---

 

Admission: An applicant is accepted for graduate work upon the recommendation of the creative writing faculty and subsequent admission to the Graduate School. Students must hold a bachelor’s degree and must possess clearly demonstrated skills in a creative writing genre. Graduate Record Examination scores, undergraduate transcripts, and three letters of recommendation should be submitted. All applicants must identify the genre in which they plan to specialize and submit a portfolio of their writing in that genre (a play, a film script, two short stories or a novel of comparable length, or ten poems).

 

Requirements: In addition to the requirements of the Graduate School, the following must be met:

1. Completion of at least 45 hours of FTCA and English courses, 18 hours of which must be in residence.

2. Fifteen hours of 6000-level course work in creative writing workshops, at least 12 of which will be in the thesis genre area, and 9 hours of which must be in residence. These required courses are: for fiction writing, English 6171, or 6191; for poetry writing, English 6172, or 6193; for Nonfiction writing, English 6174 or 6194; for playwriting,FTCA 6207, or FTCA 6209; for screenwriting, FTCA 6257, or 6259.

3. Three hours in Form and Idea, FTCA 6020; 3 hours in Non-Fiction Writing, English 6174, or 6194. For students whose thesis genre is nonfiction, a sixth workshop course is required in a genre other than nonfiction.)

4. Nine hours in background courses

a) Fiction and poetry writing students will be required to take this in the literature of their genre.

b) Screenwriting and playwriting students will be required to take six hours of techniques courses and a three-hour history course in their genre area.

5. A grade of B or better in all required course work.

6. Nine hours of electives, chosen in consultation with the director of creative writing, these elective hours will be expected to conform to a cohesive program of study.

7. An overall GPA of 3.0 in elective courses.

8. A creative thesis for which the student may receive six hours of preparation credit. The creative writing thesis will be prepared under the supervision of a committee approved by the dean of the Graduate School. This committee will ordinarily consist of three members of the graduate faculties of the departments of Film, Theatre & Communication Arts and English.

9. A comprehensive exam in the student’s genre area that will be prepared, administered, and graded by the thesis committee. It will concern itself with the literature of the student’s genre area.
Students who hold master’s degrees from other institutions or from other UNO programs may apply for admission, but upon acceptance they must meet all requirements for the M.F.A. degree listed above and must complete 36 hours of resident or non-resident work at UNO, including all 15 hours in writing workshop courses.

---

Apply NOW!