Students pursuing graduate degrees within CCNY’s Department of English work closely with award-winning faculty to prepare for careers as artists, academics, educators and beyond. Across three distinct programs (the MFA in Creative Writing, MA in English Literature and MA in Language and Literacy) students engage deeply in the analysis and creation of the written and spoken word.

Our graduate programs are steeped in history: birthplace of Fiction literary magazine; host to such acclaimed faculty as Gwendolyn Brooks, Joseph Heller, Anthony Burgess, Kurt Vonnegut and Saul Bellows; and we are one of the oldest programs in the nation’s first public university. We carry on that legacy through our faculty’s continued groundbreaking scholarship and, of course, the many accomplishments of the students who come through our doors.

MFA in Creative Writing
MA in Literature
Language and Literacy

MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN CREATIVE WRITING

City College is ranked among the top Graduate Creative Writing Programs in U.S. News and World Report. Graduates have gone on to start publishing houses and magazines, to teach in colleges and literacy programs, to write for newspapers, television and films, as well as to organize community readings and international assemblies of writers.

MASTER OF ARTS IN LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Emphasizing adult learners & education, the Language and Literacy program combines professional graduate education with the study of literature and writing in an English Department. Language & Literacy faculty are active teacher-scholars whose courses combine theoretical knowledge with professional expertise and whose publications are widely influential in their fields. 

MASTER OF ARTS IN LITERATURE

Courses are given by a distinguished faculty who are equally committed to teaching and to writing in all forms, from traditional scholarship to literary criticism. Our broad range of courses encompasses traditional topics in English and American Literature (such as Shakespeare and Hawthorne) as well as African-American, Latino and feminist literatures. We also offer seminars that explore the research interests of the faculty members teaching them.

EUROPEAN JOINT MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STUDIES

The City College Master’s Program in English participates with 5 partners in the European Union who offer a Joint Master’s Degree in English and American Studies. Currently, the program offers students pursuing a Master’s at City in English Literature or Language and Literacy the opportunity to spend a semester abroad at one of the partner institutions as part of their coursework.

Michelle Valladares
Lecturer in English, Director of MFA in Creative Writing
Location: NA 6/219
Phone: 212-650-5407

mvalladares@ccny.cuny.edu

Václav Lucien Paris
Associate Professor, Director of Master of Arts in Literature
Location: NAC 6/356
Phone: 212-650-6336

vparis@ccny.cuny.edu

Barbara Gleason
Professor of Composition & Rhetoric, Director of Master of Arts in Language & Literacy
Location: NAC 6/333a;
Phone: 212-650-6329

bgleason@ccny.cuny.edu