syllabus of creative writing

ENG 231. Intro to Creative Writing

Spring 2014.

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Prof. Jessica Penner | OL05 | Fall 2020

• Course Profile
• Contact Info & Communications
• Announcements
• Assignments
• Discussions
• Assignment Posts
• Short Stories
• Reflections
• Final Portfolio
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I have separated the one big document everyone gets at the beginning of the semester into two: the syllabus and the schedule .

This is the syllabus , which shares a lot of detail about the class. Questions about how the class is run, how you will be graded, etc., can be found here. The other document is the schedule , which shares assignments and due dates. Questions about what we will be doing each week can be found there.

Table of Contents

How This Class Operates

Aspects of a Writing Class

Required Material

Learning Outcomes

• Breakdown of the Final Grade & Grading Scale

Communication

Participation in an Online Course

Office Hours

Late Writing Assignment Policy

Extra Credit

• A Few “Oddities”
• NYCCT Policy on Academic Integrity

Student Accessibility

A Note on Course Workload

I. Nuts & Bolts

Some of you may have taken online courses before, for others, this may be a new experience. Like a face-to-face class, every teacher runs their class differently. Read on for a guide on how this class will be run:

• This is an asynchronous course, which means there is no specific time that this class will meet.
• You’ll notice I have two emails listed. The first address is my general NYCCT email. The second is just for your class. Please use the second email! Because all my classes are online, I get a lot of email every day, so your message can quickly get lost. If you use the second email, my response time will be much quicker!
• All activities/information will take place on OpenLab .
• Each Friday , I will post an Announcement (located under Activities ) message in our OpenLab website. It will summarize what we’ll be working on for the following week.
• I will also publish a weekly Assignment post (also located under Activities ) each Friday , which will provide a detailed guide on what is due throughout the following week, titled “Week 1,” “Week 2,” etc. There will usually be two sections: Read and Write , with links to the week’s reading assignments and instructions on what you need to write in response to the assignment.
• There are deadlines noted in the schedule (the other document) throughout each week, marked in red . Most of the deadlines are on Mondays and Wednesdays , with a few exceptions. Some assignment deadlines are small (posts on the Student Work section), some are large (major writing assignments). All of them count toward your final grade!
• Be advised that if you do not log onto OpenLab and participate in the writing assignments, this will be noted by me. If you have not shown participation in this class within two weeks of the start of the semester, I will notify the administration and you will be dropped from the class. (Please note: If you wait until right before the end of the two weeks, you’ll discover that you’ve lost participation points!)
• The responsibility to keep up with assignments rests on you . All the assignments in this class have specific due dates, which means once a date has passed, you cannot turn in the work and receive the points. I do not accept late work. If you have questions about assignments, please contact me and we can either work things out over Zoom or an email conversation—but this works better when you ask right away rather than wait until right before a due date arrives!

As you’ve probably guessed from ENG1101 or ENG1121, a writing class isn’t like a mathematics or computer programming class. Here’s some details about what this class will be like. Throughout this semester, we will:

Discuss – Suzan-Lori Parks once told The New Yorker : “I love my lecture tours. I get up onstage. I have my stack of books and a glass of water and a microphone. No podium, no distance between me and the audience, and I just talk to people and get all excited and tell a lot of jokes, and sing some songs, and read from my work and remind people how powerful they are and how beautiful they are.”

Although this class is asynchronous, I may at times post short video discussions or link you to PowerPoints. I refer to my lectures as discussions, because that’s how I look at them. I’ll passionately “talk” at length at times, especially when I’m introducing a topic, but I’ll also prod you for your reactions to the information via Discussion Boards, because each of you have a point of view that is unique and needs to be heard.

Read/Analyze – William Faulkner once wrote: “Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write.”

You will be asked to read material, analyze the work, and think about how you can use the example to benefit your own writing. I recommend you read the assignment at least twice—once for basic comprehension , the second time for details . If English is not your first language, you may need to read the assignment three or four times.

Write/Revise – Octavia Butler once wrote: “You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”

You will use what we have read as a jumping-off point for your writing. On a specific date, we will have a “peer review” (see below). After the peer review, you will be given time to revise, edit, and type a second draft. I will evaluate this draft. Be sure to keep the second draft once it’s evaluated! Don’t just delete it, because you’ll have an opportunity to revise that draft for your Writing Portfolio at the end of the semester!

Peer Review – Isaac Bashevis Singer once wrote: “The waste basket is the writer’s best friend.” I add: “The peer reviewer is the writer’s next best friend.”

The class will be divided into a Cohort of four peers each. They will be given another student’s work and have time to read, fill out a peer reviewer’s worksheet, and discuss the work over email or text. You may be tempted to be “nice” and write nothing but glowing reviews during this process—please ignore this temptation. This is a time for you to work together for your common goal for this class: to become better writers.

Course Overview

All writing is creative, including the writing you do for school, internet posts to social media, and text/email messages. Where there was a blank page–virtual or otherwise–and you fill it with your words, you have, in fact, drawn on your intellectual resources to create patterns of meaning with those words.

“Creative writing,” however, generally refers to poetry, fiction, drama, and some forms of non-fiction–memoirs and narratives that use the techniques of story-telling.

We will focus on understanding how form and meaning work together and on understanding the types and complexities of each genre–notably, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and cross-genres–so each student can begin to develop their unique, individual voice .

We will be writing a lot—every day, in fact. You will be keeping a writing journal the entire semester to log your creative material and reflect on the process itself. I will be checking these journals occasionally throughout the semester—not to evaluate, but to ensure you are keeping up with assignments and know a little bit about what you are thinking as a writer.

We will be reading [1] a lot, immersing ourselves in the world of words–and analyzing forms of written expression, both student-produced and published work. Together, we will read, discuss and write memoir essays, short stories or flash fiction, and, time permitting, poetry and very short dramas (dialogues). In addition, we will give attention to the process of writing and the writing life and learn how to become adept critics by providing sensitive, useful feedback on each other’s work.

• First, make sure your email is one you check on a daily basis, because all announcements and email related to this class will go to the  email address you have set in Blackboard . See  this video  for how to check/change your email address in Blackboard. Please be sure to check that email inbox frequently during the semester.
• Make sure you have access to OpenLab .
• Log in to your OpenLab account and follow  these instructions  to join this course . If you’re new to OpenLab, follow  these instructions to create an account  and then join the course .
• You’ll be posting assignments on OpenLab, so you need to have member status.
• We may be using Google Docs for some assignments. Here’s where you can get started if you’ve never used Google Docs before.
• Have a notebook and a folder reserved specifically for this class, pens/pencils, and a laptop or tablet that has access to the Internet (since all reading material and other documents will be shared online) .

Students will be able to:

• employ characterization, specifically the representation of characters through their actions, words, descriptions of them, and the responses of others to them;
• create stories and poems with convincing points of view, specifically as it functions through the narrators of stories, speakers of poems, and characters of plays, and their perspectives on the subject matter of the works in which they exist;
• create plots, specifically the selection and ordering of events as situations or scenes, to achieve suspense through exposition and action;
• employ style, specifically its identifiable components: patterned sentence structure, word-order, manipulation of the qualitative and quantitative features of sound, and the choice of appropriate diction and tone;
• utilize structure, as a planned framework for writing, selecting from several options to achieve most effective arrangement of parts, and the desired effect and impact of the work;
• understand and demonstrate the use of symbolism and allusion in different cultural contexts;
• conduct online, archival and primary research, to mine raw material for creative works.

Breakdown of Final Grade & Grading Scale

20% Participation

Completion of weekly homework assignments that will include participation in the Discussion Board and other reading/writing activities by assigned due dates will earn these points. There will be 20 points possible for each week.

10% Critical Responses

Guidelines for critical responses to your peers’ work will be explained before our first major writing assignment. Learning to assess your own and others’ work and to offer constructive, specific feedback is a key part of our course. There will be 10 points possible for each Critical Response.

20% Journal

You will be keeping an online writing journal the entire semester to log your creative material and reflect on the process itself. I will be reading these entries—not to evaluate—but to ensure you are keeping up with assignments and know a little bit about what you are thinking as a writer. There will be 20 points possible for each Journal.

20% Writing

Throughout the semester, we will be writing memoir essays, short stories, poetry, and dialogues. You must complete each project on the due dates in order to receive points. There will be 100 points possible for each assignment.

30% Writing Portfolio

This will be a significant revision of three major writing projects and a final reflection essay highlighting how you’ve evolved as a writer. There will be 400 points possible for the Portfolio.

Grading Scale

A- 90-92.9%

B+ 87-89.9%

B- 80-82.9%

C+ 77-79.9%

F 59.9% and below

II. Details

I will be communicating via your City Tech email . Please check your City Tech email at least once a day. I check mine at least twice a day during the week. If you send me an email during the week, you can expect a response within 24 hours. If you write me on the weekend, I will respond within 48 hours.

Just because you’re logging on to OpenLab doesn’t mean you are “participating.” Just logging on every once in a while doesn’t guarantee you will pass this class or get the grade you desire. In order to pass or get the highest grade possible, you need to do the following:

Complete homework before the due date. As I mentioned above, I do not accept late work. On a positive note, homework is graded upon completion. That means if you’ve obviously shown effort (answered the question, written the paragraph, etc.) you’ll get the credit.

How does a person show effort? For example, if I ask students to answer an open-ended question in a paragraph (How do you feel about your cultural identity? Why do people love or hate the Kardashians?), and one student writes a single sentence, they have not shown effort, while another student writes five to eight sentences, they have shown effort.

It’s been my experience (and I’ve been teaching for fifteen years) that those who do the homework fare better on the larger writing assignments than those who didn’t. If I’ve assigned something, I think it’s going to help you become a better writer, it’s not just “busywork.”

Finally, when we have first drafts due for Peer Review for your Cohort, be ready to present whatever you have on that date. Even if it’s incomplete, share what you have. If you don’t share what you have, your peer reviewers won’t be able to give you feedback on what’s good about your writing and what needs work before I evaluate it (this is invaluable information).

Even though this is an online class and we won’t be physically together, it’s important to behave in a professional manner. As you’ve undoubtedly seen on social media, things can very quickly veer from joking to antagonistic if participants aren’t careful, or perhaps a way someone words a post may offend a reader (when there wasn’t an intent to offend). So, when you’re responding to another student’s post on the Discussion Board, a peer’s essay, or in email conversations, please remember the following:

Respect – Students are required to show respect to the professor and other students at all times. This includes carefully reading content the professor assigns or a post made by another student, asking questions about the topic at hand, and refraining from name-calling or using inappropriate language (ableist, racial, misogynist, and anti-LGBTQ slurs, to name a few).

Participation – Students are required to participate actively in the class. This means doing all the homework assignments, connecting with your peers and instructor in a timely manner, and being prepared for each week’s assignments.

Many of you are taking this course to fulfill a Pathways requirement. However, once you commit to the course , you will be considered as a writer who cares about your work . Therefore, all of you are writers in this class and your work will be given the respect your efforts deserve

My office hours will be 1 to 2 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I’ll be available through Zoom and will send an invitation through email each week. Try to join my meeting at the start of the hour, not at the end—since I may be talking to other students or have another appointment after the hour is up. If those times don’t work with your schedule, we can schedule a different time. This means you’ll have to schedule an appointment in advance via email . In order to ensure we can meet, it’s important you contact me at least 24 hours in advance. For example, if you want to meet at 11 AM on Wednesday, be sure to email me on Tuesday morning; do NOT wait until 10:30 AM on Wednesday. I may have an appointment with another student or other responsibilities scheduled during that time. Please take advantage of this. It’s a time for me to help you with reading and/or writing issues or discuss any concerns you have. I really enjoy talking with students!

ALL writing assignments not received by the due date listed on the syllabus will be recorded as an F. I do not accept ANY assignments after the due date (this includes the Writing Portfolio at the end of the semester) .

I do not offer extra credit. If you complete the assigned readings, and turn in ALL writing assignments that have been thoughtfully written and proofread, you will pass this class.

A Few “Oddities” (and Other Notes)

A Cohort is a fancy word for a small group that works toward a common goal. In this class, you’ll be divided into Cohorts for to critique writing assignments. You will be with your Cohort all semester .

Assignments and Readings

Read with gusto and discernment. Learning to read well will enhance your ability to write well. Complete all assignments and write as much as you can. Of necessity, there will be overlap between drafts, with a new sketch or draft begun and another final draft due.

Writing Dos and Don’ts

Hate speech (racist, ableist, misogynist, anti-LGBT+, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, etc.) won’t be tolerated. Curse words are allowed, but only when there is a true need for the word (perhaps a character would use the f-word, etc.). Don’t get too stressed about grammar, but be sure your sentences are clear to the reader. More on this below…

Language Awareness and Precision

Not all of you self-identify as writers. Some of you do. All of you, though, come to this course with an interest in developing your writing and communication skills. A key goal is for students to pay attention to word choice and phrasing–and to work on exploring ways to communicate complex ideas, observations, and feelings to yourself and to others. Take risks in your thinking and writing. Use our readings as guides to genres and use of figurative language.

Peer and Self-review

Methods for responding to your own and others’ work will be explained later. Always try to understand what the author is trying to say. Suggest, rather than command, focusing on ways to bring out and shape the author’s meaning. All writers are sensitive to criticism. NEVER be rude or dismissive. All writers need to learn to accept constructive criticism. Therefore, provide honest, but gentle feedback, within the guidelines I provide.

As noted in the final grade breakdown, you will be keeping a journal on the class website. I have specific “journal assignments” that are meant to prompt you either to write creatively or reflect on the writing process. If you’re uninspired or unable to follow the prompt, go to the site: https://www.writersdigest.com/prompts or check the web for other writing prompts—just note on your post where you found your alternative prompt (make a hyperlink or write the URL).

Some of our assignments will have specialized formatting, but most typed work should be double-spaced, in 12-point, Times New Roman font, with 1” margins. The first page header (this is on the first page, NOT all pages) should look like this:

Your First and Last Name

Word Count: XXX

Page numbering: Last name and page number in upper right corner on all pages.

III. College Policies & Student Accessibility

New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the college recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades , suspension , and expulsion . For further information about plagiarism, cheating and academic integrity see page 57 of the City Tech catalog .

You will earn a zero on a plagiarized assignment in my class. You will NOT be able to “make up” the assignment.

City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility at 718-260-5143.

Per CUNY guidelines, please calculate two hours of work per credit hour per week, exclusive of class time. This means that for a 3-credit course, you will need to budget 6 hours each week for independent study/class preparation.  Taking into consideration other professional, educational, and personal obligations, please make sure that you have the time to do the work for this course and successfully complete it.

• There are reading assignments that cover abusive relationships and death. If these topics are triggers for you, talk to me privately ; we can discuss alternative readings or I can provide a summary that will let you know if these readings will be an issue. You must approach me before the reading is due. ↑

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Fall 2020: Introduction to Creative Writing: Hybridity, Identity, and Getting Weird With It

If you’d prefer to download this syllabus in PDF form—including a working schedule for the whole semester— please click here .

ENW 210: Introduction to Creative Writing: 

Hybridity, Identity, and Getting Weird With It

lehmanfallcw.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Instructor: Prof. Zefyr Lisowski

MW 12:30 – 1:45 PM 

Office Hours Monday 11:30 to 12:30 or by appointment

[email protected] | [email protected]  

Course Description

How are we creative? What in our lives leads us to be creative? This course explores various types of creative writing—playwriting, fiction, and poetry—all through the lens of identity, hybrid-ness, and getting weird. Students should be prepared to listen closely to each other and the texts we’re looking at, push themselves in their writing and thinking, and develop skills in a wide range of forms. This can be intense work! As such, I invite you all to take your time with difficult assignments, let me know if you can’t complete a reading, and try and get yourself in a state to “create freely” through writing as frequently as you can, in as many different ways as you can. 

This class will emphasize developing craft through interrogating, writing from, and (in some cases) writing against one’s identity, so be prepared to get messy!

Course Expectations

We’ll draft up course expectations together on the first day, although regardless of what we decide on, compassion and deep engagement with each others’ work is as must. Avoid talking over other people if you can, and if you’re excited about something (or, conversely, really dislike one of the readings I’ve given you) say so!

As far what you can expect to take from this, here are the department’s outcomes:

• Build a community of creative writers sustained through insightful and constructive feedback
• Analyze, produce and learn about avenues for publishing a broad range of creative writing, including fiction, poetry, playwriting, and creative nonfiction

And here are my own addendums to this: 

By the end of the semester students will  be able to: 1) demonstrate their close reading skills by reading and discussing selections in all three genres; 2) develop their creative writing through weekly writing assignments covering all three genres; 3) refine and deepen their writing through revision exercises; a final project consisting of one piece in each genre; and written reflection on the writing process; and 4) engage in verbal workshop critiques of classmates’ work that draws on critical reading skills developed through discussion of literary selections.

Course Materials Get a notebook for our class. Get a pen or pencil. If you have a smartphone, make sure you’re comfortable using the notes function on it—or even better, Google Docs (if not, don’t sweat it). Do you have all of these things? Incredible, that’s the majority of your required materials.  This class is not a comprehensive survey of the history of creative writing in the English language; what we wind up talking the most about is subject to both my own interests and your own. We’ll look mainly at PDFs and web links of poems, stories, and essays, but you will also be responsible for selecting and purchasing at least one hybrid work from the list below to discuss; take some time to google what looks the most interesting to you. We will discuss these books individually by the halfway point of the semester, so reading them ahead is recommended.

Hybrid Works (Combine Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry) 

These works are available at a number of sources, including online, at used and new bookstores. You will select one of these books for a final presentation. Let me know if you have any issues with affording a copy. 

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Audre Lorde, The Crossing Press, 1982 (available as a free PDF here ) ISBN 0895941228

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, Kai Cheng Thom, Metonymy Press, 2017. ISBN 0994047134

Skim, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, Groundwood, 2008*** ISBN 088899964X

***This book is a graphic novel/comic book; however, I invite you to think about the same ways it can also be a blurring of form!

________________

Requirements:

Readings : Come into class prepared to discuss all readings you were assigned. Think of things you liked and things you felt troubled by. Coming into your own as a writer so frequently involves coming into your own as a reader as well; connect these pieces w/ your own works in terms of techniques you could thieve, small details you noticed, and the emotional resonance of each work.

Writing Prompts: Each week you will have a creative/critical assignment due. Pick one element from the work you find interesting, and write in that mode. It could be writing a story using a similar narrator as the story we read, revealing information in the same kind of way as a specific nonfiction writer, or using a similar image to one of the poets we read. Revise as you feel necessary and turn in whatever you write. Some weeks, you will get a specific prompt, as opposed to being able to craft your own. Approach this much the same way! 

Forum Presentations: On forum presentation days, you’ll post an excerpt and short analysis on a book you’ve read outside of class that you’re especially excited by . In this post, you’ll discuss whatever you find interesting therein, and you’ll moderate (respond to, highlight, and discuss other people’s posts) a discussion on the forum.

Attendance: Attendance and participation are very important to this course. I expect everyone to be on time and be prepared for all classes; this means doing the reading, doing the assignments, and being prepared to respond to each other’s writing. However, if you have a disability, health, or family/work condition that makes completing the work (or punctuality, or attendance) difficult, let me know. 

Due dates, likewise, must be received within 24 hours of the deadline unless previously informed; the grade will drop by one letter grade each day after that. 

Workshops: Occasionally we’ll workshop each other’s work. This is indicated on the class website by “WORKSHOP” being written in all caps by the day in question. You’ll be assigned groups, and will only have to read each other’s work this week. Come in with comments, thorough questions, and a (kind) letter towards the writer on what you like or don’t like. 

University Policies:

A Note on Grading

This course practices qualitative, not quantitative assessment.  So what does that mean? I won’t give you grades on every assignment, but will provide written and feedback for everything you turn in. I’ll meet in the middle of the semester with each of you to discuss course progress, and at the end of the semester will submit a final grade based on (1) assignment completion; (2) your own self-assessment; and (3) my own evaluation of your progress. Feel free to ask any questions!  This policy is adapted from several other professors; here’s more information if you’re curious about why I’m doing this.

A Note on Scheduling

I realize that there are unique difficulties associated with digital learning. Our class is scheduled to meet twice a week on Lehman’s schedule, on Monday and Wednesday. We’ll be meeting every Wednesday synchronously, via Zoom. Mondays will be reserved for asynchronous work, a time to engage in forum posts, writing, class reading, and homework assignments in preparation for the next synchronous class. Occasionally, we may meet, either in person or one-on-one, on Mondays; you’ll receive ample notice over email when this is scheduled. We’ll discuss this more on the first day of class. 

I think it’s important to say: we’ll be reading some materials that may be difficult—either emotionally or formally. If you’re triggered by any of the materials we’re discussing, let me know and we can make accommodations together. 

This is a living syllabus; especially towards the end, what we’ll read and discuss will have as much to do with your needs and interests as my own. As such, check CUNYCommons and my class emails for the most up-to-date assignment lists.

A note on our identities:

We’re coming to this class from a wide range of different experiences, all of which impact our own writing. A lot of us may have experiences with violence that impact our comfort in the classroom and certainly can impact our writing. To this end, I encourage everyone to treat each other respectfully, including in the assignments you bring in; racist, homophobic, sexist, classist, ableist, transphobic, or otherwise discriminatory language won’t be tolerated, unless you can provide a full and convincing explanation of why you use it.

However, everyone makes mistakes (myself included)! If you see someone being rude, politely let them know. If someone tells you you were rude, consider where they are coming from! Hopefully, no one here wants to hurt anyone else.

I’ll try to put into place some safer space policies, including asking for pronouns and providing content warnings for pieces; however, I may slip up. Please, don’t feel afraid to tell me if I do so.

Above all, approach this with a sense of exploration. We’ll spend some of the first day talking about identities, but this is a conversation that is threaded through all of the works we’ll be discussing. Identities (especially gender and sexuality) can change throughout a semester. Keep that in mind, and, in your writing and class presence, try and explore who you are as much as what the writing is. Let’s jump into things.

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Creative Writing Syllabus & Rubric (for Writers and Tutors)

• The Writer's Life

Creative Writing Syllabus & Rubric (PDF for viewing) Creative Writing Syllabus & Rubric (PDF for printing)

This is the syllabus I was never given in my university course. After meditating on my own slow and sporadic epiphanies on the subject of writing, I created this giant list of skills and criteria to get a better sense of where I am as a writer, and what I can try to teach my students.

Obviously, this curriculum can’t guarantee that you will become a successful writer. These are just some guidelines that you might consider following if you feel as if you’ve been blundering around aimlessly for a while and not progressing in your craft, or even if you’re not sure whether you want to make writing your career. In case you do, this is the framework I will be referencing when I develop courses and ebooks for The Lady Writers League .

PREPARATION is anything that precedes writing, whether it relates to your warm-up routine, your reading and influences, or your worldbuilding notes, plot outlines, etc.

WRITING is anything that takes place while you’re writing, whether it relates to the actual time you spend putting words on a page, or the months or years of writing and erasing that go into creating a manuscript.

FINISHING is anything that takes places after you’ve finished writing, whether it relates to the revision, the subsequent drafts, the conversations with early readers or editors, or the formatting, packaging and promotion of a finished piece of work.

The Masterpiece

In medieval guilds, the “masterpiece” was the piece of work that a journeyman submitted to the guild for acceptance as a master. This piece would showcase all the techniques they had learnt throughout their studies and travels, and would represent the best work they were (and possibly ever would be) capable of producing. If the journeyman was accepted into the guild as a master, the guild would keep the masterpiece.

Some Observations

• Despite my adoption of the medieval craft hierarchy, I don’t mean to imply that a progression is necessary, or that a lifelong neophyte can’t be as good a writer as a master.▼
• In this sense, it doesn’t matter which level you feel you fall into. What differentiates the levels is your focus and purpose for writing.
• I want to distance the rubric as much as possible from a subjective consideration of “good” and “bad” writing. Quality must follow quantity, in my experience, and developing “good” taste is not nearly as difficult as demonstrating it in your writing.
• Another criteria I’ve used to determine the levels is “earning a living”. In spite of the age-old conflict between art and business, I think (especially in this internet era), the craftsman must be someone who can meet their physical as well as their intellectual and spiritual needs through their work.
• Hopefully this will also help teachers (and writing “gurus”) in deciding what guidance to provide their students, but please remember that the levels are merely conveniences. No matter how neophytic your pupils seem, I recommend following the advice given me by my own writing guru : include something for all learner levels (and a little extra for yourself).
• Each row deals roughly with the same concept, but each cell should nevertheless be considered on its own.
• You can use the rectangles to the left of each cell to mark completion, partial completion or topics that need extra attention.
• Don’t hesitate to add items to the syllabus (I’ve left a blank row for each level for this purpose), but think long and hard about your reasons before you remove anything.
• Practice and contemplate in equal parts.
• To be clear, this isn’t a syllabus for a university course, not even a four-year one. The best a university course can do is guide students in moving from Neophyte to Apprentice, and then give them as much information (and I stress information over feedback) as possible for the work ahead of them.
• Be patient. Some of the individual items on the syllabus are deceptively short – in practice, they can take years to learn.
• I plan on extending and improving this syllabus; currently the bias is towards self-published fiction writing. Extra apologies to poets for the word count-based pass criteria.
• Use this syllabus for good! Feel proud of how far you’ve come, and inspired by the opportunities for learning that still lie before you.  Compile a study list of subjects you feel you need to consciously improve.

▼ The exception might be the final row of the ‘Neophyte’ level – once you come alive to language, I fear you’re a lost cause. You will have to become a writer whether you like it or not.

I write about literature, language, love, and living off your pen. Also, fortifying fiction, personal amelioration, and tea.

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• Creative Writing

The vital presence of creative writing in the English Department is reflected by our many distinguished authors who teach our workshops. We offer courses each term in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, playwriting, and television writing. Our workshops are small, usually no more than twelve students, and offer writers an opportunity to focus intensively on one genre. 

Apply to Creative Writing Workshops

Workshops are open by application to Harvard College undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and students from other institutions eligible for cross registration. Submission guidelines for workshops can be found under individual course listings; please do not query instructors.  Review all departmental rules and application instructions before applying.  

Fall 2024 Application Deadline: 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, April 7, 2024. Spring 2025 Application Deadline: TBD

Please visit our course listings for all the Fall 2024 workshops.

Our online submission manager (link below) will open for Fall 2024 applications on Friday, March 22 , 2024.

Students who have questions about the creative writing workshop application process should contact Case Q. Kerns at [email protected] .

Featured Faculty

Teju Cole  is a novelist, critic, and essayist, and is the first Gore Vidal Professor of the Practice. "Among other works, the boundary-crossing author is known for his debut novel “Open City” (2011), whose early admirers included Harvard professor and New Yorker critic James Wood." 

Faculty Bookshelf

The mountain: stories by paul yoon (2017).

Open City by Teju Cole (2011)

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud (2013)

Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon (2014)

Creative Writing Workshops

• Spring 2024

English CACD. The Art of Criticism

Instructor: Maggie Doherty Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site

This course will consider critical writing about art–literary, visual, cinematic, musical, etc.—as an art in its own right. We will read and discuss criticism from a wide variety of publications, paying attention to the ways outlets and audience shape critical work. The majority of our readings will be from the last few years and will include pieces by Joan Acocella, Andrea Long Chu, Jason Farago, and Carina del Valle Schorske. Students will write several short writing assignments (500-1000 words), including a straight review, during the first half of the semester and share them with peers. During the second half of the semester, each student will write and workshop a longer piece of criticism about a work of art or an artist of their choosing. Students will be expected to read and provide detailed feedback on the work of their peers. Students will revise their longer pieces based on workshop feedback and submit them for the final assignment of the class. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, April 7) Supplemental Application Information:  Please write a letter of introduction (1-2 pages) giving a sense of who you are, your writing experience, and your current goals for your writing. Please also describe your relationship to the art forms and/or genres you're interested in engaging in the course. You may also list any writers or publications whose criticism you enjoy reading. Please also include a 3-5-page writing sample of any kind of prose writing. This could be an academic paper or it could be creative fiction or nonfiction.

English CACW. Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Paul Yoon TBD | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Advanced fiction workshop for students who have already taken a workshop at Harvard or elsewhere. The goal of the class is to continue your journey as a writer. You will be responsible for participating in discussions on the assigned texts, the workshop, engaging with the work of your colleagues, and revising your work. Supplemental Application Information:   * Please note: previous creative writing workshop experience required. * Please submit ONLY a cover letter telling me your previous creative writing workshop experience, either at Harvard or elsewhere; then tell me something you are passionate about and something you want to be better at; and, lastly, tell me why of all classes you want to take this one this semester. Again, please no writing samples.

English CBBR. Intermediate Poetry: Workshop

Instructor:  Josh Bell   Monday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: Barker 018 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site

Initially, students can expect to read, discuss, and imitate the strategies of a wide range of poets writing in English; to investigate and reproduce prescribed forms and poetic structures; and to engage in writing exercises meant to expand the conception of what a poem is and can be. As the course progresses, reading assignments will be tailored on an individual basis, and an increasing amount of time will be spent in discussion of student work. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, April 7)

Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit a portfolio including a letter of interest, ten poems, and a list of classes (taken at Harvard or elsewhere) that seem to have bearing on your enterprise.

English CCEP. Ekphrastic Poetry: Workshop

Instructor: Tracy K. Smith Wednesday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: Lamont 401 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site What can a poem achieve when it contemplates or even emulates a work of art in another medium? In this workshop, we'll read and write poems that engage with other art forms--and we'll test out what a foray into another artistic practice allows us to carry back over into the formal methods and behaviors of poetry. With poems by Keats, Rilke, Auden, Hughes, and Brooks, as well as Kevin Young, Evie Shockley, Ama Codjoe and other contemporary voices. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, August 26) Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit a writing sample of 5-10 poems and an application letter explaining your interest in this course.

English CCFC. Poetry Workshop: Form & Content

Instructor: Tracy K. Smith Tuesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: Sever 112 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site

In this workshop, we’ll look closely at the craft-based choices poets make, and track the effects they have upon what we as readers are made to think and feel. How can implementing similar strategies better prepare us to engage the questions making up our own poetic material? We’ll also talk about content. What can poetry reveal about the ways our interior selves are shaped by public realities like race, class, sexuality, injustice and more? Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, August 26)   

Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit a writing sample of 5-10 poems and an application letter explaining your interest in this course.

English CCIJ. Intermediate Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Jesse McCarthy Thursday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: Barker 269 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site This is an intermediate course in the art of writing literary fiction. Previous experience with workshopping writing is encouraged but not required. The emphasis of the course will be learning how to read literature as a writer, with special attention given to the short story, novella, or short novel. We will read these works from the perspective of the writer as craftsperson and of the critic seeking in good faith to understand and describe a new aesthetic experience. We will be concerned foremost with how literary language works, with describing the effects of different kinds of sentences, different uses of genre, tone, and other rhetorical strategies. Together, we will explore our responses to examples of literature from around the world and from all periods, as well as to the writing you will produce and share with the class. As a member of a writing community, you should be prepared to respectfully read and respond to the work of others—both the work of your peers and that of the published writers that we will explore together. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, August 26) Supplemental Application Information:  This course is by application only but there are no prerequisites for this course and previous experience in a writing workshop is not required . In your application please submit a short letter explaining why you are interested in this class. You might tell me a bit about your relationship to literature, your encounter with a specific author, book, or even a scene or character from a story or novel. Please also include a writing sample of 2-5 pages (5 pages max!) of narrative prose fiction.

English CCFS. Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Teju Cole Spring 2024: Tuesday, 6:00-8:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Spring 2025: TBD This reading and writing intensive workshop is for students who want to learn to write literary fiction. The goal of the course would be for each student to produce two polished short stories. Authors on the syllabus will probably include James Joyce, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Diane Williams.

Supplemental Application Information:   Please submit a cover letter saying what you hope to get out of the workshop. In the cover letter, mention three works of fiction that matter to you and why. In addition, submit a 400–500 word sample of your fiction; the sample can be self-contained or a section of a longer work.

English CLPG. Art of Sportswriting

Instructor: Louisa Thomas Spring 2024: Tuesday, 9:00-11:45am | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Spring 2025: TBD

In newsrooms, the sports section is sometimes referred to as the “toy department” -- frivolous and unserious, unlike the stuff of politics, business, and war. In this course, we will take the toys seriously. After all, for millions of people, sports and other so-called trivial pursuits (video games, chess, children’s games, and so on) are a source of endless fascination. For us, they will be a source of stories about human achievements and frustrations. These stories can involve economic, social, and political issues. They can draw upon history, statistics, psychology, and philosophy. They can be reported or ruminative, formally experimental or straightforward, richly descriptive or tense and spare. They can be fun. Over the course of the semester, students will read and discuss exemplary profiles, essays, articles, and blog posts, while also writing and discussing their own. While much (but not all) of the reading will come from the world of sports, no interest in or knowledge about sports is required; our focus will be on writing for a broad audience.  Supplemental Application Information:  To apply, please write a letter describing why you want to take the course and what you hope to get out of it. Include a few examples of websites or magazines you like to read, and tell me briefly about one pursuit -- football, chess, basketball, ballet, Othello, crosswords, soccer, whatever -- that interests you and why.

English CALR. Advanced Screenwriting: Workshop

Instructor: Musa Syeed Spring 2024: Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBA Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Spring 2025: TBD

The feature-length script is an opportunity to tell a story on a larger scale, and, therefore, requires additional preparation. In this class, we will move from writing a pitch, to a synopsis, to a treatment/outline, to the first 10 pages, to the first act of a feature screenplay. We will analyze produced scripts and discuss various elements of craft, including research, writing layered dialogue, world-building, creating an engaging cast of characters. As an advanced class, we will also look at ways both mainstream and independent films attempt to subvert genre and structure. Students will end the semester with a first act (20-30 pages) of their feature, an outline, and strategy to complete the full script.

Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit a 3-5 page writing sample. Screenplays are preferred, but fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and plays are acceptable as well. Also, please write a short note to introduce yourself. Include a couple films/filmmakers that have inspired you, your goals for the class, as well as any themes/subject matter/ideas you might be interested in exploring in your writing for film.

English CNFR. Creative Nonfiction: Workshop

Instructor: Darcy Frey Fall 2024: Wednesday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students. Course Site Spring 2025: TBD

Whether it takes the form of literary journalism, essay, memoir, or environmental writing, creative nonfiction is a powerful genre that allows writers to break free from the constraints commonly associated with nonfiction prose and reach for the breadth of thought and feeling usually accomplished only in fiction: the narration of a vivid story, the probing of a complex character, the argument of an idea, or the evocation of a place. Students will work on several short assignments to hone their mastery of the craft, then write a longer piece that will be workshopped in class and revised at the end of the term. We will take instruction and inspiration from published authors such as Joan Didion, James Baldwin, Ariel Levy, Alexander Chee, and Virginia Woolf. This is a workshop-style class intended for undergraduate and graduate students at all levels of experience. No previous experience in English Department courses is required. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm ET on Sunday, April 7)

Supplemental Application Information:   Please write a substantive letter of introduction describing who you are as writer at the moment and where you hope to take your writing; what experience you may have had with creative/literary nonfiction; what excites you about nonfiction in particular; and what you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Additionally, please submit 3-5 pages of creative/literary nonfiction (essay, memoir, narrative journalism, etc, but NOT academic writing) or, if you have not yet written much nonfiction, an equal number of pages of narrative fiction.

English CKR. Introduction to Playwriting: Workshop

Instructor: Sam Marks TBD | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students This workshop is an introduction to writing for the stage through intensive reading and in-depth written exercises. Each student will explore the fundamentals and possibilities of playwriting by generating short scripts and completing a one act play with an eye towards both experimental and traditional narrative styles. Readings will examine various ways of creating dramatic art and include work from contemporary playwrights such as Ayad Aktar, Clare Barron, Aleshea Harris, Young Jean Lee, and Taylor Mac, as well established work from Edward Albbe, Caryl Churchill, Suzan Lori-Parks, and Harold Pinter. Supplemental Application Information:  No experience in writing the dramatic form is necessary. Please submit a 5-10 page writing sample (preferably a play or screenplay, but all genres are acceptable and encouraged). Also, please write a few sentences about a significant theatrical experience (a play read or seen) and how it affected you.

English CACF. Get Real: The Art of Community-Based Film

Instructor: Musa Syeed Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 student Course Site

“I’ve often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us,” the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami said, “unless it’s inside a frame.” For our communities confronting invisibility and erasure, there’s an urgent need for new frames. In this workshop, we’ll explore a community-engaged approach to documentary and fiction filmmaking, as we seek to see our world more deeply. We’ll begin with screenings, craft exercises, and discussions around authorship and social impact. Then we each will write, develop, and shoot a short film over the rest of the semester, building off of intentional community engagement. Students will end the class with written and recorded materials for a rough cut. Basic equipment and technical training will be provided.

Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, April 7)

Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit a brief letter explaining why you're interested to take this class. Please also discuss what participants/communities you might be interested in engaging with for your filmmaking projects. For your writing sample, please submit 3-5 pages of your creative work from any genre (screenwriting, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, etc.)

English CAFR. Advanced Fiction Workshop: Writing this Present Life

Instructor: Claire Messud Thursday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Intended for students with prior fiction-writing and workshop experience, this course will concentrate on structure, execution and revision. Exploring various strands of contemporary and recent literary fiction – writers such as Karl Ove Knausgaard, Rachel Cusk, Chimamanda Adichie, Douglas Stuart, Ocean Vuong, etc – we will consider how fiction works in our present moment, with emphasis on a craft perspective. Each student will present to the class a published fiction that has influenced them. The course is primarily focused on the discussion of original student work, with the aim of improving both writerly skills and critical analysis. Revision is an important component of this class: students will workshop two stories and a revision of one of these. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm ET on Sunday, April 7)

Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit 3-5 pages of prose fiction, along with a substantive letter of introduction. I’d like to know why you’re interested in the course; what experience you’ve had writing, both in previous workshops and independently; what your literary goals and ambitions are. Please tell me about some of your favorite narratives – fiction, non-fiction, film, etc: why they move you, and what you learn from them.

English CAKV. Fiction Workshop: Writing from the First-Person Point of View

Instructor:  Andrew Krivak Tuesday, 9:00-11:45 1m | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site This course is a workshop intended for students who are interested in writing longer form narratives from the first-person point of view. The “I” at the center of any novel poses a perspective that is all at once imaginatively powerful and narratively problematic, uniquely insightful and necessarily unreliable. We will read from roughly twelve novels written in the first-person, from Marilynne Robinson and W.G. Sebald, to Valeria Luiselli and Teju Cole, and ask questions (among others) of why this form, why this style? And, as a result, what is lost and what is realized in the telling? Primarily, however, students will write. Our goal will be to have a student’s work read and discussed twice in class during the semester. I am hoping to see at least 35-40 pages of a project —at any level of completion—at the end of term.  Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, April 7) Supplemental Application Information:  Please write a substantive letter telling me why you’re interested in taking this class, what writers (classical and contemporary) you admire and why, and if there’s a book you have read more than once, a movie you have seen more than once, a piece of music you listen to over and over, not because you have to but because you want to. Students of creative nonfiction are also welcome to apply.

English CCSS. Fiction Workshop: The Art of the Short Story

Instructor: Laura van den Berg Tuesday, 12:00-2:45 pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site This course will serve as an introduction to the fundamentals of writing fiction, with an emphasis on the contemporary short story. How can we set about creating “big” worlds in compact spaces? What unique doors can the form of the short story open? The initial weeks will focus on exploratory exercises and the study of published short stories and craft essays. Later, student work will become the primary text as the focus shifts to workshop discussion. Authors on the syllabus will likely include Ted Chiang, Lauren Groff, Carmen Maria Machado, and Octavia Butler. This workshop welcomes writers of all levels of experience. Apply via Submittable  (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, April 7) Supplemental Application Information:  Please submit a letter of introduction. I’d like to know a little about why you are drawn to studying fiction; what you hope to get out of the workshop and what you hope to contribute; and one thing you are passionate about outside writing / school. Please also include a very brief writing sample (2-3 pages). The sample can be in any genre (it does not have to be from a work of fiction). 

Write an Honors Creative Thesis

Students may apply to write a senior thesis or senior project in creative writing, although only English concentrators can be considered. Students submit applications in early March of their junior year, including first-term juniors who are out of phase. The creative writing faculty considers the proposal, along with the student's overall performance in creative writing and other English courses, and notifies students about its decision in early mid-late March. Those applications are due, this coming year, on TBA . 

Students applying for a creative writing thesis or project must have completed at least one course in creative writing at Harvard before they apply. No student is guaranteed acceptance. It is strongly suggested that students acquaint themselves with the requirements and guidelines well before the thesis application is due. The creative writing director must approve any exceptions to the requirements, which must be made in writing by Monday, February 7, 2022. Since the creative writing thesis and project are part of the English honors program, acceptance to write a creative thesis is conditional upon the student continuing to maintain a 3.40 concentration GPA. If a student’s concentration GPA drops below 3.40 after the spring of the junior year, the student may not be permitted to continue in the honors program.

Joint concentrators may apply to write creative theses, but we suggest students discuss the feasibility of the project well before applications are due. Not all departments are open to joint creative theses.

Students who have questions about the creative writing thesis should contact the program’s Director, Sam Marks .

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Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program

Online Courses

11 out of 12 total courses

On-Campus Experience

One 1- or 3-week residency in summer

$3,220 per course

Unlock your creative potential and hone your unique voice.

Build a strong foundation in literary criticism and writing across multiple genres — including fiction, nonfiction, and drama — in our live online writing and literature program with an in-person writers’ residency at Harvard.

Program Overview

Through the master’s degree in creative writing and literature, you’ll hone your skills as a storyteller — crafting publishable original scripts, novels, and stories.

In small, workshop-style classes, you’ll master key elements of narrative craft, including characterization, story and plot structure, point of view, dialogue, and description. And you’ll learn to approach literary works as both a writer and scholar by developing skills in critical analysis.

Program Benefits

Instructors who are published authors of drama, fiction, and nonfiction

A community of writers who support your growth in live online classes

Writer's residency with agent & editor networking opportunities

Personalized academic and career advising

Thesis or capstone options that lead to publishable creative work

Harvard Alumni Association membership upon graduation

Customizable Course Curriculum

As you work through the program’s courses, you’ll enhance your creative writing skills and knowledge of literary concepts and strategies. You’ll practice the art of revision to hone your voice as a writer in courses like Writing the Short Personal Essay and Writing Flash Fiction.

Within the creative writing and literature program, you will choose between a thesis or capstone track. You’ll also experience the convenience of online learning and the immersive benefits of learning in person.

11 Online Courses

• Primarily synchronous
• Fall, spring, January, and summer options

Writers’ Residency

A 1- or 3-week summer master class taught by a notable instructor, followed by an agents-and-editors weekend

Thesis or Capstone Track

• Thesis: features a 9-month independent creative project with a faculty advisor
• Capstone: includes crafting a fiction or nonfiction manuscript in a classroom community

The path to your degree begins before you apply to the program.

First, you’ll register for and complete 2 required courses, earning at least a B in each. These foundational courses are investments in your studies and count toward your degree, helping ensure success in the program.

Getting Started

We invite you to explore degree requirements, confirm your initial eligibility, and learn more about our unique “earn your way in” admissions process.

A Faculty of Creative Writing Experts

Studying at Harvard Extension School means learning from the world’s best. Our instructors are renowned academics in literary analysis, storytelling, manuscript writing, and more. They bring a genuine passion for teaching, with students giving our faculty an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Bryan Delaney

Playwright and Screenwriter

Talaya Adrienne Delaney

Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

Our community at a glance.

80% of our creative writing and literature students are enrolled in our master’s degree program for either personal enrichment or to make a career change. Most (74%) are employed full time while pursuing their degree and work across a variety of industries.

Download: Creative Writing & Literature Master's Degree Fact Sheet

Average Age

Course Taken Each Semester

Work Full Time

Would Recommend the Program

Professional Experience in the Field

Pursued for Personal Enrichment

Career Opportunities & Alumni Outcomes

Graduates of our Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Program have writing, research, and communication jobs in the fields of publishing, advertising/marketing, fundraising, secondary and higher education, and more.

Some alumni continue their educational journeys and pursue further studies in other nationally ranked degree programs, including those at Boston University, Brandeis University, University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University.

Our alumni hold titles as:

• Marketing Manager
• Director of Publishing
• Senior Research Writer

Our alumni work at a variety of leading organizations, including:

• Little, Brown & Company
• New York University (NYU)
• Bentley Publishers

Career Advising and Mentorship

Whatever your career goals, we’re here to support you. Harvard’s Mignone Center for Career Success offers career advising, employment opportunities, Harvard alumni mentor connections, and career fairs like the annual on-campus Harvard Humanities, Media, Marketing, and Creative Careers Expo.

Your Harvard University Degree

Upon successful completion of the required curriculum, you will earn the Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Extension Studies, Field: Creative Writing and Literature.

Expand Your Connections: the Harvard Alumni Network

As a graduate, you’ll become a member of the worldwide Harvard Alumni Association (400,000+ members) and Harvard Extension Alumni Association (29,000+ members).

Harvard is closer than one might think. You can be anywhere and still be part of this world.

Tuition & Financial Aid

Affordability is core to our mission. When compared to our continuing education peers, it’s a fraction of the cost.

After admission, you may qualify for financial aid . Typically, eligible students receive grant funds to cover a portion of tuition costs each term, in addition to federal financial aid options.

What can you do with a master’s degree in creative writing and literature?

A master’s degree in creative writing and literature prepares you for a variety of career paths in writing, literature, and communication — it’s up to you to decide where your interests will take you.

You could become a professional writer, editor, literary agent, marketing copywriter, or communications specialist.

You could also go the academic route and bring your knowledge to the classroom to teach creative writing or literature courses.

Is a degree in creative writing and literature worth it?

The value you find in our Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program will depend on your unique goals, interests, and circumstances.

The curriculum provides a range of courses that allow you to graduate with knowledge and skills transferable to various industries and careers.

How long does completing the creative writing and literature graduate program take?

Program length is ordinarily anywhere between 2 and 5 years. It depends on your preferred pace and the number of courses you want to take each semester.

For an accelerated journey, we offer year round study, where you can take courses in fall, January, spring, and summer.

While we don’t require you to register for a certain number of courses each semester, you cannot take longer than 5 years to complete the degree.

What skills do you need prior to applying for the creative writing and literature degree program?

Harvard Extension School does not require any specific skills prior to applying, but in general, it’s helpful to have solid reading, writing, communication, and critical thinking skills if you are considering a creative writing and literature master’s degree.

Initial eligibility requirements can be found on our creative writing and literature master’s degree requirements page .

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

ENGL 3301/3302: Creative Writing Workshop: Syllabus

• OER Statement
• Index of Works and Images

Syllabus: ENGL 3301/3302: Creative Writing Workshop

• Syllabus 3301_3302 Spring 2023 Helen Phillips Downloadable Syllabus. Includes Course Information, Grading, Assignments, Course Requirements and Policies, University Policies and Schedule

Course Information

ENGL 3301 (#3615)/ENGL 3302 (#3480): Writing Fiction I & 2 (Spring 2023): Section TR2               

Prof. Helen Phillips (she/her): email: [email protected]

Class Time: Tues./Thurs. 2:15-3:30pm; Office hour: Thurs. 3:30-4:30pm

Classroom: Boylan Hall 3146; Office: 3108 Boylan Hall

Course Requirements

• Five Writing Exercises . During the first part of the semester, you will complete five one-to-two-page writing exercises based on prompts I will give you. These exercises will facilitate experimentation and will arise from the assigned readings . The writing prompts will be given in class and posted on our Blackboard site.  
• Short Shares . Each of you will share one of your short writing exercises with the class. On your appointed short share date, please bring 22 hard copies of your piece to class.
• Readings. During the first part of the semester, there will be assigned readings of short fiction relevant to the weekly themes. Please read these works thoughtfully, as class discussion (both in person and on Blackboard) will center on them and your writing exercises will arise from them. We will also be “adopting” the literary magazine One Story , and editor Lena Valencia from One Story will visit our class.
• Journal . Please keep a journal for in-class writing exercises. We may sometimes share these writings aloud. You will type up all of your journal entries and submit them as part of your final portfolio on Fri., May 19.
• Blackboard: Four Blog Entries + Sixteen Blog Responses. Each week, I will post a prompt on Blackboard to be completed and posted on the class blog. Each week, one-third of the class will be assigned to post their response to the prompt, and the other two-thirds of the class will be assigned to write comments for at least two of those classmates who posted their responses to the prompt. The online blog entries are due by midnight every Tuesday, and the comments are due by midnight every Wednesday. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR BLACKBOARD POSTS COUNT TOWARD YOUR ATTENDANCE GRADE, AS THE FOURTH HOUR OF THIS COURSE TAKES PLACE ONLINE. Please reach out to me if you need help navigating Blackboard.
• Workshop Story . During the second part of the semester, you will hand in a story to be discussed in workshop.
• It should be 5-10 pages (please discuss with me first if shorter or longer).
• It should be a new piece that you’ve written specifically for this class.
• Workshop Note : Please include, as the final page of your

workshop submission, a note to us about your process, your intentions/vision for the piece, your imagined audience, and any challenges you face with it. This should include 1-5 questions you have about your piece that you would like to discuss .

• Workshop Responses: You will read and respond to all of your classmates' workshop submissions. Come to class prepared for an active discussion. Bring a thoughtful typed response (min. five sentences) to each workshop piece. There are two options for your response:
• You may write a direct response , in which you:

(a) articulate your observations about the piece.

(b) ask the writer questions about the piece.

• Print two copies of your workshop response : one for me and one for the writer. You may also email or give them in hard copy the marked-up text.
• IMPORTANT: Your workshop responses are an essential component of your grade. Through these responses, you express your respect for your classmates’ efforts. Your grade will be severely affected if you fail to hand in 100% of the workshop responses in a timely fashion.
• Workshop Self-Reflection : This consists of an email to me, of any length, sometime in the week following your workshop (and prior to our post-workshop meeting), in which you reflect on your workshop experience. What was useful, what questions you still have, ideas you have for revision, etc.
• Post-Workshop Meeting . I will meet with each of you individually following your workshop, typically during my Thursday office hour. We will discuss your workshop and I will give you my in-depth feedback.
• Final Portfolio . On Friday, May 19 , by midnight , you will hand in your final portfolio (by email to [email protected]). This consists of:
• A Learner’s Letter : A 1-3-page letter in which in which you reflect on your journey over the course of the semester. What challenged you? What inspired you? What did you explore as a writer, as a reader, as a peer? What did you choose to do for your “Something New,” and why? What are your creative aims going forth?
• Something New: A revision of something you’ve written earlier in the semester? An expansion of a journal entry or short writing exercise? A new story? You tell me. (Approx. 5-10 pages)
• In-Class Journals : All of the in-class journal entries. typed. 
• Literary Magazine Submission : You will submit something you’ve written to a literary magazine of your choice and will fill out the “Submission Worksheet” (we will be discussing the submission process as a class). There is a 99% chance that your story will be rejected! This will enable you to begin your rejection letter collection, a prized possession of all writers.  

Extra Credit

Option #1: Attend a Literary Event (in person or remote). In order to get credit, email me the event details and a paragraph in which you describe your experience.

Option #2: Review a Literary Magazine. Read at least three works in a literary magazine (many are listed here: http://www.clmp.org/directory ), and write a one-to-two-page description/analysis of what you read.

Required Reading

• Course readings : All readings for the course are available as PDFs on our LibGuides website: https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/cww . PDFs are password-protected with the password engl3301.
• One Story : As soon as possible, please subscribe to the literary magazine One Story through CLMP’s Literary Magazine Adoption Program . Go to https://adoption.clmp.org/students/ and enter our class code, 82592858313849117471 , to order your bargain year-long subscription for $15.00. One Story editor Lena Valencia will visit our class, and we will discuss Spring 2023 issues of the magazine.  
• Recommended Reading : In preparation for workshop, I highly recommend The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom by Felicia Rose Chavez (Haymarket Books, 2021) and Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses (Catapult, 2021).

Course Policies

• If your mechanics need attention, I will indicate that on your written work. If you would like additional support for your mechanics/grammar, I recommend Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker.
• 50% of your grade will be based on your participation : your contributions to discussion, your sharing of your writing, your sixteen Blackboard comments, your responses to the readings, your involvement in workshopping others’ stories, your meeting with me, your promptness, your attendance both in class and on Blackboard.

Attendance Policies

• As per English Department policy, you will receive an automatic F if you miss six or more classes. Two tardy arrivals are equivalent to one absence. You are responsible for any material you miss. Please notify me about absences in advance.
• Please note that your Blackboard posts count toward your attendance grade , as the fourth hour of the course is online.
• Class discussion is a critical element of this course. I expect everyone to contribute each week.
• I will mark you absent if your phone/computer/device is distracting you from class discussion. Your full presence is required, and mindfulness is essential for this course.

University Policies

University Policies & Information

Plagiarism: The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for policy implementation can be found at www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation. Students should be aware that faculty may use plagiarism detection software.

Accommodations for Disability: The Center for Student Disability Services (CSDS) is committed to ensuring students with disabilities enjoy an equal opportunity to participate at Brooklyn College. In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations, students must first be registered with CSDS. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to schedule an interview by calling (718) 951-5538 or emailing [email protected]. If you have already registered with CSDS, email [email protected] or [email protected] to ensure accommodation emails are sent to your professor.

Consideration of Religious Observance: New York State Education Law requires that we “make available to each student who is absent from school, because of his or her religious beliefs, an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirements which s/he may have missed because of such absence on any particular day or days.”

Student Bereavement Policy: Students who experience the death of a loved one must contact the Division of Student Affairs, 2113 Boylan Hall, if they wish to implement either the Standard Bereavement Procedure or the Leave of Absence Bereavement Procedure. More information: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives/policies/bereavement.php

The Magner Career Center: The Magner Career Center, located in 1303 James Hall, has valuable resources, including resume and interview preparation, finding an internship, choosing a career, and more. 

The Brooklyn College Library: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/library.php

Student Support Services : Including Food Pantry & Counseling: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/offices/studentaffairs/student-support-services.php

Sexual and Gender-based Harassment, Discrimination, and Title IX : Brooklyn College is committed to fostering a safe, equitable and productive learning environment. Students experiencing any form of prohibited discrimination or harassment on or off campus can find information about the reporting process, their rights, specific details about confidentiality, and reporting obligations of Brooklyn College employees on the Office of Diversity and Equity Programs website. All reports of sexual misconduct or discrimination should be made to Michelle Vargas, Title IX Coordinator (718.951.5000, ext. 3689), and may also be made to Public Safety (719.951.5511), the New York City Police Department (911 or a local NYPD precinct), or Melissa Chan, Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs, Division of Student Affairs (718.951.5352) as appropriate.

Course Schedule

Readings/assignments are due on the day they are listed.

Blackboard posts are due Tues. at midnight; Blackboard responses are due Wed. at midnight.

Thurs. 1/26                Introduction to course

Tues. 1/31                 Assignment : Bring in a paragraph from a published piece of writing to which you have a strong reaction. Please type this paragraph & bring in 22 copies.

Thurs. 2/2                  “Robo-Baby” Matthea Harvey

“Twilight” J. Robert Lennon

“Fingers” Rachel Heng

“Thin City 5” Italo Calvino

“The Letter from Home” Jamaica Kincaid

Tues. 2/7                  “The Swan as Metaphor for Love” Amelia Gray

“Mary When You Follow Her” Carmen Maria Machado

“The Funeral” Tony Wallin-Sato

“Zoology” Natalie Diaz

“Jane Death Theory #13” Rion Amilcar Scott

“Rongorongo” Ed Park

Thurs. 2/9                  In-Class Writing Intensive

                                    “Your Brain on Fiction” Annie Murphy Paul             

Tues. 2/14                 Flash Fiction Assignment (300 Words) + 4 Short Shares

Thurs. 2/16                “Puppy” George Saunders  

“The Burglar” Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

Tues. 2/21                  NO CLASS (MONDAY CONVERSION DAY)

Thurs. 2/23                Point-of-View Assignment + 4 Short Shares

Tues. 2/28                 Bring 3 questions for BC alum De’Shawn Charles Winslow

First chapter of In West Mills or Decent People by De’Shawn

Thurs. 3/2                  “Birds in the Mouth” Samanta Schweblin

“The Hunter” E.L. Doctorow                                    

Tues. 3/7                   (Un)Familiar Assignment + 4 Short Shares

Thurs. 3/9                  “Interiors” Kathleen Collins

“The First Full Thought of Her Life” Deb Olin Unferth

Tues. 3/14                 Innovative Structure Assignment + 5 Short Shares  

Thurs. 3/16                “Friday Black” Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

“Fairy Tale” Alexandra Kleeman

Tues. 3/21                 “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” Ursula K. Le Guin

“The Ones Who Stay and Fight” + “Intro” by N.K. Jemisin

Thurs. 3/23                “Parable” Assignment + 4 Short Shares

Tues. 3/28                 Bring 3 questions for One Story editor Lena Valencia

One Story Reading Assignment

Thurs. 3/30                2 Workshops

Tues. 4/4                   2 Workshops

Thurs. 4/6                 SPRING BREAK

Tues. 4/11                 SPRING BREAK

Thurs. 4/13               SPRING BREAK

Tues. 4/18                 2 Workshops

Thurs. 4/20                2 Workshops

Tues. 4/25                 2 Workshops 

Thurs. 4/27                2 Workshops 

Tues. 5/2                   2 Workshops

Thurs. 5/4                  2 Workshops

Tues. 5/9                   2 Workshops

Thurs. 5/11                2 Workshops

Tues. 5/16                 1 Workshop + Course Celebration & Writer’s Life Discussion

Fri. 5/19                     Final Portfolios

d ue via email to [email protected] by midnight

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British Council India

Creative writing for adults - module i.

Whether you are a scribbler, a secret diarist, or a would-be journalist, come find your unique writing style with British Council’s Creative Writing course - Module I . Two batches have been scheduled. Batch 1 is starting from  Saturday, 22 July 2023 and batch 2 is starting from  Saturday, 29 July 2023.

This course will help you:

• Develop your unique writer’s voice and perspective
• Help your creativity find expression
• Enhance your knowledge of literature
• Help you structure your thoughts
• Develop a critical appreciation of different writing styles

Required English language level:  Above upper-intermediate level (Level B2).

Course duration: 36 hours I 9 weeks I weekend online classes | all the participants will receive a digital certificate upon completion of the course.

Course fee:  INR 10,000 per participant Click here to register

Special offer to British Council library members - 10% discount on the course fee Click here to register

About the Course

Our Creative Writing- Module I course offers the opportunity to learn a variety of techniques to improve your writing process and enhance creativity.

The course content covers plot, characters, dialogue and setting when writing fiction. You will also learn how to travel write and blog, learn to differentiate between news reports and feature articles, be introduced to screenwriting and writing memoirs. You will explore the tools of a poet and learn to write poetry. In addition, you will be introduced to experimental writing and children’s fiction. The syllabus is specifically designed to guide those who wish to write creatively and explore their writing talent to realise their dreams of becoming a writer.

Our experienced teachers will help you find your unique writer’s voice through this enjoyable writing course. You will receive feedback on your writing to help you know your prospects as a future writer. Once you join our Creative Writing course, you will realize that lively and interactive sessions are exactly what you need to begin your journey as a writer.  The course is, however, not aimed at those wishing to improve their academic or technical writing skills.

Schedule for July 2023

Course delivery.

36 hours of learning will happen through online classes and 14 hours of interaction and peer-learning will be facilitated through our online interactive learning platform.

There will be assessments by the teacher during the mid and end of the course

Participants should use laptop/desktop to attend the session. 

• Recording/taking screenshot/photos of the course is strictly prohibited.

Course Fee: INR 10,000 per participant.

Special offer: British Council library members can avail a special discount of 10% on the course fee.

How to ascertain your English language level and register?

Step 1: Ascertain your language level (required English Language level)

The course is open for all. However, English Language level suitable for the course is above upper-intermediate level (B2) and advanced level (C1 and C2).

• You are at Elementary level(A1) if you can say simple things about your day. For example:  I wake up at 7 am every day.
• You are at Pre-intermediate level(A2) if you can communicate in simple and routine tasks on familiar topics and activities. For example: I like exercising early in the morning if I sleep on time. 
• You are an Intermediate level(B1) if you can share your thoughts, opinions, and views. For example:  She must be really tired. She’s worked late every night this week.
• You are at Upper intermediate level(B2) if you can present clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to your field of interest. For example: Unfortunately for him, the situation turned out to be opposite to what he thought it was.
• You are at Advanced level (C1 & C2) if you can present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects. For example: Being born and raised in India, I believe her to be the country’s best ambassador in the world.

Step 2 : Once you have ascertained your English language level, please proceed for the course registration.

Course fee: INR 10,000 per participant. Click here   to register.

Special offer to British Council library members - 10% discount on the course fee. Click here  to register.

Terms and Conditions

• Participants must be over 18 years of age.
• Non-refundable fee is payable in full prior to the commencement of course.
• If obliged to cancel the course, the British Council reserves the right to do so without further liability, subject to the return of any fee already paid. 
• The course schedule is subject to change. Participants will be notified the changes, if any.

For any query, please email us at [email protected] .

Live chat for Library related enquiries

Mon - Sat, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

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With Academia Under Attack, This Novelist and University of Mississippi Professor Is Shaping Her Syllabus With Conviction

By Faith Cummings

All featured products are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Vanity Fair may earn an affiliate commission.

Until now, Sheila Sundar has oscillated between two of the great loves of her life—balancing her devotion to education with her desire to become a novelist. She began her career as a secondary school teacher who wrote in her spare time, going on to earn her MFA and ultimately becoming an English and creative writing professor, all while refining her own writing. A lifetime spent in and around the classroom has culminated in her literary debut about a curious, wide-eyed scholar, someone Sundar can relate to.

“I always knew I wanted to write, but I had a career before as a teacher, and that was my passion for many years,” Sundar recently told Vanity Fair. “I knew I was becoming good enough to take the work seriously—and it took me a long time to believe that, because you hold up the books you’ve loved the most and you ask yourself, Am I ready to be as good as the writers I love? Am I ready to really stand on their shoulders?”

In Habitations , the author places readers smack-dab in the mid-’90s as Vega Gopalan’s migratory life is taking shape. Through Vega, Sundar zeroes in on what it takes for a woman to create her path, while telling the story of an Indian immigrant jostling with caste, a human exploring her sexuality, and a student managing sociology coursework as her view of the world starts to blossom.

“You spend so much time with a character—you build them and you nurture them—but then they develop into people that operate independent of me,” the author said. “I feel that when I talk about Vega. It’s strange to let her go and know her story’s going to continue and I’m not going to have anything to do with that. It’s in the imagination of people, the same way my favorite characters I’ve ever read exist in my imagination.”

Habitations is far from auto-fiction, but Sundar and Vega do share some similarities that add to the richness and intricacy of the novelist’s storytelling. Both having roots in Chennai, studying at Columbia, and having family in New Jersey allowed Sundar to borrow from her own world when creating the rich tapestry of her protagonist.

Ahead of the release of Habitations, Sundar spoke with Vanity Fair about the beauty of flawed characters and teaching creative writing during a time when books are being banned.

Vanity Fair: I’m curious about the idea of living in different places—your habitations, if you will. How does that come up in your personal life and the book?

Sheila Sundar: I’ve always known I’d be a pretty peripatetic, migratory person. I was raised in New Jersey, my parents are immigrants, and I grew up surrounded by immigrants in a very vibrant immigrant community. What you know from that experience, without anybody telling you, is that people move. People migrate and carry parts of their culture, but our place is not a fixed one. From when I was very young, I had a sense of all the places I would visit and eventually live. Of course, literature activates that imagination and you imagine yourself in all these places, real and imagined. So after college, I did that. I was in New York for a good long while, where I started my teaching career in New York City public schools. I had my first child in New York, then moved to DC and Virginia because my husband joined the Foreign Service. I studied Arabic for a year to ultimately plan for a move to Cairo. I lived in Cairo for two years before settling in New Orleans.

Even now that I feel much more settled in the geography of my life, I still move back and forth between New Orleans and Oxford, Mississippi, where I teach at the university. In a way, my life has become sort of pan-Southern, and there’s a constant echo, relationship, memory, and hum of Chennai in South India, where my family is from, because you carry that with you. There are so many ways your sensory relationship with a place just stays with you over and over. What I hadn’t anticipated was the emotional weight of that. I think when you’re younger and you imagine being an adventurer, it’s all gain and no loss, and it has to be that way when we’re imagining our lives. But what comes of the richness in moving from place to place is there is a loss that accompanies that.

How long has Vega been in your mind as a character? Where does she come from within you?

I’ve been thinking about a woman like her for a long time. I really believed there was a woman out there that I wanted to write about who came from a corner of the world that I felt very connected to and who was part of this rapidly globalizing world. Her world is changing and connected in a way that her parents’ generation had not experienced. And she has her own ideas that have come from all the places she’s lived and the books she’s read. She enters into a world where there’s a vibrant exchange of ideas, and she wants a seat at the table. But that intellectual sturdiness doesn’t mean that she has it all figured out and that she’s not vulnerable and full of desire that she sometimes pursues at disastrous cost to herself and to others.

By Kase Wickman

By Erin Vanderhoof

By Jon Skolnik

I like the idea of a flawed character. I always tell my students that if their characters are either reticent or cocky, it might be because they haven’t revised them enough to bring them closer to the page, to either undo some of that reticence or undo some of that certainty they have. It takes draft after draft to write a character that is genuinely questioning themselves and the world around them, and who is able to speak up in moments and also unsure how to in others. They’re really certain in our initial drafts, and as we revise and revise and get to know them better, we recognize the particularities of their vulnerability.

There’s also the journey to find yourself as a friend, daughter, mother, and partner. Especially if you’re someone whose work relates to humanity and whose intellectual life relates to the condition of other people. You’re understanding how to be a decent person who meets obligations. A person who reciprocates love and affection and who is honest about ourselves and our desires. We’re learning how to be that person at the same time that we’re becoming a person whose work responds to the needs of the world.

The way you write about sex in the book is really interesting and true to life.

Those were the first chapters I wrote of the book, and they started out as a short story. The only thing I knew about Vega then was she was on this academic journey as a sociologist and she had this affair with her professor. If I was going to put her in a sexual relationship with somebody, I was really committed to understanding why she was there, or I couldn’t have written it. I felt like I needed to fully believe with every part of me why Vega was in that room, how it felt for her during, and how it felt for her afterwards. That intellectual curiosity about somebody—you probe it a little bit, and sex is sometimes the natural place you end up. Every single sexual encounter she had was one she really did need to have because it sharpens her sense of self. Sometimes the desire she’s able to act on sharpens it, and sometimes what comes of regret makes us more aware of who we are.

When Vega goes back home and starts building her life there, you explore the dynamic between her and other young Indian women she meets. Vega returns changed after going to school in the United States, and you really delve into the intricacies of Indian society through conversations around caste. Why did you want to explore that?

Vega’s understanding of caste is something I didn’t want to avoid on the page. I couldn’t because she’s a sociologist and she can’t not think about it. When she comes to the US, she can’t not think about race. I really wanted for her to develop her sense of how these forces operated in distinct societies, but also in ways that were quite similar. She goes from being someone with caste privilege that she starts to deconstruct because she’s still young when she leaves India and she’s just starting that journey. Then she goes to the States, where she experiences the world as a brown woman, but she also experiences the reverberations and effects of that caste privilege and the way she inherits it. She’s a native English speaker, and she was educated in these elite Indian institutions that, for reasons of caste and class, are walled off from the vast majority of Indian society. I wanted her to come to the States and not avoid understanding those forces. There’s no end to that journey, of course; we’re all on it. But the complexity of her identity is something I wanted on the page in terms of caste, brownness, and the way in which she sometimes has the privilege that would be afforded a white woman when she enters academia, and then sometimes not. It moves very quickly.

There’s a really concerted focus right now with academia to poke holes in these institutions and what they’re teaching. What is your role as a professor like right now?

The University of Mississippi is an interesting place in a lot of ways. It’s a place that always reflects America, so it’s reinventing itself and pushing rules and old notions of what it used to be. It’s a hard place to be a student of color, but if you are growing up in Mississippi, this is your university and you have a right to it. It’s yours. So our cultural notion of who owns this university is something that students are chipping away at, which is just extraordinary. That too is hard—especially for Black students that are Mississippians…who were told this place is not for them. But it is absolutely theirs as much as it is anybody else’s. To watch students come here and claim their space on campus, it reminds you of the reasons we should all be a little insecure. In those moments, you step back and watch people do the work.

These young people are coming of age and pushing their institution at the same time, and it’s the most humbling thing to watch. I spend a lot of time in the classroom, like many professors, thinking really hard about the journey of my syllabus and the journey I take my students through. The classroom is a space I own, command, and I believe in every text we read. I believe in the way the conversation we have about the text is something we have to shape, and I believe it has to respond to the moment we’re in, but also recognize the breadth of history. I shape the syllabus with a lot of pride and a lot of conviction. But when I’m moving through campus, I’m watching the ways in which people just reshape their small institution, and it’s reflective of the way they’re reshaping their world. They do it with a lot of courage and a lot of might. Being a professor, we have the privilege of owning some part of the cultural conversation, but also observing a lot of the cultural conversation and learning from that too.

How does it feel to be so close to putting your first book out into the world while there’s an active campaign to ban books in this country?

As readers and defenders of books, we are so hyperaware of the ways they come under attack. I have a heightened anxiety around this because I’m also a parent seeing up close that I am one force that shapes the lives of my children, but they’re also raised by cultural institutions and books. The idea that we’re supposed to live in a world where parents raise their children and create them in their own image is terrifying. In reality, children have to grow up in a world that’s dynamic, with ideas that are wildly beyond the imagination and the realities of their homelives. I find it extraordinary to watch my own kids and students read books that I have nothing to do with and to access conversations that I wouldn’t have prompted. When I see that up close, the thought of that being under attack is scary. There’s also a beauty in watching the pushback because you realize how emboldened you become. When you ban a book, sometimes it’s the greatest thing you can do for that book. Maybe we are being pushed to defend an art and part of our culture that we didn’t realize we needed to defend. I do feel that when I’m writing, that’s not the world I exist in. The level at which I have to be in tune with my characters, I can’t think about where the book’s going to end up. Sometimes I might walk into a bookstore and imagine it on a shelf, but I have to set that aside and really be in the world of my characters.

As I start my next project, I’m aware it’s going to come out in a world that’s different from the world in which Habitations was launched. It may be the wrong book for that moment—too political or not political enough. But if I’m too worried about that, I’m not going to do the work of being in lockstep with my protagonist, seeing the world through her eyes. I have to follow her wherever she goes. And once it’s done and I set it aside, even for the day, I want to go back to being the outspoken defender of books that we all need to be right now.

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Writing Studio

Severe weather – move appointments to online, tuesday april 2.

Posted by donahot on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Calendar , News & Events .

Please know that the administration of the Writing Studio and Tutoring Services have made the decision that , in anticipation of severe weather today, we will move appointments/shifts online.

If you need assistance accessing your Online Appointment, please see our website or email us at [email protected] .

Please note that this is an office specific closure of in-person operations, currently there is no guidance from Vanderbilt University and so all clients should assume classes and events will be held as normal until such guidance is released .

For information on the anticipated severe weather:

Weather Alerts-Nashville, TN ( https://weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/11e5d23a774a46624e77e5b3800a3030b94de92607dec513f1e622d6735a4996?phenomena=HW&significance=W&areaid=TNZ027&office=KOHX&etn=0001 )

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