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The MFA creative writing program is a holy grail for many young writers (and even for some older ones). Most of them are competitive to get into, and many university programs with an MFA program boast of its published authors. The promise of taking workshops with the masters and having plenty of time to write is a big lure. Plus, at the end of this degree program, the author has the three letters MFA attached to his or her name and the prestige that comes with it. Professional authorship is then the goal of any creative writing student. Is an master of fine arts program in fiction, poetry, or even creative non-fiction necessary to become a writer?

No. However, the one thing the MFA program offers is an environment to develop craft, to study with accomplished authors, and interact with other aspiring authors. Being in a workshop with a published author with a small group of intelligent, literate students appeals to anyone who has taken creative writing classes at the community college or the university. Hopefully, iron sharpens iron and being in literary boot camp pays off. Hopefully, one's verse or prose has been refined for publication.

The MFA program also offers membership into an exclusive club. Not everyone who applies gets in. The University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop, is the first and most prestigious MFA program, providing the template for all workshops. Many famous novelists and poets have taught at Iowa, and many famous alumni also have studied there. Other universities have modeled their programs after Iowa's and boast of star faculty. Perusing the ad section of Poets and Writers will give the names of the faculty presently teaching. With varying levels of prestige, the programs offer apprenticeships and writing cliques. In a way, the lure of being in a program is to belong (temporarily) to something akin to a writer's guild.

Graduate creative writing programs may not be right for all writers and genres. MFA programs characteristically favor confessional, realistic narratives presented with artfully stylized prose. A science fiction writer or a magical realist may find their writing is being read by an unappreciative audience. Someone may have spirited, original writing that loses its spark in the workshop. Chris Altacruise, a pseudonym, has criticized American fiction (produced by MFA graduates) as the fiction of consensus. One should be able to listen to everything and perhaps implement nothing in a creative writing program. Some writers are vicious

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