The MFA can be a difficult world to navigate for emerging writers and scholars. As with all disciplines, when you first start out it feels like your peers all know more about the important conferences to attend, journals to submit to, and funding to apply for than you do. The truth is, everyone feels this same sense of confusion when they begin their grad program.

 

 

 

[Image Description: A pug turns quickly to look at the viewer slowly, eyes wide and shocked.]

Pictured: You, trying to listen in as second years talk about fellowships

 

To help you start your MFA experience off strong, we’ve compiled a breakdown of Creative Writing MFA opportunities to look out for at UCR and beyond!

 

Conferences & Festivals

Did you know you can acquire funding through the GSA to attend and present in conferences in the US and abroad? Conferences can be transformative to your relationship with the field.

• For playwrights, I recommend submitting your work to the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival as well as attending the regional festival. This is a (really!) excellent opportunity for career development, exposure, and networking with peers.
• With panels such as “AgentAccess: Everything You Need to Know About Agents But Were Too Afraid to Ask” and “Best Practices for Plot-Making”, the AWP Conference is a totally awesome, expansive opportunity for prose writers to network and explore their craft.
• Each year, UCR brings an array of authors to campus during Writers Week. In the past, panelists have including Roxane Gay, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Margaret Atwood. MFA’s are encouraged to get involved!
• Check out this comprehensive list to find more conferences that suit your interests.

 

 

[Image Description: A yellow Labrador Retriever walking down a busy city street with a plastic shopping bag hanging from its mouth. In the shopping bag, with only its head visible, is a Labrador puppy.]

Pictured: This post, carrying you along to your next conference.
 

Production Opportunities

• Playwrights should join the Dramatist Guild of America. For a very modest fee, writers gain access to legal protections as well as a useful curated list of opportunities (theaters open to submission, residencies, workshops, events, you name it.)
• UCR alumna have deepened their connections to the Los Angeles creative community by self-producing productions in the Hollywood Fringe Festival. This is a stellar opportunity for ambitious creators to put their work out into the world. 
• The Department of Film and Digital production offers MFA’s the opportunity to get involved in film and theatre productions and collaborate with faculty, staff, and the undergraduate student population.
  • Filmworks, the annual department film festival, showcases original short films by UCR students, faculty, and alumni. There’s also an annual department film and smartphone film festival.  Riverside Studios is a newly available production space.
  • In the spring, The New Play Festival allows playwrights to hear their full-length and one-act plays performed aloud by undergraduate actors in a minimalist staged reading. Similarly, Playworks does the same for 10-minute plays.
  • Check out the department calendar to learn more and consider reaching out and getting involved.
    
     
    

[Image Description: Wishbone the dog, from the show Wishbone, dressed as William Shakespeare with a rose in his mouth.]

Pictured: You, getting in touch with your thespian roots

 

Fellowships, Residencies, & Funding

• The Center for Ideas and Society offers up to $2,000 in funding to UCR humanities students to support travel and research related to their manuscripts or dissertations!
• For those interested in teaching, The Gluck Fellows program offers $5,000 stipends to graduate students in exchange for community involvement promoting the arts in local schools.
• Apply to funded fellowships and residencies to acquire time, space, and financial stability to pursue your creative endeavors upon graduation. Notable fellowships in California include The Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University and the Steinbeck Fellow Program at San Jose State. At UCR, The Yefe Nof Residency allows one student the chance to spend two weeks in the solitude of Lake Arrowhead for the purpose of finishing a major writing project
• Poets&Writers contains fabulous directories promoting residencies, grants, and more.

 

 

 

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Pictured: You, after successfully applying to fellowships

 

Career Development

• Screenwriters should consider taking advantage of UCR’s proximity to Hollywood by applying to internships, particularly in Writers Rooms. Disney, CBS, Paramount, NBC, Nickelodeon, and Warner Brothers have various initiatives to recruit new and diverse talent.   
• Janefriedman.com contains informative blog posts on crucial topics such as “How to Find a Literary Agent” and “The Complete Guide to Query Letters”.
• MLA Joblist is has an excellent inventory of job openings in academia.
• Poets & Writers has another broad directory of job listings for positions related to the world of writing.
• Playwrights should consider making an account on New Play Exchange. New Play Exchange is a professional networking site, much like LinkedIn, for playwrights and theaters to connect.

 

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Pictured: You, at work after landing that dream job

 

Publishing Opportunities

• Current and past cohort members have found success pitching to Longreads, Rumpus, Electric Lit, Los Angeles Review of Books, LA Times, and Poets.org to name a few.

• Submittable is a go-to application for submitting your work to a wide variety of publications. The “Discover” tab is particularly worth exploring for various contests and publishing opportunities.  
• Santa Ana River Review is UCR’s literary magazine. Edited by MFA students, the Santa Ana River Review accepts submissions in poetry, drama, fiction, creative nonfiction and visual arts.

 

 

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Pictured: All of you racing to submit your work now that you know about these resources.

 

On-Campus Support

• Subject librarians are available to aid your manuscript research. Those interested can fill out this online form or speak with the help desk at the library.
• The Graduate Writing Center is an excellent resource available to MFA’s. The center offers one-on-one consultations where students can get feedback on various forms of writing including creative work, job and fellowship application materials, cover letters, teaching statements, resumes, etc.