Opinion

Will an MFA Help?

Whether or not to pack up your life for 2-3 years to pursue a graduate degree in creative writing is a big decision. If your goal is to further your career as a writer, then you better think long and hard. MFA programs come in all shapes and sizes. You have a choice between residential or low-residential, those that come with funding and those that might not, programs in the big city or tucked away in small towns. The list goes on to include a myriad of choices regarding courses of study and extras, such as working on a literary magazine.

No two programs are alike, and the following will give you a clearer idea of their differences. Bennington College offers The Bennington Writing Seminars, a two-year, low-residency program where students work one-on-one in correspondence with a writer of national reputation, in addition to attending two 10-day residencies on campus per year. Such a program allows students to remain at home within the constancy of family and work, while receiving individual attention within a focused, self-structured framework. The University of Alabama keeps a pulse on the traditional while opening up avenues to experiment with form. It also furnishes just about every student with a guaranteed teaching assistantship and offers opportunities to work on The Black Warrior Review, a nationally distributed literary magazine, all over the course of 3-4 years.

As you can see, differences abound between just two programs and their are several throughout the United States. To ensure you're getting what you want, thoroughly research all available MFA program alternatives before choosing one.

Imagine your partner hands you a list and sends you to the grocery store. The list includes fresh spinach pasta, 1/2 a pound of marinated mozzarella, a handful of pine nuts, and a bunch of organic cilantro. Say you breeze into the corner store and walk up and down every aisle, what are the chances you'll come out with the above? You see where this metaphor is going, don't you?

Three indispensable publications for those interested in taking the time to do the research are Poets & Writers, The Writer's Chronicle, and The AWP Official Guide to Writing Programs. A good university library will provide additional tools, such as the use of the Expanded Academic Index, a search engine that will allow you to track down the work of writers teaching in these programs, and shelves lined with the lit mags in which this work appears. You'll want to become familiar with this work if you're serious about finding a writing mentor.

That said, go to it! An MFA in Creative Writing can help to further your career as a writer. The best advice I can offer is to give yourself enough time to do the necessary pondering and research so that you come out with what you want. One more tip: once you narrow your search to the list of programs you've decided to apply to, call and talk to faculty and students. You'll get a healthier perspective—and invaluable insight into the people and the place—if you take the additional time to pick the brains of potential mentors and colleagues. Best of luck!

Angela Jane Fountas is living in Seattle, Washington and writing her first novel. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama. She can be reached at afountas@home.com.