McNeese State MFA in Creative Writing

McNeese State University offers a three year, 60 hour, residential MFA in Creative Writing. It is the oldest program in Louisiana. The program believes in personal mentorship and we back it up with a student-to-faculty ratio of 5-1. Visiting writers each semester do one-on-one conferences, attend several social events with students, and give a craft talk and reading. Our students gain valuable editorial skills working on our nationally recognized print journal, The McNeese Review, and our web-based journal, Boudin. Our program is one of the only programs in the country where you can earn an MA in English concurrently with an MFA with no extra cost or time. Finally, students gain unparalleled teaching experience working in the writing center and being an embedded tutor in your first year; then teaching multiple levels of first-year writing courses, including a co-requisite English 100, English 101, and English 102.

The program welcomes new faculty members: Michael Robins in poetry and Vallie Lynn Watson in fiction.

At this stage in the process, we do not require any application fees. We want to make sure this is the right place for you.

All you need to do to begin the McNeese MFA application process is send us your work and a brief letter (one page) describing what you want out of an MFA program, why McNeese sounds appealing, and why you are interested in teaching first-year English composition (most graduate students accepted into our program may be offered opportunities to tutor in the writing center their first year and to teach composition in their second and third years).

In your letter, please list two e-mail contacts for people who might serve as references.

Attach a writing sample that you believe best represents your aesthetic and skills as a writer (a maximum of 10 pages for poetry, 20 pages for fiction).

For every opening, we receive many applications each year. We keep the program small in order to have close, personal relationships with students and to ensure that our students have individual conferences with guest writers. If you think it would help in our decision, you may also attach a .pdf of your transcripts and letters of recommendation; however, this is not required at this stage.

Applicants interested in the MFA program must submit material by February 21 for the fall 2024 semester. If you have any questions about the application process or the MFA program in general, contact the program Director,  Michael Horner,  mhorner@mcneese.edu. If you have specific questions about the poetry program, contact Michael Robins, mrobins@mcneese.edu. For questions about the fiction program, contact Lynn Watson, vwatson2@mcneese.edu

Please note our program is a full residential program, which requires in-person attendance. There is no online option.