Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Poetry Workshop — Study with a faculty of award winning poets and writers Meet our faculty

Jason Vasser — “The story really goes from a person not knowing who they are culturally, finding out who they are and then doing something with that information,”

Denise Bogard — " . . . When I think back to the decisions I made that were really positive and life altering, absolutely the MFA program was one."

Alumnus Ron Austin’s debut collection of linked stories won the 2017 Nilsen Prize and a 2019 Foreword INDIES GOLD Award, among others.

Alumna Rewa Zeinati's — Why words matter.

Michael Nye’s third book, Until We Have Faces, was published in 2020 by Turner Publishing.

Roger Reeves recently talked poetry with UMSL students

1 / 1

The Creative Writing Program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis offers a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in fiction and poetry. Our MFA is a 39 credit-hour program designed as a terminal degree. It allows a select group of student writers an extraordinary opportunity to learn the craft of writing from the inside out. The methods of instruction are simple but effective: writing workshops in fiction and poetry; seminar classes on writing craft; assistant editorial work in conjunction with internationally-renowned literary magazine Boulevard. Students in the UMSL MFA program work closely with our distinguished faculty. In the final semesters of study, each student develops a book-length thesis. UMSL MFA graduates have published books in fiction and poetry, won prestigious awards, and placed poems, stories and essays in hundreds of esteemed literary journals.

Department of English
Office: 484 Lucas Hall
Office Phone: 314-516-5541
FAX: 314-516-5781
Email: English Department

MFA Program Director
Shane Seely
Office: 457 Lucas
Phone: 314-516-5856
Email: seelys@umsl.edu