“I wouldn’t be where I am as a writer without Stonecoast. If you’re looking to practice your craft (and get that MFA as well), I can’t recommend Stonecoast enough.”
— Morgan Talty, 2022 New England Book Award Winner in Fiction
“At Stonecoast I found a community that cared about the power and the importance of telling stories. The program upholds rigor and craft and always respects a writer’s individual voice.”
— Jennifer Clement (Stonecoast 2013), President PEN International
A profile photo of student Lea Smith

Pursuing a career in writing

Lea Smith (she/her) is a current graduate student at Stonecoast and will graduate in June 2025. She sat down and shared her experience as a student at USM and gave an inside look at how she decided on her area of study and seeking a career in writing.

Low-Residency with High Standards

Stonecoast students lead busy, active lives. Which is why faculty mentors work with those students to co-create a study plan which reflects the student’s goals and fits their life.

  • Bi-annual residencies ensure that every student can connect with the writing faculty and their peers.
  • Our innovative curriculum supports those students who wish to study a genre deeply as well as those whose interests cross the boundaries of genre.
  • In addition to learning writing craft, our community triest to instill the habits that will sustain your writing career.

Writing for Inclusivity and Social Equity

As Audre Lorde put it, “You will never dismantle the master’s house with the master’s tools.”

Thankfully, writers have access to some powerful tools. Consider empathy, which cuts against systems of power and repression. It is subversive. Reading and writing–both of which depend upon our ability to bridge distances between and inside people–are fueled by empathy.