Students in the MFA in Writing program complete 48 credit hours, including an orientation class, a craft foundations class, and a 6-credit final thesis class. The remaining coursework is chosen from our MFA curriculum.
The MFA program offers workshop classes, literature classes, and craft classes in a wide variety of genres and focus areas. Students may take all coursework fully online, or they may choose to include up to one hybrid class per term (which is offered both on-campus and virtually; see our Local Students page for more info). Classes are offered intermittently on a rotating schedule.
Students who choose to declare an emphasis in Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, or Young Adult/ Middle Grade must take at least 27 credit hours in the emphasis area, including at least one Foundational course in that genre, and their final Thesis must focus primarily on that genre.
The final course requirement for all students is the MFA Thesis class.
INSTRUCTOR COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
To supplement the catalog descriptions with more details for our students, our instructors have also provided personalized descriptions for the classes they teach. Click the class titles linked below to view course descriptions, class types, and textbook information.
MFA Courses - By Course Number
IMF 51600-51699 Fiction
- IMF 51601 Fiction: Flash Fiction W
- IMF 51602 Fiction: Elements of Short Fiction W
- IMF 51603 Fiction: Ulysses L
- IMF 51604 Fiction: Writers' Lives L W
- IMF 51605 Fiction: Breaking the Fourth Wall L
- IMF 51606 Fiction: LGBTQ+ L
- IMF 51607 Fiction: Speculative & Dystopian Novels L
- IMF 51608 Fiction: Utopian & Dystopian Speculative Fiction L
- IMF 51609 Fiction: Contemporary SciFi & Fantasy Novellas L
- IMF 51610 Fiction: Fairy Tale Fiction L W
- IMF 51611 Fiction: Novels-in-Stories L
- IMF 51612 Fiction: Gardner’s The Art of Fiction L
- IMF 51613 Fiction: World Literature (1950-2020) & Workshop L W
- IMF 51614 Fiction: Writing on the Edge: Memoir Meets Fiction
- IMF 51615 Fiction: Writing Your Novella or Short Novel L W
- IMF 51616 Fiction: Alice Munro L
- IMF 51617 Fiction: The Fierce Fiction of Proulx L
- IMF 51618 Fiction: George Saunders L W
- IMF 51619 Fiction: Nabokov’s Russian Works L
- IMF 51621 Fiction: Speculative Fiction W
- IMF 51622 Fiction: Flash Fiction T-Minus 500 W
- IMF 51623 Fiction: Short Fiction Workshop W
- IMF 51624 Fiction: Kurt Vonnegut L
- IMF 51625 Fiction: Novel Chapter Workshop W
- IMF 51626 Fiction: Novel Chapter Workshop: Further Studies W
- IMF 51627 Fiction: Revision Workshop W
- IMF 51628 Fiction: The Writing Process: Short Fiction W
- IMF 51629 Fiction: Focused Workshop I W
- IMF 51630 Fiction: Focused Workshop II W
- IMF 51631 Fiction: Point of View W
- IMF 51632 Fiction: Points of Entry for the Novel W
- IMF 51633 Fiction: Points of Entry for the Short Story W
- IMF 51634 Fiction: Writer’s Bootcamp W
- IMF 51635 Fiction: Story Sprint: Writing into the Unknown W
- IMF 51636 Fiction: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Fiction W
- IMF 51637 Fiction: Fiction Styles W
- IMF 51638 Fiction: Writing Workshop W
- IMF 51639 Fiction: Contemporary Fiction Craft
- IMF 51640 Fiction: Magical Realism Literature L
- IMF 51641 Fiction: Magical Realism Workshop W
- IMF 51642 Fiction: The Long Story & Novella L
- IMF 51643 Fiction: Revisionist Fictions L
- IMF 51644 Fiction: African American Literature L
- IMF 51645 Fiction: Experimental Writing L
- IMF 51646 Fiction: Hemingway vs Faulkner L
- IMF 51647 Fiction: Reading & Writing the Short Story L W
- IMF 51648 Fiction: Cli-Fi: Climate-Change Fiction L
- IMF 51649 Fiction: Monster Fiction L
- IMF 51650 Fiction: American Women Short-Story Masters I: Chopin to Glaspell (1880-1920) L
- IMF 51651 Fiction: American Women Short-Story Masters II: Porter to Proulx (1920-2000) L
- IMF 51652 Fiction: Latin American Realists: Bolaño to Vásquez (2000-2011) L
- IMF 51653 Fiction: Latin American Women Realists: Poniatowska to Alamada (1969-2014) L
- IMF 51654 Fiction: Sports, Games, & The Shape of Narrative L
- IMF 51655 Fiction: Short Story Collections L
- IMF 51656 Fiction: Architecture of the Novel L
- IMF 51657 Fiction: Linked Fiction L
- IMF 51658 Fiction: Worldbuilding & Unbuilding
- IMF 51659 Fiction: Native American Literature: Voices of Origin and Power L
- IMF 51660 Fiction: Techniques in Contemporary Fiction
- IMF 51661 Fiction: Flash Fiction: The Art of Suddenness W
- IMF 51662 Fiction: The Art of the Sentence
- IMF 51664 Fiction: Classic Sci-Fi/Horror by Women Writers L
- IMF 51665 Fiction: Cli-Fi Workshop (Climate Fiction) W
- IMF 51667 Fiction: Science Fiction Workshop & Literature L W
- IMF 51668 Fiction: Young Adult Literature W
- IMF 51669 Fiction: Neil Gaiman L W
- IMF 51670 Fiction: Romance Writing W
- IMF 51671 Fiction: Craft Foundations
- IMF 51672 Fiction: Raymond Carver L
- IMF 51673 Fiction: Tobias Wolff L
- IMF 51674 Fiction: Margaret Atwood L
- IMF 51675 Fiction: Reading as a Writer: Short Stories L
- IMF 51676 Fiction: Shakespearean Revisionist Fictions L
- IMF 51677 Fiction: Readings in Classic Fiction L
- IMF 51678 Fiction: The Literary Novel: Contemporary Fiction L
- IMF 51679 Fiction: Readings in Contemporary Fiction L
- IMF 51685 Fiction: Contemporary Middle-Grade
- IMF 51690 Fiction: Multigenre Workshop (W)
- IMF 51691 Fiction: Narrative Theory and Craft
- IMF 51692: Fiction: Horror Fiction Workshop (W)
- IMF 51693 Fiction: Formal Intention in Fiction
- IMF 51694 Fiction: Multigenre Workshop
- IMF 51695 Fiction: Humor Writing 101
IMF 51700-51799 Poetry
- IMF 51701 Poetry: Women Poets L
- IMF 51702 Poetry: The Sonnet L W
- IMF 51705 Poetry: The Contemporary Narrative Poem L W
- IMF 51706 Poetry: The Transformation Song W
- IMF 51720 Poetry: The Contemporary American Poem W
- IMF 51721 Poetry: Ekphrastic Poetry W
- IMF 51722 Poetry: Prose Poems W
- IMF 51723 Poetry: Bootcamp W
- IMF 51724 Poetry: Focused Workshop I W
- IMF 51725 Poetry: Focused Workshop II W
- IMF 51726 Poetry: Focused Workshop III W
- IMF 51727 Poetry: Poetry of Place W
- IMF 51728 Poetry: Writing Workshop W
- IMF 51729 Poetry: The Craft of Poetry
- IMF 51730 Poetry: International Poetry L W
- IMF 51731 Poetry: Asian Poetry L W
- IMF 51732 Poetry: Poetic Repeating Forms W
- IMF 51733 Poetry: Poetry for Prose Writers
- IMF 51734 Poetry: WS Merwin & Art of the Line L
- IMF 51735 Poetry: Contemporary Lyric Poetry L W
- IMF 51736 Poetry: Docupoetics
- IMF 51737 Poetry: Movements in American Poetry L
- IMF 51738 Poetry: Living Poetry: Art of the Everyday
- IMF 51739 Poetry: Craft Foundations
- IMF 51740 Poetry: Readings in Classic Poetry L
- IMF 51741 Poetry: Readings in Contemporary Poetry L
IMF 52300-52399 Nonfiction
- IMF 52301 Nonfiction: Flash Nonfiction W
- IMF 52305 Nonfiction: Longform Narrative Journalism W
- IMF 52306 Nonfiction: Lyric & Personal Essays L W
- IMF 52307 Nonfiction: Memoir Chapter Workshop W
- IMF 52308 Nonfiction: Personal Essay Craft & Workshop W
- IMF 52309 Nonfiction: The Poetics of Memoir
- IMF 52311 Nonfiction: The Flash Essay L W
- IMF 52313 Nonfiction: Writing a Nonfiction Book W
- IMF 52314 Nonfiction: The Memoir Essay W
- IMF 52315 Nonfiction: The Situation & the Story Craft L
- IMF 52316 Nonfiction: Travel Writing L W
- IMF 52317 Nonfiction: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Nonfiction W
- IMF 52318 Nonfiction: Putting the Hard Stuff on Paper: Memoir L
- IMF 52319 Nonfiction: Contemporary Personal Essay Collections L
- IMF 52325 Nonfiction: Spiritual Writing: Memoir W
- IMF 52326 Nonfiction: The Graphic Novel as Memoir L
- IMF 52327 Nonfiction: Creative Nonfiction Workshop W
- IMF 52328 Nonfiction: Writing The Personal Essay and Memoir L W
- IMF 52329 Nonfiction: Creative Nonfiction Craft Foundations
- IMF 52330 Nonfiction: David Sedaris L
- IMF 52331 Nonfiction: Selected Essays L
- IMF 52332 Nonfiction: Science and Nature Writing Essays L
- IMF 52333 Nonfiction: Readings in Classic Creative Nonfiction L
- IMF 52334 Nonfiction: Narrative Journalism L W
- IMF 52335 Nonfiction: Readings in Contemporary Nonfiction L
IMF 60000-61999 Professional
- IMF 60100 Fundamentals of Teaching College Composition
- IMF 60200 Submitting Work for Publication
- IMF 60300 MFA Goes to Work: Creative Writing in Careers
- IMF 60400 Publishing Creative Writing
- IMF 60500 Literary Journal Editing & Production
- IMF 60600 Literary Journal Editing: Fiction & Essays
- IMF 60700 Literary Journal Editing: Flash Fiction & Prose Poetry
- IMF 60800 Fiction: The Practical Writer: YA and Kid Lit
- IMF 60900 Indie Publishing
IMF 62000-62999 Young Adult and Middle Grade Writing
- IMF 62001 YA-MG: Young Adult & Middle Grade Craft Foundations
- IMF 62002 YA-MG: First Love First Loss L
- IMF 62003 YA-MG: Retellings for Young Adult & Middle Grade Readers L W
- IMF 62004 YA-MG: Blurring Boundaries in Young Adult Writing L W
- IMF 62005 YA-MG: Contemporary Young Adult Literature L
- IMF 62006 YA-MG: Young Adult Fiction Workshop W
- IMF 62007 YA-MG: Middle Grade Workshop W
- IMF 62008 YA-MG: Classic Young Adult and Middle Grade Literature L W
- IMF 62009 YA-MG: Genres in Young Adult Fiction L
- IMF 62010 YA-MG: Contemporary Middle Grade Literature L
MFA Courses - By Instructor
Mary Anderson
- IMF 51616 Fiction: Alice Munro L
- IMF 51617 Fiction: The Fierce Fiction of Proulx L
- IMF 51639 Fiction: Contemporary Fiction Craft
- IMF 51650 Fiction: American Women Short-Story Masters I: Chopin to Glaspell (1880-1920) L
- IMF 51651 Fiction: American Women Short-Story Masters II: Porter to Proulx (1920-2000) L
- IMF 51659 Fiction: Native American Literature: Voices of Origin and Power L
- IMF 51672 Fiction: Raymond Carver L
Christopher Candice
- IMF 51606 Fiction: LGBTQ+ L
- IMF 51615 Fiction: Writing Your Novella or Short Novel L W
- IMF 51640 Fiction: Magical Realism Literature L
- IMF 51641 Fiction: Magical Realism Workshop W
- IMF 51671 Fiction: Craft Foundations
- IMF 51677 Fiction: Readings in Classic Fiction L
- IMF 51679 Fiction: Readings in Contemporary Fiction L
Tony D'Souza
- IMF 51629 Fiction: Focused Workshop I W
- IMF 51630 Fiction: Focused Workshop II W
- IMF 51637 Fiction: Fiction Styles W
- IMF 51638 Fiction: Writing Workshop W
- IMF 51644 Fiction: African American Literature L
- IMF 51646 Fiction: Hemingway vs Faulkner L
- IMF 51678 Fiction: The Literary Novel: Contemporary Fiction L
- IMF 52305 Nonfiction: Longform Narrative Journalism W
- IMF 52313 Nonfiction: Writing a Nonfiction Book W
- IMF 52334 Nonfiction: Narrative Journalism L W
Lisa Haag
- IMF 52301 Nonfiction: Flash Nonfiction W
- IMF 52306 Nonfiction: Lyric & Personal Essays L W
- IMF 52329 Nonfiction: Creative Nonfiction Craft Foundations
- IMF 52330 Nonfiction: David Sedaris L
- IMF 52331 Nonfiction: Selected Essays L
- IMF 52332 Nonfiction: Science and Nature Writing Essays L
- IMF 60100 Fundamentals of Teaching College Composition
- IMF 52333 Nonfiction: Readings in Classic Creative Nonfiction L
- IMF 52335 Nonfiction: Readings in Contemporary Nonfiction L
Beth Mead
- IMF 51623 Fiction: Short Fiction Workshop W
- IMF 51628 Fiction: The Writing Process: Short Fiction W
- IMF 51636 Fiction: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Fiction W
- MF 51670 Fiction: Romance Writing W
- IMF 51673 Fiction: Tobias Wolff L
- IMF 51674 Fiction: Margaret Atwood L
- IMF 51675 Fiction: Reading as a Writer: Short Stories L
- IMF 52317 Nonfiction: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Nonfiction W
- IMF 60200 Submitting Work for Publication
- IMF 60500 Literary Journal Editing & Production
- IMF 60600 Literary Journal Editing: Fiction & Essays
- IMF 60700 Literary Journal Editing: Flash Fiction & Prose Poetry
Ted Morrissey
- IMF 51603 Fiction: Ulysses L
- IMF 51619 Fiction: Nabokov’s Russian Works L
- IMF 51642 Fiction: The Long Story & Novella L
- IMF 51643 Fiction: Revisionist Fictions L
- IMF 51645 Fiction: Experimental Writing L
- IMF 51664 Fiction: Classic Sci-Fi/Horror by Women Writers L
- IMF 51676 Fiction: Shakespearean Revisionist Fictions L
Gillian Parrish
- IMF 51610 Fiction: Fairy Tale Fiction L W
- IMF 51614 Fiction: Writing on the Edge: Memoir Meets Fiction
- IMF 51649 Fiction: Monster Fiction L
- IMF 51657 Fiction: Linked Fiction L
- IMF 51701 Poetry: Women Poets L
- IMF 51736 Poetry: Docupoetics
- IMF 51705 Poetry: The Contemporary Narrative Poem L W
- IMF 51738 Poetry: Living Poetry: Art of the Everyday
- IMF 52309 Nonfiction: The Poetics of Memoir
- IMF 52318 Nonfiction: Putting the Hard Stuff on Paper: Memoir L
- IMF 52325 Nonfiction: Spiritual Writing: Memoir W
Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 51604 Fiction: Writers' Lives L W
- IMF 51608 Fiction: Utopian & Dystopian Speculative Fiction L
- IMF 51609 Fiction: Contemporary SciFi & Fantasy Novellas L
- IMF 51648 Fiction: Cli-Fi: Climate-Change Fiction L
- IMF 51654 Fiction: Sports, Games, & The Shape of Narrative L
- IMF 51658 Fiction: Worldbuilding & Unbuilding
- IMF 51665 Fiction: Cli-Fi Workshop (Climate Fiction) W
- IMF 51728 Poetry: Writing Workshop W
- IMF 51737 Poetry: Movements in American Poetry L
- IMF 51723 Poetry: Bootcamp W
- IMF 51727 Poetry: Poetry of Place W
- IMF 51733 Poetry: Poetry for Prose Writers
- IMF 51734 Poetry: WS Merwin & Art of the Line L
- IMF 60300 MFA Goes to Work: Creative Writing in Careers
Kali VanBaale
- IMF 51607 Fiction: Speculative & Dystopian Novels L
- IMF 51611 Fiction: Novels-in-Stories L
- IMF 51625 Fiction: Novel Chapter Workshop W
- IMF 51626 Fiction: Novel Chapter Workshop: Further Studies W
- IMF 51627 Fiction: Revision Workshop W
- IMF 51631 Fiction: Point of View W
- IMF 51632 Fiction: Points of Entry for the Novel W
- IMF 51633 Fiction: Points of Entry for the Short Story W
- IMF 51647 Fiction: Reading & Writing the Short Story L W
- IMF 51655 Fiction: Short Story Collections L
- IMF 51656 Fiction: Architecture of the Novel L
- IMF 52307 Nonfiction: Memoir Chapter Workshop W
- IMF 52311 Nonfiction: The Flash Essay L W
- IMF 52319 Nonfiction: Contemporary Personal Essay Collections L
Zachary Vickers
- IMF 51618 Fiction: George Saunders L W
- IMF 51622 Fiction: Flash Fiction T-Minus 500 W
- IMF 51624 Fiction: Kurt Vonnegut L
- IMF 51635 Fiction: Story Sprint: Writing into the Unknown W
- IMF 51661 Fiction: Flash Fiction: The Art of Suddenness W
- IMF 51662 Fiction: The Art of the Sentence
- IMF 52326 Nonfiction: The Graphic Novel as Memoir L
- IMF 52401 Scriptwriting: Workshop W
- IMF 51695 Fiction: Humor Writing 101
Shana Youngdahl
- IMF 51669 Fiction: Neil Gaiman L W
- IMF 51683 Fiction: Blurring Boundaries in YA Fiction
- IMF 51680 Fiction: Children & YA: Craft Foundations
- IMF 51681 Fiction: First Love First Loss L
- IMF 51682 Fiction: Retellings for Children and YA L W
- IMF 51685 Fiction: Contemporary Middle Grade Lit L
- IMF 51694 Fiction: Multigenre Workshop
- IMF 60100 Fundamentals of Teaching College Composition
- IMF 60800 Fiction: The Practical Writer: YA and Kid Lit
Staff
- IMF 51612 Fiction: Gardner’s The Art of Fiction L
- IMF 51652 Fiction: Latin American Realists: Bolaño to Vásquez (2000-2011) L
- IMF 51653 Fiction: Latin American Women Realists: Poniatowska to Alamada (1969-2014) L
- IMF 51660 Fiction: Techniques in Contemporary Fiction
- IMF 51701 Poetry: Women Poets L
- IMF 51725 Poetry: Focused Workshop II W
- IMF 51726 Poetry: Focused Workshop III W
- IMF 51735 Poetry: Contemporary Lyric Poetry L W
- IMF 51740 Poetry: Readings in Classic Poetry L
- IMF 52314 Nonfiction: The Memoir Essay W