stanford mfa creative writing

Creative Writing Program

Linda A. Cicero | Stanford News Service

Cultivating the power of individual expression within a vibrant community of writers

It’s here that I fell deeper and deeper in love with writing, and I can say without a shadow of doubt that I met mentors, peers, and friends for life. The generosity with which the Creative Writing Program has shaped me will sustain—it’s truly been life-changing.

Creative Writing Minor

Discover your writing prowess and push the imaginative bounds of prose, poetry, and screenwriting with our undergraduate minor.

Stegner Fellowship

An opportunity for promising writers to develop their craft in the company of peers and under the guidance of Stanford faculty.

Stanford University

Our Community

Meet the faces of Creative Writing--the faculty, lecturers, staff, and visiting writers who guide and support our students and fellows.

In the Spotlight

Katherine Wolkoff

Remembering Louise Glück

The Nobel laureate, 2003-2004 Poet Laureate of the United States, and former visiting professor at Stanford died last week at 80.

Jemimah Wei

Finding solace in humor at the first Stegner Fellow reading of the year

“It’s okay, you can make a lot of noise if you want!” said poet Joseph Rios as he encouraged the audience of the first Stegner Fellow reading of the 2023-2024 academic year.

New Book Release from Jackson Holbert

Current Lecturer and Stegner Fellow Alumnus, Jackson Holbert, celebrates his debut book release with Winter Stranger. His publication is commemorated by winning the esteemed Max Ritvo Poetry Prize.

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• Announcements

Spring 2024 Course Preference Form

Take a course with Arthur Sze, the Mohr Visiting Poet - submit course application for English 192V!

12th Annual Poetry Into Film Contest

Upcoming events.

19th Annual Anne & Loren Kieve Distinguished Lecture | Riding the Currents of the Wilding Wind: Performance Lecture by Virginia Grise

Riding the Currents of the Wilding Wind: Performance Lecture by Virginia Grise 

in conversation with Samer Al-Saber (TAPS)…

Louise Glück Memorial Reading

Please join us for a memorial reading to celebrate the life and poetry of  Louise Glück , co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program…

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The Fight Journal

When I Waked, I Cried To Dream Again

Things I Didn’t Do with This Body

All the Yellow Suns

So We Can Know: Writers of Color on Pregnancy, Loss, Abortion, and Birth (Ed. Aracelis Girmay)

Creative Writing

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School of Humanities and Sciences

This course of study cultivates the power of individual expression within a vibrant community of writers.

What You'll Study

Stanford’s Creative Writing Program--one of the best-known in the country--cultivates the power of individual expression within a vibrant community of writers. The Minor in Creative Writing offers a structured environment in which students interested in writing fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction develop their skills while receiving an introduction to literary forms. Students may choose a concentration in either prose or poetry. Creative Writing minors will participate in workshop-based courses and may have an opportunity to work independently with Stegner Fellows, Stanford’s distinguished writers-in-residence.

Degrees Offered

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Learn more about Creative Writing in the Stanford Bulletin

• Creative Writing Program
• Department of English
• School of Humanities & Sciences
• Explore IntroSems related to this major

Exploratory Courses

English 10c.

Introduction to English I: Tradition and Individuality, Medieval to Early Modern

ENGLISH 11A

Introduction to English II: High Life and Low Life: British Literature 1660-1820

ENGLISH 11B

Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855 (AMSTUD 150)

ENGLISH 12A

Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature (AFRICAAM 43, AMSTUD 12A)

ENGLISH 12C

Introduction to English III: Modern Literature

ENGLISH 145G

US Fiction 1945 to 2000

ENGLISH 146A

Steinbeck (AMSTUD 146A)

ENGLISH 152G

Harlem Renaissance

ENGLISH 17Q

After 2001: A 21st Century Science Fiction Odyssey

ENGLISH 71

Dangerous Ideas (ARTHIST 36, COMPLIT 36A, EALC 36, ETHICSOC 36X, FRENCH 36, HISTORY 3D, MUSIC 36H, PHIL 36, POLISCI 70, RELIGST 36X, SLAVIC 36, TAPS 36)

ENGLISH 81

Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ILAC 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)

ENGLISH 90

Fiction Writing

ENGLISH 91

Creative Nonfiction

ENGLISH 92

Reading and Writing Poetry

ENGLISH 9CE

Creative Expression in Writing

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Information about the Creative Writing Minor

Lecturers recount finding community and voice in creative writing MFA programs

A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in creative writing is an often selective, often two-year degree program that gives writers time to hone their craft under the mentorship of established writers. The program is not offered at Stanford, but many faculty affiliated with the creative writing program pursued an MFA.

The Stanford Daily interviewed Tom Kealey, Sarah Frisch and Sara Michas-Martin from the English department on how their MFA degrees influenced their writing and teaching careers. 

Kealey, author of “The Creative Writing MFA Handbook,” earned his MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Frisch holds an MFA in Fiction from Washington University in Saint Louis. Michas-Martin attended an MFA program at Naropa University before completing the degree in Poetry at the University of Arizona. All three are former Wallace Stegner Fellows.

Each lecturer emphasized the importance of MFAs in surrounding them with a community of writers. 

“Teachers are important for sure, but a workshop is only as strong as your fellow writers in the class,” Kealey said.

“The people you really are going to learn from are your peers,” Michas-Martin said. “Sometimes the conversations that happen in the bar or at someone’s house or at the coffee shop are the ones that will stick with you.” 

An MFA program also gives writers a chance for extensive reading, which can be beneficial for those without a strong literature background. 

“I was able to start to understand the work I was reading in relation to the kind of work I wanted to create,” Frisch said, referencing the Ph.D. literature classes she took during her MFA. 

Frisch also stressed the importance of reading for aspiring writers, with or without intent to pursue an MFA. She advised writers to read every day. “If I’m stuck somewhere in my writing, often the answer is in my reading life, not in my writing life,” Frisch said. 

For students interested in pursuing an MFA, Kealey recommended that they take some time off after their undergraduate studies.

“I think this is true no matter what degree you pursue,” Kealey said. 

Similarly, Frisch has always told people to take a few years before pursuing an MFA program. 

“It makes such a difference to have been writing on your own — finding your voice and your material and then returning to the MFA program,” Frisch said.

Michas-Martin took a year to travel around the world after completing her Bachelor’s degree. “That’s when I decided I really wanted to write … I just knew I loved it,” she said. “So I do think taking time off is really important.”

Lecturers encouraged students to try new things in the MFA program and beyond. “Write as much as you can. Try on voices and styles that you might otherwise not pursue,” Kealey said.

Kealey described writing as a process in which writers discover who they are. “The page reflects ourselves back to us, even if we are clearly inhabiting characters very different from us,” he said. “When we write with honesty, integrity and courage, we generally are delighted by what we discover.”

Kealey, Frisch and Michas-Martin also recognized that an MFA is not for everyone. 

Michas-Martin suggested that students with interdisciplinary minds should pursue multiple interests. “Let’s say you’re a CS major, but maybe you’re also really passionate about fiction. You can hold those two things at the same time,” Michas-Martin said. “And practically, it may be necessary.” 

Interdisciplinarity features in the courses that Michas-Martin teaches at Stanford. She has found that her teaching “feeds” her writing.

Ultimately, Frisch advised young writers to embrace the changes on their journeys in writing and beyond. “Building a life that feels meaningful is going to go a long way,” Frisch said.

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MFA Students

Class of 2025.

Zach Ben-Amots

Sofia Stærmose Hardt

Elisa Leiva

Pamela Martinez Barrera

Maayan porat.

Yuxuan Ethan Wu

Class of 2024.

Julia Mendoza Friedman

Julie Gaynin

Claire Haughey

Shirley Yumeng He

Carlo Nasisse

Dominic Yarabe

Damon Casarez

Elina Frumerman

Emily Harter

Cooper Salmon

Joanna Keane Lopez

Jessica Monette

Applications open for Peer Academic Coaches

Rhean Sun, MFA

Rhean Sun  (she/her)  is an Academic Coach in the Center for Teaching and Learning and a proud Stanford graduate. She majored in English with a focus on creative writing. Her favorite classes included Social Dance and The Graphic Novel. While at Stanford, she was also involved with the Native American Cultural Center, Polynesian Cultural Festival, and the Stanford Taekwondo Club. Since graduating, she has been a food blogger, marketing manager, tech support specialist, editor in chief, and college writing instructor. She also holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She's excited to be back at Stanford helping students develop the skills necessary to reach their academic goals and become lifelong learners. 

Book an Academic Coaching Appointment with Rhean

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Claudia Looi

Touring the Top 10 Moscow Metro Stations

By Claudia Looi 2 Comments

Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow.   Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station  is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station  was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

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Information Session: MFA Programs in Creative Writing

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