read. be BENNINGTON COLLEGE MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN WRITING
A
t Bennington’s two-year, low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing
program, you collaborate with faculty who are as distinguished in their teaching as well as on the page. Their collective achievement is seen in the shelves and reflected in uncountable literary honors. It is with this core group of faculty-practitioners that you craft bold new works of fiction, nonfiction, and/or poetry resulting from your discoveries. At Bennington students are as dedicated to the practice of reading as they are to the art writing, which is a practice that embodies our sense of mission: to connect each student with much of the best that has been done, while keeping the focus trained on his or her own emerging work. READ, WRITE. We do both—zealously. The reading feeds the writing and
“A twoyear epic exploration.” —Sven Birkerts, Director
vice versa, deepening the engagement, and making clear the vital need for reflective vision and imaginative expression in the bit-streaming world. Reading and writing bond student and instructor, and also, significantly, other students studying different genres. The bonds proliferate and they make a community, one that flourishes like the mythic Brigadoon during residencies, and then perpetuates itself other ways through the writing term—and beyond. As we have seen firsthand, when the boundary between reading and writing is porous, so, over time, is that between writing and life.
the writing seminars THE LOW- RESIDENCY FORMAT
The low-residency format is responsive to the literary sensibility and realities of modern life. It is an alternative time calculation, realistically reflecting the seasons and rhythms of your actual work habits. Twice a year, in January and June, you come together with faculty and every other MFA in Writing student on the Bennington campus. Here, between two mountain ranges in Southwestern Vermont, you share meals and woodsy walks with your fellow writers, attend faculty and student readings, receive critiques in workshops, vigorously debate substance and style, and imbibe panels on subjects pertinent to the professional writer. Concerts and performances spontaneously arise. All of your days are punctuated with lectures by visiting writers on aspects of literature from a writer’s point of view. These fertile immersions reverberate throughout the following term.
TUTORIALS ( NON - RESIDENCY WORK )
During the six-month tutorial periods, you devote at least 25 hours each week to writing and reading. You will work with four different teachers over the two-years required to complete the degree, exchanging regularly-scheduled packets of new creative work, revisions, critical responses to readings, and engaging in an ongoing literary/tutorial conversation with each PAST VISITING teacher. By intensely exposing you to different LECTURERS INCLUDE sensibilities you break the comfort bubble, and nothing is more salutary to the work. Frank Bidart
Jamaica Kincaid Mark Doty Galway Kinnell Francine Prose Mary Gaitskill Robert Bly Erica Jong Barry Hannah James Wood John Irving
THE 1:5 RATIO
Our faculty-student ratio of 1:5 makes each of your six-month terms of focused study and artistic production a true mentorship experience. During each residency and writing term, students work closely with one selected teacher. Every faculty writer has confirmed and reconfirmed a passion for the workshop and the one-on-one engagement that is the heart of the instruction. A student-faculty ratio of five to one assures that the closest attention will be paid to your work. The passion is sustained, the focus honed.
THE WRITERS BEFORE YOU
Your reading list for each term consists of 20-30 books—that’s 80—120 books during your time in the program. There is a reason that good writers are also good readers, and we think of your book list as an essential mentorship all its own. Together with your instructor you choose the books you’ll read throughout the term—with an eye toward history and breadth. On about half of these books, you write critical papers. These, along with regular installments of your creative work, go to your instructor, who responds with critiques, thus completing a continuous, lively cycle of study, appraisal, inspiration, expression, and response.
mentors
FIRST AND SECOND TERMS
• Five packet exchanges (approx one per month) with instructor. • Ongoing original work in each packet, including revisions. • 20–30 books read—approximately five per packet. • Selected nonfiction responses (2–3 pages) to half the books read. • Minimum 10-page critical essay based on readings THIRD TERM
• Five packet exchanges (approx one per month) with instructor—the due dates for
these are set by the teacher at each residency and are equally spaced throughout the term. Ongoing original work in each packet, including revisions. 20–30 books read—approximately five per packet. Selected nonfiction responses (2–3 pages each) to half the books read. Minimum 20-page critical essay based on readings.
• • • •
FOURTH TERM
• Five packet exchanges with instructor (approximately one per month). Ongoing • • •
original work directed towards completion of a portfolio/thesis.
Minimum of 10 books read. Selected nonfiction responses (2–3 pages each) to half the books read. Preparation of a final 25–30 minute literary lecture, with a 5–10 minute mandatory
•
Q&A following the lecture, to be given at the parting (fifth) residency.
Preparation of a formal 20-minute reading of one’s work to be given at the parting
(fifth) residency.
• Submission of a creative thesis to two faculty readers. • Submission of a creative thesis to Bennington College’s Crossett Library.
the ryhthm, the pacing, the movement of a program
TWO TEN - DAY RESIDENCIES
Students must also attend two 10-day residency periods a year, one in January and one in June, plus a final (fifth) residency to mark the completion of the course of study. These are high-energy and high-demand sessions and we require full participation. Students must arrive the day before and leave no earlier than after the final scheduled academic event of the residency (the final workshop on the final Sunday morning), being in residence the entire 10 days and planning travel arrangements and other commitments to insure no break in the 10-day concentration.
CREDITS
Sixteen graduate credits are conferred per term, upon successful completion of the work, and 64 credits are required for the MFA degree.
facts APPLY
You may enter the MFA in Writing program during either of the 10-day residency sessions held in January and June. March 1 April 1 September 1
Deadline to apply for June residency Deadline to apply for June residency financial aid Deadline to apply for January residency and financial aid
REQUIREMENTS
STRUCTURE
Five 10-day residencies and four six-month terms of mentorship
FACTS & FIGURES Total enrollment 103
Partial scholarships are available.
at a glance
NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES
Student-Faculty Ratio 5:1 Average workshop size 6 Tuition, including room and board for two residencies (2012-2013): $17,580
#1 Antioch University #2 BENNINGTON COLLEGE #3 Pacific University #4 Vermont College #5 Warren Wilson College
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL PERMIT NO. 7 BENNINGTON VT
Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or a combination of two
Best of the Best Low-Residency MFA Programs —The Atlantic
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CONCENTRATIONS
#1 Warren Wilson College #2 Vermont College of Fine Arts #3 BENNINGTON COLLEGE #4 Pacific University #5 Antioch University
FIRST-CLASS MAIL
To be considered for a dual-genre degree, you must apply in two different genres. If both of your manuscripts are accepted, you can attend the program for five terms, three in the major genre and two in the minor genre, attending a total of six residencies.
Top 5 Low-Residency MFA Programs Nationally —Poets & Writers
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE
DUAL- GENRE OPTION
where we rank
OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS BENNINGTON COLLEGE ONE COLLEGE DRIVE BENNINGTON VT 05201-9942
The manuscript you submit must be in the genre in which you intend to focus. Normally a bachelor’s degree is required to gain admission, but we may waive this requirement if the quality of your writing sample is extraordinary. (Note: This may impact federal loan eligibility.) While you may have completed some graduate work at other institutions, only credits you earn at Bennington will count toward your MFA degree.
Founded in 1993, Bennington College’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing program was one of the first low-residency creative writing programs in the country. It continues Bennington’s long literary history that has included such faculty as Mary Oliver, W.H. Auden, Bernard Malamud, Stanley Kunitz, and Howard Nemerov, as well as alumni writers Kiran Desai ‘93, Jonathan Lethem ‘86, Bret Easton Ellis ‘86, Donna Tart ‘86, and Michael Pollan ‘76. The MFA program itself has attracted some of America’s most prolific writers – many of whom remain core faculty.
Artwork for User Defined (4.125" x 6") Layout: sample BRM Env with IMB.lyt August 24, 2011
• Completed application • 2-3 page essay describing your reading life. • Writing sample of 20-25 pages of fiction or nonfiction or 10 pages of poetry. • Official transcripts from the colleges and universities you have attended. • Three letters of recommendations from people familiar with your writing and/or abilities.
a literary legacy
write to us. FIRST NAME
MIDDLE INITIAL
LAST NAME PREFERRED NAME m MALE
m FEMALE
MAILING ADDRESS CITY STATE
ZIP CODE
EMAIL ADDRESS TELEPHONE (AREA CODE) PRIMARY GENRE (FICTION, NONFICTION, OR POETRY) SECONDARY GENRE (IF APPLICABLE) BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
19 9 3
20 years
2 013
ALWAYS A CONTEMPORARY. NOW A CLASSIC.
BENNINGTON COLLEGE MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN WRITING
www.bennington.edu/MFAWriting 802-440-4452 writing@bennington.edu