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MFA Programs/Brooklyn Writers Foundry
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Brooklyn Writers Foundry

Brooklyn Writers Foundry campus

The Brooklyn Writers Foundry Low-Residency MFA takes place at our Brooklyn campus on the border of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, two of the most vibrant neighborhoods in all of New York City. We seek to attract writers from across the country and around the world who dedicate themselves to excellence in creative writing, and who want to take advantage of the literary life in New York City during short residency periods twice a year. The Brooklyn Writers Foundry is an intimate program that specializes in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. During the one-week residency periods in June and January, students will participate in a lively schedule of daily on-campus classes, readings, and lectures with an exceptional roster of core and guest faculty members. For the rest of the year, students receive individualized monthly feedback on their writing from their workshop instructors while participating in virtual discussion-based reading classes. Our program takes two years to complete and boasts a flexible schedule tailored toward the working writer. Tuition at the Brooklyn Writers Foundry is among the lowest of any MFA program in New York City. Additionally, each year we award a limited number of small scholarship stipends, in the range of $2k-$5K each, to applicants with financial need who demonstrate outstanding talent and potential. All applicants are automatically considered for this scholarship.

Our Students Have Been Published In

The New Yorker
N+1
Lit Hub
Guernica
The Missouri Review
The Whitney Review of New Writing
The Southampton Review
X-R-A-Y
Vice
Electric Literature
Salamander
Western Humanities Review
Poetry Northwest
The Offing
Hobart
Joyland
Cutbank
Brooklyn Rail

MFA Program details

University
Brooklyn Writers Foundry
Highlights
Publication in The Writers Foundry ReviewPartnership with the Hotel St. George
Associated Publications

How to apply

Cohort size
12
Fee
$50
Deadline
February 28
Teaching opportunities
No
Requirements
Online ApplicationWriting SampleLetter of InterestTwo Recommendation LettersCV
Funding opportunities
Each year the Brooklyn Writers Foundry awards a limited number of scholarships to applicants with financial need who demonstrate outstanding talent and potential.

Core Faculty

Fiction
Lee Clay Johnson, Amy Hempel, Andrew Martin, Erinrose Mager, Jill McCorkle, David Gates, Peter Trachtenberg
Nonfiction
Elisa Gabbert, Alex Sujong Laughlin, Adrienne Raphel
Poetry
Nathan McClain, Alicia Mountain, Laura Kolbe, Haleh Liza Gafori

Notable Alumni

Tariq ShahTariq Shah
Dani JamesDani James
Eric BoydEric Boyd

Testimonials

In a literary present all too accommodating of sameness and hollow trends, the Writers Foundry provides a home for freethinking, depth of expression, and straight-up weirdness. It’s a program in touch with tradition but committed to what’s new. Viva la Foundry.

Mark Iosifescu

'24

The Writers Foundry has nowhere for you to hide or get lost. No matter your experience as a writer, or what stage you are in your work, your talent and your insecurities (or your impostor syndrome) will be equally exposed, and you will learn, just like I did, how to reconcile them to become the writer you know you are and desire to be.

Natiesha Evans

'25

If you’re a serious writer looking to develop a diligent practice I can’t think of a better option than the Foundry: a rigorous, intimate program boasting the best faculty in the country. I love the program and I love Lee Clay Johnson. I wish I could do it all again.

Michael Knapp

'24

The Writers Foundry took all of those old, overstuffed ways of being in a conventional MFA program and turned them on their head magnificently. I loved the idea of being part of a community of brilliant working writers. I felt like we were all in it together -- students and faculty alike. All stars, no notes.

Michele Thomas

'21

FAQ

Life at Brooklyn Writers Foundry

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