Creative Writing MFA

Get Involved

Our highly engaged and vibrant MFA Program holds numerous informal literary and social events throughout the year. We also have regularly scheduled programming and offer many opportunities for you to gain professional experience and get involved. 

Spoonbill Reading Series.  Pairing MFA students with faculty readers, this popular monthly event gives MFA students a chance to practice reading their work in public. 

Teaching Circles. MFAs come together to talk about publishing pedagogy essays, devising research topics, applying for funding, building syllabi, and implementing lesson plans. 

MFA Student Committee.  In addition to hosting social events, the committee, open to all MFAs, assists with job searches in the department, invites writers to campus, and sponsors workshops on teaching, submitting work, professional portfolios, and mock interviews. 

Nonfiction Salon. Held on the first Friday of each month during the academic year, the Salon is open to all writers in the program. Topics include applying for residencies, reading a literary contact, finding an agent, ethics in memoir, teaching nonfiction, delivering a successful live reading, and thesis-to-book. 

Saw Palm.  Founded by John Fleming in 2006, our program’s literary magazine has global reach. MFAs who wish to work on the magazine enroll in our Literary Editing and Publishing course and gain hands on experience as the journal is entirely MFA student-run. 

Writers Harvest.  Held in conjunction with the City of Tampa, this nationally-supported creative writing fundraiser addresses food insecurity in our community, and features local and USF writers giving readings and soliciting donations. 

Bridge Reading Series. Run by students in the MFA program, the Bridge Series pairs MFA students with our undergraduate creative writers for a celebratory evening of live readings. 

Program Assistant. Each year, an MFA student is selected from applicants submitted by interested students to assist the Area Director in running the MFA and undergraduate creative writing programs.