This two-year master of fine arts program offers an individualized approach in an atmosphere of cooperation and encouragement for the college graduate
writer who wants to concentrate on his or her craft in
a community of writers and who seeks to expand
his or her knowledge of contemporary
literature.
The 24 students enrolled in this highly regarded program have a strong interest in and aptitude for writing and literary study. They work successfully in every genre, including poetry, short fiction,
novels, and creative nonfiction.
The Hollins program has one of the highest publishing records
of any graduate school in the country. Among the many renowned writers who have graduated
from the program are Pulitzer Prize winners Annie Dillard, Henry Taylor,
and Natasha Trethewey; novelists and story writers Madison Smartt Bell, Kiran Desai, Tony D'Souza, David Huddle, Adam Ross, and Jill
McCorkle; poets and essayists Adrian Blevins, Jenny Boully, Scott Cairns, Wyn Cooper, Kevin Prufer, and Mary Ruefle; novelists and memoirist Richard McCann and Karen Salyer McElmurray; photographer Sally Mann; and filmmaker
George Butler.
At Hollins, faculty members take
considerable time to work with students, both in and out of the classroom.
R.H.W. Dillard, long-time Hollins professor, and a novelist and poet,
notes, “We do not really teach creative writing. We do not produce writers
who write a certain way. We do provide the guidance of professionals, and we
do everything we can to make the program what the students here need.” The
graduates echo Dillard’s words, saying that the criticism and guidance
of Hollins professors and visiting writers help shape and discipline their
writing without squeezing them into a mold.
In addition to NEA, Guggenheim, and Fulbright awards, graduates of the creative writing program have won prestigious fellowships and residencies, including:
- Will Schutt (M.F.A. '09) was awarded the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Stadler Fellowship at Bucknell University. He is writer-in-residence at the James Merrill House, 2011-12.
- Luke Johnson (M.F.A. '09) Tennessee Williams Scholarship to the Sewanee Writers' Conference, 2009.
- Scott Loring Sanders (M.F.A. '05) writing fellowship, the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France.
- Lisa Bower (M.F.A. '07), Vermont Studio Center residency.
- Matthew Klam (M.A. '92) writing fellowship, Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown.
- Leslee Becker (M.A. '80), Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University.
Each academic year, Hollins sponsors a reading series and a literary festival, as well as the semester-long Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Writer-in-Residence, bringing talented writers of many backgrounds to campus for readings, talks, and contact with students. Recent and current visiting writers include: Kelly Cherry, Wyn Cooper, Lydia Davis, Carl Dennis, Mark Doty, Claudia Emerson, Nick Flynn, Alice Fulton, Edward P. Jones, Mat Johnson, Patricia Spears Jones, Jamaica Kincaid, Valerie Martin, Paul Muldoon, David Payne, Ron Rash, Adam Ross, George Saunders, Christine Schutt, David Shields, James Tate, Richard Tillinghast, Natasha Trethewey, Dara Wier, Charles Wright.
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