The program is committed to individualized education and to supporting a dynamic writing community. After the vibrant exchange of ideas that takes place during residencies, you will embark on your faculty-guided independent-study projects without leaving your community, family, or job. This unique partnership features one-to-one support from your faculty mentor allowing you focus your studies entirely on improving your writing and achieving a better understanding of the world of children’s literature. The flexibility of the program’s format also allows you to follow your particular interests and passions—such as writing for the young adult market or picture books for young children—as well as develop independent work habits and skills, which will serve you throughout your professional writing career.

Program Objectives

• To lead students to their full creative potential as writers for children and young adults.
• To sharpen and further students' analytical reading and critical writing skills.
• To cultivate knowledge and appreciation in students for the literature in their field.
• To foster an ongoing creative writing community within which students can continue lifelong writing.

Low student-to-Faculty Ratio

A low student-to-faculty ratio (5:1) ensures that you'll receive close attention and that your individual skills, talents, and artistic vision will be nurtured. Each faculty member supervises five learners through written correspondence, online communication, oral tapes, and/or telephone conferences during the semester. Our distance model actually provides more individualized feedback on your writing than most traditional classroom programs.

Brief On-Campus Residencies

Unlike traditional residential programs, you and other writers get together twice each year for intensive residencies, after which you return to your home to complete a semester of self-designed study in your own surroundings. At residencies, you'll have the opportunity to develop relationships with experienced writers of literature for children and young adults. The residency is akin to a 10-day retreat for writers, and both students and faculty look forward to the workshops, lectures, and readings in the lovely New England town of Montpelier.

Self-Designed Study

During your independent study project, you are closely supervised every step of the way and maintain a continual correspondence with faculty and peers, making the study quite collaborative. Throughout the four semesters, you will take an active role in shaping your own curricula and advancing your writing according to your personal vision and passion, while participating in a sustained dialogue with experienced writers of national reputation.

Results

Alumni and students have published or are under contract with major publishing houses, including Farrar Straus and Giroux, HarperCollins, Candlewick Press, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Graduates continue their work after the program in numerous ways. Many of our graduates teach at every level--from elementary school to colleges such as Rosemont College, Tufts University, Colorado State University, and Vermont College of Fine Arts itself. Graduates are librarians, editors, freelance writers, teachers, directors of arts organizations, illustrators, and publishers. The diversity of students--of writing styles, careers, geographical location, and age--lends a richness to the community of writers that convene on the campus each residency and adds immeasurably to every student's experience in the program.  In recognition of the quality and focus of the program, student scholarships and prizes have been established by Candlewick Press and Houghton Mifflin/Clarion.

Click here to view a list of alumni publications; click here to see a sampling of our alumni Web sites. 

More Details...

The MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program takes 2 years to complete-- 4 semesters and 5 residencies.  The residencies occur in mid-to-late July and mid-to-late January.  Students can choose to study in three genres: picture book, middle grade, or young adult-- although they are often encouraged to try each, as well as poetry and nonfiction.

Each semester begins with a 10-day residency on the Vermont College of Fine Arts campus.  During residencies, students participate in workshops and student readings and attend lectures, readings, informal talks, and panel discussions.  View the most recent residency schedule. Students are assigned their faculty advisor during the residency.  Once this pairing is made, students and faculty create a semester study plan together.  This is an individualized plan based on the interest of the student and input from the advisor.  It is a fluid document with plenty of flexibility. View a study plan.

After the residency, students return home and begin their 6-month independent study.  Students are expected to spend at least 25 hours a week on their studies and will exchange 5 packets of writing with their faculty advisor over the next 6 months.  Each packet is accompanied by a letter from the student addressing his or her thoughts and concerns from the past month.  Although advisors differ in the specifics of what they ask for in the student letter, this letter is the primary medium of the continuing dialogue on craft. This is where much of the dynamic interaction occurs between the student and advisor.

First- and second-semester students focus on creative writing, critical essays, and reading.  A major component of the third semester is a 20-50-page critical thesis along with the creative work and reading. The fourth-semester focus is on producing a creative manuscript, as well as a lecture to be delivered at the final residency, along with a public reading of the student's original work. 

At the final, graduating residency, students present their lecture and give a public reading of their work.  Once students have successfully completed these requirements, they receive a Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree for a total of 64 credits.  The MFA is considered a terminal degree.  The narrative transcript is composed of the faculty evaluations from each semester and the evaluation of the graduating lecture.

Our students come from every part of the country and from a variety of backgrounds.  The average age of our students is 35 years old.  Many students in our program have full-time jobs and families and find that this individualized approach is the ideal way to complete a degree program and meet their personal goals concurrently.