The Creative Writing MA
The English M.A. with an Emphasis in Creative Writing offers Ph.D. students in Berkeley the opportunity to work on a creative project alongside the distinguished faculty of the English Department. Requirements for the M.A. include a graduate-level creative writing workshop offered through the English Department, a proposal to be evaluated by two thesis advisers, and the successful completion of a capstone project.
Please note that the department does not offer a freestanding Master’s Degree program or a degree program in Creative Writing. The English M.A. with an Emphasis in Creative Writing is a program dependent on, among other requirements, the successful completion of Ph.D. coursework. Please note also that the conferred degree is not an M.F.A.
Process
For students interested in the degree, the Graduate Program requires enrollment in the English Ph.D. program (see below for exceptions), enrollment in the English 243 seminars, and a proposal to be submitted by the student to two students who have agreed to advise the project and to the chair of the department’s Creative Writing Committee.
The two thesis advisors should include a director, who must be a member of the English department faculty, and a second reader. At least one advisor should be a faculty member whose primary expertise is creative writing. The other may be from a traditional scholarly field. The proposal should be 500-1000 words long, should describe a field of concern and/or an initial argument for the thesis, and should include a projected completion date for the thesis.
Please contact the English GSAO (Ata Sunucu) at gradadvisor_english@berkeley.edu for more information or to be included in the listserv.
Students enrolled in other UC Berkeley doctoral programs may petition the Director of Graduate Studies for admission to English in pursuit of the Creative M.A. This petition should include the 500-1000 word proposal described above, a note of recommendation from the Head Graduate Advisor of their own department, and a note of agreement from a faculty member in the English department to direct the thesis. Once admitted, these students remain subject to all other degree requirements above. Units counted toward the Creative M.A. may not be counted toward any other master’s degree.
