Creative Portfolio
MFA Writing Sample
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If you are applying to the MFA Creative Writing program, you should submit both a research paper and a portfolio of your creative work. The research paper should show the admissions committee that you are capable of graduate-level research. It should contain primary and secondary sources, citations, bibliography, end/footnotes, etc. The subject of the paper does not necessarily need to be English-related. The creative portfolio should consist of literary writing of a single genre–poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Submit twenty double-spaced pages of prose or ten pages of poetry. Please specify the genre at the top of your submission. Submissions that exceed the page limit will not be considered. The portfolio, of course, should feature your best work. Whether it consists of a group of poems, a short story, a novel chapter, or an essay, it should demonstrate clearly that you can do the work that will be required of you in the program.