University of Texas at El Paso

MFA Program

See writers who attended this program
Program Established: 
1992
Location: 
El Paso, TX
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Residency: 
Full
Online
Duration: 
3 Years
Incoming Class Size: 
10
Application Deadline: 
February 2, 2025
Application Fee: 
$45 ($80 for international applicants)
Website: 
http://www.utep.edu/cw
Contact E-mail: 
jdepierola@utep.edu
Contact Name: 
Dr. Jose de Pierola
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Rosa Alcalá, Andrea Cote-Botero, Nelson Cárdenas, Tim Z. Hernandez, Sasha Pimentel, Jeff Sirkin
Fiction: Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny, Daniel Chacón, Tim Z. Hernandez, José de Piérola, Lex Williford
Nonfiction: Tim Z. Hernandez, Sasha Pimentel, Lex Williford
Screenwriting: Nelson Cárdenas, Lex Williford
Translation: Rosa Alcalá, José de Piérola

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The residential program offers partial funding; the program offers in-state tuition and teaching assistantships to select candidates for their full three years of study. Some scholarships are available.

The online program offers no funding.

Affiliated Publications/Publishers: 

Rio Grande Review, Words on a Wire podcast

Other Features: 

UTEP began the world’s first bilingual and online MFA programs, and features faculty from various countries. The program offers a bilingual (English and Spanish) course of study in fiction, poetry, literary translation, nonfiction, screenwriting, and playwriting.

The bilingual aspect of this program refers to the coexistence of Spanish and English in the classroom and does not require students to speak both languages. Applicants from countries where English is not the first language are not expected to demonstrate English proficiency.

The application deadline for the full-residency program is February 2; the online program accepts applications year-round.