Not sure where to start? I’ve been there. Here are some free, categorized resources that can be helpful—many of which once helped me:

*This is a living document and I may update it from time to time. Know a good MFA resource that is not listed below? Drop me a line via my contact page.

First: Hone Your Craft

• “Writers of Color Discussing Craft - An Invisible Archive” by Neil Aitken is an incredibly rich resource for craft essays/talks/books from non-white writers. This is a sustaining archive that I wish I’d known during the application process, and I revisit it often to help construct my syllabi for teaching writing at Cornell.

• Craft Chaps by Sundress Publications is a series of creative writing craft essays by contemporary writers, including Chen Chen, Joshua Nguyen, Ángel García, and many others. “Each chap focuses on one aspect of craft [like erasure, novel anatomy, postcolonial memories, narrative...] and also contains a writing exercise and bibliography for further reading.” They are free chapbooks in downloadable PDFs.

• Alina Ştefănescu has a website full of creative writing resources: library of prose (notable essays & memoir, on translation, poetics, innovative prose forms, racism, colonialism, cultural studies, literary theories, and so much more!), library of craft (on poetry, prose, and writer pep talks), craft on poetic and prose forms (elegy, cento, memoir, etc.), library of workshops and readings in PDFs, notes on poetic syntax, and so on. Do yourself a favor and start discovering this treasure chest!

“Am I Ready for an MFA?”

• From Alexander Chee: Am I Ready For The MFA?

• From Cady Vishniac: What Should I Look for in an MFA?

• From Stephanie Lane S.: 4 Ways I Improved My MFA Applications (After Failing Miserably the First Time)

• From Lincoln Michel: MFA vs. IRS, w/ links to many resources for craft & the writing career.

• From “Lit Mag News! From Becky Tuch” by Natalie Marino: “Leaving an MFA Program, Finding Inspiration”

Program Exploration

• Jess Silfa, a brilliant fiction writer & seasoned MFA vet, made a Google Map of every MFA program in the world. It can be filtered by funding, low-res, and genre—screenwriting (and soon playwriting) friendly. When clicking on each program, you can also view additional info such as faculty list, location, degree types, etc. An easy and visual starting point for research especially if funding, location, and genre matter to you.

• The Workshop, formerly The MFA Years and The MFA Chronicles, offers comprehensive lists of fully funded MFAs, mostly funded MFAs, MAs, and PhDs. The lists come with useful information about each program with rad focuses on transparency and accessibility

• Poets & Writers has an MFA Programs Database to get you started on exploring all programs based on degree, location, size, residency, and application deadline

  • They also have a ranking list: 2012 MFA Rankings: The Top Fifty. However, any ranking of MFA programs is flawed as “fit” is quite subjective in creative writing, and I advise taking ranking with a huge grain of salt

  • For karmic balance, here’s another controversial MFA rankings list

• If you like listening to Podcasts, MFA Writers is Jared McCormack’s interview series that talks to MFA students/alums “about their program, their process, and a piece they’re working on.” I found them useful in getting an insider’s view on the programs’ workshop vibes, program structure, what the students were writing about, etc.

  • MFA Writers also do special episodes with seasoned MFA vets & faculty, such as this episode with Cady Vishniac from The Workshop, and this episode with George Saunders from the Syracuse MFA.

  • What’s even cooler: if they don’t have an episode about an MFA that interests you, you can request an episode from them!

• From catapult, a roundtable discussion with faculty from 6 top MFA programs: So You Want to Apply for an MFA | Don’t Write Alone

• Director Insights is an interview series that “answer[s] some of the highly requested questions from potential applicants, in the perspectives of Directors from the best MFA programs.” I founded and solicited for it during my tenure at Frontier Poetry. The series is currently on hiatus.

• Do you write speculative fiction? If so, read this rad list that Steph Grossman put together for MFA Programs that are Chill with Speculative Fiction

Understanding the Application Process

• So You’re Thinking About Applying to Grad School in Creative Writing is created by the faculty in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. This document breaks down types of creative writing degrees (MA, MFA, PhD) and every element of the application (manuscript, personal statement, Letters of Recommendation, resume/CV, transcript, and GRE)

• Similarly, Prof. Alex Parson at the University of Houston created a Graduate Application Cheat Sheet about “how to save yourself time (for your writing), money (to support your writing), and energy (for your writing) as you assemble your application”

  • Also from the MFA at the University of Houston: Faculty advice for prospective students (video interview)

• From Eileen Pollack (who used to direct the MFA at the University of Michigan): How to Make Your Writing Stand Out

• From Brian Evenson at Brown University: Advice for MFA applicants, from Brown University’s Brian Evenson

  • Note: Brown is the only program I know that asks applicants who have an advanced degree to explain why they want another one. If you have a non-MFA advanced degree, don’t let Brown discourage you—it’s not representative of most other MFAs’

• From the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (video interviews):

  • "Poetry: Advice on Applying," with Elizabeth Willis and Mark Levine

  • "Fiction: Advice on Applying," with Tameka Cage-Conley and Lan Samantha Chang

  • "Fiction: Advice on Applying," with Novuyo Rosa Tshuma and Garth Greenwell

• From Nathan Go: 5 Uncommon Tips on Your MFA Creative Writing Application

Resources for Writing the Personal Statement

• The AHA! Moment breaks down, from the perspective of Kate Daniels, director of the Vanderbilt MFA, a successful personal statement by poet Tiana Clark in 2014. It is authored by Michael Bourne and appeared in The Poets & Writers Guide to MFA Programs.

• From Tega Oghenechovwen: 10 Statement Of Purpose Examples: “How To Wow The Admission Committees Of Fully-Funded MFA Programs With Your Personal Statement (Guide + Samples +Tips)”

• From Cady Vishniac: How I Wrote My Statement of Purpose

• From Brandon Taylor: a close read of my MFA statement of purpose

• From Steven Thomas Howell: A Successful MFA Personal Statement

• From Shayna Joubert: How to Write a Statement of Purpose for Graduate School

Resource for Asking for Letters of Recommendation

• How important is the LoR in the MFA application? Is it considered a favor or a part of the job for your mentor to write you one? In this Twitter thread, writer & UT Michener & NWP’s faculty, Elizabeth McCracken demystifies the LoR.

• From Writing Workshops: Getting Letters Of Recommendation For Your 2021 MFA Application (*this blog post contains advertisement for their MFA prep services, which I am not affiliated with)

Useful MFA Communities Online

• The MFA Draft Facebook groups are where hundreds (sometimes thousands) of applicants, current MFA students, and MFA alums share application-related expertise and camaraderie. A new main Draft is created each year. The most active among all the Drafts, the main Draft is where most members share acceptance/waitlist/rejection updates in the spring. I found most of the resources I now share in this list thanks to Draft. To join, search MFA Draft on Facebook

  • Beside the main Draft, there are Draft subgroups for POC applicants, International applicants, Creative Writing PhD, and MFA alums. In addition, there are genre-specific subgroups where applicants can form free workshop groups to exchange their manuscripts or personal statements

• The Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum on Grad Cafe is another good spot to exchange information with applicants. Compared to Draft, it’s more anonymous. A new group is made each year, and the link above leads to the 2021 forum

• Grad Cafe also has a straightforward database for applicants to self-report admission results. Many, including me, refreshed this page several times a day in the spring and dug into the previous years’ data to predict when a specific MFA might release results. Beware—since it’s self reported, a small number of results may not be accurate or truthful

Free App Review Services

• MFA App Review offers a free (small contribution optional to fund application fees for Black writers), informal review of your writing sample and/or personal statement via a phone call. It pairs you with a reviewer, who is often an MFA student, based on the interests in your writing, background, and MFA list. It’s a platform dedicated to helping underrepresented writers, and the eligibility rules can be found here

Free Money for MFA App Fees & More!

• Poets & Writers offers a grant called, “Open Door Career Advancement Grants for BIPOC Women Writers”: “A limited number of grants of $500 or $1,000 will be awarded to BIPOC women writers. Grantees may use funds to cover application fees for MFA programs, writing contests, conferences, workshops, and residencies. Related expenses, such as travel and childcare, will also be eligible. To be eligible, writers must identify both as a woman and as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC); further, applicants must be unagented and not yet have published a book.”

Options beyond the MFA?—Creative Writing Grants, Funds, Jobs, Contests, Residencies, & Fellowships

• Here’s an oldie but goodie: “Post-MFA Resources” Tumblr page has helpful lists of fellowships, residencies, jobs, & other opportunities, curated by Erika Meitner

• ENTROPY features an up-to-date Where to Submit list every three months, with categorized lists for presses, chapbooks, journals & anthologies, & fellowships & other opportunities

• Galleyway curates a monthly list of opportunities “for BIPOC writers, including calls for submissions, fellowships, residencies, and contests” (some shared opportunities are open for all). The lists are categorized by genre: Fiction/Nonfiction, Film, Poetry, Television, & Theater

  • Working on a project? Galleyway offers biweekly FREE virtual writing sessions (silent 2-hour Zoom sessions) for communal accountability “to combat moments of isolation” in social distancing. Writers of all disciplines are welcome

• Want to submit to contests with a shriveled wallet? Subscribe to Winning Writers’ free monthly newsletter, curated by Jendi Reiter, that “monitor[s] over 200 of the finest poetry and prose contests that have no entry fees.” Once you’ve subscribed, you can access their contest database with advanced filtering options

  • Not a fan of newsletters? Here’s a list of 40 Free Writing Contests curated by Kelly Gurnett, Carson Kohler and Farrah Daniel

• Fellowships: 44 Fellowships for Creative Writers in Any Career Stage

• Resources for grants and funds:

  • ProFellow: a free funding & grad school directory/search engine

  • Funds for Writers

  • Grants for women

  • Grants for Speculative Fiction

Resources I Found Useful for Navigating the Literary World: Revision, Submission, etc.!

• Literary submission essays:

  • Erika Dreifus, “How to Avoid Submission Fees: Lessons Learned from 20+ Years of Sending Out My Work—and Curating Opportunities for Others”

• Query Letter Resources:

  • Emily Stoddard, “Care Package: Writing a Query Letter for Your Poetry Book Submission”

• Essays on book publishing:

  • Cassie Mannes Murray, “Book Distribution Basic Explainer”

    • As Emily Stoddard notes in “Poetry Bulletin: August 2023,” “This is an easily forgotten or misunderstood part of finding a publisher for your book—especially in poetry-land, I think, where many presses are very small and distribution can be wildly different (and creative!) from one publisher to the next.”

• Fiction revision essays:

  • Matt Bell, “Managing Difficulty in Fiction”

  • Erik Harper Klass, “Twenty Things to Do before Submitting Your Story to a Lit Mag: Part 1”

  • Erik Harper Klass, “Twenty Things to Do before Submitting Your Story to a Lit Mag: Part 2”

  • Emily Stoddard, “A favorite revision question, a wave of divergent writing possibilities”

    
    

Good luck, and happy writing!