Hollins University MFA in Creative Writing
This two-year creative writing M.F.A. program, whose home is the Jackson Center for Creative Writing, emphasizes an individualized approach. To the twenty Creative Writing M.F.A. students enrolled in the program, books are essential nourishment, and reading them is inextricable from writing them. The creative writing (M.F.A.) students, like the professors, are unusually committed to a diversity of voices and literatures, contemporary and across the ages. They work successfully in and across every genre, including poetry, short fiction, novels, and creative nonfiction. Students and professors at Hollins enjoy an intimate, supportive community with amazing guest readers and opportunities for editorial experience, introducing and giving public readings, travel and research funding, and time to read and write. In addition, our beautiful location in Roanoke, Virginia offers an excellent setting to recharge, with the city’s small-scale, bustling culture, where it’s easy to explore the wildness of the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains right from your door.
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MFA Program details
How to apply
Core Faculty
Notable Alumni
Mary Ruefle
Natasha Trethewey
Madison Smartt BellTestimonials
“The two years I spent at Hollins were revelatory. I expected the MFA program to give me the gift of time, which it did, but there were so many other gifts I could not have expected, especially the gift of finding my place in a community of writers who were deeply dedicated, not just to their own writing, but to stewarding each other's writing. I learned that I didn't have to be precious or careful with my writing; my writing was durable, malleable, something I could transform and be transformed by. At Hollins I learned that there is no magic trick to writing except that writing is, itself, a kind of magic. ”
Martha Park
2015
“My time at Hollins was one of the most treasured times of my writing life. In my years reflecting since then, speaking with others about their own MFA experiences, I've realized how rare Hollins is—a studio program with intimate, year-long core workshops, without the pressure to teach composition. Hollins taught me to read my peers' work with clarity and imagination, offered me the freedom to discover my own voice. I still miss sitting in Swannanoa, living in the Blue Ridge, visiting brilliant friends and teachers. I'm still so grateful. ”
Gabriel Reed
2021
“The Hollins MFA allowed me to truly be creative and generate more work than I ever had before, and to see myself as a writer and artist. The feedback I received from my professors and peers was invaluable and I return to it often. Without the encouragement of my professors and the sense of community in the program, I would not have my story collection coming out soon. The size of the cohort and the one-on-one mentorships with my professors were ideal and allowed me to discover my process and my imagination to flourish. I grew from the dual approach of learning craft techniques and frequent workshops, and from the community I developed with my peers, chatting with them on the Greenway and at Sweet Donkey about revisions and the books we were reading, and everything in between. The Hollins MFA was a crucial time for me as a writer and a person, and without it I wouldn't be where I am today.”
Meghana Mysore
2022
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Life at Hollins University MFA in Creative Writing
