Northern Arizona University

MFA Program

See writers who attended this program
Program Established: 
2012
Location: 
Flagstaff, AZ
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Cross-Genre
Residency: 
Full
Duration: 
2 Years
Incoming Class Size: 
12
Application Deadline: 
February 1, 2026
Application Fee: 
$65
Contact E-mail: 
Contact Name: 
Lawrence Lenhart
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Sherwin Bitsui, Oscar Mancinas, Nicole Walker
Fiction: Geetha Iyer, Lawrence Lenhart, Oscar Mancinas
Nonfiction: Geetha Iyer, Lawrence Lenhart, KT Thompson, Nicole Walker

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

This program offers full funding for most. Competitive English department graduate teaching assistantships come with tuition waivers, full benefits, and a $16,000 stipend; NAU at-large graduate assistantships also offer tuition coverage, benefits, and stipends for non-teaching work. The Dockstader Fellowship offers research support and funding for Indigenous students. Typically, 75 to 90 percent of students are fully funded.

Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 
Other Features: 

NAU’s MFA program also offers a graduate certificate in Environmental Narrative, which trains students to write literary fiction and nonfiction that incorporates scientific inquiry and place-based narratives for a wide audience interested in ecology, sustainability, and climate change and solutions. Students may work in a range of genres, including realism, speculative fiction, nature writing, longform nonfiction, and lyric, braided, and poetic forms.

The program also coordinates the Cinder Skies reading series and works with community organizations like the Northern Arizona Book Festival and Poetry Out Loud.

Graduates: 

Lee Anderson, Michael Buckius, Sean Carswell, Margarita Cruz, Cymelle Edwards, Emily Forney, Jerry Gabriel, Tammy Greenwood-Stewart, Zoe Hitzel, James Jay, Grace Shuyi Liew, Bridget Lyons, Anahi Molina, Mel McCuin, tanner menard, Stacy Murison, Lydia Paar, Todd Robert Petersen, Katie Quinnelly, Bo Schwabacher, Zach Semel, Jesse Sensibar, Ana Maria Spagna

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