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Award-winning Faculty

Full Funding & Support

Austin, City of Books

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Award-winning Faculty

Full Funding & Support

Austin, City of Books

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The New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin is a small, fully funded, three-year studio MFA program within the large and highly-ranked Department of English. We offer our students close mentorship, literary community, and teaching and editing experience. Working in concert with our partner MFA program, the Michener Center for Writers, we provide our students an artistically adventurous and intellectually rigorous terminal degree, with courses taught by both experienced and accomplished resident faculty and esteemed visitors.

The New Writers Project core faculty in fiction are Edward Carey, Oscar Cásares, Bret Anthony Johnston, Peter LaSalle, Elizabeth McCracken, and Deb Olin Unferth. Our core faculty in poetry are Lisa Olstein, Roger Reeves, and Jennifer Chang. 

The New Writers Project hosts and co-hosts an array of literary events, from open-to-the-public poetry and fiction readings to small Q&A's with authors and students. Recent guests include Jericho Brown, Maggie Nelson, George Saunders, Kazim Ali, Ann Patchett, Ada Limón, Paul Lisicky, Srikanth Reddy, Jeff Vandermeer, Evie Shockley, Kelly Link, Eula Biss, Matthew Zapruder, Kiese Laymon, Lucy Corin, Nikky Finney, Andrea Lawlor, Jennifer Chang, Brenda Shaughnessy, Rachel Zucker, Max Porter, Leni Zumas, and Lydia Davis.

With the Michener Center for Writers, we host a yearly symposium of editors and agents for our creative writing students.

Other past events can be found on our Facebook page.

A wide range of other literary events are sponsored by other UT departments, centers, and organizations, and Austin itself has a varied and excellent literary arts scene, which includes a number of independent book stores—BookPeopleMalvern Books, and BookWoman among them—and the enormous, lively, and free-to-the-public Texas Book Festival, one of the longest-running book festivals in the country.

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Student 1 published a book

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Student 2 won an award

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Student 3 also did something impressive

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A Three-Year, Fully Funded Creative Writing MFA in Fiction and Poetry

Located within the distinguished UT Department of English, the New Writers Project provides our students with three years of full funding, plus hands-on teaching and editing experience. Students benefit from our close affiliation with the Michener Center for Writers through access to courses and events with accomplished resident faculty and esteemed visiting writers.

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NWP Faculty Jennifer Chang is a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

Chang's book of poems, An Authentic Life, was named a finalist in Poetry for 2025.

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Faculty & Alumni Books

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A Three-Year, Fully Funded MFA in creative writing

Located within the distinguished Department of English at UT–Austin, The New Writers Project provides MFA students with three years of full fundin—including tuition, insurance, and an annual stipend—allowing students to focus on their writing while gaining valuable experience teaching. Our students have access to a wealth of resources at UT, including the renowned Harry Ransom Center Archive and the vast UT Libraries system. During their time in the program, most students get the chance to teach Literature and Creative Writing, then spend their final semester on a full, non-working fellowship. Students can gain editing experience working with Bat City Review and have the opportunity to read their work annually in our NWP Student Reading SeriesNWP students also benefit from our close affiliation with the Michener Center for Writers, through access to MCW courses, speaker events, and professional development seminars. 

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Questions?

Check out our Admissions FAQ page. You can also write to us.

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Contact Us

The New Writers Project

Oscar Cásares

CAL 226

The University of Texas at Austin

newwritersproject@utexas.edu

512-471-8758