MFA Project Defense

Your MFA project is a book-length creative work—a novel, short-story collection, or poetry collection—that compares favorably with work published by university presses, commercial trade publishers, or independent literary presses.

Timeline and Deadlines

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Second Year: Fall Semester

Complete the Master’s Degree or Certificate Program of Study Form (PDF version) and submit it to the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Speak with an MFA faculty member about directing your project. You should plan on taking all of your ENGL 798 “Project Hours” credits with your director.

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Third Year: Fall Semester

Contact prospective committee members. Your committee includes:

• • Your project director, who supervises your ENGL 798 hours
  • One additional MFA faculty reader
  • One English Department faculty reader from outside the MFA program
  • Optional: a fourth reader from outside the English Department

Check the Graduate School website to verify when the graduation application deadline is.

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Third Year: Spring Semester

Early in the semester, contact your committee to schedule your oral defense. Defenses generally last one hour, though you should reserve a 90-minute window.

Apply for graduation before the deadline.

Fill out an updated Master’s Degree or Certificate Program of Study Form (PDF version)and submit it to the Graduate Program Coordinator.

The MFA project defense deadline is April 8.

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Scheduling your Defense

Once your committee has agreed on a date and time, reserve a room for the defense:

• • Contact Fay Smith to reserve the chair’s conference room.
  • Contact the Graduate Program Coordinator to reserve the graduate conference room.

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Submitting Your Manuscript

Email your completed project manuscript to each member of your committee and to the Graduate Program Coordinator at least two weeks before your defense date.

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Manuscript Formatting

Format your manuscript as you would for submission to a publisher, editor, or book contest.

• • Use a readable 12-point font.
  • Include page numbers.
  • Double-space fiction manuscripts.
  • Poetry manuscripts may use the spacing that best serves the work.
  • Include a title page with your name, your manuscript title, the names of committee members, the defense date, and the phrase “University of South Carolina MFA Project.”

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The Defense

Talk with your director about the process and expectations for the defense.

Bring a completed G-TSF form to your defense for committee signatures. Submit the signed form to the Graduate Program Coordinator afterward.

An electronic copy of your MFA project manuscript will remain with the English Department. MFA projects are not submitted to outside databases, and no embargo is required.