PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program at Pine Manor College requires four semesters of intensive work via mail or e-mail and five, 10-day residencies when students are physically on the college campus.

Between residencies, students work one-on-one on a semester-long project with a faculty mentor. During this time of independent work and study, students collaborate with their faculty mentor to explore their genre in depth through reading, discussion and annotation, and the creation of new work.

The program requires 60 credits—including work done during the residency and the
remaining semester—for completion.

“The residency exceeded my expectations, to say the least,” said Maryann Jacob Macias of New York City, who is studying writing for children & young adults. “The faculty and director made themselves completely available to students in and out of the classroom.”

THE RESIDENCY & CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS
Each 10-day residency, held in July and January, begins the new semester with a demanding program of creative writing workshops in which students’ creative work-in-progress is analyzed and discussed. These workshops are the heart of the MFA residency, and the eight, three-hour sessions required allow students to experience a variety of pedagogical approaches; to develop constructive critiquing skills; and to enhance their own writing via close study of others works-in-progress. Our approach to the writing workshop emphasizes an atmosphere of mutual respect and consideration between students and faculty members.

At the residency, students also attend courses in Craft, Criticism, and Theory, as well as Elective Seminars & Studies, (one to two-hour classes), lectures, and panel discussions — in addition to readings and one-on-one sessions with faculty mentors. Residencies provide students with an opportunity for immersion in a community of writers as they sharpen their craft and expand their visions of their art.

The winter 2009 residency will take place from January 2 through January 11.

The summer 2009 residency will take place from July 10 through July 19.

Please see our Application Guidelines for more information about deadlines.

THE SEMESTER
Students are expected to devote at least 25 hours per week to independent study each semester. It should be noted that reading, as well as writing, is a vital component of the MFA Program of Pine Manor College. By the time a student graduates, he or she will have read between 50 and 80 books. Faculty mentors work closely with students to draft a semester plan — including recommending readings, suggestions for generating new material and revising existing drafts — at the close of each residency.

In the first and second semesters, students are encouraged to draft new material and expand their knowledge of craft, submitting five packets of creative and critical work.

Second-semester students can explore working in another genre—enhancing their craft by exploring the possibilities and constraints of another form— before selecting a focus for the third and fourth semester projects.

Third-semester students complete a 30-35 page critical essay, an essential part of developing into mature writers. This work builds on the critical writing and thinking skills students have developed in their first and second semesters, during which they applied close reading, analytical, and interpretive skills to the drafting of short literary essays on single texts. The critical thesis challenges writers to create and build a sustained argument surrounding a single aspect (or a few aspects/elements) of literature and/or literature’s role(s) in the world. Students are expected to choose subjects with some personal appeal; ideally, the thesis topic should have application to the student’s own creative work.

Third-semester students also have the opportunity to pursue an applied-track internship in arts administration and community programming, pedagogy and literacy studies, or publishing as part of their research for the major critical essay. These optional internships will enrich their experience, broaden their knowledge, and provide necessary research for the essay due at the end of the semester.

During the fourth, creative-thesis semester, students work closely with faculty mentors to revise work created during the MFA Program with the goal of producing a book-length manuscript.
The fifth and final graduating residency requires the presentation of a 60-minute lecture or course in the students’ specialized area or track, developed in her/his critical essay. In addition, graduating students deliver a 15-minute public reading from their creative thesis.

Students and faculty are required to submit thorough evaluations of the residency and the semester project each semester. These evaluations become part of the student's permanent record and determine whether credit is granted toward the 60-credit degree.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
In order to graduate, students must have received a passing grade for 60 credits of course work and must have attended five, 10-day residencies. In addition to receiving passing grades for all course work, students must complete a creative thesis (a novel, or book-length collection of poems, short stories, or creative nonfiction) that is approved by a faculty mentor, give a reading from their creative thesis, and teach one lecture at the final residency.

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