University of British Columbia

MFA Program

See writers who attended this program
Program Established: 
1965
Location: 
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Residency: 
Full
Duration: 
2 Years
Incoming Class Size: 
18
Application Deadline: 
January 5, 2024
Application Fee: 
$168.25 Canadian (for international applicants), $112 Canadian (for Canadian applicants)
Contact E-mail: 
Contact Name: 
Giulia Sperman
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Keith Maillard, Cecily Nicholson, Bronwen Tate, Sheryda Warrener
Fiction: Anosh Irani, Nancy Lee, Annabel Lyon, Keith Maillard, Maureen Medved, Alix Ohlin, A.E. Osworth, Emily Pohl-Weary, Linda Svendsen, Timothy Taylor, John Vigna
Nonfiction: Mandy Catron, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Timothy Taylor
Writing for Children/YA: Emily Pohl-Weary, Jordan Scott, Tanya Kyi
Writing for Television: Linda Svendsen
Screenwriting: Sharon McGowan
Playwriting: Sara Graefe, Frances Koncan
Indigenous Writing: Billy-Ray Belcourt
Graphic Novel: Sarah Leavitt
Lyric & Libretto: Tariq Hussain
Speculative Fiction: Nalo Hopkinson

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The program offers partial funding. The program offers teaching and graduate assistantships, scholarships, graduate awards, student loans, work study, and positions with PRISM international and Brave New Playwrights.

Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 
Other Features: 

The program offers courses in writing for television, screenwriting, writing for children & young adults, and playwriting, as well as graphic novel writing, indigenous writing, and lyric and libretto. Students are required to take coursework in three genres during their degree.

The program also hosts the Locution Reading Series. Students have the opportunity to teach creative writing in local secondary schools through the New Shoots Program and to network with industry professional through the Scripted Media Accelerator program.

Graduates: 

Jordan Abel, Hart Hanson, Ellen Keith, Annabel Lyon, Eden Robinson, Amy Stuart, Katherena Vermette