MFA in Writing
The Michener Center for Writers is the only Creative Writing M.F.A. program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer—yet it is our extraordinary faculty and sense of community that most distinguishes us. Our program is a three-year, fully-funded residency M.F.A. with a unique multi-disciplinary focus. Writers apply and are admitted in a primary genre—fiction, poetry, playwriting or screenwriting—and study in both their primary and a secondary genre(s). There are no teaching duties, a luxury that allows our Fellows to commit themselves fully to their writing. And because only twelve writers are admitted each year, our faculty can devote ample time and energy to every writer. With unparalleled support and the deeply held belief that literary art matters now more than ever, the Michener Center offers writers 3 years of unencumbered space to make the work that only they can make.
News & Events
Dr. Jennifer Chang is a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry!
Dr. Chang was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her third collection of poetry, An Authentic Life (Copper Canyon Press). Her debut, The History of Anonymity (2008),… Read more
Congratulations to current MCW Fellow Jessie Li for receiving the 2025 PEN America Dau Prize!
Jessie was awarded this prize for her short story ”Mouth and Heart” (StoryQuarterly) Read more
2024 Emmy Nominations: MCW Alumni & Their Work
The 2024 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced this week. We’re thrilled to see three MCW alumni and their work in the mix! Shōgun, written… Read more
5 New Books by MCW Alumni to Read This Summer
1. The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green “When Morgan and Benji surprise their families with a wedding invitation to Maine, they’re aware the… Read more
Alumn John McManus Wins American Short(er) Fiction Prize
Alumn John McManus (MCW 2004) is the winner of the 2024 American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by Dantiel W. Moniz for his story “Jack Sprat’s… Read more
MCW Alumn Monica Macansantos Awarded Shearing Fellowship
MCW Alumn Monica Macansantos (MCW 2013) been awarded a Black Mountain Institute 2024-2025 Shearing Fellowship. The fellowship brings writers to the UNLV campus for one year… Read more
MCW Alumn Rachel Kondo to Receive Austin Film Festival New Voices Award
Rachel Kondo (MCW 2016), co-creator of Shōgun on FX, has been awarded the 2024 New Voice Award from Austin Film Festival. Kondo is being honored alongside… Read more
Alumni Work Streaming This Summer
Look out for MCW alumni work in your feed this summer: TV series Shōgun (FX) and Fallout (Prime Video), and podcast Pack One Bag (Lemonade… Read more
Fellows
The Michener Center aims to be a welcoming, inspiring, and invigorating community where writers feel safe and supported to take chances on the page. We are extremely proud that there is no hierarchy here—all students receive equal funding—and we firmly believe that our egalitarian approach fosters a higher level of work that more competitive environments suppress.
Our MFA candidates have come from places as varied as western India, South Korea, eastern Europe, and northern Idaho. Their backgrounds and experiences lend to the pages they produce, which are unique and uniquely vital. We aren’t seeking writers of any particular aesthetic, but rather we are looking for writers whose work is distinct, urgent, and arresting.
Apply
Each year, we receive hundreds of applications for twelve seats in the cohort. We accept only full-time, in-residence candidates for the three-year program. There is no remote, low-residency or part-time option.
Applicants must meet the UT Graduate School’s minimum requirements for consideration, which include completion of a Bachelor’s Degree prior to enrollment. The Michener Center no longer requires GRE scores.
History
James Michener was the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of over 40 books, including Texas, Hawaii, and Tales of the South Pacific. In his final years, he and his wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, moved to Austin, TX, where they endowed the Texas Center for Writers, a three-year MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas. The first cohort of Michener Fellows graduated in 1996. After Mr. Michener’s death in 1997, the Center was renamed in his honor.
Faculty
To ensure both continuity and fresh perspectives, the Michener Center faculty is built with fixed and moving parts. Writers from UT’s departments of English, Theatre and Dance, and Radio-Television-Film comprise our Resident Faculty, and each year we also welcome an exciting roster of distinguished Visiting Faculty. That our faculty members—resident and visiting—are as passionate about their teaching as they are their writing is of the utmost importance. Like our students, our faculty afford the program a wealth of varied experience, an abiding sense of shared enterprise, and deep commitment to the making of literary art. For more on our outstanding faculty in each genre, visit our Faculty page.