MFA Program Requirements Genre Fiction
Popular Genre Fiction/Nonfiction
- Learn under successful, currently publishing authors
- Make network connections with industry professionals to help launch your career
- Attend virtual classes with weekly online interaction
While our specific motivations are diverse and our goals are unique, at Western State Colorado University, we believe writers are storytellers. And as storytellers, we are united by a singular passion - the belief that we have something to say and that that something deserves to not only be said but also to be heard.
We believe that writing matters and that good writing extends beyond academic circles. We believe that the art of writing fiction can be, not only a passion, but also a way of being and of living in the world.
Our instructors, inspired by this philosophy, have gathered from across the country to offer their guidance and experience to aspiring writers who want to reach mainstream audiences. To realize these goals, we've designed a curriculum that celebrates the art of such forms as science fiction, the mystery, narrative nonfiction, and mainstream commercial fiction. Through an intensive and innovative program of study, we provide writers with the support and industry knowledge to expand their writing and their careers beyond the academy.
As a student of the MFA program, you can expect to write, write, discuss, and write a bit more. You learn how to get your writing out into the world. You discover a supportive, intimate community dedicated to your passions and ambitions. And, together, we can reinvigorate the art of fiction and reclaim larger, lost audiences.
The MFA Concentration in Popular Genre Fiction/Nonfiction requires 60 credits:
CRWR 600 Summer Orientation 3 credits
CRWR 601 Patterns and Paradigms for Mainstream Genre Fiction 2 credits
CRWR 602 Fiction Workshop and Translation 2 credits
CRWR 603 Specific Fiction Forms 2 credits
CRWR 606 What Do You Know (about Fiction)? 6 credits
CRWR 607 The Truth and a Good Story: Research for the Fiction Writer 6 credits
CRWR 611 Poetics: Focused Fiction Genre Studies 6 credits
CRWR 612 Poetics: Narrative Nonfiction 6 credits
CRWR 616* Fiction Writing for the World, from the Spirit 6 credits
CRWR 617* Fiction Writing in/on Air 6 credits
CRWR 621 Making Connections in Fiction 6 credits
CRWR 697 Special Topics 6 credits
CRWR 694 Thesis 3 credits
*In place of either CRWR 616 or CRWR 617, choose one of the following:
CRWR 636 Metrical Traditions & Versification I 6 credits
CRWR 637 History of the English Language and Teaching Poetry 6 credits
CRWR 665 The Narrative in Picture Form 6 credits
CRWR 667 Screenwriting Genre 6 credits
Popular Genre Fiction/Nonfiction as a Second Area of Emphasis
Students pursuing this concentration as a second area of emphasis must earn 30 credits within the concentration as follows:
All four of the following:
CRWR 600 Summer Orientation 1 credit
CRWR 606 What Do You Know (about Fiction)? 6 credits
CRWR 607 The Truth and a Good Story: Research for the Fiction Writer 6 credits
CRWR 694 Thesis 3 credits
Supporting courses in consultation with advisor, 12 credits
One of the following:
CRWR 601 Patterns and Paradigms for Mainstream Genre Fiction 2 credits
CRWR 602 Fiction Workshop and Translation 2 credits
CRWR 603 Specific Fiction Forms 2 credits
Students may count CRWR 611 if taken already to fulfill the out-of-concentration course required by the primary area of emphasis.
