The University of Oregon’s top-tier Creative Writing MFA program is one of the oldest in the country. Since the 1960s, our program has trained award-winning literary artists such as Kirstin Valdez Quade, Major Jackson, Chang-Rae Lee, Morgan Thomas, Keetje Kuipers, Daniel Chacon, Brian Turner, Claire Luchette, among others, whose work has been honored by the nation’s most prestigious literary awards, grants, and fellowships.
In our two-year residency program, MFA students concentrate in either fiction or poetry. Our coursework emphasizes the workshop, integrating concentrated time for writing with craft seminars on fiction, poetry, and screenwriting, and opportunities for editorial experience with Northwest Review. We offer a generous stipend for both years, full tuition coverage plus health care, and summer funding opportunities with the Kenny Moore Tutorials. All students either teach introductory undergraduate classes in fiction or poetry or teach in the Walter & Nancy Kidd Tutorial Program, a unique yearlong studio experience for select undergraduates.
In addition to our graduate program, we offer two tracks for undergraduate study: a minor in Creative Writing, with workshops, seminars, and literature courses, as well as the Walter and Nancy Kidd Creative Writing Workshops. Follow us on Instagram to learn more about our program.
What You Can Do with a Creative Writing Degree
Our alumni have a long history of success with publishing, translation, fellowships, and prizes. Recent graduates have received Wallace Stegner Fellowships, the Dylan Thomas Award (University of Wales), the Amy Lowell Scholarship, the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry, the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, and other honors. Many of our graduates have launched successful careers working for:
- Newspapers, magazines, and book publishers
- Media companies
- Colleges and universities
- Marketing and advertising agencies
- Research institutes
How a Creative Writing MFA Enhances Your Life
“My time in the MFA was incredibly enriching for both my work and my life. The program's dual commitments to the tradition and our own individual sensibilities proved invaluable for me. The lessons learned therein continue to inform and instruct my poetry as well as my living.”
—Loїc-Aime-Mulatris, MFA in poetry, '21
Our Degree Programs
Students in the Creative Writing Program can pursue a minor or an MFA. We also offer Kidd Workshops, a unique studio experience in which students workshop their creative work in small classes with the support of peers and a graduate mentor.
Develop as a Literary Artist
Deepen your intellectual life and expand your writing skills within a community of like-minded peers in our Kidd Workshops, and hear from award-winning writers in our annual Reading Series.
Learn from Experts in the Field
Our faculty comprises award-winning authors and poets, including Pushcart Prize winners, National Endowment for the Arts recipients, and honorees of the Walt Whitman and O. Henry awards. In addition to a broad range of novels, nonfiction books, and poetry collections, their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, Best American Short Stories, and many other venues.
Scholarships and Funding
The Creative Writing Program offers awards for both undergraduate and graduate students. Our MFA program fully funds students during their two-year residency program.
Academic Support
Our academic advisors can help students understand their major or minor requirements, plan their course of study, explore study abroad opportunities, and more.