MFA Program
See writers who attended this programPoetry: Ellen Bass, Marvin Bell, Eduardo C. Corral, Kwame Dawes, Dorianne Laux, Shara McCallum, Joseph Millar, Mahtem Shiferraw
Fiction: Chris Abani, Claire Davis, Jack Driscoll, Pete Fromm, Frank Gaspar, Molly Gloss, Cate Kennedy, Valerie Laken, Mary Helen Stefaniak, Willy Vlautin, Kellie Wells
Nonfiction: Sanjiv Bhattacharya, Judy Blunt, Claire Dederer, Debra Gwartney, Mike Magnuson
The program offers merit and need-based scholarships, including The Mapmakers Scholarship, to exceptional students of color and the Katherine Dunn Scholarship, awarded to exceptional female students in need. The program offers teaching associate positions to MFA graduates.
Students attend two 10-day residencies each year, in January and June, and one final 10-day residency at the end of the program. The June residency takes place at the Pacific University campus in Forest Grove, Oregon, and the January residency takes place in the beachside resort town of Seaside, Oregon. The program hosts a nightly reading series, lectures, panels, roundtable discussions, and the annual storytelling event BoxerSlam. Other features include the opportunity to take an elective semester in disciplines such as digital publishing, playwriting, or screenwriting.
The priority application deadline is September 1 for the spring term and March 1 for the fall term. The program accepts applications three months after the priority deadlines for each semester.
Michelle Bitting, Anastasia Edel, Bryan Allen Fierro, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Lisa Allen Ortiz, Deborah Reed, Leigh Camacho Rourks