The Creative Writing International program at UNLV attracts, inspires and develops globally-engaged writers who are grounded in the local. Led by this vision, our program nurtures diverse writers and develops a socially-engaged and active writing practice. All M.F.A. and Ph.D. students are ;fully funded for the three years of studies toward their degrees, $21,000 (with opportunities for additional funding from the Black Mountain Institute) and $30,000, respectively.

Our mission, innovative programs and people foster an educational environment in which writers can perfect their art. To carry the work into the world of challenges we all face, the program also supports serious writers in cultivating the cultural, social and global awareness that any truly engaged public intellectual will need to navigate times of epic crisis. We also encourage applications from and admit several international writers with high competency in writing in English each year who contribute to our literary community.

To support our mission, the curriculum features an intensive combination of workshops, literature seminars, study abroad, literary translation, and community events along with explorations of genres other than their chosen concentration. The program also offers teacher training plus opportunities to gain practical experience in literary publishing. Our faculty is committed to excellence in teaching, and to close, one-on-one mentoring.

A high percentage of our graduates have published widely, publishing fiction, literary nonfiction, journalism and poetry with mainstream and indie presses, as well as in nationally esteemed venues such as W. W. Norton & Company, Grove Press, Viking, Sarabande, Ecco, Soho, The Best American Poetry, McSweeney’s, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. Many have also gone on to secure tenure track teaching jobs or have entered the workforce as writers, editors, arts administrators, film producers, teachers and activists for nonprofits and community organizations not only in the United States but around the world. The Department of English also routinely supports recent graduates with part-time teaching opportunities.

UNLV is the nation’s first truly multicultural university and has one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States. Set in the dynamic global city of Las Vegas, at the crossroads of the American Southwest, our program recognizes and places partnership at the center of our literary engagement.

Central to those partnerships is our longstanding relationship with the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI). This partnership provides opportunities for students to engage in creative and literary activities with visiting Black Mountain Institute Fellows in socially meaningful literary events for the city of Las Vegas and its greater community. The Department of English and BMI also publish the acclaimed journals Interim and Witness, giving students hands-on experience with literary publishing.

Degree Information

Faculty

Our Creative Writing International program is proud to announce that poet and translator Wendy Chen and journalist, Literary Nonfiction writer and cultural strategist Roberto Lovato have joined our faculty to teach alongside poet Claudia Keelan, fiction writers Maile Chapman, Douglas Unger, and nonfiction and fiction writer David J. Morris.

Our program’s partnership with the Black Mountain Institute also offers opportunities for forums and close-up experiences with prestigious visiting writers, fellows and teachers. Recent BMI Fellows and national and international award-winning visitors include: Hamif Abdurraquib, Tayari Jones, Melissa Febos, Bonnie Chau, Lisa Ko, Kristen Arnett, Derek Palacio, and Cities of Asylum Writers Maryam Ala Amjadi, Ahmed Najii Saleh, José Olivera Castillo and Hussein Abkenar. See the Black Mountain Institute's website for more information.