UNLV Creative Writing

UNLV Creative Writing Offering MFAs and PhDs in Creative Writing. Application deadline: January 15 https://www.unlv.edu/degree/mfa-creative-writing Both the MFA and Ph.D.

Rated by The Atlantic Monthly as one of the five best "unique/innovative" programs in the country, the Creative Writing International programs at UNLV were designed to appeal to students who see themselves and their writing within a world context. Our commitment to world literature provides a unique experience that differs from many traditional creative writing programs. The program’s international emphasis stems from the belief that the best writing is done by individuals who know that literature is something created from more than self-expression. To that end, we seek students whose work strives to create dialogue between private imagination and public concern. The Master of Fine Art’s program began in 1997 and in the years since has consistently been in the top 50 of such programs in the country. The department, in conjunction with the Black Mountain Institute also offers a program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy – English with a Creative Dissertation. This program centers on the study of English and American literature and is designed to train students for careers in the teaching of English at the college or university level, as well as for careers in writing, editing, and publishing. The program of study includes course work in English and Creative Writing, a qualifying examination, and a creative dissertation. programs at UNLV are closely affiliated with the Black Mountain Institute which yearly brings writers from around the world to read, speak on pressing issues, and engage in panel discussion with other writers and thinkers, as well as the substantial audience these events bring. Recent visitors include Jamaica Kinkaid, Caryl Phillips, Azar Nafisi, and Maggie Nelson whose book The Argonauts won the 2015 National Book Award in Non-Fiction. [email protected]

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English Department
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
4505 Maryland Parkway, Mailstop 5011
Las Vegas, Nevada 89154

tel: 702.895.4968
fax: 702.895.4801

UNLV PhD Alumni News!! Wendy Wimmer’s new novel, "The Doomscroller's Companion," coming in Fall 2026 from University of ...
09/29/2026

UNLV PhD Alumni News!! Wendy Wimmer’s new novel, "The Doomscroller's Companion," coming in Fall 2026 from University of Wisconsin Press.

You’ve Got Mail, The Last of Us, and Fleabag collide:
Jane, aka janeere, a thirtysomething professional web influencer with 1.7 million followers and zero bank balance, lives in her spinster aunt’s spare bedroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Her only confidant is Brian, a potter who is thrilled that the internet allows him to connect without having to leave his Appleton home and studio. Life is about to get worse for them both.

-order

Celebrating some of our published Rebel Writers today! If you're a UNLV MFA or PhD Alum and want to tell us what you've ...
09/18/2026

Celebrating some of our published Rebel Writers today! If you're a UNLV MFA or PhD Alum and want to tell us what you've been up to, we would love to celebrate your work. Send us your publications, author website, and good news! We'd love to send readers your way. 📚✨️

(If you aren't tagged and would like to be, comment below so we can add you!)

Good News! Current MFA student, Jade Bailey Brock, published a prose poem, "What's Left" at Elsewhere: A Journal of Plac...
09/18/2026

Good News! Current MFA student, Jade Bailey Brock, published a prose poem, "What's Left" at Elsewhere: A Journal of Place. She ALSO had a piece of speculative fiction, titled "The Archive of Ananke" published by Los Angeles Review! ✨️

Congratulations, Jade! 🎊
elsewhere magazine

Student Spotlight: Izuchukwu Onyedibiemma Udokwu (Third Year / Fiction MFA)Artist Statement: I write realistic fiction, ...
09/16/2026

Student Spotlight: Izuchukwu Onyedibiemma Udokwu (Third Year / Fiction MFA)

Artist Statement: I write realistic fiction, and my writing often lingers towards love and history. I think that it is mostly because love is the most intrinsic part of human nature, and without history, we lose the essence of our roots and have insufficient capacity to understand our present and mold our future.

Read all about things that have inspired him, his upcoming thesis, accomplishments, great advice he’s received since being in Vegas, and more!

Izuchukwu Onyedibiemma Udokwu is a Nigerian storyteller whose work has appeared or forthcoming on Kalahari Review, Afreada, LOLWE, Mosaic Lit Journal, Flora Fiction and others. He was shortlisted for the 2020 K & L Prize. His shortlisted story was published in an anthology of speculative fiction on Africanfuturism, Black Skin No Mask. He was also a finalist for Erbacce Prize 2026.

Favorite Class at UNLV?: For my Fiction Forms class, the first book I was assigned to read was “Love Medicine” by Louise Erdrich. The quality of the story, its language and structure left me feeling a certain kind of wonder for its brilliance and that of the writer, of course.

Tell us about your thesis: I intend to finish my book before graduation. My manuscript will be my thesis, and it is a historical fiction set in the 19th century. It is also a love story, the kind of love that defies norms.

ATTENTION CLASS: Time to meet your Creative Writing Professors! 🎓 What an ALL-STAR LINEUP. 👏🏻 Rebel Writers, as the thir...
09/11/2026

ATTENTION CLASS: Time to meet your Creative Writing Professors! 🎓 What an ALL-STAR LINEUP. 👏🏻 Rebel Writers, as the third week of your semester comes to a close, we want to know who you're excited to work with next! Let us know in the comments below...

Be sure to follow us to see good news, features, international trips, upcoming events, and news from our students next week! ✨️

PODCAST EPISODE: THE LOCKED ROOMJoin MFA Alum, Alex Schechter, and Fiction Professor, Maile Chapman, as they discuss luc...
04/28/2026

PODCAST EPISODE: THE LOCKED ROOM

Join MFA Alum, Alex Schechter, and Fiction Professor, Maile Chapman, as they discuss lucid dreams, jumping spiders, & her attempts at writing towards the edges of perception.

"Where Did You Come From, Where Did You Go?" features interviews with q***r (and q***r-friendly) writers.

Alumni Spotlight!! UNLV MFA Alum, Billy Lezra .lezra, is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Rough Cut Press , an onli...
04/24/2026

Alumni Spotlight!! UNLV MFA Alum, Billy Lezra .lezra, is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Rough Cut Press , an online magazine that publishes emerging and established q***r voices, as well as interviews with influential writers and educators. Our intention is to offer another dedicated space for q***r artists in the literary landscape.

We have been honored to publish work by Cass Lintz, Diannely Antigua, Kai Coggin, and Nnadi Samuel, as well as interviews with Dr. Susan Stryker, Myriam Gurba, Krys Malcolm Belc, ALOK, and Andrea Gibson, among others.

UNLV MFA ALUM BOOK SIGNING & EVENT:AREL WIEDERHOLT KASSARFriday May 8th, 2026 @ 7:00PM - 8:00 PMA READING WITH THE AUTHO...
04/23/2026

UNLV MFA ALUM BOOK SIGNING & EVENT:

AREL WIEDERHOLT KASSAR
Friday May 8th, 2026 @ 7:00PM - 8:00 PM
A READING WITH THE AUTHOR OF THE DESERT SPRING MOVEMENT, IN CONVERSATION WITH HEATHER PETERSON

This event is co-sponsored by Black Mountain Institute.

Andreas Nørgaard, Danish poet, vanishes in Las Vegas and leaves behind a single letter recounting his final days in the city. Now, four narrators grapple with his enigmatic legacy, exploring questions of individualism, disillusionment, consumerism, and artistic obsession.

Arel Wiederholt Kassar is the author of The Desert Spring Movement (Bench Editions, 2026). He has an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and lives in San Francisco, his hometown.

Heather Wells Peterson has published her writing in American Short Fiction, Marie Claire, Lit Hub, The Rumpus, Bellevue Literary Review, Prairie Schooner, and Wigleaf, among others. Her work has been supported by a fellowship at Black Mountain Institute, a Sewanee Writers Conference scholarship, and a Writing by Writers residency. She has an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Florida and is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

GOOD NEWS!! A HUGE congratulations goes out to UNLV MFA alumna, Ucheoma Onwutuebe, whose short story "Where Are You and...
04/19/2026

GOOD NEWS!! A HUGE congratulations goes out to UNLV MFA alumna, Ucheoma Onwutuebe, whose short story "Where Are You and Where Is My Money" appearing in A Public Space, has been chosen as a WINNER of the 2026 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction!

Student Spotlight: JM Huck (Second Year / Poetry MFA)Artist Statement: Apparently, I’m writing an epic. I also study epi...
04/16/2026

Student Spotlight: JM Huck (Second Year / Poetry MFA)

Artist Statement: Apparently, I’m writing an epic. I also study epics, early literature of Southeast Asia that are used in ritual and performance.

Read all about classes that have inspired her, her upcoming thesis, recent accomplishments, great advice she’s received since being in Vegas, and more!

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4505 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV
89154

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