The Columbia College Creative Writing Department is home to the Story Workshop^® approach, the Story Week Festival of Writers, and one of the largest, most successful creative writing programs in the country. Graduate degree offerings include MFA in Creative Writing-Fiction, MA in the Teaching of Writing, and the MFA/MA degree. These programs guide committed fiction writers to advanced achievement in the theory and practice of writing and the teaching of writing.

Candidates for the MFA degree complete a book-length work of publishable fiction (novel, short stories, novellas, creative nonfiction, script, or a combination of forms). The degree requirements for the MA conclude with a two-part graduate thesis: one part creative, one part pedagogical. The quality and kind of teacher training developed in the Teaching of Writing program, featuring the Story Workshop approach, is valued by other institutions, colleges, and graduate programs. The MFA/MA degree incorporates all aspects of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and the Master of Arts in the Teaching of Writing. Students interested in pursuing the MFA/MA degree must accomplish the following: be fully admitted into the MFA program; conclude one year of successful graduate study; submit a letter of application to the Chair and Director of Graduate Programs to add the MA degree strand. The required thesis is a book-length creative work and a pedagogical essay, both of publishable quality.

Program Requirements