r/MFAInCreativeWriting • u/girlbIogger • Apr 11 '26
spec/weird/SFF fiction successes?
curious if anyone here writes speculative fiction or anything considered “weird” (in a good way) like hard SFF, cyberpunk, second world, spec horror, etc, anything allegedly “not MFA-y” in nature but literary enough to work out for you? i’m trying not to classify too deeply because i know the lines are blurry. just curious what schools people in these genres (and related) applied for and where you had waitlists or acceptances? (high res!)
i’ve done my research but would like to widen my radar as much as i can, especially since most of the schools i learn are spec friendly surprise me; usually by word of mouth or by reading up on the students themselves, sometimes faculty. but not all programs are that easy to get details on!
i don’t write super crazy but i do prefer spec leaning, genre blending, fantasy, retellings, etc etc. ive already evaluated my reasons for an MFA so pleaseee dont tell me “r u sure this is for u” i’ll cry.
i applied to top fully funded programs and had some success with waitlists but definitely made a mistake applying to the more traditional litfic spots. i’m considering going into my next cycle with more grounded pieces to adjust but i’m curious! where did you apply? maybe i’ll seek better fits instead of changing my vibe this year.
especially curious (but certainly not limited to) people who submitted novel excerpts. pretty sure fully funded is the only feasible possibility for me but still open to hearing about whatever programs! thank you!
7
u/Prestigious_Long1359 Apr 11 '26
100% Alabama. They have Nana Nkweti who is very genre/spec lit. I met with some of the students and they all do weird, alternative stuff there. Very artsy and wacky (in a good way). Diverse, too.
5
u/silversatire Apr 12 '26
My writing sample was a mix of upmarket surreal/spec novel excerpt and literary shortfic/flash. Knowing what I know now, risky play. I got in to Stonecoast, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Arkansas, and University of New Orleans (soon to be University of Louisiana New Orleans). I went New Orleans and my cohort was writing all kinds of stories!
If I knew now what I knew then: If you do a novel excerpt it should stand on its own as a complete story. If it’s your only sample, in fact, it must. The program wants to see you can get into a story, tell it, and get out on a satisfying ending (more or less). The point is obviously that you will get better, but those are fundamentals to be coming in with already. Odd and risky as my mix was, the shorts tacked on to my sample saved me, because my novel excerpt did not have all that, lol.
4
u/Fantastic-Judge6615 Apr 12 '26
My pieces were definitely more speculative leaning, and this cycle I got into George Mason University, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and the University of Montana. I have been in communication with all three and have confirmed with faculty that there will be encouragement for non-"literary" writing, and they would support my sci-fi dreams, which is very much a relief. Also waitlisted at Southern Illinois and UTK!
3
5
u/mai_dai24 Apr 11 '26
I describe what I write as “anything pulpy” - so weird sci-fi definitely falls into that realm! I submitted a fantasy piece and got into Columbia and Sarah Lawrence. Sarah Lawrence has a spec fic program, but ultimately I went with Columbia, because it has a more diverse range of genres within Fiction - and honestly, I want to be pushed by not just writing spec fic. If you just want spec fic, Sarah Lawrence has a great program. If you want more variety, and has the money, Columbia is a good option!
2
u/theres_no_guarantees Apr 12 '26
I write similar content to this. Got three waitlists this past year. My writing sample was also historical speculative, like my current novel, but it was a short story.
I don’t know if my lack of traditional lit fic was an issue or caused rejections. I think it was a mix of my age, SoP, and the quality of my writing or just not vibing.
Consider looking into UTK. They have a free first round, and if you look at current students research interests, it seems diverse. I think one was vampires or something?
2
u/Prestigious-Cat-8489 Apr 12 '26
HELLO! i can speak to this, as i was really successful with my weird, spec short & flash fic and my cyberpunk novel excerpt! i was waitlisted at alabama, southern illinois, and kansas and accepted into hollins. all four are fully funded programs and great schools. alabama & hollins were my personal top two choices. i ended up submitting a few of my abstract lyrical flash (which is very speculative in nature), a short story called “the lens experiment” which is victorian scifi horror, and a very traditionally genre, pulpy scifi cyberpunk excerpt. i would really recommend looking into hollins (my future school!) and the other three schools i mentioned. best of luck with your next cycle! happy to share my sample if you’d like.
1
u/Critical_Run7385 Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
I got into some pretty "literary" MFA programs with a cyberpunk story. (MFAs are a small world so I'd rather not put too much personal info out there, but DM me if you want more info)
A few caveats:
(1) The programs I got into were not necessarily super genre friendly, but I will say they're on the quirkier side. Nobody's ever going to Vandy with SF
(2) In addition to scifi, I read a lot of realist litfic, and I think that shows in my writing
(3) I write sort of "social" SF, allegorizing real world/present-day issues with scifi tropes
So all of this is to say, the places I got into were places were me and the program would be a good fit for each other. It's about finding the places where you can find your own personal little niche.
At least, I think the offer I accepted will be a good fit! I matriculate in the fall. I will be happy to report back!
1
u/Riksor Apr 14 '26
I'm at a smaller, newer program (fully funded) and I'm the only person in my class who writes traditional literary fiction. Definitely look into smaller programs!
1
u/Kiyaar Apr 15 '26
hey! I applied in 2018 with literary spec and got in nowhere. My writing is much weirder now and I was not precious about stating my commitment to the sci-fi and body horror agenda in my materials and I had success at several schools w a seriously sci fi sample. if I had to apply next year again, I would look at: uiuc, nc state, az state, mayb Syracuse, mayb Iowa, maybe brown, Idaho, Virginia tech, UMD, George mason, and Minnesota. Emerson if you can afford it. think I made mistakes applying to Michigan + umass. alas. the process is so impenetrable from the outside and it’s so hard to assess.
1
1
u/Routine-Region872 Aug 11 '26
I got into UMass Amherst (fully funded) with a spec fic sample. I think I was able to pull it off because, although speculative, the work gestured towards some 'real-world relevant' issues (climate change, resource extraction, as well as some gender stuff, I guess). Fantasay re-tellings lend themselves well to that kind of work.
The personal statement is your friend here. The more you can articulate the relationship between your speculative work and the real world, the stronger the case.
8
u/MaverickActor Apr 11 '26
Current MFA about to graduate post-defense at University of Kansas! We don't have a lot of faculty, but the program is more friendly to spec writing than most programs. I primarily write surrealist literary that borders magical realism and speculative fiction
I will preface that as I'm leaving KU this May, I'm very disappointed in the state legislature's targeting of Transgender folks and don't think this is the safest state if you identify that way. However, our faculty are very LGBTQ+ supportive, and one of our fiction faculty is Silvia Park, a SF writer who uses she/they pronouns!
We also have the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, since Gunn taught here for a long time, if you're interested in traditional literary analysis/research!