Enhanced by on-campus writing opportunities and innovative summer programs, the creative writing minor encompasses many genres of writing.
Â鶹´«Ã½'s creative writing minor allows students to focus on fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting and creative non-fiction with a community of writers that comes together to support each other throughout the writing process.
The study of creative writing is focused around two pillars: the audience and the craft of writing. You must read with a writer's eye, and you must hear feedback from your readers.
This commitment to craft and communication informs the workshop format featured in our creative writing classes. A community of writers comes together to talk about what they're reading - whether that's a great contemporary writer, a classmate struggling with the line breaks of a poem, or the stage direction of a play.
During select summer sessions, Â鶹´«Ã½ hosts a Summer Screenwriting Institute taught by faculty and award-winning alumni and friends. Past institutes have focused on writing for Hollywood, writing the documentary, and other topics.
Creative Writing Program Mission Statement:
Since creative writing demands that students engage with other writers, with language, and with the world around them and their place in it, the minor provides a venue in which students regularly cultivate their own creativity while learning to understand and appreciate the diversity of other people’s experiences. The workshop method by which creative writing is largely taught also encourages collaboration and responsibility to one’s learning community.
Creative Writing in the News:
- Pursuing Her Passion: Lisa Clark O’Neill ’93 Finds Success in Romance Writing (published November 16, 2017)
- Award-Winning Poet: Â鶹´«Ã½ Series Continues with Iraqi Poet Dunya Mikhail (published November 7, 2017)
- Poetic Perspectives: Witt Series welcomes poet Eavan Boland (published October 24, 2016)
- Gish Jen Offers Literary Lecture: American Author Gish Jen to Â鶹´«Ã½ Koppenhaver Literary Lecture (published September 3, 2015)