Department of Writing, Literature & Publishing
Meet Mako Yoshikawa
Assistant Professor Mako Yoshikawa can't remember a time when she didn't want to be a writer.
When her family moved to Tokyo from Princeton, New Jersey, seven-year-old Yoshikawa wrote to combat her homesickness. "I wrote both in English and in Japanese, and I began to suspect that language could provide me a home wherever I went — which has, in fact, proved to be the case."
Taking Education Seriously
Yoshikawa's family returned to Princeton two years later, but she continued to work toward her dream of being a writer — a dream that came true several times over. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Columbia University, a master's in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama from Oxford University, and is currently completing her dissertation for a PhD in Literature from the University of Michigan. She has also published two critically acclaimed books, One Hundred and One Ways and Once Removed.
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“The faculty of WLP is an inspiration. I have been impressed almost daily by their accomplishments, their devotion to teaching and to their craft of writing, and their concern that the students grow and learn.” |
For Yoshikawa, teaching has been vastly rewarding and has given her the time and space to focus on her craft. Thrilled to be teaching at Emerson — a college that values and emphasizes creativity in a way unlike any other — Yoshikawa admires her students' passion and dedication. "They see that learning how to write is a worthy way to spend not just three years, but also the rest of their lives."
CREATIVE WRITING (MFA) AT A GLANCE
52-credit program
Full-time or part-time enrollment. Full-time enrollment is typically 8 or 12 credits per semester.
Fall admission
Full-time students usually complete the degree in two and a half years; part-time students usually complete the degree in three and a half years.
Meet the Graduate Program Director
Professor and MFA Graduate Program Director Steve Yarbrough is the author of nine books. His recently completed novel The Realm of Last Chances will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2013. His previous novel, Safe from the Neighbors (Knopf), appeared in 2010. His 2006 novel The End of California (Knopf) was a finalist for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for fiction.
Graduate Studies
FOR CURRENT STUDENTS
To read the Graduate Handbook and learn about research and fellowship opportunities, visit the Graduate Studies website.
