Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Climbing

8.21.14

Climbing is an exercise that’s both exhilarating and exhausting. This week think of the highest peak you’ve ever climbed. It could have been a ladder to your childhood tree house or Mount Kilimanjaro. Were you climbing for fun, or out of necessity? How did it feel once you reached the top? If you feel you’ve never climbed to any significant height, would you ever want to?

University of British Columbia (Distance MFA)

MFA Program
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Application Deadline: 
Tue, 01/06/2026
Application Fee: 
$168.25 Canadian (for international applicants), $114 Canadian (for Canadian applicants)

New York University in Paris

MFA Program
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
New York, NY
Application Deadline: 
Mon, 09/01/2025
Application Fee: 
$110

Letter to Yourself

8.11.14

This week, think about what you need to hear and write a letter to yourself. In it, try and touch on all the things you feel have been tripping you up recently—all the things that have been bothering you or getting in your way, all the things that you need to remind yourself of more often, and all the things that you wish people told you on a regular basis. Go ahead: Give yourself some love and celebrate the goodness you bring into the world.

Crafts

Are you a crafty person? Or would you like to be the type of person who gives handmade presents to loved ones for the holidays? This week, write about something someone has made for you. What makes this item so much more special than an item you could purchase in a store? Or, write about something you want to make for someone else. Maybe you are working on the item right now, or maybe you still need to acquire the skills necessary to make it. What would you have to learn? How long would it take, and what makes the effort worth it?

Oklahoma State University

PhD Program
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Stillwater, OK
Application Deadline: 
Mon, 01/05/2026
Application Fee: 
$50 for domestic and $75 for international
Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 

Cimarron Review

Florida State University

PhD Program
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Tallahassee, FL
Application Deadline: 
Thu, 01/15/2026
Application Fee: 
$30
Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 

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