MFA Program Requirements Poetry
Poetry with a Focus on Versecraft
- (Visit the program's blog site dedicated to the poetry concentration)
"Writing in a new form every week challenges my growth as a poet, and immersion into the history of form and innovation constantly renews my sensibilities about what a poem is - and does." - Laura Stuckey, MFA Student, 2010
- Study in the only program that teaches a full range of versescraft, including free verse
- Learn under highly acclaimed poets
- Connect with prestigious editors and publishers
Students come to Western with something to say - the curriculum of the MFA poetry concentration helps poets master how to say it.
Verse is not only a way of saying something; it is also a way of doing something that prose cannot do. That is why, in this program, students study the greatest possible range of how to do these things, from meters to stanzas, sonnet to ghazal, aubade to serenade, verse drama to verse satire.
Inspired by the vision of award winning poet, David Rothman, this concentration strives for a level of excellent rare in many MFA programs. Through exhaustive study of the masters and of multiple styles, forms, and rhythms, students are able to realize their own unique voice, exploring new ways to compose and inspire the art of poetics.
As a poetry concentration student, you can expect to achieve demonstrable mastery of a wide range of poetic forms and techniques while acquiring historical and analytical knowledge about them. You learn how to compose language, utilizing multiple forms and techniques from stanzas to free verse. You participate fully in the literary world, sharing your vision through public speaking and relevant prose. You learn how to write for your audience, how to communicate your vision and voice in a way that will be shared and remembered. And, finally, you learn how to live as a poet, how to turn your passion for language and your love of these forms into your career.
The MFA Concentration in Poetry requires 60 credits:
CRWR 600 Summer Orientation 3 credits
CRWR 631 Scansion Immersion 2 credits
CRWR 632 Public Performance 2 credits
CRWR 633 Poetry and Music 2 credits
CRWR 636 Metrical Traditions & Versification I 6 credits
CRWR 637 History of the English Language and Teaching Poetry 6 credits
CRWR 641 Metrical Traditions & Versification II 6 credits
CRWR 642 Poetry Book Reviewing and Translation 6 credits
CRWR 646* Narrative Forms in Poetry 6 credits
CRWR 647* The Satirical Tradition and Dramatic Verse 6 credits
CRWR 651 Advanced Poetry Genres in Particular Forms 6 credits
CRWR 652 Rhyme 6 credits
CRWR 694 Thesis 3 credits
*In place of either CRWR 646 or CRWR 647, choose one of the following:
CRWR 606 What Do You Know (about Fiction)? 6 credits
CRWR 607 The Truth and a Good Story: Research for the Fiction Writer 6 credits
CRWR 665 The Narrative in Picture Form 6 credits
CRWR 667 Screenwriting Genre 6 credits
Poetry as a Second Area of Emphasis
Students pursuing this concentration as a second area of emphasis must earn 30 credits within the concentration as follows:
All four of the following:
CRWR 600 Summer Orientation 1 credit
CRWR 636 Metrical Traditions & Versification I 6 credits
CRWR 637 History of the English Language and Teaching Poetry 6 credits
CRWR 694 Thesis 3 credits
Supporting courses in consultation with advisor, 12 credits
One of the following:
CRWR 631 Scansion Immersion 2 credits
CRWR 632 Public Performance 2 credits
CRWR 633 Poetry and Music 2 credits
Students may count CRWR 636 if taken already to fulfill the out-of-concentration course required by the primary area of emphasis.
