Join the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) from Sunday, July 7, through Thursday, July 11, 2024, as the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFACW) program presents an Evening Reading Series featuring mentors and special guests. Each evening will engage its audience with poetry, memoir, or fiction from some of today’s most vibrant and vital writers. Check the schedule for additional details.

All readings will be livestreamed on the IAIA website and are held in the CLE Commons on the IAIA Campus.

Evening Reading Series Events

• Sunday, July 7, 6:00 pm: Readings by Kimberly Blaeser (White Earth Nation), Anthony McCann, and Gabrielle Civil
• Monday, July 8, 6:00 pm: Readings by Sherwin Bitsui (Diné), Chris La Tray (Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana and Métis), and RO Kwon
• Tuesday, July 9, 6:00 pm: Readings by Toni Jensen (Métis), Jamie Figueroa (Boricua), and Brooke Swaney Pepion (Blackfeet Nation Citizen and Salish Descendant)
• Wednesday, July 10, 6:00 pm: Chip Livingston (Mixed-blood Creek), Bryson Chun (Hawaiian), and Brandon Hobson (Cherokee Nation)
• Thursday, July 11, 6:00 pm: Pam Houston, Deborah Taffa (Quechan Nation, Laguna Pueblo, and Chicana), and Michaela m.s. Red Cherries (Northern Cheyenne Nation)

MFA in Creative Writing

The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is designed as a two-year program with two intensive week-long residencies per year (summer and winter) at IAIA. Students and faculty mentors gather for a week of workshops, lectures, and readings. At the end of the residency week, each student is matched with a faculty mentor, who then works one-on-one with the student for the semester. IAIA’s program is unique in that we emphasize the importance of Indigenous writers speaking to the Indigenous experience. The literature we read carries a distinct Native American and First Nations emphasis. The MAFCW offers four areas of emphasis: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and screenwriting.

The deadline to apply for the 2024 academic year is Feb. 1 by 5 pm (MST).