Creative Writing Program

02/04/2021

Big congrats to MFA student torrin a. greathouse, who was named an NEA Fellow for 2021!

The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to announce the first round of recommended awards for fiscal year 2021 totaling $27,562,040. Supported projects span 14 artistic disciplines in communities throughout the United States. Also included in this announcement are the recipients of NEA Litera...

02/01/2021

The finalists for the 2021 Minnesota Book Awards have been announced, and it's another great year for writers associated with our program! Our Edelstein-Keller Writer in Residence, Kao Kalia Yang, is a finalist in two categories (children's literature and memoir/CNF); and in poetry, alum Roy Guzmán, current student torrin greathouse, and faculty member Ray Gonzalez are all finalists! Read more here:

April 28, 2020, SAINT PAUL, MN – The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library has announced the winners of the 2020 Minnesota Book Awards, sponsored by Education Minnesota. In addition to winners in nine categories, The Friends presented the Book Artist, Hognander Minnesota History, and Kay Sexton...

12/14/2020

Join us TONIGHT (7 pm CST) for a celebratory reading by our Gesell Award and James Wright Prize honorees, and our inaugural Gesell Fellow! Join the Zoom call here:

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11/10/2020

ADMISSIONS UPDATE: Our program has received permission to admit up to six new students who qualify for the Creating Inclusive Cohorts first-year fellowship. See the page below for more info. App deadline extended to 12/15/20!

Find out how to prepare for and apply to the Creative Writing MFA program.

10/19/2020

Did you miss Ada Limón in conversation with poet, essayist, and UMN MFA faculty member Ray Gonzalez? Watch the recording here!

University of Minnesota - Zoom

10/14/2020

The application system is temporarily unavailable while the Creative Writing Program requests an exception to the College of Liberal Arts admissions pause for 2021. If you have started your application, your file will remain active and you will be able to access it again after October 31, 2020. Please check our How to Apply page (cla.umn.edu/creative-writing/graduate/how-apply) for updates.

Find out how to prepare for and apply to the Creative Writing MFA program.

10/12/2020

The Creative Writing Program and the Edelstein-Keller Endowment will be presenting poet Ada Limón in conversation with poet, essayist, and UMN MFA faculty member Ray Gonzalez this Thursday evening, click below to register!

The Creative Writing Program and the Edelstein-Keller Endowment present poet Ada Limón in conversation with poet, essayist, and UMN MFA faculty member Ray Gonzalez.

10/07/2020

Due to uncertainty around admissions for Fall ‘21, we urge prospective applicants to wait to submit applications and pay fees until close to the 12/1 deadline. See cla.umn.edu/creative-writing/graduate/how-apply for updates.

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09/30/2020

Did you miss Julie Schumacher’s chat with Curtis Sittenfeld? Watch the recording here!

The Creative Writing Program and the Edelstein-Keller Endowment present Curtis Sittenfeld, who will discuss her fiction with author and UMN MFA faculty member Julie Schumacher.

09/22/2020

Thinking of applying to the UMN MFA program? We have 2 important updates: 1) a diversity statement is now required of ALL applicants; 2) we no longer recommended, or will consider, the GRE exam. See https://cla.umn.edu/creative-writing/graduate/how-apply

Try using the search bar at the top of the page. Use the back button or return to the College of Liberal Arts homepage. If you’ve found an issue with our site, we’d appreciate it if you'd let us know about it.

07/21/2020

Big congratulations to alum Mihret Sibhat, whose novel THE HISTORY OF A DIFFICULT CHILD will be published by Viking in 2022! Mihret's novel is a tragicomic family saga set in a small Ethiopian town following the 1974 socialist revolution.