Creative Writing at MUW has grown to encompass three levels of classes and has become an official concentration for an English Major. As of 2003, we are also members of the Associated Writing Programs, a national organization for creative writing. This page is designed to introduce you to our program and help you navigate through it. While the final word on curriculum requirements will always be your catalog of record (the Bulletin you entered with or one you've chosen since then), this page is meant to summarize those requirements in more everyday language.
In order to have a concentration in Creative Writing, you must declare an English major. A significant part of the creative writing program at MUW involves the study of literature. In order to be a good writer, you need to read and be well versed in interpretation of literature and in the literary canon. Therefore, you must take the same number of literature courses as any other English major (though creative writing students are only required to take the minimum number of literature electives). Creative writing students also take three advanced writing courses (see below). One advanced writing course must be EN 312 Creative Writing, and one advanced writing course must be at the 400-level (EN 411 or 412). You may also count the scriptwriting course offered through the theater department as one of your advanced writing courses. (Please note: this additional writing requirement does have the effect of adding three credit hours to your degree.) The final step for the creative writing concentration is the completion of a senior portfolio (see below).
To declare a concentration in creative writing, you must fill out a change of major form. Even if you are already an English major, you must fill out the form. You'll change from your old major (even if it's English) to English -- Creative Writing. It doesn't cost a cent--if you're an English major, your advisor won't even change--but it does help us know who is pursuing the concentration.
The most important reason to declare it is to let your advisor know what you want to do before you graduate. It will also help the university keep track of its majors and help the creative writing program demonstrate its growth. But what's in it for you? Since we are now members of AWP, we receive the Writer's Chronicle (a magazine about creative writing with articles and ads from literary magazines seeking submissions). Each student in the concentration can get her or his copy from Dr. Dunkelberg. Once those are distributed, interested students who are taking creative writing classes may be able to get a copy as well, and one copy will be available in the division office for anyone to look at.
The official answer is that all minors and majors must be approved by the IHL Board. We haven't proposed a Creative Writing minor because the English minor description is general enough to accomodate creative writers. We also feel that students of Creative Writing should study a significant amount of literature as well as writing.
The unofficial answer is that you can! It will just appear on your transcript as an English Minor. You must take 15 hours of English beyond the 12 core English hours for the minor. Of those five classes, any number can be creative writing classes. For that matter, even if you are not an English major, you can take all the Creative Writing courses listed below. It just won't say 'Creative Writing Concentration' on your transcript. We recommend that you take at least one 300-level writing course and one 400-level writing course if you are interested in pursuing creative writing, and we recommend that you take several literature courses as well. Writers need to be well read to know what they are doing.
Students who are not officially listed with the Creative Writing Concentration, but who are interested in taking more than one writing course should contact Dr. Dunkelberg to become an Affiliate of the Creative Writing Program. This is an unofficial designation, but it will allow us to contact you about creative writing events and information.
Many students have gone on to graduate work in Creative Writing, English, Children's Literature, or careers in writing. Here are some of their accomplishments we know about. If you are are an MUW alumnus with accomplishments in creative writing, please send us a description.
There are three levels of creative writing courses at MUW, which you can identify by their course number: 300-level courses are advanced writing courses that introduce you to creative writing. 400-level courses offer advanced workshop experience that give you more time to concentrate on one genre and, with smaller class sizes, more individual attention to your writing. EN 415 Advanced Writing Workshop offers you the opportunity to do independent study work in creative writing or to take a second workshop in the genre of your choice, concurrently with other students.
EN 312 Creative Writing This is the entry-level creative writing course. It focuses on both poetry and fiction, and provides a foundation in the key concepts we will be using in the more advanced workshops. Therefore, it is a prerequisite for all other creative writing courses. You should take it in your sophomore or junior year if you are interested in the creative writing concentration. It is usually offered every year in the fall.
EN 311 Nonfiction Prose Writing This is also an entry-level creative writing course. It focuses on writing creative nonfiction, not academic analytical writing, but memoir, commentary, and other forms that don't fit the category 'fiction' because they are based on fact and experience (incidently, fiction can be, too). This course can be substituted as prerequisite for the Fiction Writing Workshop, since there are so many similarities. It is usually offered every year in the spring.
EN 317 Technical and Business Writing This is a another option for literature majors to fulfill their advanced writing requirement (EN 311/312/317). It focuses on practical skills in writing in the workplace. Since it offers creative writing students exposure to writing they might use in their careers (to earn an income...), it can be included as one of your three creative writing courses, even though, technically, the subject matter isn't creative writing. It can not be a substituted as a prerequisite for any creative writing course, however.
EN 411 Fiction Writing Workshop This course focuses solely on writing fiction and includes more workshop sessions than EN 312. The demands of the portfolio are higher, and students read essays on the craft of writing fiction. The prerequisites are EN 312 or EN 311. It is offered every other year in the spring.
EN 412 Poetry Writing Workshop This course focuses solely on writing poetry and includes more workshop sessions than EN 312. The demands of the portfolio are higher, and students read essays on the craft of writing poetry. The prerequisite is EN 312 or permission of the instructor, so if you've had 311 and 411 already, see the instructor about whether you can get in. It is offered every other year in the spring.
EN 415 Advanced Writing Workshop This course was set up to allow students to retake EN 411 or EN 412 with additional requirements for the portfolio or under a different instructor. It may be taken as an independent study or concurrently with the EN 411 or EN 412. The prerequisite is EN 411 or EN 412. The course is offered on demand only, so see Dr. Dunkelberg or the division head of Humanities if you are interested in this course.
As their crowning achievement in Creative Writing, each student in the concentration will complete a senior portfolio to consist of a collection of the best work from their creative writing classes and possibly other work they have written outside of class. The creative section of the portfolio should be 20 or more pages. Ideally, this work will have been revised after it was submitted as a final portfolio in a class, though students who are taking a creative writing class in their last semester may turn in work from that class as part of their senior portfolio. The portfolio should also include an introduction that discusses themes in the student's work and describes her or his thoughts on writing and his or her experience and growth as a writer at MUW. A copy of this portfolio will be kept on file in the Humanities division for future reference.
There are three ways to complete the portfolio:
Outside of any class: A student must inform Dr. Dunkelberg that she or he plans to submit a senior portfolio by the 6th week of the semester he or she intends to graduate. The dealine for the completed portfolio will be the end of the 14th week of that semester. If not completed for a class, the portfolio need not include new material, and the demands of the introduction are less. It should be five to ten pages and may be quite informal.
As part of EN 499 English Capstone: A student may write her or his introduction as the research project for Capstone. In this case, the student should research poetics or aesthetic theory (what other writers or philosophers have said about the process of writing or about art in general) and relate their research to their own writing in the portfolio. In this case, the demands on new creative work would be few, but the introduction must live up to the expectations for research stated in the capstone research project assignment. The introduction would be graded like any other research paper, and a separate copy of the introduction should be turned in for that grade; the creative section itself would not be graded, and a copy of the complete portfolio should be turned in to be kept on file. This may be a good option for a student who intends to go on for an MFA in Creative Writing and who is interested in aesthetics or poetics.
As part of EN 415 Advanced Writing Workshop: A Senior Creative Writing student may elect to combine the final portfolio of EN 415 and the Senior Portfolio. In this case, the amount of new writing or significantly revised writing from previous workshops must equal the amount of writing required in the syllabus for EN 415. The introduction and any old writing that hasn't been significantly revised would not count toward the grade for the final portfolio. In this case the student will receive 3 credits and do 3 credits worth of new work (including correlary reading), conference, and workshop participation as appropriate. Separate copies of the final portfolio and the senior portfolio should be turned in to distinguish between new work and work from previous classes and so that the final portfolio may be graded and returned to the student. Research into poetics may be included as part of the essay assignments in EN 415 and may be incorporated into the introduction at the discretion of the instructor and the student. This would be a good option for students intending to go on to graduate school in creative writing who wish to develop a more extensive portfolio of writing.
If you have questions about any of these requirements or or would like more information on the Creative Writing Concentration, please contact Dr. Dunkelberg.