Creative Writing

The Creative Writing program is predicated on the model of the workshop, and focuses on three areas of study: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Undergraduates who select the creative writing option fulfill some of the same requirements as those in literature, while also participating in a series of small writing workshops, gaining the techniques needed to craft poetry and/or prose that work towards artistic excellence. Graduate students pursuing an M.F.A. degree complete a series of writing workshops and seminars designed to develop their creative work and expand their understanding of literary technique. The Creative Writing faculty is augmented each year by visiting Hugo and Kittredge fellows. The program sponsors the graduate literary magazine, CutBank, now in its fourth decade of publishing works of poetry, prose and art.  Additionally, undergraduate students have the opportunity to contribute to and edit their own literary magazine, The Oval.

Bachelor of Arts - English; Creative Writing Option

College Humanities & Sciences

Catalog Year: 2016-2017

Degree Specific Credits: 42

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Note: Upon successful completion of the Pre-English requirements, students must declare the English major and choose a degree option. English majors with the option in Creative Writing must earn 42-60 of their total credits in Department of English courses.

Pre-English Core Courses

Rule: Complete six courses (18 credits) including an introductory Literature course, an introductory Creative Writing course, and British and American Literature surveys.

Note: Recommended English elective: another 200-level CRWR course, CRWR 115, 295, 320, or 491.

Minimum Required Grade: C
18 Total Credits Required

Introductory Literature course

Rule: Complete one course (3 credits).

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description LIT 110L - Intro to Lit
Offered every term. Study of how readers make meaning of texts and how texts influence readers. Emphasis on interpreting literary texts: close reading, critical analysis and effective writing.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 120L - Poetry
Offered every term. An introduction to the techniques of reading and writing about poetry with emphasis on the lyric and other shorter forms.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 201 - Intro to Literary Studies
Offered every term. Introduction to the field of literary studies, to the conventions of literary analysis, and to the literature option for English majors. Reading, writing, and research skills will be stressed, along with interpretative approaches to major genres within the field.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C 3 Total Credits Required

British and American Literature surveys

Rule: Complete three courses (9 credits).

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description LIT 210L - American Lit I
Offered every term. Representative texts from the pre-colonial period through the Civil War.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 211L - American Lit II
Offered every term. Representative texts from the Civil War to the present.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 220L - Brit Lit: Med to Renaissance
Offered every term. Representative texts from the Anglo-Saxon period through the Renaissance.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 221L - Brit Lit: Enlightenment to Rom
Offered every term. Representative texts from the seventeenth through the eighteenth century.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 222L - Brit Lit: Victorian to Contemp
Offered every term. Representative texts from the early nineteenth century to the present.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C 9 Total Credits Required

Introductory Creative Writing course

Rule: Complete one course (3 credits).

Note: Students must earn a grade of "B" or higher in CRWR 210, 211, or 212 in order to progress to the corresponding upper-division CRWR workshop (CRWR 310, 311, and 312).

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description CRWR 210A - Intro Fiction Workshop
Offered intermittently. This beginning writing workshop emphasizes the reading, discussion, and revision of students' short fiction. Students will be introduced to the technical elements of writing fiction. No prior experience in writing short fiction required.
 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 211A - Intro Poetry Workshop
Offered intermittently. This beginning writing workshop focuses on the reading, discussion, and revision of students' poems. Students will study and use models of poetic techniques. No prior experience in writing poetry required.
 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 212A - Intro Nonfiction Workshop
A study of the art of nonfiction through reading and responding to contemporary nonfiction and the writing of original nonfiction works. Focus is on creative expression, writing technique and nonfiction forms. Students begin with writing exercises and brief essays, advancing to longer forms as the semester progresses.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C 3 Total Credits Required

English elective course

Rule: Complete one course (3 credits).

Note: Select any course (3 credits) from the course prefixes CRWR, ENIR (aside from 101-202), ENLI, FILM, LING, or LIT.

Upper Division Requirements

Rule: Complete three courses (9 credits).

Note: Please be aware of 300- and 400-level workshop pre-requisites: CRWR 310 - grade of "B" or higher in CRWR 210; CRWR 311 - grade of "B" or higher in CRWR 211; CRWR 312 - grade of "B" or higher in CRWR 210 or 212; CRWR 410, 411, and 412 - completion of 300-level workshop in the same genre and writing submission/consent of instructor. CRWR 310, 311, 312, 410, 411, and 412 each carry a repeatibility of 6 credits.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description CRWR 310 - Intermediate Fiction Workshop
(R-9) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., completion of CRWR 210A with a "B" average or better. An intermediate fiction writing workshop. Students will be expected to finish 3 or 4 substantial stories for the course. Although some outside material will be considered, the primary emphasis will be analysis and discussion of student work.
 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 311 - Intermediate Poetry Workshop
(R-9) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., Completion of CRWR 211A with a "B" average or better. An intermediate workshop involving critical analysis of students' work-in-progress as well as reading and discussion of poems in an anthology. Numerous directed writing assignments, experiments, exercises focused on technical considerations like diction, rhythm, rhyme, and imagery.
 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 312A - Interm Nonfiction Workshop
(R-9) Prereq., completion of CRWR 212A or CRWR 210A with a "B" average or better. An intermediate nonfiction workshop. Students read and respond to model essays, in addition to creating and revising original essays for workshop review. Assignments and exercises focus on writing craft and research techniques.
 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 410 - Advanced Fiction Workshop
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., consent of instr. An advanced writing workshop in which student manuscripts are read and critiqued. Rewriting of work already begun (in CRWR 310 classes) will be encouraged.
 2 To 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 411 - Advanced Poetry Workshop
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., consent of instr. An advanced writing workshop involving critical analysis of students' work-in-progress, as well as reading and discussion of poems by established poets. Discussions will focus on structure and stylistic refinement, with emphasis on revision. Different techniques, schools and poetic voices will be encouraged. Frequent individual conferences.
 2 To 3 Credits
Show Description CRWR 412 - Advanced Nonfiction Workshop
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., consent of instr. An advanced creative writing workshop focused primarily on reading and writing nonfiction; some classes may focus on personal essay, narrative nonfiction or short forms.  Students complete two substantial essays.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 9 Total Credits Required

Upper Division English Electives

Rule: Complete three courses (9 credits) of 300- or 400-level English electives.

Note: Please note that most of these courses carry pre-requisites.

Note: Select any three courses (9 credits) from the course prefixes FILM or LIT. All courses must be 300- or 400-level.

Minimum Required Grade: C-
9 Total Credits Required

Upper Division Writing Courses

Rule: Complete two courses (6 credits).

Note: LIT 300 is open only to English majors who have completed the Pre-English curriculum and have declared a major option.

Note: LIT 300 is the pre-requisite for most other 300- and 400-level LIT courses, including LIT 327. FILM 320 Shakespeare and Film substitutes for LIT 327 Shakespeare.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description LIT 300 - Literary Criticism
Offered every term. Prereq. or coreq., 12 credits of lower-division English courses. Study of various literary theories and their application to literary texts.
 3 Credits
Show Description LIT 327 - Shakespeare
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., LIT 300 or consent of instr. A survey of selected Shakespeare plays emphasizing close reading of the texts and consideration of their dramatic possibilities.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Modern or Classical Language major requirement

Rule: Complete the 202-level proficiency in either a modern or classical language other than English

Note: Students may either take four sequential semesters (101, 102, 201, 202) of a modern or classical language or exemplify proficiency through examination (available through the Modern and Classical Languages and Literature Department).

Minimum Required Grade: Pass
4-18 Total Credits Required