Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing

Stonecoast connects emerging writers with award-winning authors to create a uniquely inclusive and challenging low-residency MFA in creative writing. Our innovative curriculum and supportive community will propel your writing forward. You’ll work with writers who care deeply about the power of telling stories to reimagine and reshape the world we share. At Stonecoast, we provide mentorship, structure, and community so you can find your voice.

“When I entered my first semester at Stonecoast, I had a vague idea of writing a linked fiction collection. I focused on this project for the next two years, guided and encouraged by incredible mentors and peers. By the time I graduated, I had a mostly-finished novel, ready for querying. Less than a year later, the book was accepted for publication by Europa Editions. Though I attribute some of this good fortune to pure luck, I know with absolute certainty I never would have written The Road to Dalton, or the subsequent novels in the series, if it hadn’t been for Stonecoast. I am the author I am today because of my time in the program.”

~ Shannon Bowring, author of The Dalton Novels

“At Stonecoast I found a community that cared about the power and the importance of telling stories. The program upholds rigor and craft and always respects a writer’s individual voice.”

— Jennifer Clement (Stonecoast 2013), President PEN International

Pursuing a career in writing

Lea Smith (she/her) is a current graduate student at Stonecoast and will graduate in June 2025. She sat down and shared her experience as a student at USM and gave an inside look at how she decided on her area of study and seeking a career in writing.

Low-Residency with High Standards

Stonecoast students lead busy, active lives. Which is why faculty mentors work with those students to co-create a study plan which reflects the student’s goals and fits their life.

Bi-annual residencies ensure that every student can connect with the writing faculty and their peers.
Our innovative curriculum supports those students who wish to study a genre deeply as well as those whose interests cross the boundaries of genre.
In addition to learning writing craft, our community triest to instill the habits that will sustain your writing career.

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Writing for Inclusivity and Social Equity

As Audre Lorde put it, “You will never dismantle the master’s house with the master’s tools.”

Thankfully, writers have access to some powerful tools. Consider empathy, which cuts against systems of power and repression. It is subversive. Reading and writing–both of which depend upon our ability to bridge distances between and inside people–are fueled by empathy.

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