Reach your full writing potential with your master’s in creative writing
Join a community of writers from all walks of life on an immersive and personalized educational journey. Our faculty and mentors have uniquely designed a low-residency, personalized program geared toward helping you discover and reach your full writing potential in fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry.
An integral part of the program are four, 11-day residencies, in Pittsburgh and Dublin, Ireland, that create an opportunity for you to engage and interface with fellow students, staff, mentors, and visiting renowned writers.
You will work one-on-one with American and Irish Mentors. With their expert guidance and your skill, you will become the writer you were meant to be.
Quick facts
Sharpen your writing and storytelling skills in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry
Learn an immersive and supportive community
Travel to Pittsburgh and Ireland for engaging 11-day residencies with internationally-known writers
In Grace Library, spanning the third and fourth floor of the University Commons, there are numerous quiet spaces and study rooms for individuals and groups to use.
You will work one-on-one with mentors both virtually and in person as you explore writing genres and engage in four, 11-day residencies in Pittsburgh and Dublin, Ireland. The residencies include workshops, masterclasses, and mentor conferences as well as opportunities to engage with visiting writers and alumni.
In a required practicum, you will work on a writing and reading plan and submit work for critique, review, and collaborative feedback. By the end of the program, you will produce a publishable body of work.
Choose the creative writing specialization that is best for you
Choose the creative writing area that best fits your career goals and personal aspirations. Each specialization provides you with the opportunity to hone the writing and storytelling skills for that area.
Fiction
Develop your author’s voice and explore your creativity as you learn to write with a fiction focus. Choose from historical fiction, flash fiction, and young adult fiction.
Creative Nonfiction
Explore memoirs, personal essays, short narrative work, and lyric essays as you find the voice and structure that best suits your story.
Poetry
Understand the theories and treatment skills needed to work with a Explore your creativity, refine your voice, collaborate with other students and work with acclaimed and published poets to develop a publishable body of work.
Testimonials #1
Meet our Alumni
GEORGIA HERTZ '23
“Writing - like any artform - can be a lonely path to tread, but it doesn't have to be done in isolation. Never have I felt such warmth and compassion from a group of writers as I have from my peers and mentors at Carlow University, both in Pittsburgh and in Dublin. We all delight in our growth as writers and we celebrate each other's successes with love, as if they were our own.”
PHILIP BORDER '22
“Every member of the poetry, fiction and CNF programs all feel like extended family members to me. They are always checking up on me to see what's new with my writing and to keep up on all of my forthcoming publications."
20: Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing Program’s 20th Anniversary Anthology
Award-winning American and Irish writers mentor students in Carlow’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program with residencies in Pittsburgh and Dublin. Our MFA mentors are dedicated teachers and writers whose work has been recognized in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Within an inclusive, supportive community, our mentors are committed to helping each student achieve their full writing potential.
