Ella's program of study aims to develop the artistic abilities of the students admitted to the program via writing workshops as well as literary seminar programs. The program is top-ranked and highly competitive; about 600 people apply every year, and the program takes 80 to 90 students.
"As an adjunct professor in the Columbia University Graduate Writing Program—which awards a Master of Fine Arts to students who successfully complete the course of study—I enthusiastically and eagerly recommend Ella Delany as a rising writer of fiction of exceptional promise, whose work is extraordinary for the power and freshness of its figuration, the keenness of its psychological insight, and the ambition of its philosophical engagement."
Erroll McDonald,Vice President,Executive Editor, Pantheon Books, Random House, Inc.
In addition to the workshops and seminars, students must submit a thesis project of at least 32,500 words (or 35 poems) in their third year. The program additionally allows for internships to be pursued at institutions such as The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Columbia School of the Arts alumni include writers such as Wells Tower, Paul Auster, and Man Booker prize winner Kiran Desai.
Before commencing her MFA program, Ella graduated from Cambridge University, in the United Kingdom. Her undergraduate studies at Cambridge University were funded by the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. Her undergraduate studies were highly successful and at the end of the second part of her degree she was ranked thirteenth in her year. Her final research thesis achieved a first class mark. During her undergraduate studies Ella also completed an internship at the International Herald Tribune in Paris (the global publication of the New York Times) and published multiple articles in the New York Times. Whilst she was completing her internship, she developed a portfolio of short fiction. On the strength of her portfolio, she was offered places in the graduate creative writing programs of Oxford, Manchester, and Columbia Universities.
Ella Delany is currently interning at the New Yorker, and at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. She has recently been published by McSweeney's.
How can you help?
Ella Delany is keen to complete her first novel by the close of the program, and looks forward to developing her career via internships and publishing opportunities throughout the program. To assist in this goal, she is seeking funding to help with the costs of living in New York City, in addition to assistance with the tuition costs of the program.