Spalding’s low residency MFA in Writing program offers serious intellectual stimulation in a noncompetitive, emotionally supportive atmosphere. We are here to help one another become better writers. This ethos permeates everything we do.
Residencies bring us together for genre-specific workshops, craft lectures, and community. We learn from distinguished visiting 
writers as well as our prize-winning, publishing faculty. Students focus deeply on their own concentration, yet each residency includes a cross-genre assignment to expand writing skills and spark new discoveries. We also explore the visual and performing arts as ways to open new creative channels.
During residency, students can opt to participate in special opportunities, from a book-length manuscript workshop to a special seminar in teaching.
Independent study sessions are dedicated exclusively to one-on-one mentor-student work. In this, we honor a primary strength of the low-residency model. Students write more and receive feedback on more work than in many other programs, growing quickly as a result.
Students can opt to take an entire cross-genre semester within the four core semesters, including the opportunity to study translation.
Our flexible scheduling lets you set your own pace by choosing from 6- or 9-month semesters. Stay close to home with spring and fall residencies in Louisville, or travel with us on summer residencies in Athens, Rome, Paris, and other world capitals.
Our four-semester degree culminates with a creative thesis and capstone residency. Our alumni have garnered top national honors while publishing and producing more than 400 books, plays, and films.
We offer fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for children & YA, screenwriting, and playwriting.
Spalding University School of Creative & Professional Writing 