M.F.A. in Nonfiction Curriculum

Hear Melani Martinez M.F.A. ’05 Read From Her Memoir ‘The Molino’

Melani “Mele” Martinez, a senior lecturer in English at the University of Arizona, published The Molino, a hybrid memoir about the tortilla factory her family operated in Tucson for nearly seventy years, in September 2024. The book, published by the University of Arizona Press, began as her M.F.A. manuscript.

Listen to Melani read from ‘The Molino’

Required Courses

The low-residency format of the M.F.A., with its curriculum of reading, writing, and mentoring, allows students to complete the program in two years. The 42-credit degree requirement consists of these components:

Participation in three residencies. During these sessions, students meet each morning to workshop their writing and discuss craft; in the afternoons, all students and faculty meet to participate in lectures, presentations, panel discussions, and other elements to inform their work off-campus during the online semesters. If for some reason a student cannot attend residency, the program director works with them to create an alternate plan.
Students may begin in either January or July. A week of the course will be spent meeting in person, while the rest will be conducted online for reflection and planning for the semesters ahead. Each July, students meet on Goucher’s campus in Baltimore. In January, they gather in New York City.
Space to be creative with the support of a faculty mentor. After residencies students take semesters of critical and creative work off campus and take electives aimed toward focusing their skills. During the self-paced online semesters, students work one on one with a faculty mentor to build their final manuscripts. The work begun at residency carries into the online term with the same faculty mentor.
Students may take an optional fifth semester. This semester may include residency, if they wish to continue work on their projects.

Residency & online semester I (11 credits)

The first two rows offer an either/or scenario, as students may begin the program in summer or winter, with their course of study determining whether they proceed into summer or winter.

Course (credits)	Start of Program
CNF 608 Nonfiction Residency (2) & CNF 623 Nonfiction Workshop II (3)	Summer
CNF 607 Nonfiction Residency NYC (2) & CNF 623 Nonfiction Workshop II (3)	Winter
CNF 602 Mentorship II (3)	Fall or Spring
CNF 6xx Elective (3)	Fall or Spring

Residency & online semester II (11 credits)

The first two rows offer an either/or scenario, as students may begin the program in summer or winter, with their course of study determining whether they proceed into summer or winter.

Course (credits)	Start of Program
CNF 608 Nonfiction Residency (2) & CNF 623 Nonfiction Workshop II (3)	Summer
CNF 607 Nonfiction Residency NYC (2) & CNF 623 Nonfiction Workshop II (3)	Winter
CNF 602 Mentorship II (3)	Fall or Spring
CNF 6xx Elective (3)	Fall or Spring

Residency & online semester III (11 credits)

The first two rows offer an either/or scenario, as students may begin the program in summer or winter, with their course of study determining whether they proceed into summer or winter.

Course (credits)	Start of Program
CNF 608 Nonfiction Residency (2) & CNF 626 Nonfiction Workshop III (3)	Summer
CNF 607 Nonfiction Residency NYC (2) & CNF 626 Nonfiction Workshop III (3)	Winter
CNF 603 Mentorship III	Fall or Spring
CNF 6xx Elective	Fall or Spring

Online semester IV (9 credits)

Course (credits)	Start of Program
CNF 604 Mentorship IV (3)	Fall or Spring
CNF 6xx Capstone (3)	Fall or Spring
CNF 6xx Elective (3)	Fall or Spring