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.

Program poetry faculty: Michael Robins and Kevin Thomason

Michael Robins is the author of five poetry collections, most recently The Bright Invisible (Saturnalia Books, 2022). His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in American Poetry Review, The Common, New England Review, Poetry magazine, Puerto del Sol, and The Best American Poetry 2022. He is the editor of The McNeese Review. 

Kevin Thomason also works with the poets and is Director of Composition. Thomason is from Memphis, Tennessee and has lived and taught in Canada and South Korea. He earned an MFA from McNeese State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi. His work can be read in 32 Poems, Narrative, Southern Poetry Review, and elsewhere. His first book, Ringer, is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press.

Program fiction faculty: Vallie Lynn Watson and Mike Horner

Vallie Lynn Watson is the author of the novel A River So Long (Luminis Books). Her Pushcart-nominated short stories appear or are forthcoming in magazines such as PANK, Gargoyle, and decomP magazinE. Watson earned her doctorate in Creative Writing from The University of Southern Mississippi's Center for Writers in 2009. She is the editor of Boudin.

Mike Horner is the director of the MFA program and the author of Damage Control: Public Relations for the Perfectly Fine Family. His work has appeared in Berkshire Review and Carve.

Application Process

At this stage in the process, there are no 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 to include the following in your submission packet:

1) 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 and be an embedded tutor in a composition classroom their first year and to teach composition in their second and third years).

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

3) A writing sample of the work 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.

The priority deadline for the Fall 2025 semester is February 21. If you have any questions about the application process or the MFA program in general, contact the program director,  Mike 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.