Your writing sample, therefore, is the most important part of your application. In putting your sample together, you should emphasize quality rather than length. Your writing sample should be in a single genre.
Literary Arts
Admission
Writing Sample
Suggested Length
Writing samples may comprise a single work; an excerpt (or multiple excerpts) from a longer work; or multiple short works; or some other combination.
30 – 40 pages (double-spaced is typical; you may use an alternative format if integral to the work.)
15 – 20 pages (any format)
One or two electronic projects (provide links); or a 30-50 page portfolio (any format).
Applying for Multiple Tracks
If you want to be considered in more than one track, you may indicate on the application each of the tracks to which you wish to apply. You will need to provide two or (if choosing to apply to all three tracks) three separate writing samples. If applying to multiple tracks, clearly label each writing sample within the cover page with the track name (fiction, poetry, digital/cross-disciplinary).
Submission
Applicants submit a writing sample in plain-text format (preferably as a PDF document) less than 5 megabytes in size as part of the online application. If your work cannot easily be sent in this format (i.e., it has sculptural elements that you do not feel you can document in any but three-dimensional models), send it by regular mail to: Graduate School, Brown University, Box 1867, Providence, RI 02912. You may also include web address links for works that are best read online.
Review
Applicants’ writing samples are reviewed for admission by at least two members of the faculty. Because the Literary Arts Department receives a large number of applications, faculty members cannot provide critiques of individual samples. The Department does not grant interviews to prospective students.
Additional information
Admission is highly selective, and is based primarily on the quality of the applicant’s writing.
Some candidates find it useful to visit schools to get a feel for each particular program in advance of applying.
The Literary Arts Department welcomes applications from candidates from around the globe — in recent years, students from abroad have accounted for around 10 to 30% of the students enrolled in the MFA program.