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 metro ...

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. 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 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 Annie Finch 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 The Harraseeket Inn is a historic inn on Main Street, U.S. Route 1, in Freeport, Maine, United States. Although today's business was established in 1984, the building it occupies was built in 1854. History Nancy Dyer Gray established the Harr ...

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 federa ...

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 as ...

, Hugo,

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 ris ...

, 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 Jonathan Galassi (born 1949 in Seattle, Washington) has served as the president and publisher of ''Farrar, Straus and Giroux'' and is currently the Chairman and Executive Editor. Early life Galassi was born in Seattle (his father worked as an ...

, Kate Gale, and April Ossmann, novelists Jeffrey Ford, Ray Gonzalez, Tayari Jones, Kelly Link, 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 Uni ...

and Marie Borroff, social critic James Howard Kunstler, 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 Poetry ...

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, Alicia Ostriker, 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, 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'' fo ...

, Martín Espada, Theodora Goss,

Aaron Hamburger Aaron Hamburger (born 1973) is an American writer best known for his short story collection The View from Stalin's Head' (2004) and novels Faith for Beginners' (2005) anNirvana Is Here(2019). Born in Detroit, Michigan, Hamburger went to college a ...

, Elizabeth Hand, Nancy Holder, 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 fr ...

, Michael Kimball, Debra Marquart, David Mura, Alexs Pate,

Dolen Perkins-Valdez Dolen Perkins-Valdez is an American writer, best known for her debut novel '' Wench: A Novel'' (2010), which became a bestseller. She is Chair of the Board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors. Early life and education She attended ...

, Eléna Rivera,

Elizabeth Searle Elizabeth Searle is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright and screenwriter. She is co-writer of "I'll Show You Mine," a feature film in post-production from Duplass Brothers Productions and forthcoming in 2022. Her theater works h ...

, Tim Seibles, and

Suzanne Strempek Shea Suzanne Strempek Shea (born in western Massachusetts, USA), is the author of literary fiction, biographies and memoirs. She was the winner of the 2000 New England Book Award for Fiction. Shea lives in Bondsville, Massachusetts, with her husband, ...

.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 Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay o ...

, Michaela Roessner-Herman, Kevin St. Jarre, and

J. M. McDermott J. M. McDermott (Joe M. McDermott) is an American writer of fantasy, and science fiction. McDermott lives in Georgia, and holds an MFA in popular fiction from the University of Southern Maine and a BA in creative writing from the University of Ho ...

; poets Quenton Baker, Roger Bonair-Agard, 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