Our low-residency program is designed for your existing commitments, blending live, virtual classes with dedicated one-on-one mentorship culminating in a week-long summer residency in beautiful Gunnison, Colorado.
Immerse yourself in a supportive community of fellow creatives who will help you succeed and form long-lasting relationships that will nurture your growth beyond graduation.
Beyond the traditional literary experience, our program provides the terminal degree needed for university-level teaching and offers highly specialized tracks in Nature Writing, Genre Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting, and Publishing to help advance your career in the competitive creative economy.
All students receive dedicated one-on-one mentorship from our award-winning faculty across all genres through engaging, live virtual classes—we are deliberately not a packet-based program.
Develop your unique voice in live workshops that explore both traditional and contemporary forms, specializing in the intersection of verse, environment, and our faculty’s strength in Ecopoetry. You will graduate with a strong, publishable collection of poems.
Build the structure and pacing required for commercial success in high-demand areas like Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Romantasy, and Thriller. Our specialized instruction is designed to provide you with the professional, marketable skills required to enter the world of mass-market publishing.
Navigate the business of being a writer with essential professional training in editing, literary agency, marketing, and the strategies necessary to succeed in the modern publishing industry. This focus ensures your work reaches its audience and maximizes your professional return.
Learn the technical craft of writing for film and television in a program that embraces unique settings and diverse cinematic landscapes. You will develop professional-grade scripts and the portfolio needed to enter the competitive entertainment industry, guided by working screenwriters.
Join one of the nation’s only programs dedicated to this vital genre to master the literary skills needed to articulate the natural world, environmental issues, and the human experience. This track prepares you for impactful writing in all genres and literary advocacy, leveraging your unique perspective.
Still exploring your undergraduate options but already dreaming of earning a master’s in Creative Writing? Western’s accelerated program lets you complete both a Bachelor of Arts and an MFA or MA in just five years. It’s a fast track for aspiring writers ready to refine their craft and find their voice.
Meet Erica Reid (Poetry Faculty and Alum)! Erica is a testament to the power of our program’s core values: craft, community, and commitment. As a faculty member, Erica actively builds our supportive community by hosting submission sessions, teaching students the professional steps to put their work forward. Her book, Ghost Man on Second—a collection of formal poems that flirt with diverse forms—originated as her MFA thesis project and won the 2023 Donald Justice Poetry Prize. Her work demonstrates the high-level mastery achievable at Western.
Meet Johanna Parkhurst (Writing as J. E. Birk)! Mentorship at Western is guided by working, published authors like Johanna Parkhurst. Writing as J. E. Birk, she has reached a wide audience with her compelling LGBTQ+ novels, including Forbidden in the Falls, which won a prestigious Colorado Book Award. This achievement—for a work that was independently published—demonstrates a commitment to craft and provides students with invaluable insights into both literary excellence and navigating the complex world of modern publishing, ensuring your mentorship extends beyond the page.
Experience the quality of a Western graduate seminar before you enroll. Our complimentary Masterclasses are taught by acclaimed faculty and offer the same high-level instruction and rigorous craft exploration as our full program, providing an immediate, no-cost connection to our supportive community.
Our program is designed for working professionals or those who cannot or do not want to move to a traditional campus. You’ll complete most of your graduate-level coursework, one-on-one mentorship sessions, and live virtual classes from home. Your only required travel is for the annual week-long residency in Gunnison, Colorado, every July.
Absolutely. Our program is flexible enough for the 40+ professional, teacher, or retiree seeking community and credentials or the recent grad. The two-year MFA is the terminal degree often required for teaching at the college level, and the one-year MA offers a focused, faster path to professional mastery.
We require a bachelor’s degree, transcripts, a personal statement, references, and a writing sample in your chosen concentration. Prior writing experience is not required for admission, but a love for writing or publishing is!
No. While we maintain a high literary standard, we offer specialized tracks in Nature Writing (one of the only programs of its kind), Genre Fiction, Publishing, Poetry (including Eco-Poetics), and Screenwriting to ensure your studies align with your unique goals.
We believe in transparency when it comes to the cost of your education. Our low-residency model is designed to be accessible, allowing you to maintain your professional life while you pursue your degree. Tuition is billed by the credit hour, allowing you to manage your investment as you progress through the program.
Tuition & Program Value
Program Totals at a Glance
All tuition and fees are subject to change, and any updates will be announced prior to the summer term.
For both the MA and MFA programs, students have a maximum of five years for completion of a master’s degree from initial enrollment as a graduate degree seeking student. In order to maintain active status, graduate students must register in at least one graduate course per academic year.
Director, Graduate Program in Creative Writing; Faculty, Poetry Concentration
Associate Director, Graduate Program in Creative Writing; Faculty, Poetry and Nature Writing Concentrations
Graduate Program in Creative Writing Coordinator
Western Colorado University
Quigley Hall 117
1 Western Way
Gunnison, CO 81231
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