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Young Adult and Children’s Literature
The MFA is a creative writing low residency program that combines 10-day residencies with on-line coursework.
Creative Writing and Literature for educators, Fairleigh Dickinson, Creative Writing,Teaneck, New Jersey, Master of Fine Arts in Writing,
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Young Adult and Children’s Literature

“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.”
—Philip Pullman
The Young Adult and Children’s Literature concentration in the MFA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University provides students the opportunity to work closely with award-winning, acclaimed faculty writers.
Because our class sizes are small (usually 4-6 students), students work in a rigorous and focused way with their mentors. At residencies, faculty and students dine together, attend readings and lectures together, and socialize. Our curriculum helps each writer follow his or her unique creative exploration, with an individually tailored reading list and a guided study of craft.

For More Information

René Steinke, Director

MFA in Creative Writing Fairleigh Dickinson University

email: writingmfa@fdu.edu

Recent Visitors to the Residencies:
  • Natalie Standiford

    (author of The Boy on the Bridge, How to Say Goodbye in Robot)

  • Tanuja Desai Hidier

    (author of Bombay Blues and Born Confused)

  • Cheryl Klein

    (Executive Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic)

FACULTY

Coe Booth

Coe Booth was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. She has a Master’s degree in psychology and has worked as a counselor for teenagers and families in crisis situations. She also has an MFA in creative writing from The New School. Coe’s first novel Tyrell was published in 2006, and it won The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. Her novels Kendra and Bronxwood followed, and both were selected by the American Library Association as Best Books for Young Adults. Her first novel for middle-grade readers, Kinda Like Brothers, was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book for Children and a National Public Radio Best Book of 2014. She lives in the Bronx.

Eliot Schrefer

Eliot Schrefer is a New York Times-bestselling author, and two of his novels for young adults, Endangered and Threatened, have been named finalists for the National Book Award. In naming him an Editor’s Choice, the New York Times has called his work “dazzling… big-hearted.” He is also the author of two novels for adults and four other novels for children and young adults. His books have been named to the National Public Radio “Best of the Year” list, the American Library Association Best Fiction list for young adults, and the Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best.” His work has also been selected to the Amelia Bloomer List, recognizing best feminist books for young readers. He has been a finalist for the Walden Award, and he won the Green Earth Book Award and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He lives in New York City.

Donna Freitas

Donna Freitas is the author of six novels for children, including The Possibilities of Sainthood, which received five starred reviews, among other accolades, and The Survival Kit, which made the Young Adult Library Services Association Best Fiction for Young Adults list in 2012. Her newest YA novel, The Tenderness of Thieves, has just been published. When she’s not working on her YA fiction, Donna writes nonfiction. She frequently lectures on campuses across the United States about her work, most recently at Colby, Pepperdine, Harvard, and Yale, among other universities. She lives in Brooklyn.