The Creative Writing program at San Diego State University proudly offers a Master of Fine Arts to writers of great promise and commitment. Our campus is situated in the heart of San Diego, the site of early Californian history, and only minutes from the U.S./Mexico border.
Inspired by our place in the world, the program provides a rich and diverse experience that goes beyond the classroom and beyond borders. Our global approach is reflected in our coursework and faculty expertise: from literary journals Fiction International and Poetry International to our summer program in Galway, Ireland to our growing number of classes on translation. Housed in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, students enjoy access to a wide range of courses on literature, theory and criticism, genre and literary traditions and movements from around the world.
Learn about our summer program at the National University of Ireland in Galway.
The Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers Series hosts writers and poets for an engaging evening with the public. Pictured: Marianne Villanueva, visiting writer during Spring 2007.
Past issues of our literary
journals.
Our three-year program is designed to allow students the space and support to immerse themselves in in-depth study of their chosen genre, Fiction or Poetry. Along the way, there is room for cross-genre study, community involvement, research, and an ever evolving dialogue with their thesis chair. Our goal for each of our students is that they produce a manuscript of fresh and imaginative writing that they can be proud to take into the world. Happily, students have gone on to publish their books, win national prizes for their writing, and attract agents and receive book contracts while still in the program. See our list of accomplished alumni.
We prepare students for a career in writing as well as teaching, if desired. With training from pedagogy courses, students serve as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA) to teach Introduction to Creative Writing and lower-division Rhetoric and Writing classes; practice that has helped alumni land positions at top universities.
At SDSU, we believe our Creative Writing program is uniquely situated to provide writers with an exciting, informative, personalized—and affordable—path to attaining their MFA.
Join us now by going to How To Apply or Contact Us to speak with a faculty member.
SDSU is home to the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, one of the premiere programs in the country with the largest faculty of experts.
showcases the inter-discip-
linary work of graduate
students from across the
nation.
*Established in 1989 by Poet Sandra Alcosser, SDSU became the second MFA Creative Writing program in California.
*Ranked in Top 10 Creative Writing Programs on the West Coast by U.S. News and Report.
*Distinguished faculty are recipients of State Poet Laureates, Academy of American Poets Book Award, PEN/Josephine Miles Award, Nominees for National Book Circle Critics Award and PEN/Faulkner Award, NEA Fellowships , Lannan Fellowships, Pushcart Prize Winners, O. Henry Prize Winners, Whiting Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Award, Ruth Lilly Fellowship, ForeWord Book of the Year Award, among others.
*Located in the heart of San Diego, minutes from the beach, downtown, and the U.S./Mexico border.
*Alumni have gone on to publish numerous books, work in the publishing industry, hold university- level teaching positions, and receive PhDs.
*Students gain publishing experience through SDSU literary journals Fiction International, pacific REVIEW, Poetry International, and more.
*Access to cross-genre study in creative non-fiction, non-fiction, children’s literautre, screenwriting & playwritng.
*Our MFA program is based at a university with the nation’s first Women’s Studies Program and among the premiere campuses to offer a Children’s Literature Program.