Graduate Bulletin
English/Creative Writing, M.A.
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
Admission Requirements and Deadlines
Application Deadline:
Fall: January 15
Applications are processed at the deadline.
Letters of Reference:
Number Required: 3
From Whom: Letters of recommendation should be obtained from professors or work supervisors who can comment on your writing, your tenacity, your intellectual scope, and the nature of your projects to date.
Coursework Required for Admission Consideration:
We have accepted people with a variety of undergraduate majors; literature, humanities, foreign language, history, and journalism majors have all been successful applicants. A humanities emphasis is best. It is not necessary for the applicant to have followed an undergraduate Creative Writing major.
Bachelor's Degree in Discipline/Related Discipline:
Yes. There are no required disciplines, but an applicant must display evidence of talent as a fiction writer or poet.
Statement of Goals:
We want to know something about the influences and models you have used in your thinking about creative work and the projects you have already undertaken. If you have a particular interest in studying with a member of Temple's faculty, you should indicate this. The statement should be a page or two in length.
Standardized Test Scores:
The GRE is required. Applicants must score in the 50th percentile or above to be considered for admission.
Minimum TOEFL score or range of scores needed to be accepted:
575 on the paper-based test or 230 on the computer-based test. Applicants who score below 600 on the paper-based test or 250 on the computer-based test will be required to take and pass a remedial English course during their first semester at Temple University.
Resume:
A resume is required.
Writing Sample:
For poetry submissions, there is a minimum of six poems: for fiction, a minimum of twenty pages. Applicants need to choose one genre in which they apply. Your best work should be sent.
Program Requirements
Campus Location:
Main Campus
Full-Time/Part-Time Status:
Students are required to complete the degree program through classes offered before and after 4:30 p.m.
General Program Requirements:
Number of Didactic Credits Required Beyond the Baccalaureate: 30
Required Courses:
4 workshops, 2 tutorials, 3 graduate literature courses, one course either in composition theory required for all TAs) or in literature (other students).
MA exam in Creative Writing--questions in fiction OR poetry-- taken after the third semester. Thesis manuscript due in the spring of the fourth semester.
Internship: No internship is required.
Language Examination: No language examination is required.
Culminating Events:
Comprehensive Examination:
The comprehensive exam is intended to give students an opportunity to write about the historical and formal context of the literary genre in which they practice.
Comprehensive Exam Subject - The exam is six hours long and asks for written essays based on an official reading list. The student sits for the exam in a morning and an afternoon session on the same day. Three questions are chosen from about eight questions offered.
Comprehensive Exam Complete - The exam is taken at the start of the spring semester of the second year in the program.
Comprehensive Exam Write - The exam is generated collectively by the faculty members of the Graduate Creative Writing Program.
Comprehensive Exam Grade - Each exam is graded by two members of the faculty (one from Creative Writing, in the respective genre of the exam, and the other from the Graduate Faculty of English Department). Conflicts will be resolved by the director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program.
Comprehensive Exam Pass - The exam is graded High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, Fail. Students pass the exam by writing cogent, well-argued, and stylistically polished responses to the questions posed.
Comprehensive Exam Schedule - The exam is offered on the Friday before spring semester begins. It is a 6 hour exam.
Thesis:
The Master's thesis is intended to be a work of fiction (at least 100 pages) or a work of poetry (at least 50 pages) that reflects an aesthetically and intellectually sophisticated example of the genre in which the student has worked over the course of the program.
Theses are graded exclusively by members of the Graduate Creative Writing Faculty. Two readers must agree that the thesis passes. If there is a conflict, the director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program adjudicates the decision. There is no thesis defense.
Contacts
Program Contact Information:
www.temple.edu/CreativeWriting/
Department Information:
Anderson Hall, 10th Floor
1114 West Berks Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122-6090
creatwrt@temple.edu
215-204-1796
Department Contacts:
Admissions:
Elaina M. Cooley
elaina.cooley@temple.edu
215-204-1796
Program Coordinator:
Rachel Blau DuPlessis
rdupless@temple.edu
215-204-3014
Graduate Chairperson:
Rachel Blau DuPlessis
rdupless@temple.edu
215-204-3014
Chairperson:
Rachel Blau DuPlessis
rdupless@temple.edu
215-204-3014
About the Program
Temple University in Philadelphia offers a 30 credit Master of Arts Degree in English: Creative Writing. This program is intended to provide fiction writers and poets with an opportunity to develop their crafts and extend the horizons of their thinking about the genre in which they work. Guided study is offered in poetry, hybrid genres, short stories, novels, non-fiction, translation and the creative essay. Graduate courses in literature, workshops and tutorials are the core of this program.
Time Limit for Degree Completion: 3 years
Campus Location:
Main Campus
Students are required to complete the degree program through classes offered before and after 4:30 p.m.
Department Information:
Anderson Hall, 10th Floor
1114 West Berks Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122-6090
creatwrt@temple.edu
215-204-1796
Ranking:
Not applicable.
Accreditation:
Not applicable.
Areas of Specialization:
The program provides a combination of small, intensive workshops in poetry, fiction, translation and non-fiction with one-on-one tutorials. We have an excellent faculty of writers in both genres, ranging from mainstream to experimental styles.
Job Placement:
Students go on to careers as publishing writers, as editorial workers in the field of publishing, and as academics in the curricula of English and Creative Writing.
Affiliation(s):
Not applicable.
Interdisciplinary Study:
Not applicable.
Study Abroad:
During the summer the graduate program offers the optional possibility of course work by a 6-credit seminar in Art and Culture that takes place in Rome. Creative writing students may apply to attend. The seminar entails an intensive program of classwork, field trips, and guest lectures.
Licensure:
Not applicable.
Non-Degree Student Policy:
Non-matriculated students are not permitted to take any courses within the degree program.
Financing Opportunities
The principal duties of a Teaching Assistant include teaching composition, business writing, literature, and undergraduate creative writing. Research Assistantships are also available, and the work and service are defined by departmental need. Responsibilities might include supervision of an undergraduate literary magazine. All assistantships include a stipend and full-tuition remission (up to 9 credits). Teaching load is set contractually; generally, it is two courses per semester. Applications for assistantships are submitted along with your application for admission by February 1. The department makes offers of assistantships on approximately March 31.
Other Financial Opportunities
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