Monday, April 19th, 2010

West Virginia Wesleyan officials have announced the addition of a new graduate program—a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA).  The two-year, 48-hour, low-residency program will begin in June, 2011.

Wesleyan’s MFA will feature a strong environmental and geographic emphasis.  Students will have the option of spending one residency period in a faculty-supervised field seminar in Ireland or another Wesleyan sponsored travel destination.  Options may also include internships in publishing, editing, and teaching.

One of the primary program features is that students can design their own program in poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction.  Each semester will begin with an intensive 10-day residency on Wesleyan’s campus featuring a series of craft lectures, seminars, workshops, and readings presented by the MFA program’s core faculty of writers and the semester’s visiting faculty.  The remainder of the coursework is completed at home.  Each student will work closely with a faculty mentor within their discipline through each residency and off-campus period with a strong emphasis on craft and technique.  The faculty/student ratio will be no greater than 1:4.

Wesleyan’s English Department has long been recognized for its excellence in teaching and writing.  The MFA’s core faculty includes author and West Virginia Poet Laureate, Dr. Irene McKinney, nationally-acclaimed poet Dr. Mark Defoe, published writer Dr. Devon McNamara, acclaimed novelist Richard Schmitt, writer Doug Van Gundy, and film and music journalist Dr. Eric Waggoner.

The MFA joins Wesleyan’s athletic training, business administration, education, and nursing graduate offerings.  For more information about the new Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, contact Dr. Kathleen Long, dean of graduate studies and extended learning at 304.473.8234 or long@wvwc.edu.