蜜桃传媒

Writing in New York City

We see the writer鈥檚 life as an ongoing conversation and adventure. At the five-day New York City residencies in August and January, you鈥檒l work closely with distinguished writers, and you鈥檒l also be introduced to editors, literary agents and leaders at literary nonprofits. Our August residency will be held at the in downtown Brooklyn.听We offer concentrations in Fiction, Poetry and Creative Nonfiction, with workshops that culminate in the final thesis course, in which students complete a book-length manuscript. You may choose to focus on any one genre; you may design a path that explores two or more genres; or you may decide to work in a hybrid form.

Our MFA in Creative Writing program focuses intently on craft, with an emphasis on revision and close reading. We also offer practical guidance in publishing, teaching and building a sustainable life as a writer. We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse writing community,听and our goal is to help you find your own best approach to craft.

What are the benefits of a low-residency MFA?

A low-residency MFA Creative Writing program takes into account the complexity of each writer鈥檚 life and welcomes students who may have demanding work schedules or family obligations. This academic framework includes in-person learning at the intensive five-day residencies in New York City, and鈥攄uring the semester鈥攚ith small online classes and individualized mentorship. By the end of the two-year, 39-credit program, you鈥檒l complete a thesis, your own book-length manuscript.

Why choose to do your MFA at 蜜桃传媒 in New York?

Meet Our MFA in Creative Writing Faculty

Dedicated and successful writers themselves, our MFA faculty are all gifted teachers and highly skilled mentors for our writing students. Their goal is to help each student explore 鈥� and perfect 鈥� their own literary style and voice.

Jan-Henry Gray

Assistant Professor

Jan-Henry Gray (he/him), assistant professor of English, is the author of Documents, winner of chosen by D.A. Powell) and finalist for the 2019 Thom Gunn Award. His chapbook, Selected Emails, was published by speCt! Books. His poems have been included in various anthologies, including Undocupoetics: An Introduction (HarperCollins/Harper Perennial, 2025), Permanent Record (Nightboat, 2024), (Green Linden Press, 2024), Queer Nature (Autumn House, 2022) and Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color (Nightboat, 2018). His other writings, including essays and reviews, have been featured by the Academy of American Poets, Poetry Foundation, Poetry Daily, The Rumpus, The Margins, DIAGRAM, Colorado Review, Newcity and Teachers & Writers Magazine.

He has received fellowships from 听补苍诲听 as well as awards from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute and the Academy of American Poets. In 2019, he co-organized Writers for Migrant Justice, a nationwide reading and fundraiser for Immigrant Families Together. He also served as a mentor for the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, a teaching artist for City Lore (New York City) and a co-curator for Meanwhile (Chicago). Born in the Philippines and raised in California, he currently lives in New York.

Katherine Hill

Associate Professor

Katherine Hill (she/her)听is the author听of two novels:听听(Scribner, 2013) and听 (Ig Publishing, 2020), which was a New York Times听 Editors’ Choice. With Sarah Chihaya, Merve Emre and Juno Richards, she is also coauthor of The Ferrante Letters: An Experiment in Collective Criticism听(Columbia University Press, 2020),which won the PROSE Award for Literature and an Honorable Mention in the MLA Prize for Collaborative, Bibliographical, or Archival Scholarship. Her听听have appeared in numerous publications, including AGNI,听The Believer,听Bookforum,听Colorado Review,听The Common,听The Guardian,听Literary Review, n+1,听The Nation,听The New Republic,听The Paris Review Daily,听The Philadelphia Inquirer,听Post45,听Story,听The New York Times,听San Francisco Chronicle听补苍诲听Tin House. Her writing has been supported by the New York Public Library, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Corporation of Yaddo.

Maya Marshall

Assistant Professor

听(she/her) is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at 蜜桃传媒. She is the author of听All the Blood Involved in Love听(Haymarket Books, 2022) and a cofounder of听underbelly, the journal on the practical magic of poetic revision. She holds fellowships from several institutions, including听,听听and Vermont Studio Center. Marshall’s writing has been published or is forthcoming in听Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores听(Penguin, 2025),听Prairie Schooner,听Boston Review,听Crazyhorse,听Best New Poets,听and elsewhere. She is an editor-at-large for听.

Ren茅 Steinke

Professor, Director

Ren茅 Steinke (she/her)听is the author of the novel,听听 (Riverhead, 2014), which was named one of National Public Radio鈥檚 Great Reads and an Amazon Book-of-the-Month.听Darin Strauss called it听鈥渁 large-hearted, big-brained book.鈥� Steinke is the recipient of a fellowship from the听听Her second novel,听Holy Skirts听(HarperCollins, 2005), a fictionalized biography of Dada artist and poet the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her first novel is听The Fires听(William Morrow 1999). Her essays and book reviews have appeared in听The New York Times,听Vogue, Salon.com, 4Columns,听Bookforum听and in anthologies. She is a Professor of English and the director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Igor Webb

Professor

Igor Webb was born in Slovakia and grew up in the Inwood neighborhood of New York City. His poems have appeared in听The New Yorker,听Poetry听(Chicago),听Stand.听and听The Hong Kong Review, among others. Among his publications are听Rereading the Nineteenth Century听(Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and the memoir听Against Capitulation听(London: Quartet Books, 1984). His story 鈥淩eza Says,鈥� originally published in听The Hudson Review, was selected as a Distinguished Story for听Best American Short Stories 2012.听Christopher Smart鈥檚 Cat, a cross- or multi-genre work鈥攑art memoir, part literary talk, part fiction, lauded by the late Philip Roth鈥攚as published in 2018 by Dos Madres Press.听Buster Brown鈥檚 America, a collection of nonfiction, including the series 鈥淭his Old Writer: A Journal of a Plague Year,鈥� appeared in the 鈥淥dd Volumes鈥� series of听听in Spring 2022. He is the winner of a听听a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and a Leverhulme Fellowship. He holds a BA from Tufts University, and an MA and PhD from Stanford University.

The Residency, 鈥淢anhattan Week鈥�

The听residencies听听take听place听over听five days听in mid-August听and mid-January, when students meet with the creative writing faculty, guest writers and New York-based literary and publishing professionals. Students reside in a local NYC hotel for the duration of the residency. In addition to workshops, lectures, individual conferences, publishing presentations and readings, faculty and students meet together for meals, and there is also time set aside for connecting with peers.

Our August residency will be held at the Center for Fiction in downtown Brooklyn.

Fall and Spring Semesters

offers you the chance to chart your own path. You can choose to focus on writing a novel, for instance, or you may choose to write poetry one semester and nonfiction the next, as you work toward a thesis that combines both. Our program also offers practical courses in helping you create a working writer鈥檚 life, with guidance in publishing, teaching, literary advocacy and creating your own literary community.

Program Info

Application Requirements

We accept applications on a rolling basis.听We will continue to review applications听 for the Fall until July 1. Accepted students will be considered for partial scholarships.

Applicants should submit the following:

• . The $60 fee is waived for this program.
• Final transcript stating bachelor鈥檚 degree from an accredited four-year institution
• Official transcripts from all institutions attended
• Personal statement: Tell us something about your writing life and what you hope to accomplish during the program. Tell us what you have read, are now reading and what you intend to read. Describe your current literary interests, your current or future challenges, and anything else you think is important for us to know about you. Please limit your essay to 1,000 words.
• Manuscript in only one of these forms:
  • Poetry: 10鈥�15 pages (approximately a dozen poems).
  • Fiction: Maximum of 30 pages, double-spaced, which can consist of one or more stories or part of a novel. If an excerpt from a longer work is submitted, please include a one-paragraph description of the work as a whole.
  • Creative nonfiction: Maximum of 30 pages, double-spaced, which can consist of one or more pieces or part of a longer work. If an excerpt from a longer work is submitted, please include a one-paragraph description of the work as a whole.
  • Mixed-genre work: Maximum of 30 pages, double-spaced.
• Encouraged, but not required:听One letter of reference from an academic or professional contact who can tell us about your work ethic and your ability to engage with others within an academic/artistic community