Chicago Illinois 60603
United States
The Master of Fine Arts in Writing (MFAW) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) welcomes writers of all genres—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and playwriting—as well as visual artists who work with language as an integral component of their practice. Located within a vibrant school of contemporary art and design, the program offers deep explorations of diverse writing practices, encouraging students to experiment within SAIC’s interdisciplinary environment and expand their practice beyond the page. The program provides a rigorous yet flexible curriculum to challenge and accommodate individual explorations of process, and students can engage with storytelling as both a verbal and visual art form through filmmaking, performance, comics, and other media, while taking studio and fine arts electives across SAIC to develop a practice uniquely suited to their interests.
The MFAW hosts a distinguished faculty of writers and artists with diverse artistic and intellectual backgrounds. Students have opportunities to work as editors and journalists for SAIC’s F Newsmagazine, contribute to independently edited and produced publications, and create podcasts for Free Radio SAIC, SAIC’s student-run radio station broadcasting daily to a global audience. MFAW students often work and collaborate across SAIC’s studio and academic departments to create boundary-breaking work, and those who demonstrate a studio practice may take part in the annual school-wide MFA thesis exhibition or time-arts events.
Program alumni become culture creators who tell stories across many mediums. They write and publish seminal novels, stage plays, perform, teach, and establish galleries, small presses, independent theater spaces, and salons nationally and internationally. Others apply their creative skills to diverse careers in journalism, film, computer science, advertising, and fundraising, bringing the power of narrative and creative thinking to a wide range of professional paths.
The reduced application fee deadline for fall 2027 is December 1, and the final deadline is January 10. Apply now.
Full-time faculty
Sally Alatalo / Mark Booth / Beth Hetland / Sara Levine / Ruth Margraff / Jose Moctezuma
Recent Visiting Artists and Scholars
Christian Campbell / Eduardo C. Corral / Emil Ferris / Amitav Ghosh / Cathy Park Hong / Juan Martinez / Maggie Nelson / Claudia Rankine / Layli Long Soldier / Mai Der Vang / Ocean Vuong
About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For more than 160 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons, and LeRoy Neiman. For more information, please visit saic.edu.
