George Mason University MFA Creative Writing

Reviewer's Name:

Anonymous Poet

Review Date

April 04, 2009

Year of Graduation:

2010

Review Title:

Great program, does not churn out the "workshopped poem/story/essay"

Full Review of the Program:

I can't really speak to the fiction or non-fiction programs but the poetry program here is excellent. The faculty have a wide range of interests, which means the students do as well. We are all working on very different projects in very different styles and the faculty are well-equipped to help all of us. This is not one of those programs that churns out the "workshop poem" at the end of everything. Workshops are run so that you read the work for what the work is doing, not based on your own or the professor's aesthetics. Students here (in all genres) are well-published. Many recent graduates have major publications out or forthcoming.

Advice to Prospective Students:

TA-ships are awarded to roughly half of the poets admitted for a given year. If you don't think you want to teach in the future you'd do better to get a real job in the area. If you think you might be interested in teaching down the road the TA experience will definitely help you figure out if you are or not. As a TA here you design your own syllabus and teach two sections of composition, then literature, then potentially creative writing, which is pretty amazing and rewarding, but might take time away from your own writing.