How to Become a Writer in Idaho with a BFA, MFA or Similar Creative Writing Degree

boise skyline of hot air balloons

If there is a secret to learning how to write creatively, it remains elusive. Kind of like getting a good night’s sleep: sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. For sleeping, when it comes to a good strategy it’s almost counter-productive to focus on sleeping itself. Actually, what can matter most is what you’re doing when you’re not sleeping.

For writers like Ernest Hemingway who wrote classics like For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Moveable Feast while living in Sun Valley, Idaho’s hunting and fishing scenes seem to have been the perfect not writing things for him to be doing.

Maybe the Hemingway formula could work for you? To unlock your creative side, perhaps it’s time to visit Shoshone Falls or the Bitterroot Mountains? Maybe it’s time to apply for a black bear or mountain lion tag?

Or maybe those are just outmoded masculine stereotypes that have outlived their utility, as the current generation of accomplished writers around here might advise you. Whatever the case may be, Idaho’s secret to creative writing remains just that.

The Idaho Connection

welcome to idahoRightly or wrongly, Idaho will always be associated with Hemingway. Even though Sun Valley initially had to share him with Cuba, he spent some of his greatest times and wrote some of his greatest works here, in addition to Ketchum being his final resting place. But Idaho is a big and diverse state, and there are plenty of more recent creatives carrying on in the writing tradition.

Janet Campbell Hale is one, although her award-winning succinct style has often been compared to Hemingway’s. Passing away just recently in 2021, Hale is known for her work exploring Native American themes having grown up on the Coeur D’Alene reservation.

Generation Z is positioning itself to take the creative writing torch next, inspired by 35-year-old Franklin-County-native Tara Westover who’s already made the number-one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Her childhood experience, raised by survivalist parents, first attending school at the age of 17, and then going on to earn a PhD at Cambridge provides her with a wealth of first-hand material.

Born in 1981, the award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter is currently working on an FX television series in addition to adapting a screenplay he wrote for a film that’s being produced by Protozoa Pictures and distributed by A24. Born and raised in Moscow, Hunter currently calls NYC home.

There really is no right or wrong way to unlock your creative powers. Hemingway would agree with that just as much as the most recent modern-day accomplished Idaho writers. So would the major modernist 19th-century poetry figure and Idaho-native Ezra Pound –acquaintance of Gertrude Stein among others– who also happened to meet Hemingway when he was just a young lad in Paris.

An incomplete list of Idaho’s greatest might start with Pound, move on to Hemingway, and include the likes of Jane Campbell Hale along with modern masters like Samuel D. Hunter and Tara Westover.

There’s either something in the water, or there’s something special about the writers from Idaho.

Idaho’s Creative Writing Classes, Courses, and Workshops Can Prepare You for a Creative Writing Degree

The secret to fine-tuning a writer’s creative journey can be controversial. What’s less so is the Juilliard equivalent to practice, practice, practice: write, write, write.

Feedback from experience, the blood and sweat of writing, happens in coffee shops, on college campuses, at open mic nights, and yes, maybe even at your local beverage-serving establishment.

The Cabin is a literary arts non-profit organization in Boise that puts on readings, sponsors events, promotes local authors, hosts lectures, and more. For those with a hopeful eye to the future, The Cabin also runs summer camps for tomorrow’s writers in grades three through nine.

Write Path is a Boise-based organization promoting an environment where the writer is completely unencumbered and free from the barbs of critics and editors. It’s that kind of mythical place where creative expression is maximized without compromise; a no-barrier all-are-welcome place to appreciate creative writing for the sake of appreciating creative writing. Retreats, poetry therapy, journaling groups, creative writing groups, lecture series, and workshops are all included under its big-tent approach.

The Idaho Creative Authors Network (ICAN) is another potential resource for aspiring local authors. Its three founding directors pledge to offer help with the business-end of writing. The organization can additionally be a resource for networking among writers in the greater Treasure Valley.

Depending on when you catch them, Blue Sage Writers of Idaho can also serve as a valuable resource. When in session, it’s a group of Idaho writers ranging from the ultra-experienced to the green-of-horn.

Local Idaho publishers include:

Writing Colleges in Idaho Offering Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Creative Writing Provide a Path to Becoming a Writer

If everyone could cross the threshold to being a Hemingway-level author then his curt writing advice would be all that are taught in BFA and MFA creative writing classes.

But it’s not so easy – Hemingway of all people would agree. He’s also known for saying, “Write drunk; edit sober.”

College-level creative writing takes you beyond your last cocktail to the big leagues where “networking” means something more than a Facebook open-mic open-tab; it means chatting up publishing-house representatives and scheduling book-tour expositories.

A degree in creative writing can spell the difference between hobby and career. It helps you tie everything you’ve learned about creative writing together and take it to the professional level. It doesn’t matter whether you call New York City or Nampa home, a degree in creative writing can be your breakthrough.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Other Bachelor’s Degrees in Creative Writing in Idaho

Boise State University

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Bachelor – BFA, BA

Public School

boise state university

College of Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Bachelor – BA

Private School

college of idaho

Lewis-Clark State College

SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Bachelor – BFA

Public School

lewis-clark state college

University of Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Bachelor – BA

Public School

university of idaho

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and Other Master’s Degrees in Creative Writing in Idaho

Boise State University

GRADUATE COLLEGE

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Master – MFA

Public School

boise state university

New Saint Andrews College

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Master – MFA

Private School

new saint andrews college

University of Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Accreditation: NWCCU

Degree: Master – MFA

Public School

university of idaho
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