Chatham University

MFA Program

See writers who attended this program
Program Established: 
2002
Location: 
Pittsburgh, PA
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Residency: 
Full
Duration: 
2 Years
Incoming Class Size: 
15
Application Deadline: 
February 1, 2024
Application Fee: 
$0
Contact E-mail: 
Contact Name: 
Sheila Squillante
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Heather McNaugher, Sheila Squillante
Fiction: Sherrie Flick, Marc Nieson, Anjali Sachdeva
Nonfiction: Marc Nieson, Sheila Squillante

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The program offers partial funding. The program offers teaching fellowships, teaching assistantships, the Margaret Lehr Whitford Fellowship, and the Fourth River Fellowship.

The application deadline for funding and early decision is February 1, and requires a 3.5 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale; regular decision applications will continue to be accepted and considered for admission after February 1 on a rolling basis.

Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 
Other Features: 

The program offers concentrations in food writing, nature writing, travel writing, pedagogy, publishing, and social engagement. Students have the opportunity to travel to other countries such as Belize, Costa Rica, Greece, Iceland, and Vietnam as part of the creative writing field seminar.

All students participate in the Summer Community of Writers, a ten-day residency course at the program’s Eden Hall Farm Campus in Gibsonia, PA.

A post-baccalaureate Certificate of Completion in Travel Writing can be completed in two semesters plus one summer, in full- or low-residency format. The program features craft workshops, a travel writing course, an international or national field seminar, and the Summer Community of Writers residency. Credits can be transferred into the MFA program.

The fee for submitting a paper admission application is $45.

Graduates: 

Chris Barzak, Brittany Hailer, Caitlyn Hunter, Robert Isenberg, Sarah Reis, Cedric Rudolph, Mark Anthony Rolo, Ryan Rydzewski, Christine Stroud, Karen Zhang