Applications Still Being Accepted for June Cohort
The Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University has announced that its June residency will be held entirely online. The program usually has students meet in person on the Wilkes University campus in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for its residencies in January and June.
From June 12 to 20, 2020 students of the program will meet via Zoom, an online video and audio conferencing platform. Student participants will require a microphone, camera and reliable internet connections. All classes and other presentations usually held during residency will be presented virtually. Applications are still being accepted for students wishing to begin the program at the June residency. The deadline to apply is May 15. To apply and for more information visit www.wilkes.edu/creativewriting.
The Graduate Creative Writing program is offered in two formats. In the low-residency format, students learn online during the project semester and usually attend two eight-day in-person residencies each January and June. For the weekender program, students learn online and attend four face-to-face weekend class sessions each term. The weekender program also is being conducted entirely online at this time.
Wilkes offers the master of arts and master of fine art degrees in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, publishing and documentary filmmaking. Program faculty are working, producing writers who mentor students one-on-one through the process of creating a full-length creative project. Among the program’s nationally renowned faculty members are J. Michael Lennon, Kaylie Jones, Susan Cartsonis, Taylor Polites, Christine Gelineau, Beverly Donofrio, Ross Klavan and Jan Quackenbush. In a review process that is unique to Wilkes, students submit their final creative manuscripts to literary agents, publishers or producers for feedback, which is delivered during a private session with the outside reader.
Notable alumni include Marlon James, author of the 2015 American Book Award and 2015 Man Booker Prize Winner “A Brief History of Seven Killings” and the recent 2019 National Book Award nominee “Black Leopard, Red Wolf”; Morowa Yejide, author of the novel “Time of the Locust,” which was longlisted for the 2015 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction; and Scranton native Barbara J. Taylor, author of “Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night,” which was a Publisher’s Weekly 2014 summer reads pick, and its sequel, “All Waiting Is Long.”
The mission of the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing is to educate students in the craft, life, and business practices of seven areas of study — fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, creative nonfiction, publishing and making documentary films — through a commitment to excellent mentorships, publishing opportunities, and industry-specific internships. The program offers a nationally recognized and widely reputed graduate creative writing program where students and faculty find the writing support, community, and market opportunities to become lifelong, productive, professional writers in all fields.
