Master of Fine Arts in Literary Reportage

New York University

Journalism schools produce good reporters MFA programs train beautiful writers. The Literary Reportage program combines the best of both. And, as of 2020, our students will receive an MFA, rather than an MA. Other than the degree, nothing about the program will change. The MFA is merely recognition of the merits and methods of the existing program. One advantage of an MFA is that it is a terminal degree, recognized as a teaching credential by nonfiction MFA programs.At Literary Reportage, we will teach you how to transform your passions into well reported, thoroughly researched, beautifully expressed journalism. Literary Reportage students pursue their own long form projects, mentored by veteran writers in reporting classes and seminars.We’ll teach you how to do what Tom Wolfe once termed ''stylish reporting,'' how to master the art of the interview, and then go beyond it. We have a much more expansive, ethnographic approach to reporting than most other journalism programs. Literary Reportage students cover every subject imaginable: a meditation on the nature of trails an exploration of the underground world an investigation of the political and real estate corruption behind the construction of Yankee Stadium the search for a New York writer who vanished half a century ago. Perhaps you will become a participant-observer in order to tell the inside story. Or maybe you have a strong personal connection to your story, and choose to fashion it as a kind of memoir. Or maybe your advantage will come from the intensive research you do, whether in government archives or libraries.

Graduate School of Arts and Science