Program in Creative Writing

Director

Chang-rae Lee

Executive Committee

Ze’eva Cohen, Lewis Center for the Arts, Theater and Dance

Jeffrey Eugenides, Lewis Center for the Arts

Su Friedrich, Lewis Center for the Arts, Visual Arts

Emmet W. S. Gowin, Lewis Center for the Arts, Visual Arts

Chang-rae Lee, Lewis Center for the Arts

Paul B. Muldoon, Lewis Center for the Arts

Joyce Carol Oates, Lewis Center for the Arts

James Richardson, English, Lewis Center for the Arts

James L. Seawright, Lewis Center for the Arts, Visual Arts

P. Adams Sitney, Lewis Center for the Arts, Visual Arts

Edmund V. White, Lewis Center for the Arts

Professor

Jeffrey Eugenides, also Lewis Center for the Arts

Chang-rae Lee, also Lewis Center for the Arts

Paul B. Muldoon, also Lewis Center for the Arts

Joyce Carol Oates, also Lewis Center for the Arts

James Richardson, also English

Edmund V. White, also Lewis Center for the Arts

Visiting Professor

Lawrence Venuti

Assistant Professor

Tracy K. Smith

Lecturer with the Rank of Professor

C. K. Williams

Lecturer

Sarah Arvio

Susan M. Choi

Philip B. Haas

Sheila M. Kohler

Susanna P. Moore

Brenda A. Shaughnessy

Susan Wheeler

Visiting Lecturer

Meghan O’Rourke

Colm Tóibín, English

Colson Whitehead

Hodder Fellow

Christian Barter

Whitney S. Terrell

The Program in Creative Writing, part of the newly established Lewis Center for the Arts, allows undergraduates to work with practicing writers while pursuing a regular liberal arts course of study. Students develop their writing skills; learn the possibilities of modern poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and screenwriting; and gain a special access to the critical understanding of literature through their involvement in the creative process.

Workshop classes are taught by program faculty and distinguished visiting writers. These courses are limited in enrollment to ensure close attention to student work. Students satisfactorily completing the fall or spring segment of a two-course sequence (such as 201 or 202) may apply for permission to enroll for a second semester. Especially talented students may qualify for advanced workshops or individual tutorials.

All creative writing program courses are graded pass/D/fail but are not counted in the pass/D/fail budget.

Students may earn a certificate in creative writing by successfully completing the following requirements:

1. By the end of sophomore year, two 200-level courses in creative writing.

2. By the end of junior year, two 300-level courses in creative writing.

3. A creative senior thesis. During the spring term of junior year, interested students apply to the Program in Creative Writing for permission to write a creative thesis (e.g., a collection of stories, a novel, or a group of poems or translations), under the supervision of the creative writing faculty. Unlike creative writing program courses, theses receive letter grades.

4. Students approved for the creative thesis should consult with their departments to see whether it fulfills departmental thesis requirements.

5. Students who successfully complete the above requirements receive a certificate in creative writing in addition to a bachelor’s degree in their department of concentration.

6. Students who wish to write creative theses may also do so through established programs in academic departments, notably English, Program 4, and comparative literature, Program D. Students in these programs receive a bachelor of arts degree in English or comparative literature. If, in addition, they fulfill all of the requirements outlined above, they earn a certificate in creative writing.

Courses

CWR 201, 202 Creative Writing (Poetry) — Fall, Spring LA

Practice in the original composition of poetry supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works. Each student is expected to prepare a manuscript each week. There will be a weekly workshop meeting and occasional individual conferences. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. P. Muldoon, M. O’Rourke, J. Richardson, T. Smith (fall); S. Arvio, J. Richardson, B. Shaughnessy, S. Wheeler (spring)

CWR 203, 204 Creative Writing (Fiction) — Fall, Spring LA

Practice in the original composition of fiction supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works. Each student is expected to prepare a manuscript at least every other week. There will be a weekly workshop meeting and occasional individual conferences. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. J. Eugenides, S. Kohler, C. Lee, S. Moore, J. Oates, E. White, (fall); S. Kohler, S. Moore, J. Oates, E. White (spring)

CWR 205, 206 Creative Writing (Translation) — Fall, Spring LA

Practice in the translation of literary works from another language into English supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works. Each student is expected to prepare a manuscript each week. There will be a weekly workshop meeting and occasional individual conferences. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. L. Venuti (fall); C. Williams (spring)

CWR 301, 302 Advanced Creative Writing (Poetry) — Fall, Spring LA

Advanced practice in the original composition of poetry for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings. Prerequisites: 201 or 202 and permission of instructor. B. Shaughnessy, S. Wheeler (fall); S. Wheeler, C. Williams (spring)

CWR 303, 304 Advanced Creative Writing (Fiction) — Fall, Spring LA

Advanced practice in the original composition of fiction for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings. Prerequisites: 203 or 204 and permission of instructor. J. Oates, E. White, C. Whitehead (fall); J. Eugenides, C. Lee, J. Oates (spring)

CWR 305, 306 Advanced Creative Writing (Translation) (also COM 355, 356) — Fall, Spring LA

Advanced practice in the translation of literary works from another language into English supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works. Prerequisites: 205 or 206 and permission of instructor. L. Venuti (fall); C. Williams (spring)

CWR 345 Special Topics in Creative Writing — Spring LA

Students will gain special access to the critical understanding of literature through their involvement in the creative process. Topics include such specific genres as autobiography, nonfiction, and screenwriting. Students will be expected to prepare a manuscript at least every other week. Specific topics and prerequisites will vary. E. White

CWR 348 Screenwriting as a Visual Medium (also VIS 348, THR 348) — Fall LA

Students will write a short silent film, then will revise it as a script with dialogue; then as a script with dialogue and voice-over. The subject will derive from a painting or photograph. They will write a second series of short films (silent, dialogue, and dialogue with voice-over) based on a model from world literature. Students will find a newspaper story and write a short film in which an act of violence occurs. They will adapt a short story or nonfiction article as a film treatment so that it reads like a description of an intended film, not a literary work. They will take the treatment and transform it into a short screenplay. P. Haas

CWR 401, 402 Advanced Creative Writing Tutorial — Not offered this year LA

Tutorials in the original composition of fiction, poetry, or translations, open to those who have demonstrated unusual commitment and talent through four terms of creative writing or who provide equivalent evidence of their capacity for advanced work. Open also to qualified graduate students. Individual conferences to be arranged. Staff

CWR 448 Screenplay Adaptation (also VIS 448, THR 448) — Fall LA

An advanced-level course in screenwriting. Students will write a feature-length screenplay adapted from a work of fiction (a novel or novella) or nonfiction (a biography, history, or book of investigative journalism). Students will start the course by writing a prose piece in which they map out in detail the approach they will be taking, both in content and tone, to adapting the work they have chosen. Once the structure of the script has been laid out, students will write steadily throughout the term, allowing time for revision. P. Haas