The residency periods are essential to this MFA program: they provide needed human contact; the chance to have extended conversations with mentors and fellow students; experience of face-to-face workshops and craft classes; and an intimate setting for readings, lectures, performances, and worship services.

Students are required to attend a total of five residencies over the course of two academic years. Each residency lasts ten days. They take place in the months of March and August, allowing for the passage of two academic quarters between residencies.

Residencies are intensive: they pack in a great deal, including workshops, classes on craft, lectures, and readings, as well as extended consultations with faculty mentors. Faculty at the residencies consist of a group of current mentors along with a number of invited guest speakers, including some of America’s most celebrated writers.

For photos from previous residencies, please click here.

2009 Winter Residency:        March 19 - 29

2009 Summer Residency:     July 23 - August 2

Summer Residency — The Glen Workshop, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The August residency is held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the campus of St. John’s College. MFA students are in residence at the same time as Image’s Glen Workshop, thus giving students access to nearly a dozen additional speakers, plus an array of concerts, lectures, readings, worship services, and more.

Located on 250 acres in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains overlooking Santa Fe, the St. John's College campus is a quiet oasis, ideal for conference activities. Meeting rooms, dining facilities, housing and classroom buildings are closely arranged to form an intimate academic community in a spectacular southwestern setting.

The list of things to do in and around Santa Fe is nearly endless, including hiking and exploring the rugged high desert landscape, visiting ancient ruins and contemporary Native American communities in nearby pueblos, sampling dozens of world-class museums, including the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, and an incredible range of art galleries and shops.

The schedule for the 2008 Glen Workshop is now posted on the Image website. Thanks to our partnership with Image journal, MFA students will be taking advantage of the all wonderful speakers and performers at the Glen Workshop during the August residencies. The theme for the 2008 workshop, "The Artist and the City ," will provide a focal point for discussion at the Glen. To find out more about this year's theme, click here.

For more on the speakers and performers who are featured at the Glen Workshop, go to the Visiting Writers, Artists and Musicians page or directly to the Glen Workshop home page.

Winter Residency — Camp Casey, Whidbey Island, Washington

In the 1890s, the newly built Fort Casey on Whidbey Island guarded the entrance to Puget Sound. By 1908 Fort Casey was in full operation and ranked as the fourth largest military post in the state, having a staff of ten officers and 428 men. The big guns at the fort were first fired on September 11, 1901.

Today, Camp Casey Conference Center, owned and operated by Seattle Pacific University, offers versatile facilities and beautiful surroundings, making it an ideal location for an intensive 10-day residency.

MFA students have the opportunity to sample the many cultural and recreational possibilities in the area, including regular visits to historic Coupeville, the second-oldest town in the entire state of Washington, with more than 100 buildings listed in the National Historic Register. Coupeville is home to friendly pubs, quaint shops, and fine restaurants. Students will also be able to take a short ferry ride to Port Townsend, a beautiful town with used bookstores, antiques shops, restaurants, and more.

To learn more about SPU’s Camp Casey facility, click here.

For information about historic Coupeville and central Whidbey Island, click here.