It's time to apply for an MFA in dramatic writing from Carnegie Mellon.

Playwrights from the class of 2021 making the essential pilgrimage to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater near Pittsburgh

The Dramatic Writing MFA at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama is integrated into the oldest drama conservatory in the United States. Combining playwriting, screenwriting, and writing for television, this is a rigorous graduate program with a substantial workload. It fosters the courage to fail and try again; the integrity and flexibility needed for a collaborative practice; and curiosity, because curious people make better things. It is for the writer who revises relentlessly.

Students are encouraged to pursue their professional careers while enrolled in the MFA program, supported by initiatives that provide access to new play development and production opportunities in the field. Full-length plays by graduate playwrights receive workshop productions in the New Works Series. The Sloan/CMU Script Competition awards $35,000 in prizes to current CMU students each year for original screenplays and TV pilots. Graduate students have the opportunity to teach undergraduate courses in playwriting or screenwriting. Alumni have access to an established framework of professional connections.

Guest faculty are a vital presence in the program. Recent guests have included Clare Barron, Sheila Callaghan, Kia Corthron, Erin Courtney, Eisa Davis, Kristoffer Diaz, Jessica Dickey, Madeleine George, Lucas Hnath, Onalee Hunter Hughes, Aurorae Khoo, Carlos Murillo, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Richard Nelson, Jean-Paul Nickel, Jiehae Park, J.T. Rogers, Cori Thomas, Andrea Thome, Francine Volpe, Anne Washburn, Mac Wellman, and A. Zell Williams.

Recent alumni include Liza Birkenmeier (DR. RIDE'S AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE), Gillian Beth Durkee (EST/Youngblood), Leviticus Jelks (Humanitas LA Play Festival, Playwrights Union), Lauren Wimmer (Ars Nova ANT Fest, Playwright's Center), Isabella D'Esposito (Playwrights Realm Fellow), Dan Giles (THE SECOND MAN at NYTW Next Door), Joshua Harmon (BAD JEWS, SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, SKINTIGHT), Mora V. Harris (SPACE GIRL), Daniel Hirsch (Tête à Tête opera festival, London), Whitney Rowland (PlayPenn), and Jordan Barsky (Law & Order SVU). Other alumni are writing for television, film, and new media, touring plays for Seder tables and punk rock clubs, and making wild puppet extravaganzas.

We are committed to an inclusive theater that resists bigotry and oppression. Our community is one of bold artists and bold citizens.

Applications are due January 1. Information at http://drama.cmu.edu/

Rob Handel
Associate Professor of Dramatic Writing
Carnegie Mellon University