Where are our students writing from?
From all over the world! From Den Haag in the Netherlands to Santiago in Chile; from Gabriola Island, BC to Halifax, NS; from Brooklyn, NY to Portland, OR, we have students across North America and beyond. They're all apart, yet all connected to a community of fellow writers through the Optional-Residency MFA program.
Join our community, wherever you're writing from.
You will take distance education classes online while remaining at home. Optional summer intensives on the Vancouver campus of UBC enable you to meet faculty and other students face-to-face, and provide a complement to the work performed online.
The optional-residency program mirrors our highly-regarded residential MFA. You graduate with the same degree, and are evaluated by the same criteria and standards.
Course Descriptions | Apply Now | FAQs
Seven Genres of Study
Never Visit a Classroom
Award-Winning Faculty
UBC's optional-residency program, like its residential MFA, is completely unique compared to other low-residency MFA programs. Not only does it offer an unmatched range of writing genres, with the opportunity to specialize in three of those, but it is designed to be particularly flexible; you never have to visit a physical classroom if you don't want to.
A Focus on Writing
We emphasize the creation and critical discussion of original writing rather than the study of literature or literary criticism. Readings are assigned or suggested by instructors where appropriate, but there is not a significant reading or criticism component to the degree.
Seven Genres of Study
More than any other program! Study fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, writing for children, and translation. Students work in at least three separate genres during the course of their degree - literary cross-training that makes our graduates more well-rounded writers and opens more doors for teaching and publication.
Study full-time or part-time
You can take up to five years to complete your degree, taking as little as one course per year if that's all your schedule will allow.
Summer Residency
The residencies anchor the online courses, bringing students and faculty together at the beautiful Vancouver campus of UBC each July for ten days of workshops, seminars and community. The residencies are great experiences, but they are entirely optional. Some students complete their entire degree at a distance.
Workshops Online
The workshop format is at the core of the study of creative writing; online workshop critique is a powerful way for students to learn critical reading and writing skills and to make connections with other writers which will last beyond your time in school.
At the end of it all, you will emerge with a body of work in at least three different genres as well as your thesis, a book-length (or full length production) original creative work, ready to send to publishers.
Course Descriptions | Apply Now | FAQs
Contact Andrew Gray, Program Coordinator
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