MFA Program
See writers who attended this programElana K. Arnold, Swati Avasthi, Coe Booth, Lisa Jahn Clough, Brandy Colbert, Tae Keller, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Lê, Meg Medina, Lilliam Rivera, Laura Ruby, Aisha Saeed, Eliot Schrefer, Dashka Slater, Sherri L. Smith, Laurel Snyder
The program offers partial funding.
The program offers many scholarships, including the Herman W. Block Annual Memorial Scholarship ($5,000); the T.A. Barron Bi-Annual Fellowship for Excellence in Fantasy Writing for an Incoming Student ($2,500); the T.A. Barron Annual Fellowship for Excellence in Fantasy Writing for a Current Student ($5,000); the Walden Pond Press Annual Scholarship ($2,500); the Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors Bi-Annual Scholarship ($2,000); the Anne Tews Schwab Bi-Annual Award for Excellence in Critical Writing ($1,000); the Frances and Kermit Rudolf Annual Nonfiction Scholarship ($1,000); the Brandon Terrell Annual Memorial Scholarship ($2,500); and merit scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,000.
Students attend two 11-day residencies each year, in January and July, at the Hamline University campus in Saint Paul. Over the semester following, they work one-on-one from home with a faculty advisor. The program focuses on writing for children & young adults.
Students can study the following genres: Picture Book, Early Reader, Middle-Grade and Young Adult Fiction (this includes realistic; historical; speculative fiction—fantasy, science fiction—hybrid; mystery), Nonfiction, Poetry and Verse Novel, Graphic Novel and Comics.
The priority deadline is September 1 and final deadline is November 1 for the winter start. The priority deadline is March 1 and final deadline is May 15 for the summer start.
Megan Atwood, Cheryl Bardoe, Daniel Bernstrom, Sherryl Clark, Molly Beth Griffin, Erin Berger Gindlesberger, Ann Matzke, Loretta Ellsworth, Bonnie Sue Hitchcock, Justina Ireland, Lily LaMotte, Aimee Lucido, Tracy Nelson Maurer, Kalena Miller, Lisa Frankel Riddiough, Barbara Carroll Roberts, Melissa Savage, Caren Stelson, Melanie Sumrow, Jamie Swenson, Blair Thornburgh, Kim Tomsic, Hebah Uddin (as Karuna Riazi), Elizabeth Verdick, Alicia D. Williams