M.A. in English: Creative Writing
The diverse field of Creative Writing studies involves the writing of prose, poetry, and drama for the page, screen, and stage. At UNC Charlotte, the Creative Writing Concentration offers studies in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Faculty seek to familiarize aspiring writers with the techniques and theories of poetics and prose while helping them delve more deeply into their chosen genre. Integral to a creative writer’s experience at UNC Charlotte is the studio workshop, where students draft and share work and critique their peers’ writing. Also important are issues of craft, the literary history of a writer’s genre, the culture of publishing (book, magazine, and online), and sustained independent work toward a long-form capstone project.
Creative Writing faculty at UNC Charlotte have achieved national distinction with award-winning books and work published in The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Missouri Review, Esquire, Denver Quarterly, McSweeney’s, Glimmer Train, Colorado Review, Gettysburg Review, New Stories from the South, and many others. They have won awards such as the Editor’s Choice at New Issues Poetry & Prose; the Poets & Writers Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award in Fiction; the Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize; a variety of artist residences; and fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council and elsewhere. Faculty hold MFAs or PhDs from Purdue University, the University of Denver, and Vanderbilt University.
Students completing the MA Concentration in Creative Writing will be well-prepared for MFA and Ph.D. programs in the field. Undergraduate and MA students from Charlotte have been accepted with funding to a number of graduate programs, including at Columbia University, the North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Miami, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, NC State, New Mexico State University, and Syracuse University.
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