Looking for a Low-Residency MFA? We’ve Got You Covered
MFA programs that offer flexibility for the busy writers out there
Welcome to The Forever Workshop’s MFA Newsletter, a monthly column about career advancement in the literary space. Everything published here is free to enjoy, courtesy of our partnered universities. (Not interested? Turn off emails from this column here.)
Low-residency MFAs are hybrid programs that allow for flexibility while earning your degree. Most programs consist of week-long residencies that take place in-person on the university’s campus and happen a few times a year. During these residencies, you’ll meet your professors, attend intensive seminars and workshops, and write alongside your cohort. When you aren’t meeting in-person, you’re writing from home towards deadlines set by a mentor or writing instructor, who may then meet with you virtually or send you a “packet” with feedback on your manuscript. Some low-res programs have you take online courses in between residencies, too, either synchronous or asynchronous, to round out your degree.
Because you only meet in-person a few times, attending a low-residency program means that you can still work full-time, raise a family, and live where you’re comfortable while earning your MFA—plus, you get to take a planned vacation from home life once or twice a year and talk about writing with likeminded people. Low-residency programs often accept less students than traditional MFAs, too, so you’ll have more individualized attention given to your manuscript by your mentor. And the hybrid structure of a low-res program forces you to incorporate your writing into your already busy schedule, which helps you create a writing routine that you can stick with after you receive your degree.
Have we sold you on low-residency programs? If so, here’s a list of low-res MFAs from all over the world (and their upcoming deadlines) that we think you should check out!
Low-Residency MFA Partner Programs
University of Nevada, Reno
Deadline: March 1
Two year program focused in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children and young adults
Offers five 10-day residencies that include workshops, seminars, readings, and more, “in which [you] explore the wide landscape of the writing life from practical advice to the subtleties of conceptual nuance”
Mentors meet with students during residencies and also provide written feedback throughout the semester
Whitworth University
Deadline: November 1
One of only three faith-based low-residency MFA programs in the U.S.
Offers five intensive 10-day residencies that take place in January and July/August in Spokane, Washington
Personalized mentorship, reading, and writing will be completed over two years
Brooklyn Writers Foundry
Deadline: November 1
Offers four 1-week residencies in New York City that take place in June and January, where you’ll attend on-campus classes, readings, and lectures led by exceptional faculty
Independently, you’ll receive individualized monthly feedback from your workshop instructors and attend virtual discussion-based classes
Takes two years to complete
Western Colorado University
Deadline: August 1
Has concentrations in nature writing, genre fiction, poetry, publishing, and screenwriting
Community-based format with live, synchronous online classes and workshops to “ensure you feel connected to a supportive literary home from your very first day”
Summer residencies take place in the Colorado Rockies
Lesley University
Deadline: March 2
Two year program with summer residencies in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Emphasizes collaboration between writing and the visual arts by empowering you “to craft compelling narratives that resonate across print, digital, and emerging media”
Prioritizes professional development to ensure you land a job post-MFA
Warren Wilson College
Deadline: September 2
The first low-residency MFA Program in the United States and the world
Has the opportunity to work with at least four different faculty supervisors over the course of the program so that “no single aesthetic can dominate”
Offers 10-day residencies in January and July that take place in Asheville, North Carolina
Low-Res Programs Around the World
Wilkes University
Deadline: December 1
Offers concentrations in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, spoken word, playwriting, screenwriting, writing for TV, or publishing
Each thesis is evaluated by a working agent, editor, publisher, or producer
Has week-long residencies that are “intense, motivating and rewarding”
Rainier Writing Workshop
Deadline: February 1
Has the choice to complete the program in either two or three years
Offers four 10-day residencies which take place in the Pacific Northwest
Faculty includes acclaimed writers, such as Kelli Russell Agodon, Rick Barot, Barrie Jean Borich, and others
Goucher College
Deadline: June 26
Offers an MFA in nonfiction only
Faculty specializes in personal essay, literary journalism, memoir, lyric essay, biography, flash nonfiction, and genre hybrids
Winter residencies meet in New York City, where you learn about the publishing world, meet agents and editors, and pitch your projects
Cedar Crest College
Deadline: August 1
First graduate program run by an American college that includes exclusive European residencies
Offers concentrations in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, travel writing, screenwriting, or dual-genre
Residencies are designed to inspire writing with a sense of place through the study of each European city’s culture
Institute of American Indian Arts
Deadline: February 1
Emphasizes the importance of Native writers and voicing the Native experience, but open to writers of all backgrounds
Mentors include Native and non-Native writers who have won Lannan Literary Awards, Whiting Awards, the National Book Award, among others
Week-long residencies happen twice a year in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Bluegrass Writers Studio
Deadline: August 1
Summer residencies can take place in both Kentucky and Portugal
Offers publishing internships with the Appalachian Book Company, Jelly Bucket, Martin Sisters Publishing, and more
Alumni have been finalists for or won several notable awards, such as The Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction, The Fulbright Scholars Program, The PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction, among others
This list too short? Check out the Chill Subs blog for even more low-residency MFA programs!
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