Southern Connecticut State University MFA Program

Southern Connecticut State University MFA Program The M.F.A. With its main focus on the writing workshop and the creative thesis, the M.F.A. Admission to the M.F.A. The deadline for applications is March 1.

in Creative Writing at Southern is a full-residency, terminal-degree program, preparing students for careers as writers, teachers, editors, and professionals in the publishing world. also requires students to study literature at the graduate level and provides opportunities for students to train for teaching collegiate-level writing. Located midway between New York City and Boston in New Haven, Co

nnecticut, Southern offers a thriving and long-lived culture, tradition, and community of creative writers. Along with a nationally-recognized, award-winning creative-writing faculty, Southern is also home to the graduate literary magazine Noctua Review, and partial home to the national, award-winning literary arts periodical, The Connecticut Review. The Creative Writing Program's visiting writers' and editors' series brings nationally-renowned writers to campus to read from their work, as well as editors from such prestigious national publications as Sou'wester, Louisiana Literature, Cincinnati Review, and The Gettysburg Review. Visiting writers have included authors Steve Almond, Dale Peck, Brock Clarke, Marilyn Nelson, Stewart O'Nan, Erin McGraw, Andrew Hudgins, Michelle Richmond, Sandra Rodriguez Barron, Tom Perrota, Michael Martone, Penelope Pelizzon, and Alan Michael Parker, and Allison Joseph. Our students have been published in journals such as Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The South Carolina Review, Phoebe, Southern Review, McSweeney's, Quarterly West and American Letters and Commentary, and have accumulated a range of national awards, fellowships, and book contracts. program is competitive, with roughly six poets and six fiction writers admitted each year. Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received, and applicants will be notified of their status no later than mid-April.

Book release party for Shelley Stoehr's memoir GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS at Cantean Cafe (1661 Whitney, Hamden) on Thursday, S...
09/02/2026

Book release party for Shelley Stoehr's memoir GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS at Cantean Cafe (1661 Whitney, Hamden) on Thursday, September 24th at 7:00 p.m. Also reading, Nancy Antle, Steve Hamm and Ross Williamson. Come early for a guaranteed seat or on time to perhaps stand and still mingle. Parking across the street. Shelley also reads with Padya Paramita at Southern on October 16th at 7:00 p.m. More to come!

Congratulations to Nancy Antle, MFA alum and unstinting supporter of the program, for the publication of her story "Here...
08/24/2026

Congratulations to Nancy Antle, MFA alum and unstinting supporter of the program, for the publication of her story "Here I Am" in THE ORANGE ROSE LIT MAG! Nancy will be reading as part of Shelley Stoehr's memoir release party on September 24th, 7:00 p.m. at Cantean at 1661 Whitney Avenue in Hamden. Steve Hamm, Ross Williamson, and of course, Shelley will also be reading. Congrats again to Nancy!

I remember a thud. Hitting the brakes. Spinning on the ice. Now the airbag’s just a limp piece of fabric hanging from the steering wheel. Something hisses. Maybe the radiator. A burnt smell lingers…

Congratulations to Amy Gray who has two poems accepted for the Central Avenue Poetry Prize 2027, forthcoming in March:
08/20/2026

Congratulations to Amy Gray who has two poems accepted for the Central Avenue Poetry Prize 2027, forthcoming in March:

A compilation of fresh faces from all walks of life, the Central Avenue Poetry Prize assembles standout poetry and delivers it straight to your bookshelf.

08/19/2026

SCSU graduate Frederick Douglass-Knowles II and Elizabeth Thomas headline Live @ Cheshire's Ball and Socket Factory's Poetry Night on Friday @ 6 pm, headliners followed by open mic. Event takes place in front of Building 5 at 93 West Main Street, Cheshire, CT. Event organized by SCSU MFAs Pat Mottola and Kristin Dringoli. Share your poetry and prose, play an acoustic song, or simply come and experience our creative community.

If you're in the Hartford area this Friday evening, stop by the Sonder Reading Series.  MFA alum Emily Costa is reading:
07/22/2026

If you're in the Hartford area this Friday evening, stop by the Sonder Reading Series. MFA alum Emily Costa is reading:

Congratulations to Natalie Schriefer, whose flash fiction story "Cartwheels" (published by the journal Flash Frog in 202...
07/02/2026

Congratulations to Natalie Schriefer, whose flash fiction story "Cartwheels" (published by the journal Flash Frog in 2025) was longlisted for the 2026 Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions!

Nick’s millionth cartwheel looks like his first: He plants one hand on the grass and then, before I can catch his legs and help, he tumbles into a round-off. For a moment I’m taller than him, and I…

MFA graduates Emily Costa and Terri Lynn Davis read at Best Video as part of Scott Lauditis's book launch on July 3rd at...
06/23/2026

MFA graduates Emily Costa and Terri Lynn Davis read at Best Video as part of Scott Lauditis's book launch on July 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Free and open to everyone!

Stratford author Aug Stone is pleased to welcome poet/author/musician Scott Laudati to Connecticut on July 3rd to celebrate the launch of Laudati's latest poetry collection.  Rainbow Road follows Laudati as he crisscrosses the country chasing the myths of a lost America. The poems in this

MFA grads and current students Chelsea Dodds, Julie Teixeira and Elisabeth Mead Kennedy read at Cantean on June 18th at ...
06/04/2026

MFA grads and current students Chelsea Dodds, Julie Teixeira and Elisabeth Mead Kennedy read at Cantean on June 18th at 6:30 p.m.! The reading is Chelsea's second to celebrate her new chapbook with friends and family who couldn't make the first; Julie Teixeira's de facto thesis reading; and Elisabeth's first reading at Cantean as an excellent poet and loyal supporter of SCSU's Visiting Writers Series and the SCSU writing series at Cantean. Everybody welcome! Cantean is located at 1660 Whitney Avenue in Hamden. Y'all come!

06/04/2026

MFA Fiction student Steve Hamm gives a brief reading with eleven other writers June 4th at 7:00 p.m. at Best Video in Hamden as part of the Sleeping Giant Reading Series. Get out and support Steve if you can!

Congratulations to Chelsea Dodds, who has a poem in the latest Northeast Coast Poetry issue! Chelsea will be reading wit...
05/31/2026

Congratulations to Chelsea Dodds, who has a poem in the latest Northeast Coast Poetry issue! Chelsea will be reading with Elisabeth Kennedy and Julie Teixeira at Cantean on June 18th at 6:30 p.m. (more to come).

Welcome to Issue III:Summer IntroductionA Message from the EditorPrologue“The Waves” by Gwen North ReissChapter I“Smartwatch” by Brooks Thomas“Tony Soprano’s Ghost (A Haibun)” by Claire Zoghb“A Poem Written by a Raccoon (After Tao Lin)” by Chris Belden“ode to the stranger who lef...

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