hamline university creative writing

Creative Writing Programs

Write your story with us

No matter where you are in your writing career.

As the only university in the United States with three fine arts programs in creative writing, Hamline has a long history of turning writers into published authors. Learn from faculty members that include recent Newbery Medal winners, a National Book Award finalist, and more. Whether you’re a high school student spending the summer learning the ropes of a writing workshop or a graduate student looking to elevate your creative life, we’ll help you share your words with the world.

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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Refine your craft in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction, with your choice of a full-time or part-time program.

Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC)

Join one of only three programs nationwide specializing in writing for young readers. Work remotely during the semester and gather with Hamline’s writing community for 11-day residencies twice a year.

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Take advantage of the Twin Cities’ only undergraduate creative writing degree in the context of Hamline’s on-campus liberal arts experience.

Literary journals, blog, and partnerships

Rock, paper, scissors.

rock, paper, scissors is a literary magazine written and edited by students in Hamline University’s creative writing programs. The magazine is a platform for emerging writers and scholars at Hamline University to engage in the larger world of art and academia.

Runestone is an online undergraduate literary journal that provides mentorship and hands-on experience for student editors as they publish and promote the nation’s finest undergraduate writers in an online forum. Graduate students serve as associate editors, while undergraduates make up the student editorial board.

Visit Runestone

The Storyteller's Inkpot

Join faculty, students, and graduates of Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults in this online forum to discuss the program, books, writing, the creative process, kid lit, and more.

Visit the Storyteller's Inkpot

Water~Stone Review

Founded in 1998, Water~Stone Review has earned a place in the literary marketplace as a magazine of high literary and design quality, staffed by graduate assistants. The review publishes work in all genres by writers at all stages of their careers. It also publishes essay reviews and writers’ interviews.

Water~Stone website

Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop

Hamline graduate students can work with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, a program that brings creative writing classes, mentoring, and literary programming to incarcerated people in Minnesota’s state prisons.

More about the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop

The Society of Young Inklings

Hamline graduate students partner with the Society of Young Inklings to support young writers, ages eight to 18, as they develop their voice and talents. Students work with mentees one-on-one, teach classes, hold workshops, and help budding authors explore their creativity.

More about the Society of Young Inklings

Publishing and other news

Our students, faculty, and alumni are always publishing. Follow us on our social channels and keep up with our amazing community of writers.

Contact information

Hamline University 1536 Hewitt Avenue, MS-A1730 Saint Paul , MN 55104 United States

1500 Englewood Avenue Saint Paul , MN 55104 United States

1536 Hewitt Ave

Saint Paul, MN 55104

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Major Program

Hamline’s creative writing major provides students a rigorous apprenticeship in the craft and process of writing; a rich curriculum in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and hybrid forms; a strong background in the British and American literary traditions; and an understanding of the theoretical dimensions of reading and writing. Students will learn how to read closely as writers, to create their own original works while developing an effective writing practice, and to analyze and appreciate the elements that comprise works of literature. 

Course Requirements

To earn a bachelor of fine arts (BFA), students must complete 15 courses: 9 courses in creative writing and an English minor (6 courses).

Creative Writing Major Requirements

• WRIT 1500 - Introduction to Creative Writing

Two Forms & Elements Courses:

• WRIT 3110 - Forms and Elements of the Craft: Poetry
• WRIT 3120 - Forms and Elements of the Craft: Fiction
• WRIT 3130 - Forms and Elements of the Craft: Creative Nonfiction

Three Workshops:

Students must complete two workshops in the genre in which they wish to specialize and one workshop in a different genre.

• WRIT 3510 - Poetry Workshop
• WRIT 3520 - Fiction Workshop
• WRIT 3530 - Creative Nonfiction Workshop
• WRIT 3540 - Multi-Genre Workshop

One Pre-Professional Course:

• WRIT 3410 - Runestone: Introduction to Literary Publishing-Poetry
• WRIT 3420 - Runestone: Introduction to Literary Publishing-Fiction
• WRIT 3430 - Runestone: Introduction to Literary Publishing-Creative Nonfiction
• WRIT 3990 - Internship

One Creative Writing Elective

• One creative writing course above 3000

Senior Seminar

• WRIT 5960 - Senior Seminar in Creative Writing

English Minor Requirements

• ENG 1900 - Introduction to Literature and Criticism
• ENG 3020 - Literary and Cultural Theory
• Two advanced-level literature courses above 3020
• One additional 3000-level elective

One of the following:

• ENG 1210 - British Literatures to 1789
• ENG 1220 - British Literatures after 1789
• ENG 1230 - American Literatures to 1860
• ENG 1240 - American Literatures after 1860
• ENG 1250 - World Literatures
• ENG 1270 - African-American Literatures