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.

05/28/2026

Come on out to MFA Kristin Dringoli’s fantastic reading and writing class series at Cheshire’s Ball and Socket on June 3rd at 7:00 p.m., featuring Ramona Ausubel and Lara Ehrlich.

Congratulations to Shelley Stoehr for her poem "Strip Clubs are Microcosms of Capitalism" in Beehive!
05/28/2026

Congratulations to Shelley Stoehr for her poem "Strip Clubs are Microcosms of Capitalism" in Beehive!

Discover a provocative poem exploring capitalism through the lens of strip club culture by guest contributor & Connecticut poetry pal, Shelley Stoehr.

This year's issue of Fresh Ink is out, with work by two MFA grads, a current MFA studnet, and an SCSU undergrad: Nancy M...
05/15/2026

This year's issue of Fresh Ink is out, with work by two MFA grads, a current MFA studnet, and an SCSU undergrad: Nancy Manning, Natalie Schriefer, Amy Gray, and Chris Boniecki. Congrats to all!
(A link is in the comments.)

Ball & Socket Arts is hosting a series of author events at ReRead Books and at the Ball & Socket Gallery in Cheshire on ...
05/14/2026

Ball & Socket Arts is hosting a series of author events at ReRead Books and at the Ball & Socket Gallery in Cheshire on May 16th and 17th. Award-winning authors Jedediah Berry and Ryan Habermeyer will be discussing their work, taking questions, and signing books (available for purchase at the event). Registration is required for workshops and highly encouraged for the author event.

05/13/2026

Congratulations to Shelley Stoehr, whose poem "My Best Friends are Wh**es" will be published in PEACH FUZZ MAGAZINE!

05/08/2026

Please join us tomorrow May 9th at 1:00 p.m. in Engleman D253 for this year's MFA thesis reading, featuring Uniel Critchley, Jennifer Rubino and Veronica DaSilva. Everyone welcome! And please spread the word about our program to people of all ages who might be interested.

Two excellent SCSU writers, Emily Costa and Steff Sirois, read from their recent books on Sunday, April 26th at 2:00 p.m...
04/25/2026

Two excellent SCSU writers, Emily Costa and Steff Sirois, read from their recent books on Sunday, April 26th at 2:00 p.m. at the ReRead Ballroom at the Watch Factory, 106 Elm Street in Cheshire, another event in the outstanding Ball and Socket Arts series run by MFA Kristin Dringoli. Event free and books for sale. More details below.

Congratulations to current MFA student Amy Gray whose poem "Spells for Protection" was awarded Second Place in the Bedfo...
04/20/2026

Congratulations to current MFA student Amy Gray whose poem "Spells for Protection" was awarded Second Place in the Bedford International Competition:

Enter our short story competition or Poetry Competition. The Bedford Writing Competition is open internationally with prizes and publication opportunities.

Please join us for a reading by two of our coolest MFA grads, Bill Conlon and Chelsea Dodds, this Friday, April 10th at ...
04/08/2026

Please join us for a reading by two of our coolest MFA grads, Bill Conlon and Chelsea Dodds, this Friday, April 10th at 7:00 in the English Department Common Room! Three large pizzas will be awaiting the most aggressive and hungriest.

Chelsea Dodds is the author of the poetry chapbook Nothing Good Will Get Away (Finishing Line Press). Her writing has been published in The Forge, Maudlin House, Rejection Letters, and the 2024 Connecticut Literary Anthology (Woodhall Press). Chelsea completed a literary arts residency at Craigardan in upstate New York in 2025, and is a graduate of Southern's MFA in Creative Writing program.

Bill Conlon received his MFA in Creative Writing at Southern Connecticut State University in May 2023. He previously earned his B.A. degree in liberal studies at SCSU. He retired from the active workforce after an eclectic entrepreneurial career. His chapbook, Speaking of the Sixties in Verse, was published in April 2021 by Flying Horse Press. His story collection, Missing All the Stars, was published in September 2025 at KDP. His work also appears in Fresh Print and Connecticut Literary Anthology 2024. Bill lives with his wife, Debbi, near the beach in West Haven, Ct., where he ponders the wonders of life while watching the tides ebb and flow.

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New Haven, CT
06515

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