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  • Celebrating the Class of 2020

    As this extraordinary academic year comes to a close, the MFA for Poets and Writers celebrates and congratulates every member of the class of 2020.

    We are so proud of you and all you have achieved!

  • Ocean Vuong Named 2019 MacArthur Fellow

    Our very own Ocean Vuong has been named one of 26 new fellows of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur "genius" grant is awarded to artists, writers, scientists, designers, activists, and others—it honors "extraordinary originality" and comes with a no-strings-attached grant of $625,000, to be distributed over five years.

    Congratulations, Ocean!

  • The Program

    Among the oldest and most respected MFA programs in the country, the MFA for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a three-year program dedicated to writing workshops and the completion of a book-length manuscript in prose or poetry. The MFA for Poets and Writers champions the creation of new and important writing, and for over fifty years has been a place for writers to concentrate on their work and to write their books.

News

Ocean Vuong and Karen Skolfield (MFA '98) Win 2020 Massachusetts Book Awards

September 10, 2020

The Massachusetts Book Awards recognize significant works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s/young adult literature published by Commonwealth residents or about Massachusetts subjects. ...

Kritika Pandey (MFA ‘20) Wins the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

July 01, 2020

Kritika Pandey wins the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Her short story, “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes” is about two young people trying to solve the age-old riddle of human existence: how...

Announcing the 2020 MFA Award Winners

May 07, 2020

Congratulations to all!...

More News »

Events

Oct
29

Visiting Writers Series: Maaza Mengiste

Virtual
6:00 pm

Nov
12

Visiting Writers Series: Nathaniel Mackey

Virtual
6:00 pm

More Events »

For comprehensive resources and updates regarding the University's response to COVID-19, please visit the UMass Amherst Coronavirus website.

Remembering Rana Zoe Mungin

With profound sadness, the English Department writes to acknowledge the tragic passing of an important and recent alum of our MFA program and educator in our Writing Program, Rana Zoe Mungin, known in the program as Zoe. 
 
Zoe graduated with a BA from Wellesley College in 2011, and received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts in 2015. She was a beloved social studies teacher at Ascend Academy in Brooklyn at the time of her passing.

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