Creative Writing
We are one of the longest-standing creative writing programs in America, with faculty that is recognized for excellence in teaching and students from all academic disciplines.
We have one of the longest-standing creative writing programs in America—over 50 years old. We ask our creative writing students to consider these questions: What is a literary heritage, both here in America and around the globe? What is the poem today? The short story? The personal essay? Where will the future of creative writing take us? While creative writers often major in English, our students also come from majors as varied as art, biology, psychology, and music. Our faculty members have been recognized for excellence in teaching and have won some of the country’s most prestigious writing awards. We invite you to see if you agree, with Flaubert, that “the art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.”
“Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.”
Explore all of our conservatory-caliber fine arts offerings and the ways you can enhance your artistic passions, no matter your major.
Arts@LC
I found that classics and English have a lot to do with each other, particularly for someone interested in creative writing. It’s important to know about different cultures and the myths and stories that have influenced and inspired classical writers in the past. I have found that every piece I have read has a connection back to the beginning of literature. The liberal arts allows students to be more than just whatever major or minor they have chosen. It means math majors transforming the creative writing program, and English majors taking Organic Chemistry. Advanced Poetry with Mary Szybist was a really special class for me—it was the perfect class dynamic where there was a warmth and generosity of spirit among the group while also a set of high expectations for clarity, experimentation, and development over the semester.
