Earn Your MFA from Home

Write from home. Two residencies a year in Bend.

Priority application deadline for fall 2023 is March 1.

A Community of Writers 

Founded in 2012, the OSU-Cascades Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing is an intimate program with an award-winning faculty and a stunning residency location. Our curriculum builds sustainable writing habits, strong craft foundations and the essential skills to become a critical and ethical reader and writer in a diverse literary world. Join a community that supports creative risk-taking and helps you develop the skills and mindset to center writing in your life beyond graduation.

What Makes Us Different

Our approach offers flexibility, community and independence. Over two years, you will take challenging synchronous and asynchronous courses and participate in writing workshops guided by our philosophy of compassionate critique. Faculty mentorships are game-changing opportunities to hone your voice and your vision.

  • 2-year, at-home program
  • Four residencies in Bend
  • Weekly synchronous virtual classes
  • Asynchronous coursework

Distinguished Visiting Writer

We were honored to welcome Kaui Hart Hemmings as a fall 2022 residency Distinguished Visiting Writer. Her first novel, "The Descendants" is a New York Times bestseller and was made into an Oscar-winning film directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney. She is also the author of a story collection, "House of Thieves," the novels "How to Party with an Infant" and "The Possibilities" and the YA novel "Juniors."

"spare change" by OSU-Cascades MFA instructor and alumna Irene Cooper is a 2022 Oregon Book Awards Finalist.

We are #4 on the Best College Reviews list of Top 20 Master's in Creative Writing Online for 2022.

MFA faculty author Raquel Gutiérrez's new essay collection "Brown Neon" (Coffee House Press) was released on June 7.

Contact Us

Gillian Harper | Graduate Student Recruitment Coordinator
Make an advising appointment
Email
541-706-2063

OSU Corvallis Partnership

The MFA in Creative Writing at OSU in Corvallis has a long tradition of excellence. Recognizing the need to bring an outstanding education to students with different life stories, faculty on both campuses partnered to bring a low-residency MFA in Creative Writing to Central Oregon in 2012. Here in the OSU-Cascades low-residency MFA, we continue that tradition of excellence, growing creative writers with exemplary publication records, and a passion for loving this world, through art.