Creative Writing, MFA

Embrace your creativity. Develop your craft.

Our MFA offers a flexible, streamlined curriculum with concentrations in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or narrative healthcare.

You will specialize in one or two genres while developing your skills in other areas through specialty courses focusing on a wide variety of fields, such as screenplay, digital storytelling and science fiction.

Named for Asheville native Thomas Wolfe, the MFA program offers a strong grounding in literary study, develops craft and encourages creative risk-taking in a supportive and constructive online community.

We welcome students from all fields and contexts, cultural and professional. We understand that when that little voice inside starts saying it’s time to write, it’s time to write. We have students who are surgeons, engineers and real estate agents, as well as students who majored in English in college.

Program Highlights

• A Collaborative, Online Program
  We offer an engaging, collaborative online program with small classes and a flexible schedule. Through our program, you will acquire a deeper understanding of your work and expand your skills. You will write, provide feedback and receive guidance from a close-knit community of supportive peers. 
• Program Overview
  You will complete 45 credit hours of study in the MFA program. These include six literary study courses, seven writing workshops and two semesters of creative thesis, the program’s final project. It may be a novel, a collection of short stories, a collection of poems, a volume of creative nonfiction or a collection of works among these genres.
• Complete at Your Own Pace
  With options to fulfill your credit hours in fall, spring and summer, you can complete the program in two to three years, or you can complete the program at a slower pace.
• Narrative Healthcare Certificate
  Narrative healthcare is an interdisciplinary field linking medicine with story and poetry. Students include doctors, surgeons, counselors, chaplains, and writers. The certificate program requires four courses. You may complete a creative thesis in narrative healthcare with the program’s approval.

Publishing

Lenoir-Rhyne faculty have experience with all levels of publishing, from the small, independent press and self-publishing to major New York publishers. The Thomas Wolfe MFA Program can steer you toward finding the right agent and right market for your work, or help you navigate the expanding opportunities for writers to publish at all levels, build your brand and achieve success.

Admission Requirements

Applications are accepted for summer and fall terms. Learn more about our admission requirements, including application deadlines and required application materials.

Financial Aid & Tuition

At Lenoir-Rhyne University, we believe that you should have the opportunity to achieve your higher education goals. Enrollment counselors are available through our Admission Office to help you find and apply for financial aid assistance.

Lenoir-Rhyne is competitively priced, and we work with you on payment plans to make the investment in your education affordable and to fit within your budget.

Tuition costs are based on the number of credit hours you are enrolled during each term. For graduate program tuition costs, visit our Financial Aid and Tuition section.

Lenoir-Rhyne is supported by many community partners who offer discounts and benefits to our students. A complete list can be found on the Community Partners page.