MFA Program
See writers who attended this program
Poetry: Jill Alexander Essbaum
Fiction: Elizabeth Crane, Alex Espinoza, Jill Alexander Essbaum, Tod Goldberg, Gabino Iglesias, Rob Roberge, Mark Haskell Smith, Ivy Pochoda
Nonfiction: Emily Rapp Black, David L. Ulin
Screenwriting: William Rabkin, Joshua Malkin, John Schimmel
Playwriting: Mickey Birnbaum
The program offers funding through the Visible Voices Scholarship, the Founders Award, the Omni Award, the Lizi Silver Nonfiction Award, and the Barbara Seranella Award for incoming students. There are also Deferred Payment Plan (DPP) options and standard FAFSA loans.
The program also offers concentrations in screenwriting and playwriting.
Students attend two 10-day residencies each year, in June and December, at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, California.
The program offers opportunities to meet with agents, editors, and publishers, and the opportunity to study in more than one genre.
The application deadline is February 1 for the June residency and August 1 for the December residency.
Kent Black, Francesca Lia Block, Congressman Mark Takano, Jim Jennewein, Tiffany Hawk, Jay Paul Deratany, Lee Cataluna, George Morgan, Daniel Rosen, Rick Marlatt, Natashia Deon, John Rosenberg, Ross Helford, Mickey Birnbaum, Glen Helfand, William Hillyard, JD Horn, Gallagher Lawson, Sara Marchant, Jeff Meyers, Cate Dicharry, Guy Nicolucci, Daphne Nikolopoulos, Tom Provost, William Ratner, Dorothy Rice, Stephen Jay Schwartz, Colby Buzzell, JoAnn Chaney, Maggie Downs, Heather Scott Partington, Jalysa Conway, Lia Langworthy, Senta Scarborough, Luke Yankee, Jon Levenson, Katherine MacDonald, Kevin Jones, John Mattson, Jacqueline Luckett, Jacqueline McKinley, Precious Rasheeda Muhammad, Liska Jacobs, Ty Johnson, Suzy Fincham-Gray, Ruth Nolan, Lisa Quigley, Ashley Mag Gabbert, Carol Park, Pam Munter, Brian Asman, Susan Ruskin, Andee Reilly, Clarinda Ross, Nicholas Belardes, Ashley Granillo, Leenah Pendharkar, Trevor Lyons, Rob Bowman, Lynn Grant Beck, Emily St. Martin, Charli Engelhorn, Annie Connole, David Martinez