Students in the MFA in Writing program choose 45 credit hours of coursework from the MFA curriculum. Additionally, all students enroll in the 3-credit graduate Thesis class at the end of their program, for a total of 48 credit hours.
The MFA program offers workshop classes, literature classes, and craft classes in a wide variety of genres and focus areas. Students may choose to take coursework on-campus or fully online, or through a combination of both delivery methods.
Classes are offered intermittently on a rotating schedule. For students who do not declare an emphasis, there are no required classes (other than the Thesis) and no class prerequisites; students may choose the coursework that works best for them. Students who choose to declare an emphasis in Fiction, Poetry, or Creative Nonfiction must take at least 27 credit hours in the emphasis area, including at least one Foundational course in that genre, and their final Thesis must focus primarily on that genre.
INSTRUCTOR COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
To supplement the catalog descriptions with more details for our students, our instructors have also provided personalized descriptions for the classes they teach. Click the class titles linked below to view course descriptions, class types, and textbook information. Classes without info links will be offered in future terms.
MFA Courses - By Course Number
IMF 51xxx
- IMF 51400 Fundamentals of Writing for the MFA - Lisa Haag
- IMF 51500 Creative Writing for the MFA: Finding a Home for Your Work: Reaching Beyond the Workshop to a World of Readers - Patricia Feeney
- IMF 51601 Flash Fiction and Nonfiction - Andrew Pryor
- IMF 51602 Fiction Genres: Fiction Craft & Workshop – David Hollingsworth
- IMF 51603 Fiction Genres: Focused Literature Study: Ulysses - Ted Morrissey
- IMF 51604 Fiction Genres: Writers' Lives - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 51605 Fiction Genres: Breaking the Fourth Wall –
- IMF 51606 Fiction Genres I: LGBTQ+ Fiction - Christopher Candice
- IMF 51607 Fiction Genres II: Speculative and Dystopian Novels - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 51608 Fiction Genres III: Utopian and Dystopian Speculative Fiction - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 51609 Fiction Genres IV: Contemporary SciFi and Fantasy Novellas - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 51610 Fiction Genres V: Fairy Tale Fiction - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 51611 Fiction Genres VI: Novels-in-Stories - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 51612 Fiction Genres VII: John Gardner's The Art of Fiction - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 51617 Fiction Genres: The Fierce Fiction of Annie Proulx - Mary Anderson
- IMF 51620 Fiction Genres: Retellings in Young Adult and Middle Grade Fiction - Shana Youngdahl
- IMF 51701 Poetry Genres: Women Poets -
- IMF 51702 Poetry Genres: The Sonnet - Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 51705 Poetry Genres I: The Contemporary Narrative Poem - Ryan Smith
- IMF 51706 Poetry Genres II: The Transformation Song - Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 51800 Advanced Creative Writing: The MFA Goes to Work: Creative Writing in Business - Gene Pfeiffer
IMF 52xxx
- IMF 52100 Focused Poetry Workshop - Andrew Pryor
- IMF 52101 Focused Poetry Workshop: Ekphrastic Poetry -
- IMF 52103 Focused Poetry Workshop: Prose Poems - Ryan Smith
- IMF 52104 Focused Poetry Workshop: Poetry Bootcamp - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 52105 Focused Poetry Workshop I - Staff
- IMF 52106 Focused Poetry Workshop II -
- IMF 52107 Focused Poetry Workshop III -
- IMF 52108 Focused Poetry Workshop IV: Geographies of American Poetry - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 52110 Focused Poetry Workshop VI: Further Studies -
- IMF 52200 Focused Fiction Workshop - On-Campus - Chris Candice
- IMF 52201 Focused Fiction Workshop: George Saunders - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 52202 Focused Fiction Workshop: Flash Fiction Workshop: T-Minus 500 - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 52204 Focused Fiction Workshop: Short Fiction Workshop - Kendra Hayden
- IMF 52206 Focused Fiction Workshop: Kurt Vonnegut - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 52207 Focused Fiction Workshop: Novel Chapter Workshop - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52208 Focused Fiction Workshop: Novel II Workshop - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52209 Focused Fiction Workshop: Revision Workshop - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52210 Focused Fiction Workshop: The Writing Process: Short Fiction - Beth Mead
- IMF 52211 Focused Fiction Workshop I - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 52212 Focused Fiction Workshop II - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 52213 Focused Fiction Workshop III: Point of View - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52214 Focused Fiction Workshop IV: Points of Entry for the Novel - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52215 Focused Fiction Workshop V: Points of Entry for the Short Story - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52216 Focused Fiction Workshop VI: Writer's Bootcamp - Nicole McInnes
- IMF 52218 Focused Fiction Workshop VIII: Content Crusher: Hypoxic Story Seminar/Workshop - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 52219 Focused Fiction Workshop IX: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Fiction - Beth Mead
- IMF 52301 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Flash Nonfiction - Lisa Haag
- IMF 52305 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Longform Narrative Journalism - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 52306 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Lyric & Personal Essays - Lisa Haag
- IMF 52307 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Memoir Chapter Workshop – Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52308 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Personal Essay Craft & Workshop - David Hollingsworth
- IMF 52309 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: The Poetics of Memoir - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 52311 Focused Nonfiction Workshop II: Dinty W. Moore and the Flash Essay - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52313 Focused Nonfiction Workshop IV: Writing a Nonfiction Book - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 52314 Focused Nonfiction Workshop V: The Memoir Essay - Patricia Feeney
- IMF 52315 Focused Nonfiction Workshop VI (Craft & Literature): Further Studies in the Personal Essay & Memoir - Andrew Pryor
- IMF 52316 Focused Nonfiction Workshop VII: Travel Writing - Andrew Pryor
- IMF 52317 Focused Nonfiction Workshop VIII: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Nonfiction - Beth Mead
- IMF 52318 Focused Nonfiction Workshop IX: Writing About Trauma: Putting the Hard Stuff on Paper (Craft/Literature) - Patricia Feeney
- IMF 52319 Focused Nonfiction Workshop X: Contemporary Personal Essay Collections - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 52400 Focused Scriptwriting Workshop - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 52500 Poetry Writing Workshop -
- IMF 52600 The Craft of Poetry - Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 52702 Selected Emphases in Poetry: International Poetry: Further Studies in Asian Poetry - Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 52706 Selected Emphases in Poetry: Asian Poetry – Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 52707 Selected Emphases in Poetry I: Poetic Forms Emphasizing Repetition - Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 52708 Selected Emphases in Poetry II: Poetry for Prose Writers - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 52709 Selected Emphases in Poetry III: Art of the Line: WS Merwin and a Study in Lineation - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 52710 Selected Emphases in Poetry IV: Contemporary Lyric Poetry - Ryan Smith
- IMF 52711 Selected Emphases in Poetry V: Docupoetics - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 52712 Selected Emphases in Poetry VI: Movements in American Poetry - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 52714 Selected Emphases in Poetry VIII: Living Poetry: Art of the Everyday - Gillian Parrish
IMF 53xxx
- IMF 53200 Adv Focused Fiction Workshop - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 53500 Fiction Writing Workshop - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 53600 Fundamentals of Contemporary Fiction –
- IMF 53701 Selected Emphases in Fiction: Magical Realism - Literature - Chris Candice
- IMF 53702 Selected Emphases In Fiction: Magical Realism Literature & Workshop - Chris Candice
- IMF 53705 Selected Emphases in Fiction: The Long Story & Novella - Ted Morrissey
- IMF 53706 Selected Emphases in Fiction: Revisionist Fictions - Ted Morrissey
- IMF 53707 Selected Emphases in Fiction: African American Literature - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 53708 Selected Emphases in Fiction I: Experimental Writing as Literature - Ted Morrissey
- IMF 53709 Selected Emphases In Fiction II: The Competing Styles of Hemingway & Faulkner - Tony D'Souza
- IMF 53710 Selected Emphases in Fiction III: Reading & Writing the Short Story - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 53711 Selected Emphases in Fiction IV: Cli-Fi (Climate-Change Fiction) - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 53712 Selected Emphases in Fiction V: Monster Fiction - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 53713 Selected Emphases in Fiction VI: American Women Short-Story Masters I - Mary Anderson
- IMF 53714 Selected Emphases in Fiction VII: American Women Short-Story Masters II - Mary Anderson
- IMF 53715 Selected Emphases in Fiction VIII: Latin American Literature I - Kendra Hayden
- IMF 53716 Selected Emphases in Fiction IX: Latin American Literature II - Kendra Hayden
- IMF 53717 Selected Emphases in Fiction X: Sports in Literature: Play, Conflict, and the Shape of Narrative - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 53718 Selected Emphases in Fiction XI: Short Story Collections - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 53719 Selected Emphases in Fiction XII: Architecture of the Novel - Kali VanBaale
- IMF 53721 Selected Emphases in Fiction XIV: Linked Fiction - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 53722 Selected Emphases in Fiction XV: Worldbuilding & Unbuilding: A Study in Setting and the Political, Social, Geographic and Economic forces that create a fictional world - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 53723 Selected Emphases in Fiction XVI: Native American Literature: Voices of Origin and Power - Mary Anderson
- IMF 53900 Adv Studies in Contemporary Fiction -
IMF 54xxx
- IMF 54107 Special Topics Focused Workshop: Writing Flash Fiction - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 54108 Special Topics Focused Workshop: Publishing Creative Writing - Nicole McInnes
- IMF 54109 Special Topics Focused Workshop: Spiritual Writing: Memoir - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 54110 Special Topics: The Art of the Sentence - Zachary Vickers
- IMF 54300 Genre Fiction as Literature: Blurring Boundaries in YA Fiction - Shana Youngdahl
- IMF 54301 Genre Fiction as Literature: Young Adult Literature - Nicole McInnes
- IMF 54302 Genre Fiction as Literature: The Graphic Novel as Memoir – Zachary Vickers
- IMF 54304 Genre Fiction as Literature: Classic Sci-Fi/Horror by Women Writers – Ted Morrissey
- IMF 54400 Genre Fiction Workshop: Cli-Fi Workshop (Climate Fiction) - Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 54402 Genre Fiction Workshop: Focused Science Fiction Workshop & Literature - Nicole McInnes
- IMF 54403 Genre Fiction Workshop: Young Adult Literature - Nicole McInnes
- IMF 54407 Genre Fiction Workshop: Sci-Fi Literature + Workshop: Neil Gaiman - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 54408 Genre Fiction Workshop: Romance Writing
- IMF 54409 Genre Fiction Workshop: The Practical Writer: YA and Kid Lit - Shana Youngdahl
- IMF 54500 Creative Nonfiction Workshop - Beth Mead
- IMF 54600 The Personal Essay & Memoir - Andrew Pryor
IMF 55xxx
- IMF 55100 Fiction Craft Foundations – Christopher Candice
- IMF 55200 Creative Nonfiction Craft Foundations - Lisa Haag
- IMF 55300 Poetry Craft Foundations - Ryan Smith
- IMF 55500 Prose Workshop: Life Forms - Gillian Parrish
- IMF 55600 The Prose Collection: Alice Munro - Mary Anderson
- IMF 55601 The Prose Collection: David Sedaris – Lisa Haag
- IMF 55602 The Prose Collection: Raymond Carver - Mary Anderson
- IMF 55606 The Prose Collection: Tobias Wolff - Beth Mead
- IMF 55607 The Prose Collection: Margaret Atwood - Beth Mead
- IMF 55608 The Prose Collection: Selected Essays - Lisa Haag
- IMF 55609 The Prose Collection: Science and Nature Writing Selected Essays - Lisa Haag
- IMF 55610 The Prose Collection: Reading as a Writer: Novels - Beth Mead
- IMF 55611 The Prose Collection: Reading as a Writer: Short Stories - Beth Mead
- IMF 55704 The Literary Journal: Production & Publication - Beth Mead
- IMF 55705 The Literary Journal: Fiction & Essays - Beth Mead
- IMF 55707 The Literary Journal: Flash Fiction & Prose Poetry - Beth Mead
- IMF 55709 The Literary Journal: Instant Workshop: Publication Prep - Beth Mead
- IMF 55800 Adv Studies in Prose: Shakespearean Revisionist Fictions - Ted Morrissey
IMF 58xxx
- IMF 58100 Contemporary Foundational Literature: Fiction - Christopher Candice
- IMF 58200 Contemporary Foundational Literature: Creative Nonfiction – Lisa Haag
- IMF 58300 Contemporary Foundational Literature: Poetry - Ryan Smith
- IMF 58999 Graduate Thesis
NOTE: The Thesis class is required in the final term of the program. Two sections (with two different instructors) are offered per term; alternating instructors include Tony D'Souza, Kali VanBaale, and Nicole McInnes.
MFA Courses - By Instructor
Mary Anderson
- IMF 51617 Fiction Genres: The Fierce Fiction of Annie Proulx - Mary Anderson
- IMF 53713 Selected Emphases in Fiction VI: American Women Short-Story Masters I
- IMF 53714 Selected Emphases in Fiction VII: American Women Short-Story Masters II
- IMF 55600 The Prose Collection: Alice Munro
- IMF 55602 The Prose Collection: Raymond Carver
- IMF 53600 Fundamentals of Contemporary Fiction
- IMF 53723 Selected Emphases in Fiction XVI: Native American Literature: Voices of Origin and Power
Christopher Candice
- IMF 51606 Fiction Genres I: LGBTQ+ Fiction
- IMF 52200 Focused Fiction Workshop - On-Campus
- IMF 53701 Selected Emphases in Fiction: Magical Realism - Literature
- IMF 53702 Selected Emphases In Fiction: Magical Realism Literature & Workshop
- IMF 55100 Fiction Craft Foundations
- IMF 56100 Classic Foundational Literature: Fiction
- IMF 58100 Contemporary Foundational Literature: Fiction
Tony D'Souza
- IMF 52211 Focused Fiction Workshop I
- IMF 52212 Focused Fiction Workshop II
- IMF 52305 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Longform Narrative Journalism
- IMF 52313 Focused Nonfiction Workshop IV: Writing a Nonfiction Book
- IMF 53200 Adv Focused Fiction Workshop
- IMF 53500 Fiction Writing Workshop
- IMF 53707 Selected Emphases in Fiction: African American Literature
- IMF 53709 Selected Emphases In Fiction II: The Competing Styles of Hemingway & Faulkner
- IMF 56600 Narrative Journalism
- IMF 57301 The Literary Novel: Contemporary Fiction
- IMF 58999 Graduate Thesis
Lisa Haag
- IMF 51400 Fundamentals of Writing for the MFA
- IMF 52301 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Flash Nonfiction
- IMF 55200 Creative Nonfiction Craft Foundations
- IMF 55601 The Prose Collection: David Sedaris
- IMF 55608 The Prose Collection: Selected Essays
- IMF 55609 The Prose Collection: Science and Nature Writing Selected Essays
- IMF 56200 Classic Foundational Literature: Creative Nonfiction
- IMF 58200 Contemporary Foundational Literature: Creative Nonfiction
- IMF 52306 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Lyric & Personal Essays
Anothai Kaewkaen
- IMF 51702 Poetry Genres: The Sonnet
- IMF 51706 Poetry Genres II: The Transformation Song
- IMF 52600 The Craft of Poetry
- IMF 52706 Selected Emphases in Poetry: Asian Poetry
- IMF 52702 Selected Emphases in Poetry: International Poetry: Further Studies in Asian Poetry
- IMF 52707 Selected Emphases in Poetry I: Poetic Forms Emphasizing Repetition
Nicole McInnes
- IMF 52216 Focused Fiction Workshop VI: Writer's Bootcamp
- IMF 54108 Special Topics Focused Workshop: Publishing Creative Writing
- IMF 54301 Genre Fiction as Literature: Young Adult Literature
- IMF 54402 Genre Fiction Workshop: Focused Science Fiction Workshop & Literature
- IMF 54403 Genre Fiction Workshop: Young Adult Literature
- IMF 58999 Graduate Thesis
Beth Mead
- IMF 52210 Focused Fiction Workshop: The Writing Process: Short Fiction
- IMF 54500 Creative Nonfiction Workshop
- IMF 52219 Focused Fiction Workshop IX: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Fiction
- IMF 52317 Focused Nonfiction Workshop VIII: Sentence-Level Editing: Flash Nonfiction
- IMF 55606 The Prose Collection: Tobias Wolff
- IMF 55607 The Prose Collection: Margaret Atwood
- IMF 55610 The Prose Collection: Reading as a Writer: Novels
- IMF 55611 The Prose Collection: Reading as a Writer: Short Stories
- IMF 55705 The Literary Journal: Fiction & Essays
- IMF 55707 The Literary Journal: Flash Fiction & Prose Poetry
- IMF 55704 The Literary Journal: Production & Publication
- IMF 55709 The Literary Journal: Instant Workshop: Publication Prep
Ted Morrissey
- IMF 51603 Fiction Genres: Focused Literature Study: Ulysses
- IMF 53705 Selected Emphases in Fiction: The Long Story & Novella
- IMF 53706 Selected Emphases in Fiction: Revisionist Fictions
- IMF 53708 Selected Emphases in Fiction I: Experimental Writing as Literature
- IMF 54304 Genre Fiction as Literature: Classic Sci-Fi/Horror by Women Writers
- IMF 55800 Adv Studies in Prose: Shakespearean Revisionist Fictions
Gillian Parrish
- IMF 51610 Fiction Genres V: Fairy Tale Fiction
- IMF 52309 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: The Poetics of Memoir
- IMF 52711 Selected Emphases in Poetry V: Docupoetics
- IMF 52712 Selected Emphases in Poetry VI: Movements in American Poetry
- IMF 52714 Selected Emphases in Poetry VIII: Living Poetry: Art of the Everyday
- IMF 54407 Genre Fiction Workshop: Sci-Fi Literature + Workshop: Neil Gaiman
- IMF 53712 Selected Emphases in Fiction V: Monster Fiction
- IMF 53721 Selected Emphases in Fiction XIV: Linked Fiction
- IMF 54109 Special Topics Focused Workshop: Spiritual Writing: Memoir
- IMF 55500 Prose Workshop: Life Forms
Gene Pfeiffer
- IMF 51608 Fiction Genres III: Utopian and Dystopian Speculative Fiction
- IMF 51609 Fiction Genres IV: Contemporary SciFi and Fantasy Novellas
- IMF 51604 Fiction Genres: Writers' Lives
- IMF 51800 Advanced Creative Writing: The MFA Goes to Work: Creative Writing in Business
- IMF 52104 Focused Poetry Workshop: Poetry Bootcamp
- IMF 52108 Focused Poetry Workshop IV: Geographies of American Poetry
- IMF 52708 Selected Emphases in Poetry II: Poetry for Prose Writers
- IMF 52709 Selected Emphases in Poetry III: Art of the Line: WS Merwin and a Study in Lineation
- IMF 53711 Selected Emphases in Fiction IV: Cli-Fi (Climate-Change Fiction)
- IMF 53717 Selected Emphases in Fiction X: Sports in Literature: Play, Conflict, and the Shape of Narrative
- IMF 53722 Selected Emphases in Fiction XV: Worldbuilding & Unbuilding: A Study in Setting and the Political, Social, Geographic and Economic forces that create a fictional world
- IMF 54400 Genre Fiction Workshop: Cli-Fi Workshop (Climate Fiction)
Andrew Pryor
- IMF 51601 Flash Fiction and Nonfiction - Andrew Pryor
- IMF 52100 Focused Poetry Workshop
- IMF 54600 The Personal Essay & Memoir
- IMF 52315 Focused Nonfiction Workshop VI (Craft & Literature): Further Studies in the Personal Essay & Memoir
- IMF 52316 Focused Nonfiction Workshop VII: Travel Writing
- IMF 54500 Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Kali VanBaale
- IMF 51607 Fiction Genres II: Speculative and Dystopian Novels
- IMF 51611 Fiction Genres VI: Novels-in-Stories
- IMF 51612 Fiction Genres VII: John Gardner's The Art of Fiction
- IMF 52207 Focused Fiction Workshop: Novel Chapter Workshop
- IMF 52208 Focused Fiction Workshop: Novel II Workshop
- IMF 52209 Focused Fiction Workshop: Revision Workshop
- IMF 52213 Focused Fiction Workshop III: Point of View
- IMF 52214 Focused Fiction Workshop IV: Points of Entry for the Novel
- IMF 52215 Focused Fiction Workshop V: Points of Entry for the Short Story
- IMF 52307 Focused Nonfiction Workshop: Memoir Chapter Workshop
- IMF 52311 Focused Nonfiction Workshop II: Dinty W. Moore and the Flash Essay
- IMF 52319 Focused Nonfiction Workshop X: Contemporary Personal Essay Collections
- IMF 53710 Selected Emphases in Fiction III: Reading & Writing the Short Story
- IMF 53718 Selected Emphases in Fiction XI: Short Story Collections
- IMF 53719 Selected Emphases in Fiction XII: Architecture of the Novel
- IMF 58999 Graduate Thesis
Zachary Vickers
- IMF 52201 Focused Fiction Workshop: George Saunders
- IMF 52202 Focused Fiction Workshop: Flash Fiction Workshop: T-Minus 500
- IMF 52206 Focused Fiction Workshop: Kurt Vonnegut
- IMF 52218 Focused Fiction Workshop VIII: Content Crusher: Hypoxic Story Seminar/Workshop
- IMF 52400 Focused Scriptwriting Workshop
- IMF 54107 Special Topics Focused Workshop: Writing Flash Fiction
- IMF 54110 Special Topics: The Art of the Sentence
- IMF 54302 Genre Fiction as Literature: The Graphic Novel as Memoir
Staff
- IMF 52105: Focused Poetry Workshop 1
- IMF 54408 Genre Fiction Workshop: Romance Writing
- IMF 53900 Adv Studies in Contemporary Fiction
- IMF 51605 Fiction Genres: Breaking the Fourth Wall
- IMF 51701 Poetry Genres: Women Poets
- IMF 52101 Focused Poetry Workshop: Ekphrastic Poetry
- IMF 52106 Focused Poetry Workshop II
- IMF 52107 Focused Poetry Workshop III
- IMF 52110 Focused Poetry Workshop VI: Further Studies
- IMF 52500 Poetry Writing Workshop
- IMF 51705 Poetry Genres I: The Contemporary Narrative Poem
- IMF 52103 Focused Poetry Workshop: Prose Poems
- IMF 52710 Selected Emphases in Poetry IV: Contemporary Lyric Poetry
- IMF 58300 Contemporary Foundational Literature: Poetry
- IMF 55300 Poetry Craft Foundations
- IMF 56300 Classic Foundational Literature: Poetry