 15
• Spring : N/A
• Summer : N/A
• Special : N/A

Application fee : $65

Campus : Durham

New England Regional : RI VT

Accelerated Masters Eligible : No

New Hampshire Residents

Students claiming in-state residency must also submit a Proof of Residence Form . This form is not required to complete your application, but you will need to submit it after you are offered admission or you will not be able to register for classes.

Transcripts

If you attended UNH or Granite State College (GSC) after September 1, 1991, and have indicated so on your online application, we will retrieve your transcript internally; this includes UNH-Durham, UNH-Manchester, UNH Non-Degree work and GSC. 

If you did not attend UNH, or attended prior to September 1, 1991, then you must upload a copy (PDF) of your transcript in the application form. International transcripts must be translated into English.

If admitted , you must then request an official transcript be sent directly to our office from the Registrar's Office of each college/university attended. We accept transcripts both electronically and in hard copy:

• Electronic Transcripts : Please have your institution send the transcript directly to [email protected] . Please note that we can only accept copies sent directly from the institution.
• Paper Transcripts : Please send hard copies of transcripts to: UNH Graduate School, Thompson Hall- 105 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824. You may request transcripts be sent to us directly from the institution or you may send them yourself as long as they remain sealed in the original university envelope.

Transcripts from all previous post-secondary institutions must be submitted and applicants must disclose any previous academic or disciplinary sanctions that resulted in their temporary or permanent separation from a previous post-secondary institution. If it is found that previous academic or disciplinary separations were not disclosed, applicants may face denial and admitted students may face dismissal from their academic program.

Letters of recommendation: 3 required

Recommendation letters submitted by relatives or friends, as well as letters older than one year, will not be accepted.

Personal Statement/Essay Questions

Prepare a brief but careful statement regarding:

• Reasons you wish to do graduate work in this field, including your immediate and long-range objectives.
• Your specific research or professional interest and experiences in this field.

Additional Department Requirements

Fiction: Please submit at least two separate pieces, i.e. two short stories, part of a novel or novella and a short story. Non-Fiction: At least two separate non-fiction pieces, i.e. feature articles, essays, or newspaper stories. Poetry: Ten to fifteen poems

Important Notes

All applicants are encouraged to contact programs directly to discuss program-specific application questions.

International Applicants

Prospective international students are required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or equivalent examination scores. English Language Exams may be waived if English is your first language. If you wish to request a waiver, then please visit our Test Scores webpage for more information.

Explore Program Details

Faculty directory.

Students in the MFA program are invited to become involved in the production of the UNH online literary journal, Barnstorm . Barnstorm was founded by MFA graduate students and continues to be entirely student run under faculty advisor Tom Payne. The position of Editor-in-Chief pays a stipend of $3,500 per year.

While we do not adhere to a particular style or manifesto, Barnstorm strives to publish the best poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Previous contributors include both renowned and emerging writers. Barnstorm also publishes weekly literary columns from our staff via our blog. To learn more about Barnstorm and its publications, visit our website at barnstormjournal.org.

Internships & Opportunities

The portsmouth music hall internship.

A paid, year-long internship at one of New England’s premier arts organizations—The Music Hall’s two literary series,  Writers on a New England Stage  and  Writers in the Loft,  employ an MFA student to assist in marketing and production.  This is a great opportunity for a literary- and marketing-minded student with sharp writing and interpersonal skills to further develop their skills and resume while working with the Music Hall’s award-winning professionals. The PMH intern engages in a wide range of marketing and event activities, from press release writing and blogging about authors to distributing collateral including posters, as well as researching specialty markets and occasionally going out to pick up a sandwich for the author on an event night. The position pays $4,000 for the year, and is funded through the generosity of an anonymous UNH alumnus.

Visit the Writers on a New England Stage website .

Research Development and Communications Internships

The  UNH Office of Research Development and Communications  offers a number of internships to graduate English students each year. Interns work an average of at least 10 hours per week over the course of the year (a minimum of 500 hours for the entire year), including the summer. The yearly salary is approximately $6000. Intern responsibilities include reviewing and editing grant proposals to federal funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, writing communications pieces on behalf of the Research Office, and working with graduate students applying for federal funding. Interested candidates should possess excellent writing/editorial skills. Professional experience as a writer/editor is a plus. The positions are open to both current and incoming students, and applications are accepted in late April/early May. Because this position is funded with Work Study funds, you must have filed a FAFSA form in order to apply. Students holding Teaching Assistantships may not apply for this position.

Read Free or Die

Read Free or Die  is a monthly reading series created and hosted by the students of UNH's MFA program to showcase writing from across the genres.  Traditionally held once a month in the upstairs of The Press Room in historic downtown Portsmouth, NH, the series provides an intimate space and the opportunity for MFA students to share both voice and craft.  Each reading features two poets, two fiction writers, and two non-fiction writers.   Read Free or Die is a free event.  For more information visit the  Facebook page  for the series.

MFA Student Successes

December, 2023: Nico Bailey (MFA '22)  published their debut story "Pas De Deux" in the Kelsey Review, and it has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  Congratulations, Nico!

April, 2022:  Austin Bolton's  (MFA '22) short story, "If Ever You Should Leave," is getting published by the literary magazine Change Seven at the start of July.  Congratulations, Austin!

October, 2021:  Christina Keim  (MFA '20) has co-authored a book with Sally Benton.   The Athletic Equestrian: Over 30 Exercises for Good Hands, Power Legs, and Superior Seat Awareness   is set to be released in January, 2022 by Trafalgar Square Books.   https://www.horseandriderbooks.com/store/the-athletic-equestrian.html

September, 2021: Our first student to earn her MFA,  Midge Goldberg  (MFA '06), has just had her third book of poems published by Kelsay Books.   To Be Opened After My Death  is available at Amazon  https://www.amazon.com/Be-Opened-After-My-Death/dp/195435391X/ref=sr_1_3

September, 2021:  Samantha DeFlitch's (MFA '18) second manuscript was named a finalist in the National Poetry Series.  The news release is at  https://nationalpoetryseries.org/congratulations-to-the-winners-of-the-2021-national-poetry-series/ .  

February, 2021:  Samantha DeFlitch's (MFA '18) first full-length book of poetry has been published! Confluence is available for pre-order at http://broadstonebooks.com/Samantha_DeFlitch.html Congratulations, Sam!

November, 2020: Bill Price  (MFA '21) has had four pieces published since joining the MFA program.  Congratulations, Bill!

“The Ferryman’s Coin.” Showbear Family Circus,  Nov. 2020 “Nature’s Glory.” Ripples in Space,  Aug. 2020 “The Knocking.” Beyond Words,  May 2020 “I, Leave.” National Veterans Creative Arts Festival,  Nov. 2019

November, 2020: Paulna Valbrun  (MFA '20) had two pieces published.   “Afrodite” and “Church for Sinner’s.” The latter essay was published by a popular literary magazine in Kenya! https://www.midnightandindigo.com/afrodite/ https://jaladaafrica.org/2020/12/04/church-for-sinners-by-paulna-valbrun/

March, 2020: Morgan Plessner's (MFA '19) manuscript is to be published on March 24th, 2020!  Body of the Moon is available at  https://www.amazon.com/Body-Moon-Morgan-Leigh-Plessner/dp/B0863TKRQT . Congratulations, Morgan!

February, 2020: Joshua Foreman (MFA '17) and his writing partner Ryan Starrett started working with the History Press while he pursued his MFA at UNH. They have published three narrative history books ( https://foremanstarrett.com/books/ ) with them.  The most recent publication - Hidden History of New Orleans - in Feb. 2020. Josh also began teaching in the Communication Department at Mississippi State University in August. 

January, 2020: Danley Romero (MFA '21) had his short story, "Fin, or A Thing Like Music" published in the Massachusetts Review's 60th anniversary issue and it was nominated for a Pushcart Prize!  Congratulations, Danley!

November, 2019: Heidi Turner's (MFA '21) first book was published by Heritage Future and won the 2019 Great Story Project.   The Sacred Art of Trespassing Barefoot   is available for purchase at  https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Trespassing-Barefoot-Great-Project/dp/1732856419 .  Congratulations, Heidi!

October, 2019: Congratulations to  Tyler Paterson  (MFA '20)!  The publishing  company Retreat West out of London officially nominated his short story "Seedlings" for the Pushcart Prize.

August, 2019: Jason Tandon's  (MFA '07) new book of poetry was published by Black Lawrence Press.  "The Actual World" is available now.  Jason currently teaches in the Writing Program at Boston University.   https://www.blacklawrence.com/the-actual-world/  |  https://jasontandon.com/

February, 2017: Kaely Horton's (MFA '18) short story "Canvassing" will be published in May's edition of RipRap.  Kaely also wrote an article on teaching which is the first runner-up for the Donald Murray Prize and is getting published in the spring issue of Writing on the Edge with commentary from Peter Elbow.

May, 2017: Congratulations to Ben Ludwig (MFA 2017) on the publication of his novel Ginny Moon , Park Row Books, May 2017! 

May, 2017: Brian Evans-Jones , Poetry MFA 2016, has won the poetry section of the 2017 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers.

May, 2017: Alix McManus's (MFA Fiction) short story "Rosemary and the Red Pens" was recently published in Gravel Magazine.  Congratulations, Alix!

April, 2017: Rose Whitmore , Fiction MFA 2013, won a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University, 2017. 

February, 2017: Amy Sauber (MFA '14) wins Pen/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for her story "State Facts of the New Age".  Information about the prize can be found at https://pen.org/2017-penrobert-j-dau-short-story-prize-emerging-writers/  Congratulations, Amy!

November, 2016: Brittany Smith's story 'The Fruit Grove Girl' gets published in The Bangalore Review.  The story can be read at http://bangalorereview.com/2016/11/fruit-grove-girl/  Congratulations, Brittany!

September, 2016: Amy Sauber's (MFA '14) story 'State Facts for the New Age' gets published in The Rumpus.  Congratulations, Amy!  The story can be found at http://therumpus.net/2016/09/rumpus-original-fiction-state-facts-for-th…  

April, 2016: Midge Goldberg (MFA '06) recently published a book of poetry, Snowman's Code, which won the Richard Wilbur Poetry Award. Midge was our very first MFA student to earn her degree!  The book was published by University of Evansville Press and can be found on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Snowmans-Code-Midge-Goldberg/dp/0930982754/ref=sr…

February 2016: Benjamin Ludwig's FOREVER GIRL, pitched as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime meets Room, told from the perspective of an adopted autistic teenage girl who's plotting to get herself kidnapped by her birth mother, pre-empted by Liz Stein on an exclusive 3-day submission, in a major deal (WE) by Jeff Kleinman at Folio Literary Management; translation rights with Molly Jaffa at Folio Literary Management. 

September, 2015: Congratulations to UNH's very first student to earn her MFA in Writing almost 10 years ago!   Midge Goldberg recently published a children's book, My Best Ever Grandpa , with Azro Press of N.M. The book was illustrated by Valori Herzlich. Here's s a link to the publisher's announcement page: http://www.azropress.com . 

May, 2015: Much congrats to Sonia Scherr , MFA ’13, who has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship! Scherr, who was an alternate in the competition last year, will conduct research in Morocco in order to write a historically informed Young Adult novel about the relationship between Jewish and Muslim Moroccans during the Holocaust.

January, 2015: Benjamin Ludwig's book, titled "Sourdough" won the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize from Texas Review Press.  The book is for sale on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Sourdough-Benjamin-Ludwig/dp/1680030140/ref=sr_1_1 ...  Congratulations, Benjamin!

November, 2014: Congratulations to Caro Clark (MFA '13) who recently received a McDowell Fellowship for the spring!

September, 2014: Congratulations to Bryan Parys (MFA '10) for landing a job as an editor/writer at Berklee College of Music in the department of digital strategy and communications. Bryan also recently signed a contract to publish his thesis with Cascade Books.  More details to come!

August, 2014: Craig Brown (MFA '11) published an article in Dispatch Magazine called "Cruising the Coast: Three Days Sailing on the Victory Chimes , America's Windjammer".  A scan of the article can be found at /sites/cola.unh.edu/files/media/Dispatch_-_Cruising_the_Coast.pdf.

August, 2014: Rose Whitmore (MFA '13) recently had an essay published in The Sun, and was awarded a work-study scholarship in non-fiction to the Bread Loaf Writer's conference. 

July, 2014: Congratulations to Caro Clark (MFA '13) who's Glimmer Train story won first place in the new writer's contest!  First place won $1500 and publication in issue #94.  The announcement of the winners can be found at http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/glimmertrain/May2014SSA-Winners.pdf

July, 2014: Maria Chelko's (MFA '10) poems have appeared in these journals: The Ampersand Review, Anti-, Birdfeast, The Freeman, Revolver, Sixth Finch, and Washington Square Review. She was also awarded a scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference this summer. 

July, 2014: Congratulations to Nathan Webster (MFA '09) who was hired as a full time lecturerer for the English department at UNH!  Nate has published the following: 

• Daily Beast, Jan. 11. "How the War Comes Home.”
• The Rumpus, July 4. "Bedrooms of the Fallen." http://therumpus.net/2014/07/bedrooms-of-the-fallen-by-ashley-gilbertso…
• Wrath Bearing Tree, July 10. "Foreshadows from Iraq." http://wrathbearingtree.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/foreshadowing-in-iraq-…

July, 2014: Erin Somers' (MFA '13) story, "Astronauts in Love" was published by One Teen Story this month. Link: http://www.oneteenstory.com

June, 2014: Congratulations to Karina Borowicz (MFA '09) for winning the Codhill Poetry Award for her book of poetry titled Proof .  It was also a finalist for the National Poetry Series!  The press release can be found at http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6030-proof.aspx .  The Amazon link is at http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Karina-Borowicz/dp/1930337752/ref=sr_1_1?ie…

June, 2014: William Stratton (MFA '12) published his first collection of poems titled Under the Water Was Stone.   http://wintergoosepublishing.com/now-available-under-the-water-was-ston…

 April, 2014: Great news from Sarah Stickney (MFA '10) that the book she co-translated with Diana Thow and Eugene Ostashevsky, The Guest in The Wood by Italian poet Elisa Biagini just Won the Best Translated Book Award for 2014. Congratulazioni, Sarah! http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=…

April, 2014: Caro Clark (MFA '13) won the Luso-American fiction scholarship to attend the Disquiet International writing conference in Lisbon this summer. You can read about the conference here: http://disquietinternational.org . The scholarship pays for transportation to and from Portugal and all fees associated with the two-week program.  Caro will have the chance to work with Denis Johnson, Josip Novakovich, Padgett Powell, and others while there. And in further good news: Glimmer Train also picked up one of her stories stories recently. 

March, 2014: Emily Bradley , who received her MFA in creative nonfiction from UNH in 2012, published an essay in the March/April issue of Yankee Magazine. The illustrated feature, titled “When My Father Calls,” tells of her father’s relationship with a chipmunk in the years after her mother died while revealing the ways we reconfigure our lives in the wake of grief.   http://www.yankeemagazine.com/

November, 2013: Jason Tandon '07 has published his third book of poems, Quality of Life, with Black Lawrence Press.  Here's the link to his publishers announcement page: http://www.blacklawrence.com/quality-of-life/

October, 2013: Jennie Latson '13 signed a contract with Simon & Schuster for her book The Boy Who Loved Too Much.  This tale of a boy with Williams Syndrome, the so-called "friendliness disorder," and his mother was her MFA thesis project. For over two years she immersed herself in the lives of the two, traveling with them to Michigan for a summer camp, spending weekends with them in their Connecticut home, monitoring how this child who knows no skepticism, loves everyone, navigates a world that requires caution. The book will be published in early 2015.

September, 2013: Rose Whitmore '13 (fiction) has won the William Peden Prize from The Missouri Review for her short story "The Queen of Pacific Tides." Learn more.

September, 2013: Jeremy Parker , a new MFA student this year, was a semi-finalist in the 2013 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest run by Carve Magazine . Out of over 1,000 submissions, the editors chose 5 winners, 5 honorable mentions, and 23 semi-finalists.

July, 2013: Laurin Becker Macios , MFA poetry alum, is the Program Director for Mass Poetry, an organization supporting poets and poetry in Massachusetts. Her poems have recently been published in 34th Parallel, Pif, and Five2One Magazine. In Sept. 2013 she will be spending two weeks at the Martha's Vineyard Writer's Residency in Edgartown.

July, 2013: Alan Schulte , MFA nonfiction alum, was hired for a permanent, tenure track position at Franklin Pierce University as Assistant Professor of Composition and Director of the Wensberg Writing Center. He is also the Faculty Adviser of Nevermore, the University's Literary Journal.

July 2013: Maria Chelko , MFA poetry alum, just won a 2013 PSA New York Chapbook Fellowship for her manuscript, Manhattations. Mary Ruefle selected it.  Here's a link to the announcement: http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/chapbook_fellowship/

June 2013: Congrats to recent grad Erin Somers , who is featured in "Writing Lessons" on the Ploughshares blog. "Writing Lessons" features essays by writing students about lessons learned, epiphanies about craft, and the challenges of studying writing. You can view Erin's post here: http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/writing-lessons-erin-somers/ .

March 2013: Congratulations to David Bersell , who has been awarded the much coveted nonfiction scholarship to the Tin House Writer's Workshop this summer. David will spend the week working with Cheryl Strayed, author of the memoir Wild and the Rumpus column Dear Sugar. Quite the coup for David and well deserved.

January 2013: Emily Robbins Bradley , MFA nonfiction alum, was hired at the New Hampshire Institute of Art as their "Instruction and Reference Specialist" in their college library.  She also teaches  composition there.  She had a short essay featured on the video series "In Place" which is part of the larger online journal "Extracts: Daily Dose of Lit."

January, 2013: Kristina Reardon , MFA fiction alum, was awarded the 2012 Aetna Works-in-Progress Grant for a short story collection, awarded by the UConn Department of English.  She was also awarded the 2012 Tinker Foundation Pre-Dissertation grant to translate fiction in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Her translations of the short story "The Surprise" by Lili Potpara (from the Slovenian) & "The Vision" by Carmen Boullosa (from the Spanish) are published in World Literature Today (September 2012).  She also has an essay on literary translation published on WLT's "Translation Tuesday" blog.  

January, 2013: Dustin Martin , MFA fiction alum, was hired as a staff assistant to the Donor Relations team for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.

January, 2013: Sarah Stickney , MFA poetry alum, has publications in Rhino, and Portland Review.  In October she acted as a simultaneous French interpreter for the Megaflorestais international forestry conference.  She was recently hired as a tenure-track professor at St. John's College in Annapolis.

January, 2013: Alan Schulte , MFA nonfiction alum, landed a position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition and Director of the Wensberg Writing Center at Franklin Pierce University. He has also been assigned as Faculty Adviser of Nevermore, the University's Literary Journal.

January, 2013: Edward Manzi, MFA poetry alum, had poems published in Brush Fire, Paper Nautilus , and The Bakery .  He also had a poem nominated for the Pushcart Award.

November, 2012: Jennifer Latson , a 3rd-year MFA in nonfiction candidate, has a BIG story in the Nov/Dec issue of Yankee magazine. The subject: Tuttle's farm in Dover, told from Lucy Tuttle's point of view. The story began in an essay writing workshop, was revised in Sue Hertz's people and place workshop last spring and sent to Yankee in the summer. They loved it!

August, 2012: Tim Horvath , MFA alum, landed a full-time teaching gig at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. He also just published his latest, a collection of short fiction called Understories .

June, 2012: Rose Whitmore , a fiction MFA who will graduate in May '13, has THREE success stories! Her short story "The Queen of Pacific Tides" will be published in the summer issue of The Missouri Review and her essay "The Lost Coast" will appear in Fourth Genre. Rose has also been accepted to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference this summer. Nonfiction MFA Jennifer Duffy has also been accepted to Bread Loaf.

June, 2012: Jennifer Latson , a nonfiction MFA who will graduate in May '13, will publish "Blood Ties to the Land," a nonfiction narrative about Tuttle's Farm in Dover told through 67-year-old Lucy Tuttle's point of view, in the December issue of Yankee Magazine .

June, 2012: Alan Schulte , a nonfiction MFA who graduated in December '11, has published his essay "The Point of Failure" in the online journal Junklit .

April, 2011: Ryan Flaherty , MFA '10, has published a new book of poetry, What's This, Bombardier? He also has a poem featured on BOMBlog Word Choice .

February, 2011: Kristina Reardon's (MFA Dec. 2010) essay White Goddess Ghosts will be published in the Montreal Review . Kristina wrote the piece for her UNH travel writing class last summer in Cambridge, England.

February, 2011: Bryan Parys (MFA ’10) won a Fair Trade essay contest , which awarded him $2,000 in fair trade goods. He was also named a contributing scholar for a new online publication called State of Formation . Most recently his article “Superman of the House” was published by the Gooden Men Project Magazine .

November, 2010: Ryan Flaherty , MFA ’10, has three poems in POOL : http://www.poolpoetry.com/ , had a poem featured on Verse Daily : http://www.versedaily.org/2010/conditionals.shtml and an essay published in Columbia : http://columbiajournal.org .

November, 2010: The World after Czeslaw Milosz , a chapbook by Maria Chelko , MFA ’10, won the 2010 Dream Horse Press National Chapbook Contest. Dream Horse Press will publish the book in the Spring/Summer of 2011.

May, 2010: Marla Cinilia was awarded a Bread Loaf Writers Conference scholarship based on the merit shown in her fiction. Only 12 spots are available for the conference, chosen from a pool of hundreds nation-wide.

May, 2010: Kristina Reardon and Sarah Stickney have received prestigious Fulbright Scholarships that will provide them support to conduct research abroad during the 2010-11 academic year. Learn more.

February, 2010: Amy VanHaren , a member of the MFA’s first graduating class in 2007, recently published her piece “Rescue on the Ridge” in AMCOutdoors . While Amy is not working on the book from which this piece is excerpted, she is using her writing skills as the social media manager at Stonyfield Farm, one of the nation’s leaders in organic agriculture and retail dairy products

February, 2010: MFA nonfiction writer Nathan Webster has had his thesis accepted for publication by The Truth About The Fact: International Journal of Literary Nonfiction (Loyola Marymount University, LA). "Suspicions, After Curfew" is slated for publication in the Spring 2010, Volume V Number I issue. Here’s what the editors wrote to Nathan: "We received hundreds of submissions from the international literary community, including impressive narratives about life in South Africa, Sri Lanka, China, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. Your work was one of only 21 pieces selected."

February, 2010: Jason Tandon , MFA ’07, was pleased that Garrison Keillor read one of his poems from his book Give Over the Heckler and Everyone Gets Hurt on The Writer’s Almanac.

February, 2010: Emily Robbins , MFA ’11, published her essay “The Way Home” in the Northern New England Review , Volume 31.

January, 2010: MFA nonfiction writer Ryan Flaherty recently published two chapbooks, Live, from the Delay and Novas. He also has poems coming out this spring in three journals: Colorado Review, Ninth Letter, and Handsome. He has also been awarded PEN New England's Discovery Award in Poetry. Each year, established authors sponsor newcomers in their field and this year poet Peter Covino selected Ryan and will introduce him at the 31st Annual Discovery celebration. The award is based on the promise of the discoveree’s potential.

October, 2009: MFA student Bryan Parys published "The Last Word or, The Eternal Present Tense" in The (Non)fiction 500 section of the journal Like Water Burning .

September, 2009: MFA alum Brian Wilkins '06G, '09G is a poet; his former college roommate, Ian Terrell, is a Web developer. Together, they've created a literary magazine for the iPhone, which plays an audio recording of a poem, essay, or short story as the reader scrolls along with the text. "The best part about poetry or any literature really is going to a reading and getting to hear the author's voice," says Wilkins. The first issue of "Scarab" includes a poem by Charles Simic, UNH professor emeritus. Read the story

June, 2009: MFA fiction writer Kristina Reardon , who will enter her second year in the program this fall, has published two stories, "Easter 1941" and "A Bit of Kindness," in the New Voices section of the summer edition of the Newport Review: http://www.newportreview.org/?new-voices/kreardon.html . Kristina has also won a scholarship from the Centre for Slovene at the University of Ljubljana and will spend the month of July there this summer researching material for her thesis manuscript.

February, 2009: MFA poet Maria Barron won the 2009 LUMINA Poetry contest. LUMINA is a literary journal published by Sarah Lawrence College. The contest was judged by poet, Ilya Kaminsky. Maria's poems placed both first and second, earning Maria the invitation to read at Sarah Lawrence in April.

February, 2009:MFA poet Mark Gosztyla crossed genre lines into nonfiction when he stumbled into a story about two 50-year-old unsolved murders in Somersworth, NH. For over a year Mark pursued the mysterious deaths, both on his own and in nonfiction workshops, publishing a series in Foster's Daily Democrat in June of '08. That series, titled “Shame and Silence,” won first place “for highest achievement in investigative reporting” in New England Press Association’s 2008 Annual Better Newspaper Contest.

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2024 creative writing award winners, april 11, 2024.

Quantá Holden | Duke English | Digital Communication Specialist

The English Department at Duke University is honored to announce the winners of the 2024 Creative Writing Contests and Creative Writing Scholarships. Annually, the department administers creative writing contests to recognize fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry works by English majors and non-major undergraduates. 

The English Department is honored to announce the winners of its 2024 writing contests. The department administers writing contests to recognize fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and critical writing by English majors and non-major undergraduates. 

Congratulations to all of this year's winners! 

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Makee Gonzalez Anderson ’24  -  “Here, in the Past Tense” Second Prize: Emma Huang, ’25  -  "ABEL’S PLACE"

Reynolds Price Award for Fiction The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, poet, and public intellectual Reynolds Price, a graduate of Duke and professor in the English Department for over 50 years.  Tomas Esber, ’24  -  “Ridgewood” Second Prize: Matthew Chen, ’26  -  “ABC” & “Chair"

CREATIVE NONFICTION

George P. Lucaci Award for Creative NonFiction This award was created to encourage creative nonfiction writing and honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student who has actively supported undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years. 

Ruby Wang, ’24  -  “Blood Orison” Second Prize: Rowan Huang, ’24  -  “Arms Outstretched"

Academy of American Poets Prize Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and foster contemporary poetry appreciation.  Nima Babajani-Feremi, ’24  -  “Dreams to Persepolis” Honorable Mention: Tyler King, ’25  -  "NO QUARTER"

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry   Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry.   Jocelyn Chin, 24 -   “Endurance” Second Prize:   Arielle Stern, ’25  -  "The Poem as Event"

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., who would have graduated with the class of 1997 to recognize and honor outstanding undergraduate poetry.  Arim Lim, ’26  -  "Archeopteryx"

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Creative Writing PhD and MLitt 

It is expected that most Creative Writing PhDs at Durham will have a 50:50 weighting between a creative portfolio and a literary-critical dissertation; however, this ratio is negotiable as particular  projects may require a different weighting, or the emphasis may change after the completion of initial research.  

During your three years of supervision you will produce a complete and coherent creative writing project in your chosen form, plus a literary-critical dissertation of a high academic standard. The nature and form of the creative project will vary from student to student, and the literary-critical dissertation may focus on any writer(s), and/or aspect(s) of creative literature and/or theoretical writing. It is expected that the literary-critical dissertation will be informed by your personal creative practice and  process, but  will not focus on it primarily. The creative and critical elements of your thesis should be viewed as complementary, in dialogue with one another, and forming a coherent whole that you will be asked to defend at the viva (oral examination) after submission.  

The research interests of the  Creative Writing team   within the department of English Studies lie in a broad range of nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first-century writing from English-language traditions and from literature in English-language translation. We welcome CW PhDs in poetry, the short story, innovative fiction, narrative non-fiction, memoir and life-writing, and hybrid forms of writing (the lyric essay, autofiction, conceptual poetry). Recent publications by members of the Creative Writing department include works exploring identity and self-expression; affect in writing, including manifestations of shame in contemporary poetry; feminist writing and theory; activist texts; musicality and orality in poetry; form in performance and form on the page; race and lyric subjectivity; hip hop studies; elegy; epistolary writing; uncreative writing, repurposing and appropriation.  

Creative Writing at Durham is housed in the English Department, which usually has about 75 PhD students at any one time. In the  2014 Research Excellence Framework , 90% of the department’s research activity was judged to be ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent.’ As a teaching department, we are the highest rated department overall in the  Complete University Guide 2018 . The research expertise of the English Department includes the Reception of Classical Texts; Medieval Literature and culture; Renaissance Literature; Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century English literature; Romantic poetry, fiction, political writing and aesthetic theory; Victorian fin-de- siècle and Edwardian writing; Postmodernism, literary hermeneutics and ideas of authorship.  

• You will be assigned principal and secondary supervisors with whom you will work out your research programme. We will be pleased to discuss your interests with you before you apply.  
• You will be expected to meet with one of your supervisors every two weeks in term-time and every month out-of-term.  
• Within eight months of your start date (or within sixteen months for part-time students) you will produce a piece of critical writing of 3,000 words, plus a portfolio of creative writing (3,000 words of prose, or six pages of poetry) which will be read by members of staff other than your supervisor(s) as a check on progress.  
• Each July you will submit a joint annual progress report with your supervisor(s).  
• You will submit either a PhD thesis (consisting of a portfolio of creative work of up to either 50,000 words of prose or 2,000 lines of poetry, plus a critical dissertation of up to 50,000 words) or an MLitt thesis (consisting of a portfolio of creative work of up to either 35,000 words of prose or 1,400 lines of poetry, plus a critical dissertation of up to 35,000 words).  
• You will be examined by an internal and external examiner after you have submitted your thesis.

Entry requirements  

• You will normally require a good honours degree (at least a 2:1) or its equivalent, and a  Masters  degree from a recognised University.  
• A piece of recent written creative work approximately 4,000 words in length (for prose writers) or a sample of eight pages of poetry. The quality of each student’s Creative Writing (whether published or unpublished) will be evaluated on an individual basis, and may be considered in lieu of a  Masters  degree in some cases.  
• Two positive academic or equivalent professional references.  
• We welcome applications from overseas students, who should be proficient in spoken and written English: normally a minimum of 7.0 in IELTS (with no component less than 7.0) or equivalent in  other language tests accepted by Durham .  
• Application forms must be completed  online .

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