Creative Writing in Spanish (MFA)

Program Description

Due to its location in New York City, home to an important and diverse Latino and Latin American community, NYU is uniquely situated to offer a graduate Creative Writing Program in Spanish. New York has been a meeting point for Spanish and Latin American writers and journalists since the 19th century and a home to many of them. José Martí (Cuba), Gabriela Mistral (Chile), Federico García Lorca (Spain), Julia de Burgos (Puerto Rico), Francisco Ayala (Spain), Pedro Pietri (Puerto Rico) Manuel Ramos Otero (Puerto Rico), Manuel Puig (Argentina) and Reinaldo Arenas (Cuba), among many others, have in the past either settled in New York or spent extended periods of time there.

The end of the 20th century has seen this community of writers grow considerably both in visibility and cultural significance. Nowadays many Spanish and Latin American writers, such as Carmen Boullosa (Mexico), Cecilia Vicuña (Chile), Eduardo Lago (Spain), Mercedes Roffé (Argentina), Carmen Valle (Puerto Rico), and Roger Santiváñez (Peru) make of New York their temporary or permanent home.

Dada su ubicación privilegiada—la ciudad alberga a numerosas y diversas comunidades latinoamericanas—New York University es el lugar ideal para cursar un programa de escritura creativa en español. Desde el siglo XIX Nueva York viene atrayendo a escritores y periodistas españoles y latinoamericanos, y ha sido lugar de residencia de muchos de ellos. José Martí (Cuba), Gabriela Mistral (Chile), Federico García Lorca (España), Julia de Burgos (Puerto Rico), Francisco Ayala (España), Pedro Pietri (Puerto Rico), Manuel Ramos Otero (Puerto Rico), Manuel Puig (Argentina) y Reinaldo Arenas (Cuba), entre otros, vivieron en Nueva York o pasaron allí largas temporadas.

Esta comunidad de escritores ha aumentado considerablemente a lo largo del siglo veinte. Hoy son muchos los escritores hispanos que residen en esta ciudad o que alternan largas permanencias en ella con regresos a sus respectivos países, como Carmen Boullosa (México), Cecilia Vicuña (Chile), Eduardo Lago (España), Mercedes Roffé (Argentina), Carmen Valle (Puerto Rico) o Roger Santiváñez (Perú), para nombrar sólo algunos.

Admissions

All applicants to the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) are required to submit the general application requirements, which include:

• Academic Transcripts
• Test Scores (if required)
• Applicant Statements
• Résumé or Curriculum Vitae
• Letters of Recommendation, and
• A non-refundable application fee.

See Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Program Requirements

This program is a two-year program of 32 credits (i.e., eight courses, two per semester) and a creative writing thesis at the end. Workshops will be offered in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, theater, and translation. Additional workshops will be added to the program as needed.

¹

At least two in the field in which the student plans to specialize.

²

May be in the Creative Writing Program, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, or in another department, with an adviser’s approval.

Additional Program Requirements

Master of Fine Arts Thesis

Students will also write a thesis with the counsel of a faculty member and a second reader at the second year of their course of study. Students write this final independent project consisting of between 50-80 pages for prose, 40-50 pages for theater or translation (including source and target languages), 30 pages for poetry. This final project may include, or may be an expansion of work begun during previous courses, but it should represent a culminating effort to shape stories, prose pieces, a long narrative, a literary translation or a group of poems into a coherent, self-sufficient work.

Sample Plan of Study

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will:

1. Learn to write, read, and revise creative pieces including the following genres and forms: Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Theater, Literary Translation, Film Script, Hybrid Writing, Digital Writing. They will become proficient in copy-editing and style editing.
2. Gain expertise in selection and organization of materials, and virtually proofreading, copy editing and style editing of literary texts submitted by participating as Committee Members and/or Board Members in the layout and contents supervision of Temporales, our MFA online magazine.
3. Be able to teach Language courses in Spanish, including elementary and intermediate levels.
4. Be able to study and revise the literary traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as that of Spain, and the USA, including those written and performed in Spanish, English and Spanglish.

Policies

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.

Graduate School of Arts and Science Policies

Academic Policies for the Graduate School of Arts and Science can be found on the Academic Policies page.