More information about Creative Writing

Goddard College offers the nation’s first low-residency MFA in Creative Writing and first and only low-residency BFA in creative writing.

We believe in the power of your imagination. Since 1976, when Goddard College launched the nation’s first low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, we have provided an enduring creative home for writers like you. Our goal is to help you find, refine, and share your words with the world.

Unlike conventional Master of Fine Arts programs, we welcome writers in a variety of genres, including libretto, television writing, and the graphic novel, as well as creative nonfiction, poetry, dramatic writing, fiction, speculative fiction, and hybrid forms.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts community values experimentation and encourages students to write in ways that might be new for them. BFA students design a program wherein they write in two genres (poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction, drama, hybrid forms), study works across eras and cultures, become acquainted with literary theory, write on the ethics of being a writer, and compile a senior study which contains a creative manuscript and critical writing that puts their work in context.

In our low-residency model, each semester you work one-on-one with a professional writer who is an expert in the genre you are most passionate about. Whether you are new to writing or have spent decades developing your creative voice, we are prepared to support your work.

Creative Writing Degree Options

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

  • Drama
  • Poetry
  • Fiction
  • Hybrid Forms
  • Creative Nonfiction and Memoir

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Playwriting
  • Screenwriting
  • Libretto Writing
  • Television Writing
  • Graphic Novel Scriptwriting
  • Cross-Genre and Hybrid Forms
  • Creative Nonfiction and Memoir

Individualized Master of Arts

  • Writing as Transformative Practice
  • Writing for Social Change
  • Writing with Communities
  • Writing as Spiritual Practice

Low-Residency Model

The low-residency model removes the barriers between living your life and learning. Each semester begins with an eight-day residency. Students can participate virtually from home or onsite in Vermont. Residencies offer seminars, meetings with your advising groups, workshops, one-on-one meetings with an advisor, and presentations. You will also connect with faculty, practitioners, activists, and artists, and your fellow students.

Following the residency, students return home for 16 weeks of independent work in close collaboration with a faculty advisor.

Request more information from an Admissions Counselor.

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We can send you more information about your program of interest or if you're ready, start your application

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