Finding your own voice–that’s what the creative writing major at Earlham offers. Our students focus on the creative writing genre of their choice, while also receiving a firm grounding in literary studies and interpretative approaches (since good readers make good writers).
We offer introductory creative writing workshops and classes in playwriting, reading and writing poetry, and reading and writing fiction, as well as advanced creative writing workshops in genres such as poetry, short fiction, and creative non-fiction. Our “reading and writing” courses offer a unique combination of creative writing and literary interpretation in the same course. All majors complete a substantial, guided creative writing project as seniors.
Previous alums have gone on to become novelists, poets, video game developers, writers for TV shows, and professors, among other career paths. What will you do with your Creative Writing major? We will help you develop both your writer’s craft and your voice. Where will that voice take you?
Highlights
The department hosts several visiting writers a year, and students can also gain applied publishing experience by working on The Crucible, Earlham’s creative arts magazine. From learning submission management software, tackling marketing, and designing a professional quality magazine, this for-credit internship gives students concrete skills they need to pursue a career in publishing. Our students have gone on to intern and work for a variety of small presses and publishers in the U.S. and abroad, such as Red Hen Press and the Los Angeles Review of Books (in the L.A. area), Writer’s House (in New York City), and GenNow and That’s Shanghai Magazine (in Shanghai, China).
Students can also use their Earlham EPIC advantage funds of up to $5,000 and/or study abroad programs to pursue internships and other creative writing opportunities in places such as New York, California, Shanghai, and London.