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: 
14
Application Deadline: 
February 1, 2024
Application Fee: 
$65
Contact E-mail: 
Contact Name: 
Chelsey Johnson
Core Faculty Includes: 

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

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The program offers partial funding. 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 MFA program also helps host the biennial NonfictioNow conference and the annual Northern Arizona Book Festival.

Graduates: 

Lee Anderson, Michael Buckius, Sean Carswell, Margarita Cruz, Cymelle Edwards, Emily Forney, Jerry Gabriel, Tammy Greenwood-Stewart, Zoe Hitzel, Grace Liew, Bridget Lyons, Mel McCuin, tanner menard, Stacy Murison, Katie Quinnelly, Bo Schwabacher, Jesse Sensibar, Ana Maria Spagna