There is no “one way” to write in our program. The MFA in Writing recognizes that writing approaches and styles are as diverse as our students themselves, and we value and encourage differences while emphasizing a common pursuit of excellence. The two years students spend in this program invigorate a lifelong commitment to writing and reading. We seek to provide a foundation from which students can continue to refine their craft and expand their knowledge of literature. In addition, our program helps students develop lasting writing practices and processes while becoming part of a close community of writers that acts as a support system for years to come. Creative Nonfiction Creative nonfiction is a distinct and valued genre at VCFA. We believe that all voices, styles, and subject matter are equally valid in the search for emotional and artistic truth. The work of our faculty and visiting writers embodies the broad range of approaches open to our CNF students. We teach personal, meditative, and lyric essays; the memoir; immersion writing; hybrid and experimental forms; as well as the traditional, more formal essay. Students explore the self within the context of family dynamics and childhood, the natural world, travel, place, and spiritual, social and cultural issues. We work with students individually to discover their most profound work in a safe and nurturing environment. Meet our CNF faculty! Fiction Henry James once wrote that the house of fiction has many windows. These words could serve as a statement of purpose for the fiction faculty at VCFA. We teach all forms and style—novels, novellas, short stories, story collections, and flash fiction. Our fiction faculty has, as a whole, published work in every genre, and our aesthetic tastes are eclectic. We aim to help students find a unique voice and vision. We encourage exploration and inventiveness, while emphasizing craft, structure, and the necessity of reading widely and critically. Meet our fiction faculty! Poetry At VCFA, we understand that we are catalysts to a process that will continue well beyond a writer’s time in our program; we seek to help foster a productive and enduring life of writing and reading poetry. We encourage exploration and innovation. We also facilitate exposure to elements of craft, literary history, and contemporary poetry. In addition, we encourage our poets to familiarize themselves with the kinds of poems they want to write in a given semester: narrative poems, lyric or meditative poems, poems written in traditional forms as well as in experimental modes, longer works such as suites and sequential poems, and hybrid forms such as “off the page” poetry which combine writing with art and photography. We also encourage poets to familiarize themselves with translation whether or not they choose to participate in our more structured translation option. Our residencies in Slovenia and Cozumel often present, among many other benefits, opportunities to collaborate directly with poets writing in another language. Meet our poetry faculty!