The Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing is a graduate program in creative writing based at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Stonecoast enrolls approximately 100 students in four major genres: creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and popular fiction. Other areas of student interest, including literary translation, performance, writing for stage and screen, writing Nature, and cross-genre writing, are pursued as elective options. Students also choose one track that focuses an intensive research project in their third semester from among these categories: craft, creative collaboration, literary theory, publishing, social justice/community service, and teaching/pedagogy. Stonecoast is one of only two graduate creative writing programs in the country offering a degree in

popular fiction Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. A num ...

. It is accredited through the

New England Association of Schools and Colleges The New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC) is a United States' regional accreditation association providing educational accreditation. NEASC serves over 1500 public, independent schools, and technical/career institution ...

(NEASC). The Stonecoast MFA program is a

low-residency program A low-residency program (or limited residency program) is a form of education, normally at the university level, which involves some amount of distance education and brief on-campus or specific-site residencies—residencies may be one weekend or ...

. Ten-day residencies for students, faculty, and visiting writers are held each January and June. Each semester, a group of ten students also goes to Ireland for a smaller residency. Residencies involve an intensive schedule of workshops, classes, readings, and gatherings. The rest of a student's academic work during the two-year program is pursued on a one-on-one basis under the leadership of a faculty mentor. Founded in 2002 by Barbara Lee Hope, Ken Rosen, and Dianne Benedict, Stonecoast came to national prominence under the direction of poet

Annie Finch Annie Finch (born October 31, 1956) is an American poet, critic, editor, translator, playwright, and performer and the editor of the first major anthology of literature about abortion. Her poetry is known for its often incantatory use of rhythm, ...

who served as director from 2004 to 2013. Stonecoast is one of the oldest and best-known of the second wave of low-residency graduate programs in creative writing, following on the first wave of the Warren Wilson, Goddard, and Bennington graduate programs. Stonecoast departed from its predecessor programs in a number of significant ways including more flexibility in cross-genre work, more student input into mentor choice and curriculum, seminar-style classes as opposed to lectures, and more flexibility in third-semester projects. The program received coverage in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' feature on MFA programs focusing in particular on its Ireland residency and popular fiction component. Other innovative curricular features include a foundation workshop in poetic meter for incoming poets and student-initiated elective workshops on special topics in writing. Stonecoast has been ranked consistently among the "Top Ten Low-Residency Programs" by ''

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'', ...

'' magazine since 2011.

History

History: *1980 The Stonecoast Summer Writers’ Conference founded at University of Southern Maine, held in the John Calvin Stevens-designed Stone House in Freeport, Maine *2002 The Stonecoast Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing is developed *2004 Poet

hired as Director *2005 Stonecoast in Ireland program launched *2011 Stonecoast is ranked among the "Top Ten Low-Residency MFA Programs" in the first set of low-residency rankings by ''Poets & Writers'' magazine. *2013 Fiction writer Justin Tussing appointed Interim Director *2015 University of Southern Maine gives up ownership of the Stone House and moves Stonecoast MFA residencies to the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport for the winter and the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick for the summer.

Faculty

The Stonecoast MFA faculty has won numerous awards including Guggenheim and

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

grants,

Astraea Astraea, Astrea or Astria ( grc, Ἀστραία, Astraía; "star-maiden" or "starry night"), in ancient Greek religion, is a daughter of Astraeus and Eos. She is the virgin goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision. She is closely asso ...

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

Lambda Lambda (}, ''lám(b)da'') is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced alveolar lateral approximant . In the system of Greek numerals, lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is derived from the Phoenician Lamed . Lambda gave rise ...

, and Hurston/Wright Legacy awards, a

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

Grant, the

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

, and the Whiting Writer's Award. Visiting writers and past faculty have included publishers Jonathan Galassi,

Kate Gale Kate Gale (born 1963) is an American author, poet, librettist, and independent publisher. She is the managing editor of Red Hen Press. Life Kate Gale was born in Binghamton, New York to Stephen Gale and Evadene Swanson. She graduated with a B ...

, and

April Ossmann April Ossmann is an American poet, teacher, and editor. She is author of ''Event Boundaries'' (Four Way Books, 2017) and ''Anxious Music'' (Four Way Books, 2007), and has had her poems published in many literary journals including ''Harvard Review ...

, novelists

Jeffrey Ford Jeffrey Ford (born November 8, 1955) is an American writer in the fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including fantasy, science fiction and mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humo ...

Ray Gonzalez Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

Tayari Jones Tayari Jones (born November 30, 1970) is an American author and academic known for '' An American Marriage'', which was a 2018 Oprah's Book Club Selection, and won the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, the ...

Kelly Link Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of sci ...

, and Leslea Newman, literary scholars

Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Un ...

and

Marie Borroff Marie Edith Borroff (September 10, 1923 – July 5, 2019) was an American poet, translator, and the Sterling Professor of English emerita at Yale University. Life Borroff was born in New York City in 1923, the daughter of professional musicians ...

, social critic

James Howard Kunstler James Howard Kunstler (born October 19, 1948) is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He is best known for his books ''The Geography of Nowhere'' (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, ''The Long ...

, storyteller Gioia Timpanelli, and poets

Maxine Kumin Maxine Kumin (June 6, 1925 – February 6, 2014) was an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981–1982. Biography Early years Maxine Kumin was born Maxine Winokur on June ...

Marilyn Nelson Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetr ...

Ted Kooser Theodore J. Kooser (born 25 April 1939) is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate selec ...

Joan Retallack Joan Retallack (born October 13, 1941) is an American poet, critic, biographer, and multi-disciplinary scholar. She is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Humanities at Bard College where she teaches courses in poetics, poethic ...

Alicia Ostriker Alicia Suskin Ostriker (born November 11, 1937) is an American poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry.Powell C.S. (1994) ''Profile: Jeremiah and Alicia Ostriker – A Marriage of Science and Art'', Scientific American 271(3), 28-3 ...

, and

Reginald Shepherd Reginald Shepherd (April 10, 1963 – September 10, 2008) was an American poet, born in New York City and raised in the Bronx.

. Current faculty include Tony Barnstone, Rick Bass,

Jeanne Marie Beaumont Jeanne Marie Beaumont is an American poet, author of four poetry collections, most recently, "Letters from Limbo" (CavanKerry Press, 2016), and ''Burning of the Three Fires'' (BOA Editions, Ltd. 2010), ''Curious Conduct'' ( BOA Editions, Ltd., 200 ...

, Sarah Braunstein, Breena Clarke, Jaed Muncharoen Coffin, Susan Conley,

Ted Deppe Theodore "Ted" Deppe (born in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American poet and professor, author of books of poetry. His most well-known collection is ''Orpheus on the Red Line'' (Tupelo Press, 2009), and he has had his poems published in many literary ...

, Carolina De Robertis, Boman Desai,

David Anthony Durham David Anthony Durham (born March 23, 1969) is an American novelist, author of historical fiction and fantasy. Durham's first novel, ''Gabriel's Story'', centered on African American settlers in the American West. ''Walk Through Darkness'' fol ...

, Martín Espada, Theodora Goss, Aaron Hamburger, Elizabeth Hand,

Nancy Holder Nancy Holder (born August 29, 1953) is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction ...

, Barbara Hurd, Cait Johnson,

James Patrick Kelly James Patrick Kelly (born April 11, 1951 in Mineola, New York) is an American science fiction author who has won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. Biography Kelly made his first fiction sale in 1975. He graduated magna cum laude from ...

Michael Kimball Michael Kimball (born February 1, 1967) is a novelist from the United States. Life and career Michael Kimball was born February 1, 1967, in Lansing, Michigan. He studied at List of Michigan State University people, Michigan State University and ...

Debra Marquart Debra Marquart is an American poet and musician from the small town of Napoleon, North Dakota. Since 1992 she has been performing as singer-songwriter with the band The Bone People. After graduating with master's degrees from Moorhead State Uni ...

David Mura David Mura (born 1952) is an American author, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist whose writings explore the themes of race, identity and history. In 2018, Mura has published a book on creative writing, ''A Stranger’s Jour ...

, Alexs Pate, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Eléna Rivera, Elizabeth Searle,

Tim Seibles Tim Seibles (born 1955) is an American poet, professor and the former Poet Laureate of Virginia. He is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently, ''Voodoo Libretto: New and Selected Poems'' (Etruscan Press, 2022). His honors include ...

, and Suzanne Strempek Shea.Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing > Faculty
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Alumni

Stonecoast MFA alumni include Cave Canem Prize Winner Indigo Moor; Rona Jaffe Award winner Melanie Drane; National Poetry Series winner and National Book Award Finalist Patricia Smith; Wick First Book Poetry Prize winner Joanna Solfrian; and novelists Diane Les Becquets, Alexs Pate, Morgan Callan Rogers, and Colin Sargent; produced film and television writers Debbie Daughetee, Mike Langworthy, Matthew Quinn Martin and Bix Skahill; popular fiction writers Patrick Bagley, Libby Cudmore, Laura Navarre, Michaela Roessner-Herman, Kevin St. Jarre, and J. M. McDermott; poets Quenton Baker,

Roger Bonair-Agard Roger Bonair-Agard is a poet and performance artist. He has made numerous television and radio appearances, has led countless workshops and lectures, and has performed his poetry at many US universities as well as at international festivals in Ger ...

, Cindy Gutierrez, Jeanette Lynes, Nylah Lyman, Josh Davis, and Karrie Waarala; and creative nonfiction writers Jaed Munchaeroen Coffin, Kim Dana Kupperman and Penelope Schwartz Robinson (winner of the Stonecoast Book Prize judged by Katha Pollitt). The Stonecoast Alumni Association, open to all Stonecoast alumni, sponsors readings and literary events around the country.

References

Sources

University of Southern Maine > Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program Website

External links

Stonecoast Faculty Blog

Stonecoast Community Blog

Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park

Videos: Stonecoast MFA Channel
{{University of Southern Maine Creative writing programs American writers' organizations University of Southern Maine