Spanish Creative Writing MFA

Spanish Creative Writing

About The University of Iowa has a long tradition of welcoming writers in Spanish, as both professors and visitors, among them such figures as Jorge Luis Borges, Augusto Monterroso, Bárbara Jacobs, José Donoso, Juan Sánchez Peláez, Fernando del Paso, Margo Glantz, Carlos Germán Belli and Óscar Hahn.

Building on this tradition and in collaboration with the International Writing Program, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese established the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in Creative Writing in Spanish in 2012.

Students in the program benefit from working with world-renowned faculty in small classes and workshops, and in having opportunities to meet and work with the many poets, writers, playwrights, and translators on campus and in Iowa City. The University of Iowa is known as the Writing University; it is home to the Iowa’s Writers Workshop, and the International Writing Program, and the MFA in Literary Translation to name a few. Iowa City’s designation as a UNESCO “City of Literature” means that there is always something going on for writers in town –public readings, writing groups, networking events, and opportunities for publishing.

Óscar Hahn and Jorge Luis Borges, 1976. cortesia de Oscar Hahn

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“

The MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish program at the University of Iowa was the room of my own that I needed to finally have time to write, to read, to reflect. And

“tallerear”, our invented verb, was the action that gave meaning to that space,

because it was in the workshops that we shared what was written, and read what was shared, and that was where our texts grew, where I learned the trade.

”

- Elisa Ferrer, Winner of the Tusquets Prize for her debut novel Temporada de avispas

Coursework This is a fully funded two-year program culminating in a creative thesis (a book of poetry, a novel, a collection of stories, a non-fiction book, a hybrid book) and the awarding of a Master of Fine Arts Degree.

Students complete four semesters of graduate work, totaling at least 48 semester hours. Course requirements include annual enrollment in both a Fiction and a Poetry writing Workshop as well as graduate-level courses in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Electives include additional work in either Spanish and Portuguese or in related extra-departmental units in English, such as seminars of the Writers Workshop or courses from the International Writing Program or the MFA in Literary Translation, as well as additional workshops –on non-fiction writing, writing for film and theater, or developing a longer creative piece.

Workshops At the core of the Spanish MFA experience is a sort of systematization of the conversational tradition of social “tertulias” in the Hispanic context. In workshop, the professor strives to establish what the Venezuelan poet Eugenio Montejo called the establishment of a “cordial climate,” serving as an interlocutor to help students clarify their individual style.

Submitted manuscripts are read and commented upon every week, always according to the aesthetic aims present in the text itself, with the help of comments from the student author at the beginning of the course in a statement of aesthetic intention.

Workshops also analyze texts by established authors from the perspective of the creative process. This allows us to reflect on some key elements of this process and on the radically different ways of obtaining excellence in a text.

Due to the diverse origin of the students in the MFA program, the workshop also benefits from a great diversity of ways of using Spanish.

During the final semester of the program, students, advised by one of the MFA professors, submit their creative writing thesis–works of fiction and non-fiction (or a hybrid) must be at least 80 pages; poetry manuscripts or other brief forms should be at least 50. The thesis must include an introduction about the poetics of the project itself. This thesis is reviewed by a committee comprising a least three members.

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Readings

Subtitulados is a series of readings delivered in Spanish with English subtitles, organized by Spanish MFA students in collaboration with students from other programs at the University of Iowa, including the MFA Literary Translation, the International Writing Program, and the Iowa Writers Workshop. The readings, in which students present recently written texts, take place in city venues (cafes, clubs) and attract a diverse audience.

José Donoso Series

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Founded in 2020, the José Donoso Series is a program of readings and conferences by distinguished visiting writers who speak with MFA students about their creative process. The series was created in homage to the Chilean writer José Donoso, who taught at the University of Iowa in the 1960s and later participated in the International Writing Program, and who was the first person to raise the idea of a creative writing program in Spanish at this University. Donoso, in addition to being a novelist, was a prominent writer of journals detailing his own creative process. The University of Iowa Special Collections and Archives holds “the José Donoso Papers”, a collection that includes correspondence, notebooks, and manuscripts.

Publications Iowa Literaria is a creative magazine edited by the MFA professors, whose Writing Committee is made up of Spanish MFA students. The magazine has sections dedicated to creative writing in Spanish (poetry, theater, fiction, non-fiction), interviews, translations, and book reviews. In addition, each issue features a series of articles dedicated to a special topic. The magazine includes previously unpublished texts from writers at all points in their careers, from acclaimed figures to debut authors. Writers who have contributed work include Ida Vitale, Antonio Gamoneda, Rafael Cadenas, Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Óscar Hahn, Piedad Bonnett, Mariana Henríquez, Liliana Colanzi, Luigi Amara and Alejandro Zambra, among others. Student participation includes soliciting writers and selecting and editing texts, which allows them to grow as critical readers and develop their editorial skills.

Movimiento Perpetuo is a series of books containing a selection of texts from the creative theses of recently graduated MFA students. The first volume was published in collaboration with students at the Center for the Book at the University of Iowa (left image). The second volume has been published with The Song Bridge Project (right image).

Covers of Movimiento Perpetuo publications

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Writing at Iowa The University of Iowa is home to a vibrant array of writing programs that MFA students can engage with.

• Iowa Writers' Workshop • Nonfiction Writing Program • Undergraduate Creative Writing Track • International Writing Program • Iowa Playwrights Workshop • M.F.A. in Literary Translation • Creative Writing summer programs • Arts Share: Creative Writing • Iowa Youth Writing Project The campus and city hold multiple public literary readings throughout the year: • Department of Spanish & Portuguese • The Subtitulados and Anthology reading series • International Writing Program readings • "Live from Prairie Lights" Reading Series • Writers Workshop Readings • Arts Iowa calendar • Mission Creek Festival

Iowa City Students in the program have opportunities to meet and work with the many poets, writers, playwrights, and translators on campus and in Iowa City. The University of Iowa is known as the Writing University; it is home to the Iowa’s Writers Workshop, and the International Writing Program, with which we enjoy a close relationship. Iowa City’s designation as a UNESCO “City of Literature” means that there is always something going on for writers in town–public readings, writing groups, networking events, and opportunities for publishing.

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Selected Alumni Publications

Program Faculty

LUIS MUÑOZ DIRECTOR OF M.F.A. CREATIVE WRITING ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

HORACIO CASTELLANOS MOYA

Luis Muñoz was born in Granada, Spain. He has degrees in Hispanic Philology and Romance Philology, and a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature. In his hometown, he directed the University of Granada’s Aula de Literatura (1992-2000), as well as the poetry magazine Hélice, from its founding until its closure (1992-2002). He worked in Madrid as an advisor to the Residencia de Estudiantes. In 1994, he edited the anthology El lugar de la poesía (The Place of Poetry) and he has translated, among other titles, El cuaderno del viejo (The Notebook of the Old Man) by Giuseppe Ungaretti (Pre-Textos, 2000). His most recent books are Vecindad (Vicinity, Visor, 2018) and Querido silencio (Dear Silence, Tusquets, 2006). Poesía reunida (Cleaning Fish. Collected Poems). He has published the books, including Septiembre (September), Manzanas amarillas (Yellow Apples), El apetito (The Appetite), and Correspondencias (Correspondences). He has received, among others, the Ciudad de Córdoba, Generación del 27, Ojo Crítico, and El Público awards. Visit our website for full faculty biography.

Horacio Castellanos Moya is a writer and a journalist from El Salvador. For two decades he worked as editor of news agencies, magazines and newspapers in Mexico, Guatemala and his own country. As a fiction writer, he was granted residencies in a program supported by the Frankfurt International Book Fair (2004-2006) and in the City of Asylum program in Pittsburgh (2006-2008). He has also taught in the Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2009, he was guest researcher at the University of Tokyo with a fellowship granted by the Japan Foundation. He has published eleven novels, five short story collections, two essay books, and a diary. His novels have been translated into twelve languages; five of them (Senselessness, The She-Devil in the mirror, Dance with Snakes, Revulsion, and Tyrant memory) are available in English. He was awarded the Manuel Rojas Iberoamerican Prize for Fiction 2014, by the Government of Chile. Visit our website for full faculty biography.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

ANA MERINO PROFESSOR

Ana Merino is a Full Professor of Hispanic Studies and 2016 Collegiate Scholar.

In 2009, Merino created the Spanish MFA program at the University of Iowa, serving as director of the program from 2011-2018. She was a Member of the ICAF (International Comic Arts Forum) Executive Committee and Directors Board Member at The Center for Cartoon Studies. She has published nine books of poems, including: Preparativos para un viaje (winner of the Adonais Prize in 1994), La voz de los relojes (2000), Juegos de niños (winner of the Fray Luis de León Prize in 2003/translated into English and published by Harbor Mountain Press in 2012), Compañera de celda (2006) (translated into English and published

by Harbor Mountain Press in 2007), and Los buenos propósitos (2015). She is the author of a youth novel: El hombre de los dos corazones (2009), a children album: Martina y los piojos (2017) and four plays. Her poems have appeared in more than thirty anthologies, some translated into Portuguese, Slovenian, French, Dutch, Bulgarian, or Italian. Visit our website for full faculty biography.

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Selected Faculty Publications

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FUNDING We are committed to providing financial aid to support graduate studies and enhance their development as teachers and scholars.

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The primary means of financial support is through teaching

assistantships,

which

are

awarded competitively.

In addition, the Department will propose three students to receive an Iowa Arts Fellowship, providing

How to Apply

M.F.A. students with a first- year fellowship, and allowing them to focus on completing their scholarly activities and creative works.

Interested students should start the process in UI Admissions, where they

For more information on other

can find information on the Graduate College Admissions requirements,

funding opportunities, please see

including English Proficiency Requirements.

the

Funding

Your

UI

Education

page for graduate students.

The list of requirements is as follows: • The University of Iowa Graduate College application form

In order to receive full consider-

• Three letters of recommendation from faculty members familiar with the

ation for financial aid, applications

student's record, or, for applicants to the M.F.A., letters from writers familiar with

should be received by January

the student’s writing.

15th.

• A one- to two-page clearly articulated statement of purpose.

• Official transcripts from all universities and/or colleges attended; students should possess an undergraduate degree in a relevant field, with at least a 3.50 grade point average.

• Scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS. For the TOEFL, we require an overall IBT score of 100 or higher, with a minimum score of 26 on the speaking component, is required before an offer of financial aid can be made. The University’s TOEFL school code is 6681. For the IELTS, we require an overall score of 7 with no sub score less than 6.

• Sample of creative work in Spanish of at least 30 (but no more than 50) pages of prose fiction or theater or 20 pages of poetry that demonstrate excellent creative potential and native-like proficiency in Spanish.

• The Graduate Record Examination (GRE - optional, but highly encouraged).

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For more information: span-creativewriting@uiowa.edu