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Creative Writing



Minor:

This minor may be undertaken in conjunction with any major at the college; it is not an emphasis within the English major. Within the minor, students must select an area of concentration in either fiction or poetry. Required classes for the minor:

Six courses:
ENGL 101, any section
ENGL 218
ENGL 317 or ENGL 319 (in genre of concentration)
ENGL 417 or ENGL 419 (in genre of concentration)
ENGL 339, in genre (NOTE: prerequisite for creative writing minors is ENGL 101)
One additional writing course in non-concentration genre, or, another course approved by the Creative Writing director

  • ENGL 101 Texts and Contexts
    Close reading (formal analysis) of texts interpreted in the contexts (e.g., cultural, historical, biographical, economic, political) that shape and are shaped by them. Topics may include the African novel, early American literature, Caribbean literature, Shakespeare on film, the romance, the quest, images of women, 19th century literature, contemporary American fiction, and American Indian literature.

  • ENGL 215 Memoir or Creative Non-Fiction
    A workshop on the writing of memoir and personal essay
    Offered every two years.

  • ENGL 216 Screenwriting
    A writing workshop in a genre other than fiction, poetry, or memoir. May include screenwriting, playwriting, or other genres.
    Offered every year.

  • ENGL 218 Creative Writing
    An introductory creative writing workshop in poetry and fiction.

  • ENGL 316 Advanced Creative Writing: Special Topics
    Creative writing at the advanced level in genres other than poetry and fiction.
    Prerequisite: introductory course in appropriate genre.

  • ENGL 317 Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
    Writing and discussion of fiction.
    Prerequisite: 218 or permission of the instructor.

  • ENGL 319 Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry
    Writing and discussion of poetry.
    Prerequisite: 218 or permission of the instructor.

  • ENGL 337 The Craft of Fiction
    This course will closely examine the tools, materials, and specific techniques used to create successful short stories and discuss The Masters as craftsmen (and craftswomen) in their trade. We'll begin with Chekhov and end with contemporaries such as Tobias Wolfe and Lorrie Moore. On the way we'll discuss the likes of Joyce, Fitzgerald, O'Connor, Cheever, and Carver.
    Prerequisite: 101.

  • ENGL 338 The Craft of Poetry
    Looking mainly at modern and contemporary poetry, we will examine poems from the point of view of the apprentice poet, trying to figure out how the masters did it, and what, specifically, makes a poem succeed. To do so, we'll think about poems in the context in which they were written and the possibilities the poet could have chosen (but did not). There will be a research paper. Among the likely poets: W. H. Auden, Henri Cole, Alan Dugan, Robert Frost, Louise Glück, Robert Hayden, Seamus Heaney, Maxine Kumin, Philip Larkin, Sylvia Plath, W. B. Yeats.
    Prerequisite: 101.

  • ENGL 339 Special Topics in Form and Genre
    May include Renaissance tragedy, the romance, development of the novel, 17th-18th century satire and its classical models, or autobiography and memoir.
    Prerequisite: 220 or permission of the instructor.

  • ENGL 417 Senior Creative Writing Workshop in Fiction
    Capstone workshop for students minoring in creative writing with an emphasis in fiction.
    Prerequisites: 101, 317.

  • ENGL 418 Mixed Genre Workshop
    Capstone workshop for students minoring with an emphasis in poetry or fiction. Students will work in one genre of their choice. In exceptional cases, a student may work in both genres with permission of the instructor.
    Prerequisite: 101 and 317 and 319.

  • ENGL 419 Senior Creative Writing Workshop in Poetry
    Capstone workshop for students minoring in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry.
    Prerequisites: 101, 319.