Program Description

The Lilly Lieb Port Creative Writing Program is a highly selective and structured B.A. program that shares features of the College’s arts programs. The purpose of this program is to offer motivated, talented, and committed students a dynamic context and community in which to explore all aspects of creative writing. As an integral part of the program, readings are held each semester by students, faculty, alumni who have published their writing, and professional writers. Editors and other members of the publishing world are also invited to speak and share their expertise with students.

Applicants may be either prospective first-year students or transfer students. All applicants must submit a portfolio containing:

1. a completed one-page questionnaire: PDF | Rich Text Format
2. samples of their fiction or poetry
3. a short essay describing their strengths and weaknesses as a writer
4. two letters of recommendation from instructors familiar with the applicant’s writing

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

• Foundations in Poetry and Fiction*
• Two courses* in the student’s chosen concentration (fiction or poetry): Poetry Writing I and II or
  Fiction Writing I and either The Art of the Novella or Fiction Writing II
  *Must be completed with a grade of B or higher
• Two of the following literature courses:
  U.S. Short Story
  Survey of U.S. Literature I
  Survey of U.S. Literature II
  The 19th-Century Novel in the U.S.
  Realism and Naturalism in U.S. Literature
  U.S. Poetry
  Poetry and the Avant-Garde
  
• Two upper-level creative writing electives
• Arts-related course(s): 3–4 credits
• Special Topics in Creative Writing
• Senior Project

Representative Electives

Advanced Seminars in Fiction and Poetry Writing
Constructing Truths: The Personal Essay
Editing and Production Workshop
The Importance of Tone in Constructing a Poem
The Screenplay
Travel Writing
Writing and Reading the Region
Writing and the Unconscious
Writing Women: Women Fiction Writers of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Representative Writers-in-Residence and Guest Speakers

Edward Albee
Michael Cunningham
Hettie Jones
Jamaica Kincaid
Sheila Kohler
Tony Kushner
Jhumpa Lahiri
Rick Moody
Marjane Satrapi
Art Spiegelman
Craig Morgan Teicher
Cecilia Vicuña
Derek Walcott
Tom Wolfe

Representative Alumni

• Brian J. Bieniowski ’00, senior producer, Nickelfish IDM, Mendham, NJ; former managing editor, Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine
• Daniel Donatacci ’04, MFA in creative writing (poetry), City College of New York; PhD student and teaching fellow, Brandeis University
• Lauren Novack ’01, MFA, Sarah Lawrence College; copy supervisor, DraftFcb Healthcare
• Zachary Wood ’09, assistant editor, The Hudson Review

For more information, visit the Creative Writing site in Academic Programs.

Updated June 6, 2011

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