All parts of the application will be completed online. The application form will include contact information, education history, any publications and awards, and work history. Note that admission decisions are made without regard to financial need.
You will be asked to prepare an application statement and to upload this statement as a separate document. In a page or two, tell us why you want to attend the School of Letters. Please avoid writerly origin stories rooted in early childhood. We’d like to hear about the writers you’re currently reading, the kind of work you’re interested in doing while enrolled here, your expectations in pursuing an MFA, and any previous workshop or publishing experience you might have. We would also like to know what has drawn you to Sewanee in particular, whether it’s our faculty, location, summer-focused structure, or some combination thereof. We want to get a sense of who you are as a writer, and to feel like you have some sense of who we are as a writing program.
For applicants to the MFA program, the writing sample should include 8-10 pages of poems, or 15-25 pages of fiction or literary nonfiction. These can be uploaded via .pdf.
Recommendations should come directly from former professors or other persons able to evaluate your potential for graduate study. You will provide their names and email addresses, and they will be contacted automatically by email to complete a recommendation form and also upload a letter of recommendation.
Official transcripts from all colleges and graduate schools previously attended should be sent from those institutions directly to: Sewanee School of Letters, University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383. For electronic documents, use the email address sletters@sewanee.edu.
Start your MFA application on Sewanee Connect.
