Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
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The Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers is the oldest low-residency creative writing Master of Fine Arts program in the United States. Prior to the founding of this program, an MFA in creative writing was earned via standard residential graduate programs that required students to be in residence at an academic institution for the majority of the academic year.
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[edit] History
In 1976, Ellen Bryant Voigt founded the nation's first low-residency MFA program in creative writing at Goddard College. In 1981, the program relocated to Warren Wilson College. The program remains an important part of the literary community in the United States. The program's faculty and alumni have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, as well as fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The alumni of the program have published hundreds of books and won many awards. The program is currently directed by Peter Turchi.[1][2][3]
[edit] Faculty
One of the program's strengths has always been its ability to draw from a large, diverse, and accomplished faculty. Recent faculty of the program include: Betty Adcock, Rick Barot, Andrea Barret, Charles Baxter, Marianne Boruch, Robert Boswell, Michael Collier, Stephen Dobyns, Jennifer Grotz, Brooks Haxton, David Haynes, C.J. Hribal, A. Van Jordan, Victor LaValle, Thomas Mallon, Maurice Manning, Heather McHugh, Steve Orlen, Danzy Senna, David Shields, Megan Staffel, Ellen Bryant Voigt, C. Dale Young, Dean Young, and others. The list of the faculty over the entire thirty-year history of the program numbers above 150 writers.[4]
[edit] Course of Study
Students in the program earn an MFA degree in creative writing over 4-8 semesters, at their own pace. Each summer and winter, a residency takes place during which all formal classes, lectures, workshops, discussions, etc. take place. Students are then paired with a faculty member who then direct the creative and critical work for the student over the following semester. This model of short residencies followed by a semester of one one one work with a faculty member has been the model used by most low-residency MFA programs.
[edit] Alumni
The alumni of the program have published hundreds of books and have won awards, fellowships, and other acclaim for their writing.[citation needed]
