• People in a classroom face someone who is talking to them.

    Creative Writing

  • Take the Next Step

  • Contact Us

    General Admission Contact
    The New School for Social Research
    Office of Admission
    72 Fifth Avenue, 1st floor
    New York, NY 10011
    212.229.5600 or 800.523.5411
    [email protected]

    Program Contact
     66 West 12th St.
    New York, NY 10011
    [email protected]
     212.229.5611

    Directors, Chairs, and Coordinators
    John Reed, Director, Creative nssr Program
    Laura Cronk, Chair of Poetry
    J. Mae Barizo, Chair of the Undergraduate Creative nssr Program
    Caron Levis, nssr for Children and Young Adults Coordinator
    Helen Schulman, Chair of Fiction
    Margaret Rhee, Chair of Arts nssr

    Program Staff
    Lori Lynn Turner, Associate Director of Administration

  • Admission Links

  • The New School invites you to join a community of diverse writers, become part of New York City’s publishing world, and build a network of support on campus and beyond. Our prestigious MFA Creative Writing program is designed to help you develop your writing in supportive workshops and literature seminars led by an internationally recognized faculty and renowned authors.

    As an MFA student at The New School, you can choose your concentration—in Arts Writing, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Writing for Children and Young Adults—and receive personalized faculty mentorship and faculty and peer critiques. Innovative courses in publishing and multimedia storytelling engage you in the development of literature. Popular graduate minors include Impact Entrepreneurship and Transmedia and Digital Storytelling. Or you can apply to WriteOn NYC!, a New School–funded fellowship program providing MFA students with high-quality teaching experience in area middle schools and high schools. All students benefit from evening classes and events, which enable them to work or attend responsibilities during the day while enrolled in a  full-time program.

    Writer's Life in NYC

    Our West Village campus offers writers the opportunity to live and write in one of the world’s great cultural hubs.

    Write Your Book 

    Writers in our program go on to get published, with over 40+ books published annually by alumni and faculty.

    60++ Annual Events

    Our Writer’s Life Colloquium hosts events, readings and award ceremonies to help students find their own future in the literary community and exposure to many voices and genres.

    Community of Writers

    Your classmates are your community, providing opportunities to build ideas, solicit feedback and form lasting friendships.

  • Creative Writing Degrees

    The Department of Creative Writing offers an MFA degree in Creative Writing, which includes a choice of concentration in Arts Writing, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Writing for Children and Young Adults.

  • The New School's faculty for writing and literature is a veritable who's who of American writers. Core faculty serve as coordinators and advisors for each genre of study offered by the program. The MFA program's extensive roster of full-time, part-time, and visiting faculty members include award-winning poets, novelists, essayists, and visual artists who also work across and between genres.

  • Related Programs

    A student smiles while talking to another student in a classroom.

    In addition to the renowned MFA in Creative Writing, The New School offers other programs and opportunities for writing students. These include noncredit courses and summer intensives, as well as an undergraduate major in the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students, the Writing and Democracy Honors Program, and undergraduate minors in related fields.

    Summer Writing Intensive
    Continuing Education Courses
    Writing & Democracy Honors Program
    BA in Creative Writing
    Undergraduate Creative Writing Courses
    Paris Writing Intensive Certificate

    • The New School Bookshelf

      We are proud to feature books recently published by The New School's Creative Writing community.

      • The New School Bookshelf - The Friend

        The Friend

        Sigrid Nunez, Faculty
        National Book Award for Fiction
      • The New School Bookshelf - Hurricane Child

        Hurricane Child

        Kacen Callender, MFA '14
        Stonewall Book Award
      • The New School Bookshelf - The Impeachers

        The Impeachers

        Brenda Wineapple, Faculty
        "Vivid and perceptive" The New York Times
      • The New School Bookshelf - The January Children

        The January Children

        Safia Elhillo, MFA '15
        Arab American Book Award
      • The New School Bookshelf - Good Talk

        Good Talk

        Mira Jacob, Faculty and MFA '01
        "[A] showstopping memoir about race in America" Kirkus Reviews

    • Take The Next Step

    Submit your application

    Undergraduates

    To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

    Undergraduate Adult Learners

    To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

    Graduates

    To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.