About-rev – MFA Program In Creative Writing

Our conviction is that a writing program should not only help student hone the skills they already have, but should guide them to discover new ones as well. We require that our students take at least one workshop outside if their concentration, regardless of their admission as writers of poetry, nonfiction or fiction. As part of our unique program, our MFA students are also required to take literature courses with City College’s distinguished English Literature faculty.

The Creative Writing Program at The City College of New York is in its fourth decade. During its history we have had some of the most distinguished writers in America teach – Gwendolyn Brooks, Donald Barthelme, Joseph Heller, William Matthews, Grace Paley and Susan Sontag, to name a few.

Our graduates include New York Times Bestsellers and Pulitzer Prize winners, including Walter Mosley, Oscar Hijuelos, and Ernesto Quinonez. Our campus is in the heart of Harlem – the location of one of the most important literary/cultural movements in America, the Harlem Renaissance. The exceptional diversity of students in our program naturally translates into a broad spectrum of aesthetics – including experimental works and genre fiction – in the practice of writing.