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Application Materials Checklist
Students applying to the M.F.A. or M.A. in Creative Writing Program are required to submit the following materials:
- a statement about the teaching of creative writing
- three letters of recommendation
- GRE general test scores (codes: Institution, 1324; Department, 2503)
- a portfolio of creative work (at least thirty pages of fiction, or twenty pages of poetry)
Send application materials to: Heather Steele, 1020 E. Kirkwood Ave., Ballantine Hall Rm. 442, Bloomington, IN 47405.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS JANUARY 15, 2008.
Our admissions committees in fiction and poetry are made up of the program director and at least two other writers in the genre. Each committee member reads every application sent to us carefully, with a decided emphasis on the manuscript portion. We look for talent that genuinely excites us and that we feel we can work with and develop. The manuscript portion of the application is, by far, the most important part of the application and the main criterion on which decisions of acceptance are based. We strongly encourage applicants to read the published work of the Faculty since it is their specific discussions of individual manuscripts that ultimately determine acceptance into the program. Please familiarize yourself with the work of the faculty in the genre to which you're applying.
We do not require the GRE subject test in English; however, we encourage applicants who have taken the subject exam to have the results sent to us. Our Admissions Committees look for evidence that prospective students can successfully take graduate-level courses in literature, language, or culture since four graduate-level courses in these areas are required for our M.F.A. degree.
All students applying for fellowships and teaching assistantships (associate instructor positions) should submit a statement of about 500 words describing their ideas about the teaching of creative writing and suggesting a rationale for such teaching. This is a SEPARATE statement from the personal statement listed above. Our admissions committees are especially interested in hearing how applicants might teach a beginning-level creative writing course in poetry and fiction. Applicants should feel free to include a brief description that details their thoughts on how they would teach such a course and why. Actual teaching experience is certainly of interest but not at all a requirement.
Degree Requirements
For the M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing, students must complete 60 credit hours, at least 48 of them in residence. Course requirements include 16 hours of creative writing workshops from W611-W612 (Writing Fiction I-II) or W613-W614 (Writing Poetry I-II), and one course from W664 (Topics in Current Literature) or W680 (Theory and Craft of Writing). In addition, four courses in literature, culture or language (12-16 hours), at least two of which are on the 600 level or above, are required. These are to be from offerings from English and other departments and programs including African American and African Diaspora Studies, Latino Studies, Comparative Literature and its associated fields of study, and Communication and Culture. Other courses to be approved on an individual case basis by the Director of Creative Writing in consultation with the Director of the Doctoral Program. One section of W664 (Topics in Current Literature) may count toward this requirement.
Those teaching in W103 (Introductory Creative Writing) are required to take W554 (Teaching Creative Writing) during their first semester of teaching. Students are expected to concentrate in a single genre, but they are encouraged to take courses in other genres as well: e.g. W511 (Writing Fiction), W513 (Writing Poetry), W615 (Writing Creative Nonfiction). Up to 12 hours in W699 (M.F.A. Thesis) may count toward the total 60 hours. The student is required to submit a book-length manuscript (a minimum of 48 pages in poetry, 150 pages in fiction), ideally suitable for publication on its own, that has been approved by a thesis director and two readers.
Course requirements for the M.A. degree in English with a Concentration in Writing include W611-W612 (Writing Fiction I-II) or W613-W614 (Writing Poetry I-II), and five departmental courses in literature, literary criticism, or English language. Poets may substitute Comparative Literature C570 (Theory and Practice of Translation) for one of the five required departmental courses; writers of fiction may substitute Theatre and Drama T453 or T454 (Playwriting). The student is required to submit, for 4 hours of credit, a creative thesis (a minimum of 35 pages in poetry, 100 pages in fiction) of high literary merit and genuine promise, that has been approved by a thesis director and two readers.
Graduate Creative Writing Courses
W511: Writing Fiction (4 cr.)
- Either W511 or W513 may count once for the M.A. or M.F.A.
W513: Writing Poetry (4 cr.)
- Either W511 or W513 may count once for the M.A. or M.F.A.
W554: Teaching Creative Writing (2 cr.)
- Theory and practice of teaching the writing of poetry and fiction at the college level, with attention to matters of curricular design and classroom technique. Required of those teaching W103 for the first time.
W610: Indiana Writing Workshop (2 cr.)
- Prerequisite: acceptance to the Indiana Writers' Conference, held in June of each year. Intensive training in various forms of writing at the conference; submission of significant body of writing before the end of the last summer session.
W611-W612: Writing Fiction I and II (4-4 cr.)
- May be repeated once for credit.
W613-W614: Writing Poetry I and II (4-4 cr.)
- May be repeated once for credit.
W615: Writing Creative Nonfiction (4 cr.)
- Writing workshop in such modes as personal essay, autobiography, and documentary.
W664: Topics in Current Literature (4 cr.)
- The study of recent poetry and prose, emphasizing special formal, technical, and intellectual concerns of author and work. (May be repeated for credit.)
W680: Theory and Craft of Writing (4 cr.)
- Elements of poetic prosody or the major fictive techniques or both: nature of stress, concepts of meter, nature of rhythm, prosodic use of syntax, theories of fictive realism, nature of fictive romance, point of view, etc. (May be repeated for credit.)
W697: Independent Study in Writing (1-4 cr.)
- Prerequisite: two semesters of W611, W612, W613, or W614.
W699: M.F.A. Thesis (4-12 hrs., cr. arr.)
Sample Three-Year M.F.A. Student Schedule
Semester I: 10 hours
- W611: Writing Fiction I or W613: Writing Poetry I
- W554: Teaching Creative Writing
- W664, W680, or graduate course in literature, culture or language
Semester II: 12 hours
- W612: Writing Fiction II or W614: Writing Poetry II
- W511 or W513, W664, or W680
- A graduate course in literature, culture or language
Semester III: 10 hours
- W501: Teaching of Composition in College
- W511 or W513, W615, W664, W680, or graduate course in literature, culture or language
Semester IV: 12 hours
- W511 or W513, W615, W664, W680, or graduate course in literature, culture or language
Semester V: 8 hours
- W511 or W513, W615, W664, W680 or graduate course in literature, culture or language
Semester VI: 8 hours
Online Application and Requests for Materials
To apply online: Indiana University's Graduate and Professional School Online Application for the Bloomington Campus
To print out a hard copy of the application: Paper Application in PDF format
If you would like more information about Indiana University's M.F.A. in Creative Writing Program, please send your name and address to Heather Steele, Graduate Program Administrative Secretary.
All application materials are due to our offices annually by January 15.
Please note that we read applications to our program only once a year, for admission beginning in the fall semester only.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the study of creative writing at Indiana University, please contact Heather Steele or Catherine Bowman, Director of the Creative Writing Program |
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