The City University Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing programme is the first low-residency MFA to be established in Asia, and the only one in the world to focus on Asia. Its mission is to provide the best education possible for aspiring creative writers, and to foster an interest in Asian writing in English as well as literature in English concerned with Asian themes. Launched in 2010, this two-year MFA degree is designed to improve and develop practising writers, and is taught by established and well-published authors who have both Asian and international backgrounds and expertise. The MFA is a professional qualification that prepares graduates to work in a range of fields where good writing is required, including cultural and arts administration, the creative industries, editing, and publishing. It is also a widely-acknowledged qualification for teaching creative writing at high schools and universities. The low-residency MFA model offered by City University is designed for intensive and highly effective one-on-one distance mentoring, supplemented by short and intensive writing workshop residencies.
In order to ensure the quality of the programme, only a limited number of students will be accepted each year, and candidates for the programme are judged on the quality of creative writing sample submitted for admission. The CityU MFA is an intensive and rigorous programme to develop writers in three literary genres: creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry.*
The MFA is particularly well-suited to working adults engaged in professional careers and other activities, for whom full-time study is not an option. We aim to recruit students from everywhere in the world where there is an interest in Asian writing (or diasporic Asian writing) in English.
* Please note that we currently do not accept candidates in writing for young adults and children.
