Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University

MFA Program

See writers who attended this program
Program Established: 
2007
Location: 
Richmond, KY
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Residency: 
Low
Duration: 
2 Years
Incoming Class Size: 
6-10
Application Deadline: 
Rolling Admissions
Application Fee: 
$40
Contact E-mail: 
Contact Name: 
Robert D. Johnson
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Julie Hensley, Young Smith
Fiction: Julie Hensley, Nancy Jensen, Robert D. Johnson
Nonfiction: Nancy Jensen, Robert D. Johnson, Evan J. Massey

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The program offers travel grants for all students attending the international residency; an honorarium for the editor-in-chief of Jelly Bucket; multiple scholarship opportunities; and graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis for students within driving distance of the Richmond campus. Visit the program’s website for more information. Tuition is $550 per credit per hour for residents and non-residents. There are no residency fees.

Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 
Other Features: 

All workshops are held live—online, one night per week, in fall and spring; in-person at summer residency. Students attend two-to-four-week residencies each June/July in either Lisbon, Portugal, or at the Eastern Kentucky University campus. Recent summer residency keynote speakers include Jericho Brown, Camille Dungy, Holly Goddard Jones, and Ira Sukrungruang. 

The application deadline for the fall semester is August 1; the application deadline for the spring semester is December 1; the application deadline for the summer residency is March 1 (international residency) and May 1 (domestic residency).

Graduates: 

Tasha Cotter, Lindsey S. Frantz, Russell Helms, Markus Egeler Jones, Jay McCoy, Bill Mullen, Deana Nantz, ​Eliot Parker, Whitnee Pearce, Christopher Rowe, Brian L. Tucker