Employment and Partnerships

Seven MFA students per year have the opportunity to work as TAs for courses in the undergraduate Creative Writing program offered at the University of Guelph. Remuneration is set by the most recent CUPE 3913 Collective Agreement with the university. The Coordinator will send out a call for applications. Final hiring decisions are made by the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.

MFA students have the opportunity to teach a University of Guelph-Humber elective class in Creative Writing, which provides ongoing opportunities for students to gain teaching experience in the field of Creative Writing. This is an introductory class, described as focusing on fiction, but can expand into other genres. Currently it is being offered in the fall and winter semesters. The pay level is set by Humber College, commensurate with their part-time rates. The Coordinator will send out a call for applications. Final hiring decision is made by the University of Guelph-Humber.

Our program has a relationship with the Humber Writing Centre: each year, the Writing Centre hires four Creative Writing MFA students to work as tutors for three academic terms. Remuneration is equivalent to that of a teaching assistant; however, all students complete their weekly hours assisting students in the Writing Centre, rather than grading papers outside of the classroom — as is the case for most teaching assistants.

For more information, visit: The Humber Writing Centre

The Parkdale Project is our teaching practicum offered in partnership with Parkdale Public School and Parkdale Collegiate. In the public school setting, MFA students develop and run six 50-minute workshops for Grade 7 & 8 classes. The MFA writing instructors work in small groups to co-design and deliver curriculum — each taking a turn as primary instructor. At the high school level, MFA instructors have the opportunity to work on their own to independently design and deliver two workshop sessions to Parkdale Collegiate students. At the end of the Parkdale Project young participants gather together to read aloud their writing, and receive a printed anthology of their creative work. Instructors receive an honorarium for their time.

For more information, speak with MFA Administrator Libby Johnstone at cwmfa@uoguelph.ca.

The Creative Writing Certificate is offered by University of Guelph's Open Learning and Educational Support in partnership with the University’s Creative Writing MFA program. This program has been developed for dedicated life-long learners and is a focused program of study resulting in a certificate. Students and alumni of the nationally regarded MFA graduate program are involved in course development and the teaching of these writing courses. The program is located on The University of Guelph campus in Guelph, Ontario and classes run in the evenings during the fall, winter and summer semesters. 

For more information, please visit creativewritingatguelph.ca

Inquiries by alumni regarding teaching positions should be directed to Erin Camm, at University of Guelph’s Open Learning and Educational Support.

Incoming first-year students will have the opportunity to apply to be a co-host of the Speakeasy Reading Series, joining the existing second-year co-host. Starting in Fall 2020, the Speakeasy co-hosting and organizing duties will be a paid Graduate Student Assistantship. The Graduate Coordinator will send out a call for applications to incoming first-year students in July/August.