Our four-semester, brief-residency MFA in Writing combines superb instruction with unparalleled flexibility. Each semester of the program begins with an intense ten-day residency, in which students and faculty gather for 10-12 hour days of classtime that involve workshops, lectures, reading, and other learning experiences. At the conclusion of the residency, students continue through independent study, one on one, with a faculty mentor for the rest of the semester. During the semester, each instructor supervises a small number of students, and each student’s program is highly individualized.

Students may customize the location, season, and pace of their studies. The same amount of writing and instruction is required in each option:

• Spring (May) and fall (November) residencies in Louisville, each followed by a 6-month semester
• Summer (July) residency abroad (2012 Paris; 2013 Ireland), followed by a 9-month semester
• Spring “stretch” option, combining the spring Louisville residency with the 9-month summer semester schedule
• A combination of spring, summer, and fall semesters

Meet Our MFA Staff: Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund, author of the bestselling, Ahab’s Wife, Four Spirits, and Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette and Adam & Eve, has taught more than thirty years in traditional and low-residency graduate programs. She says, “Brief-residency master of fine arts programs generally result in excellent writing by mature and highly motivated graduate students who find a high degree of satisfaction in the experience.” The Spalding MFA in Writing Program is designed to be intellectually stimulating and emotionally supportive. Because of her many years of experience, Sena has seen, firsthand, the advantages of the brief-residency format for students who desire to write and has instituted many innovative features to enhance the curriculum.

During the program, when writing habits are established, the student works within a natural home setting, not removed to an isolated, solely academic environment. Because the student is engaged in independent study during the semester, jobs and domestic activities need not be interrupted. While adjustments of time may be needed, a person who desires to write and to improve writing skills finds the brief-residency program provides a solution to the search for further education.

The Spalding program actively seeks ways to provide the best educational opportunities for our students and is open to new ideas. For example, after realizing teachers (see Letter to Teachers) who were interested in the program could not attend spring and fall residencies, the longer summer semester with the residency abroad was added. It has proven to be successful, and some students who are not teachers find the 9-month schedule suits them better.

Assistantships and Scholarships: In 2011, the program awarded 35 assistantships for the spring, summer, and fall semesters in the amount of $50,520. Assistantships are available to students no matter where they live. Most read for our literary magazine, The Louisville Review. Also, in 201, the program gave 32 scholarships to new students in the amount of $28,950. See our Tuition and Fees page for more information.

Featured Guests: Our featured guests have included novelists Ernest Gaines, Ann Patchett, Susan Vreeland, and Michael Ondaatje; poet and essayist Yusef Komunyakaa; children’s writers Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Donna Jo Napoli, Patricia MacLachlan, and Nancy Willard; poets W. S. Merwin and Claudia Emerson; essayists Terry Tempest Williams, Pico Iyer, Barry Lopez, and Scott Russell Sanders; poet and children’s writer Naomi Shihab Nye; screenwriter Robert Moresco (Crash); and playwrights Marsha Norman, Heather Raffo, and Rebecca Gilman. For Spring 2012, our featured author is Jacqueline Woodson, author of Hush. Woodson is our first Diana M. Raab Distinguished Writer in Residence.

Student and Alumni Publications: Since founded in 2001, Spalding MFA’s more than 500 students and alumni have published or produced more than 200 books, films, and plays with the more than 70 presses and production companies, including: Random House, HarperCollins, St. Martin’s, Algonquin, HarperOne, MacAdam/Cage Publishing, University of Georgia Press, University of Alabama Press, Chronicle Books, Perseus, CBS Entertainment Production, University of Nebraska Press, Scholastic, Toby Press, University of Georgia Press, University of Alabama Press, University Press of Kentucky, The Dial Press, SkyLight Paths, Nightboat Books, Trout Lily Press, Transaction Press, Seattle Turn Press, Conari Press, Cinemawalla Films, Pay Films, Bell Pond Books, Destino, Chronicle Books, Turtleback Books, Cinco Puntos Press, New Womens Voices Series, The Feminist Press, University of Nebraska Press, Press, Lee and Low Books, Spinsters Ink, Southeast Missouri State University and more . . .

Choosing the right MFA program for you is an important decision. To help in making that decision, we suggest you see Questions to Ask When Seeking an MFA Program.

Current and Future Residency Dates

Spring 2012 Semester: Residency in Louisville: May 18-27, 2012

Summer 2012 Semester with residency in Paris: July 18-30, 2012

Fall 2012 Semester: Residency in Louisville: November 9-18, 2012

Spring 2013 Semester: Residency in Louisville: May 17-26, 2013

Summer 2013 Semester with residency in Dublin/Galway: July 3-15, 2013

Fall 2013 Semester: Residency in Louisville: November 15-24, 2013

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Contact us:

MFA Office: (502) 873-4400 or (800) 896-8941, ext. 4400
mfa@spalding.edu

MFA in Writing
Spalding University
851 South Fourth Street
Louisville, KY 40203

FAX: (502) 992-2409

Spalding University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the Master of Fine Arts in Writing. Spalding University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing is a member of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.