Summer Residency

Overview

Summer residencies are integral to forming and maintaining our MFA community. The residency is held on the campus of Ashland University and features a rigorous schedule of workshops, seminars and readings.

Typical Daily Residency Schedule

Morning workshop
Lunch in the university's dining hall
Afternoon craft seminar led by a faculty mentor or a visiting writer
Late afternoon thesis defenses, class and individual meetings
Catered dinner
Evening reading by distinguished visiting writers and faculty mentors
After-hours student open mics and social gatherings

MFA Summer Residency students on the Acadmic Corridor

Writing Workshops

Summer workshops are split into two sessions. In each, three to five students spend several days working with one faculty mentor on short writing assignments and readings. During the sessions, you can expect to give and receive peer feedback and discuss assigned readings. In the second week, you will repeat this process with a different faculty member who is an expert in your chosen genre and will spend some time in professionalization workshops.

Visiting Writers & Editors

Each summer, we invite accomplished writers to give readings and craft seminars in addition to our core faculty. We also invite editors from literary journals and presses to hold panel discussions and meet with students individually.

MFA Writers and Faculty

MFA Summer Residency visiting writer speaking to a class

Summer Residency Room and Board

Communal meals during the summer residency are an important part of community building. All faculty and visiting writers take part in lunch and dinner.

A light breakfast is provided each weekday prior to workshops. Lunch is served in the university dining hall ("Lower Convo") and dinners are catered each night. A vegetarian entree and a gluten-free entree will be provided at each meal. If you need further meal modifications, AU Catering can accommodate any requests. Please notify the program coordinator of dietary restrictions and special requests in advance.

2024 Meal Plan: $525

Restaurants and grocery stores are within walking distance of the university. A snack bar in the Student Center with dining and coffee selections is open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On-campus housing is available in Clayton Hall, a newly renovated residence hall featuring air-conditioned double-occupancy rooms with a private bathroom. You will live on the same floor as other summer residency students and share a common space with a small kitchenette and access to laundry. Residence halls do not have utensils, plates, pots and pans, cups or other similar amenities.

You may request to “buy out” a residence hall room — essentially converting a double room into a single, as long as space is available.

A linen package is available for students upon request. The linen package includes towels, sheets, a light blanket and a pillow.

2024 Room Rates*

A double, shared room = $360
A private, double room (“buy out”) = $715

2024 Optional Linen Package (pillow, sheets, blanket and towels): $58; package without pillow: $53

Previous Visiting Writers & Editors

Visiting writers have included:

Creative Nonfiction

Hanif Abdurraqib
Gretel Ehrlich
Ashley C. Ford
Leslie Jamison
Terry Tempest Williams

Fiction

Dan Chaon
Lolita Hernandez
Rebecca Makkai
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Benjamin Percy

Poetry

Jericho Brown
John Keene
Justin Phillip Reed
J. Allyn Rosser
Patricia Smith

Visiting editors have included:

Ibrahim Ahmad, Viking
Mary Biddinger, Akron University Press
Dan Bourne, The Artful Dodge
Kate Gale, Red Hen Press
Johanna Ingalls, Akashic Books
David Lynn and Kirsten Reach, Kenyon Review
Eric Obenauf, Two Dollar Radio Press
Jon Parrish Peede, Virginia Quarterly Review
Hilary Plum, CSU Poetry Center

Supported by the Ohio Arts Council

The Ashland University MFA Program is grateful for the support of the Ohio Arts Council. Their support enables many events to be open and free to the public so that local writers and those interested in the literary arts can also benefit from the gifted authors and editors who are involved with this program.