The story of San Diego State’s Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in creative writing spans 20 years of poetry and fiction inspired by the region’s distinctively diverse culture.

M.F.A. graduates have been widely published; they’ve won international literary awards; become academics, Guggenheim Fellows and journal editors.
 
Poet Sandra Alcosser, currently co-director, established the program in 1989 for talented master of arts degree graduates seeking to further refine their craft.

“We had talented M.A. students, mostly non-traditional, who wanted a terminal degree. To obtain one, they would have had to disrupt their lives and move away.”

Ranked in the top 10

Now, 20 years later, the M.F.A. program is ranked in the top 10 on the West Coast and has served as a model for other California State University programs that followed. Many of its alumni remain in San Diego, contributing to the vitality of the community.

One graduate masterminded the Border Voices Poetry Project, which brings notable poets like Susan Sontag into the San Diego City Schools. Others edit journals, run international book fairs and work for literary agents and publishing houses.

“People who were my students now teach in community colleges, creating a pipeline for sending students to SDSU,” Alcosser said. “There is a real family of alumni here.”

Multicultural faculty

The M.F.A.’s three-year, 54-unit course of study is longer than most of its kind, but offers time for cross-genre study, community involvement and research.

Students help to run the Living Writers Series, which brings a dozen established writers to campus each year for readings and residencies. Many participate in the International Writers Summer Program in Galway, Ireland.

The M.F.A.’s multicultural faculty encourage students to gain practical experience as teaching assistants and as interns on the program’s two literary journals—Fiction International and Poetry International, whose editor, Ilya Kaminsky, is co-director of the program.

Special events for alumni

Next week, the M.F.A. program celebrates its 20th anniversary with special events Nov. 12-14. Alumni Ellen deCastro and Matt de la Pena are among those scheduled to read from their new works.