Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing

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Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing We are a unique, international, low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program with concentrations in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

Carlow's MFA program has rolling admissions and we'd love to hear from you! Questions and application materials can be sent to Stephanie Wytovich, MFA Assistant/Graduate Admissions Counselor at [email protected].

Raising Our Voices: Fall Semester Finale | November 22Join us for the final fall reading in our virtual alumni series, R...
10/27/2026

Raising Our Voices: Fall Semester Finale | November 22

Join us for the final fall reading in our virtual alumni series, Raising Our Voices, on Sunday, November 22, at 2 pm EDT / 7 pm in Ireland via Zoom.

We are honored to welcome Carlo Gébler, our longtime and much-revered mentor in Ireland, for a reading from his recently published memoir, No One Tells You: The Last Years of Edna O’Brien, followed by a conversation with our wonderful series emcees, Phillip Border and Kim Nall.

The memoir is a moving tribute to Carlo’s mother, the late, great Edna O’Brien, the acclaimed Irish writer who visited our program in both Ireland and Pittsburgh several times.

The book explores love, loss, and the writing life.

Carlo has given so much to our MFA community and generations of students. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate this remarkable writer, mentor, and his beautiful tribute to his mother.

Congratulations, Carlo, on this wonderful book!

📚 **Free and open to the public.** RSVP through Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link:

🔗 https://bit.ly/4dDWsPI

If you have trouble with Eventbrite, please reach out for the Zoom link directly.

We look forward to seeing you on November 22!

10/24/2026

What does an MFA residency in Dublin look like? 🇮🇪📚

Our 2026 Carlow University MFA in Creative Writing residency brought writers together at Trinity College Dublin for two weeks of learning, conversation, and creative exchange.

Your writing journey could take you here, too.

Explore the Carlow MFA in Creative Writing and imagine where your next chapter might lead.

🔗 Learn more through the link in our bio.

FRIENDLY REMINDER!RAISING OUR VOICES: Carlow MFA Alumni Reading SeriesJoin us Sunday, October 25, for an afternoon of po...
10/22/2026

FRIENDLY REMINDER!

RAISING OUR VOICES: Carlow MFA Alumni Reading Series
Join us Sunday, October 25, for an afternoon of poetry, fiction, and creative writing with four writers from Carlow University’s MFA in Creative Writing program.
Rooted in a community of literary allies dedicated to social justice, Raising Our Voices celebrates the writers whose work challenges, connects, and expands our understanding of the world.

Meet our featured readers:
✍️ Dr. Emme Devonish — Governance, Risk, and Compliance executive, former SEC attorney, executive coach, author, and poet. Her creative work connects nature and humanity through magical realism.
✍️ Sandi Johnson — Liberian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen, cross-genre writer, and English professor in Texas. Her poetry has appeared in Solstice Literary Magazine, The Bayou Review, and other publications. She is a recipient of the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize.
✍️ Linda Schifino — Writer, Carlow MFA alumna, and Professor Emerita of Communication. She is the author of Neighborhood Girl (2023) and In My Grandmother’s Shadow (2026), books exploring family, memory, and place.
✍️ Hannah Kennedy — Author of And It All Came Tumbling Down, named 2023 Book of the Year by the Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia, and the short story collection Land of Lost Places. Her writing draws on the people and places of Northern Appalachia.

🗓️ Sunday, October 25, 2026
🕑 2 p.m. Eastern | 7 p.m. Ireland
💻 Online via Zoom –register at https://bit.ly/4j2lage

Our fabulous alums Phillip Border and Kim Nall return as our Emcees! Come listen, connect, and celebrate the voices of our MFA alumni.

.k.johnson.writer .writes

Congratulations to MFA writer Nina Padolf on the publication of her poem, *“At Forty-Something Back in College,”* in Vox...
10/20/2026

Congratulations to MFA writer Nina Padolf on the publication of her poem, *“At Forty-Something Back in College,”* in Vox Populi!

Nina is the author of *Samantha the Peanut Butter Detective* (Pegasus Publishers, 2026) and *Uprooted* (Kelsay Books, 2021). Her poetry has appeared in more than 25 journals, and she is currently completing a memoir and a full-length poetry collection about her life as a military spouse.

Read Nina’s poem and learn more about her work:
https://voxpopulisphere.wordpress.com/2026/10/10/nina-padolf-at-forty-something-back-in-college/

Saturday, October 24, 2026 is the last opportunity of 2026 to learn about the MFA.Interested in Carlow University’s MFA ...
10/16/2026

Saturday, October 24, 2026 is the last opportunity of 2026 to learn about the MFA.

Interested in Carlow University’s MFA in Creative Writing Low-Residency Program? Join us for a virtual info session via Zoom and hear from MFA alumni, current students, the MFA Director, and financial aid representatives.

Free and open to anyone interested in an MFA. Learn about the program, scholarships, and assistantships available to graduate students.

📅 Saturday, October 24 | 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Register: https://bit.ly/4xGqTg8

We look forward to seeing you there.


📚 GOOD NEWS! A new novel is on its way!Congratulations to MFA Fiction alum Dr. Berend Mets on the forthcoming publicatio...
10/16/2026

📚 GOOD NEWS! A new novel is on its way!

Congratulations to MFA Fiction alum Dr. Berend Mets on the forthcoming publication of A Condition of the Heart, his third novel, coming soon from Atmosphere Press and Amazon!

Berend began writing the novel during his time in the MFA program, following his own cardiac surgery—a personal experience that finds its way into the story.

When Dutch doctor Hans Dijkstra loses his Indonesian wife, Amina Tanjung, he discovers a series of love letters, nested like matryoshka dolls, instructing him to scatter her ashes in six places around the world they visited in their youth. Despite his weakened heart, Hans embarks on a global pilgrimage that becomes something far greater than an act of devotion: a journey toward the truths he has spent a lifetime avoiding.

A Condition of the Heart is a literary novel about love, loss, and redemption—and how a journey around the world can ultimately lead us back to ourselves.

Congratulations, Berend! We’re proud of you and look forward to buying and reading your book! ❤️

📚 RAISING OUR VOICES: Carlow MFA Alumni Reading Series Join us Sunday, October 25, for an afternoon of poetry, fiction, ...
10/14/2026

📚 RAISING OUR VOICES: Carlow MFA Alumni Reading Series

Join us Sunday, October 25, for an afternoon of poetry, fiction, and creative writing with four writers from Carlow University’s MFA in Creative Writing program.

Rooted in a community of literary allies dedicated to social justice, Raising Our Voices celebrates the writers whose work challenges, connects, and expands our understanding of the world.

✨ Meet our featured readers:

✍️ Dr. Emme Devonish — Governance, Risk, and Compliance executive, former SEC attorney, executive coach, author, and poet. Her creative work connects nature and humanity through magical realism.

✍️ Sandi Johnson — Liberian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen, cross-genre writer, and English professor in Texas. Her poetry has appeared in Solstice Literary Magazine, The Bayou Review, and other publications. She is a recipient of the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize.

✍️ Linda Schifino — Writer, Carlow MFA alumna, and Professor Emerita of Communication. She is the author of Neighborhood Girl (2023) and In My Grandmother’s Shadow (2026), books exploring family, memory, and place.

✍️ Hannah Kennedy — Author of And It All Came Tumbling Down, named 2023 Book of the Year by the Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia, and the short story collection Land of Lost Places. Her writing draws on the people and places of Northern Appalachia.

🗓️ Sunday, October 25, 2026
🕑 2 p.m. Eastern | 7 p.m. Ireland
💻 Online via Zoom –register at https://bit.ly/4j2lage

Our fabulous alums Phillip Border and Kim Nall return as our Emcees! Come listen, connect, and celebrate the voices of our MFA alumni.

.k.johnson.writer .writes

Good News! MFA poetry alum Daniela Buccilli will be reading as part of an Italian American Reading Celebration of Italo...
10/13/2026

Good News! MFA poetry alum Daniela Buccilli will be reading as part of an Italian American Reading Celebration of Italo Calvino’s birthday this Thursday October 15, at 7:00 p.m. At Bantha Tea Bar, 5002 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224.

Daniela will be reading with friend of the program Joan Bauer and Gary Ciocco who teaches at Carlow.

Here’s a link for the event:
https://pghrev.com/a-pittsburgh-italian-american-poetic-treasury/

Look forward to seeing you there! Daniela Buccilli Joan Pikala Bauer Gary Ciocco

Friendly Reminder for those interested in Carlow University’s MFA in Creative Writing Low-Residency Program. Join us for...
10/13/2026

Friendly Reminder for those interested in Carlow University’s MFA in Creative Writing Low-Residency Program. Join us for a virtual info session via Zoom and hear from MFA alumni, current students, the MFA Director, and financial aid representatives.

Free and open to anyone interested in an MFA. Learn about the program, scholarships, and assistantships available to graduate students.

Choose the date that works for you:
📅 Thursday, October 15 | 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Register: https://bit.ly/3Tbpb7q

📅 Saturday, October 24 | 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Register: https://bit.ly/4xGqTg8

We look forward to seeing you there.

Carlow University Admissions
WritingCommunity

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, read Indigenous writers.Read the stories that challenge what you thought you knew. The his...
10/12/2026

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, read Indigenous writers.

Read the stories that challenge what you thought you knew. The histories that complicate the official record. The poems, memoirs, novels, and essays that carry knowledge across generations, imagine different futures, and refuse to let Indigenous lives be confined to the past.

Indigenous peoples are here. Indigenous literature is living, diverse, and essential.

Make room on your reading list. Seek out Indigenous authors. Read their books. Share their words. Check out Well-Read Native NDN Girls Book Club Native Voices Books HighWater Press

Address

3333 5th Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA
15213

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+18003332275

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