Creative Writing, M.A.
Master of Arts
About this program
The Master of Arts in Creative Writing invites you to grow as a writer under the guidance of professional faculty and critics. In this two-year, 30-unit program, you write in genres like fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, literary translation, and playwriting. You engage in workshops, creative process classes, and community-based projects. You may also choose a teaching pathway — completing courses, a practicum, and optionally earning a certificate to strengthen your teaching practice.
Program Curriculum and Requirements
Program Scope
Our two graduate programs differ in scope, distinguished by innovative classes. Both include seminars, workshops, opportunities for community projects and a thesis.
The M.A. degree, like the M.F.A., provides students with the inspiration and guidance of a faculty of professional writers in developing the student's own potential as a professional writer. The curriculum emphasizes the primary importance of the study and practice of imaginative writing in the genres of creative nonfiction, fiction, literary translation, and poetry. We are temporarily not accepting playwriting students for the 2026-2027 admission cycle. The 30 unit degree combines an intense workshop requirement and a variety of special topic creative process classes as well as courses that expose students to a wide range of writers and community service learning opportunities. The creative writing courses reflect our commitment to a variety of styles, subjects, and approaches, recognizing the complexity and breadth of contemporary writing. Graduates of the M.A. Program are instructed in literary analysis and develop their craft to constructively critique their own work and that of others. As a culminating experience, the student submits a thesis of creative work in their chosen genre.
Want to find out more about our graduate programs? Email cwriting@sfsu.edu for a digital copy of our graduate handbook!
Please email cwriting@sfsu.edu with any questions!
Program Learning Outcomes
- Creative Work: Students will produce a publishable written creative work that demonstrates individual and universal vision and a high level of craft skills.
- Professional Preparation: Students will demonstrate professional level skills in fields related to literature and/or creative writing, including publishing, writing, teaching, editing, book arts, and/or arts management.
- Literature: Students will read, discuss, analyze and learn to teach the work of a broad range of writers from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, as well as explain how literature in general, and their own genre in particular, relates to larger human experience.
- Craft Elements: Students will write and revise creative nonfiction, fiction, plays, and/or poetry using the elements of craft as well as analyze and discuss craft elements in their peers’ creative work.
Admissions Information
Students interested in this program must submit, via Cal State Apply, a meaningful sample of their writing (15 to 20 pages of creative nonfiction or fiction, or 15 to 20 pages of literary translation, or a full-length stage play or two short plays, or 15 to 20 poems), two letters of recommendation, and transcripts. by February 15 for consideration for our entry scholarships, or by May 10th for admission to the following fall semester. Applicants from graduate creative writing programs at other colleges or universities may transfer six units to the M.A. program, on review and recommendation of the Creative Writing Admissions Committee and approval of the Division of Graduate Studies. For further clarification, contact the Creative Writing Department. Students accepted into the program with an undergraduate major that is not English are accepted conditionally. Admission to the M.A. does not imply admission to the M.F.A. Students who wish to earn both degrees must finish the M.A. before beginning the M.F.A. degree.
Applications open October 1 for admissions to the following Fall semester. We do not offer Spring admission, however, if you wish to be admitted for a Spring semester, please apply to the Fall semester proceeding the spring you wish to join us, and we can submit a request to defer your admission.
- Round 1 Deadline: February 15 for Priority Consideration for Scholarships
- Round 2 Deadline: April 19; due to paperwork deadlines, applications submitted after February 15th may not be considered for scholarship.
Ready to apply? Visit the Graduate Students page to get started.
We’re Here to Help
Questions about the program or how to apply? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
Caro De Robertis
- Professor