The postgraduate semester is designed for writers who have completed an MFA or PhD degree at any accredited college or university, including VCFA. This semester is ideal for writers who:

• want assistance launching a new writing project or feel stalled in their current one;
• have a degree in one genre and want to master another, in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction;
• are close to completing a prose or poetry project and need help preparing it for publication;
• would like to spend a semester of intense study with a particular member of the VCFA faculty.

The postgraduate semester can be customized to help you accomplish your goals. It allows you five months of concentrated study on your poetry or prose—with a faculty member of your choice—without additional academic requirements.

Writers interested in Writing for Children & Young Adults can also apply for a postgraduate semester. Postgraduate semesters can be combined with our Picture Book Concentration, allowing individuals to complete a postgraduate semester in picture book studies.

In addition to Postgraduate Semesters, VCFA also offers a Postgraduate Writers' Conference every summer.