GAYLORD COLLEGE
395 W. LINDSEY
SUITE 3000
NORMAN, OK 73019
(405) 325-2721

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(405) 325-5684

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Gaylord Hall

Master of Professional Writing Program


The Master of Professional Writing (MPW) is the first such degree in Oklahoma and a program of writing for commercial media with few equivalents anywhere else. The degree evolves from a longstanding emphasis under the M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication. Since 1938, the University of Oklahoma has offered courses in Professional Writing, intended to prepare both traditional and non-traditional students to work as freelance fiction and nonfiction writers of books, screenplays, magazine articles and short stories.


Over the years, the program has trained many distinguished writers, including Louis L’Amour, Tony Hillerman, Marilyn Harris, Ross Thomas, Carolyn Hart, Harold Keith, Bill Wallace, Jack Bickham and Curtiss Ann Matlock. Many of these graduates have become best-selling authors. Hillerman, for example, has had several best sellers and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1997. The number one best-selling novel of 1956, Don’t Go Near the Water, was written by alumnus William Brinkley. Darlene Graham’s 1999 romance novel, The Pull of the Moon, was number 10 on the Waldenbooks best-seller list.


Students cover novel writing, nonfiction book writing and screenwriting in the core curriculum. Additional coursework in one or more of these three areas enables them to develop their knowledge and skills in line with their interests. Students’ development is demonstrated in the final project -- a book-length, professional-quality manuscript.


The central feature of the curriculum is intensive evaluation and critique of each student’s writing. This individualized focus begins in the writing courses in the core curriculum and continues in much of the additional Professional Writing coursework and the final project. Students work with instructors who are successful, published writers themselves.