Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University

| Sp10 Courses! | Director's Letter |

One of the oldest established programs in the country, Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University emphasizes the fine arts element of its degree. The program offers a BFA and MFA degree, and has an outstanding record of graduate success in publication and career preparation.

Creative Writing Program Offices, East Hall, BGSU Campus

Students work in intensive workshops of limited size, with comprehensive education in craft and knowledge of the discipline. This studio experience is complemented by English and interdisciplinary courses.

Readings Venue, Prout Chapel

The program hosts the College of Arts and Sciences Visiting Writers Series, an important aspect of BGSU's campus culture. Nationally-known writers, such as Marge Piercy, Virgil Suárez, C.K. Williams, Aimee Bender, Simon Ortiz, Stuart Dybek, Grace Paley, Stephen Dunn, Frank Chin, and Rick Moody, visit to read their works and meet with faculty and students.

Readings are typically weekly and held at Prout Chapel. In addition to visiting writers, BGSU faculty, students, and distinguished alumni also read from their works. All readings are free and open to the public. A schedule can be found by following the link on the sidebar to the left.

To enhance career opportunities, most MFA students teach a range of undergraduate courses, as well as serve on the editorial and production staff of the national literary magazine, Mid-American Review. Competitive non-teaching fellowships are available.

"It seems to us that the creative writing program has met the challenges of the last decade in exemplary fashion... The faculty are highly productive... Dedicated individuals have forged ahead with new initiatives..."

-From the Final Report of the last Seven-Year External Review of BGSU's MFA and BFA Programs

Students and graduates of the MFA program have won awards such as the Yale Younger Poets Award, Guggenheim, Rome Prize, NEA Individual Artist Fellowships, Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, Los Angeles Times Book Award for Poetry, NY Public Library Young Lions Award, Iowa Short Fiction Prize, Flannery O'Connor Prize, Milkweed Prize, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Prize in Fiction, Willa Cather Prize, NYU Press Prize in Fiction, Bluestem Award, National Contemporary Poetry Award, AWP Intro Journals Project, and many more.

Recent graduates of the BFA program are publishing with excellent literary presses, such as Milkweed Editions, Random House, and Amistad Press. Using their broad-based training, BFAs also enter fields as varied as publicity writer for Simon & Schuster, writer and editor for WTOL-TV in Toledo, comic book writer for Marvel Comics in New York, and others. Other BFA graduates continue on to MFA programs. The BFA writer's experience at BGSU is enriched by program activities: Undergraduates edit BGSU's literary journal, Prairie Margins; organize the BFA reading series; participate in all cultural events of the MFA program; and have the opportunity to intern with the Mid-American Review. First- and second-year students can join the Arts Village, a live-in learning community devoted to the fine arts, Gordon Ricketts, Director. The City of Bowling Green is ranked by Forbes magazine as one of sixty "best towns and cities where your dollar will go far" in the United States. And Ohio Magazine has ranked the city in the top five of "Ohio's best hometowns." More questions about the BFA? Follow the link on the sidebar to the left and/or click here: BFA FAQs.