Hunter College

MFA Program

See writers who attended this program
Program Established: 
1999
Location: 
New York, NY
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Residency: 
Full
Duration: 
2 Years
Incoming Class Size: 
18
Application Deadline: 
February 1, 2025
Application Fee: 
$75
Contact E-mail: 
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Donna Masini, John Murillo
Fiction: Adam Haslett (Program Director), Megha Majumdar, Ayana Mathis
Creative Nonfiction: Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Mychal Denzel Smith

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The program is fully funded for Poetry and Fiction students, contingent on continued college funding. Creative Nonfiction is not currently funded. The program offers teaching opportunities for second year MFAs.

Fiction and Poetry students who live in New York State receive a full tuition award; out-of-state students receive the equivalent of an in-state tuition award towards tuition fees. Students must file a FAFSA application to be eligible for funding.

Other Features: 

Through the Hertog and Sainsbury Fellowships, all Fiction and Creative Nonfiction students have the opportunity to conduct research for an established writer. Recent writers students have conducted research for include: Jennifer Egan, Colson Whitehead, Yiyun Li, Hernan Diaz, Edwidge Danticat, Alexander Chee, Melissa Febos, ZZ Packer, Jia Tolentino, Ottessa Moshfegh, Sigrid Nunez, Valerie Luiselli, Zadie Smith, Claire Messud, Nathan Englander, Phillip Lopate, Cheryl Strayed, Mary Gaitskill, Frank Bruni, William Finnegan, Rivka Galchen, and Kaitlyn Greenidge.

Through the Thomas Hunter and Sainsbury Fellowships, all Poetry students have the opportunity to conduct research for an established poet, publication or poetry organization. Recent examples include Poets’ House, Cave Canem, Four Ways Books, Kimiko Hahn, Grace Schulman, Marie Howe, Fanny Howe, Jean Valentine, and Edward Hirsch. The Poetry program also can facilitate internships with the Threepenny Review and Graywolf Press.

The MFA’s Distinguished Writers Series invites a diverse array of prominent authors each semester to visit classes and give public readings. Recent authors include: Leslie Jamison, Terrance Hayes, Phil Klay, Porochista Khakpour, Lucy Sante, Eula Biss, Greg Pardlo, Laura Kasischke, Vievee Francis, David Adjmi, Elif Batuman, Helen MacDonald, Pankaj Mishra, and Claudia Rankine.

The program’s Creative Nonfiction track begins in process and springs from personal perspective—whether it be essays, opinion, reportage, memoir, or hybrid forms of storytelling. Creative Nonfiction seeks students who are committed to the connections between their experiences and the broader world.

Graduates: 

Fatin Abbas, Ahmad Almallah, Ari Banias, Jiordan Castle, Bill Cheng, Scott Cheshire, Brad Fox, Alex Gilvarry, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Jessica Leigh Hester, Meng Jin, Phil Klay, Janice Y. K. Lee, Megha Majumdar, Tanya Marquardt, Darragh McKeon, Liz Moore, Jason Porter, Jeff Rotter, Gary Shteyngart, Jessica Soffer, Jeanie Vanasco, Maria Venegas, Erin Williams

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