Bachelor of Arts in English: Creative Writing

About

Are you seeking the way to write your great novel, poetry or non-fiction?

Creative Writing is a studio program designed to help you publish your artistic work. Our creative writing students, while publishing artistic work, have found diversified careers in editing, publishing, grant writing, teaching, professional schools and more. Courses in Technical Communication are complementary to these career interests.

At the heart of our programs is a passion for critical, creative, and professional understanding and use of the English language. The creative writing option emphasizes artistic expression. It builds the skills needed to produce imaginative and inspired, publishable poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Curriculum Map

Curriculum and Requirements

Mission Statement: The Creative Writing Program develops students’ abilities in creative writing in the genres of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction on a foundation of study of significant literary texts in British, American, and world literature.

Creative Writing is a studio program designed to help students publish their artistic work. It is not intended to prepare a student for a specific career; however, our creative writing graduates, while publishing artistic work, have found diversified careers in editing, publishing, grant writing, teaching, professional schools and many fields less directly related to their writing abilities. Courses in technical communications are complementary to these career interests.

Note: two years of a single high school foreign language or one year of a single college-level foreign language is required.

Students in the Creative Writing option are encouraged to register for 5+ credits from the following list of Breadth Area Core Requirements: HUMN 210 or HUMN 211 or history courses appropriate to the student’s area of literary interest.

Some substitutions may be allowed.

Pre-Major Requirements
CRWR 111CREATIVE WRITING ORIENTATION1
CRWR 210INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING (students must complete this course with a grade ≥B )5
Required Workshops–choose two from the following10
Note: courses from the workshop sequence require a ≥B average for the two courses together.
BEGINNING FICTION WORKSHOP
BEGINNING POETRY WORKSHOP
BEGINNING NONFICTION WORKSHOP
Required CRWR Foundational Literature Surveys
CRWR 301FOUNDATIONAL TEXTS: PROSE5
CRWR 302FOUNDATIONAL TEXTS: POETRY5
Required English Literature Surveys–CRWR majors are required to choose three (some substitutions may be allowed)15
SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE I
SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE II
BRITISH LITERATURE I: BEGINNINGS THROUGH 18TH CENTURY
BRITISH LITERATURE II: ROMANTICISM TO THE PRESENT
WORLD LITERATURES
SHAKESPEARE
SURVEY OF NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE
CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
FOLKLORE
MYTHOLOGY
LITERATURE OF THE BIBLE
WOMEN, LITERATURE AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Required Form and Theory Writing Courses–choose two from the following10
FORM AND THEORY OF FICTION
FORM AND THEORY OF POETRY
FORM AND THEORY OF LITERARY NONFICTION
Required Workshop–must be repeated twice with choice of Fiction, Nonfiction or Poetry10
CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
Additional Creative Writing credits–choose from the following 5
FORM AND THEORY OF FICTION
FORM AND THEORY OF POETRY
FORM AND THEORY OF LITERARY NONFICTION
PRACTICUM: WILLOW SPRINGS MAGAZINE, LIT. EDITING AND DESIGN (variable credit course)
PRACTICUM: WILLOW SPRINGS BOOKS, LIT. ED. AND DESIGN (variable credit course)
CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
ZINE AND PUBLICATION DESIGN
Senior Thesis
CRWR 491CREATIVE WRITING SENIOR THESIS (must have senior status or have completed all 200–400 level requirements)5
Total Credits71

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of EWU’s Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing Program will be able to:

  • demonstrate an understanding of the contemporary literary scene, at a level of proficiency sufficient for advancement to graduate work;
  • offer constructive criticism of written works-in-progress within the genre at a level of proficiency sufficient for advancement to graduate work;
  • produce texts that conform to the conventions specific to the genre being studied (literary fiction, literary nonfiction or poetry) at a level of proficiency sufficient for advancement to graduate work;
  • synthesize an understanding of the publishing process, at a level of proficiency sufficient for advancement to graduate work;
  • utilize the technical language of the craft pertinent to their chosen genre of study (literary fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry) to analyze works of literature within-genre at a level of proficiency sufficient for advancement to graduate work.

Sample Courses

ENGL 385. MYTHOLOGY. 5 Credits.

Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
A survey of classical Greek myths, with special attention to the stories used in literature, and an introduction to comparative mythology.

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ENGL 389. WOMEN, LITERATURE AND SOCIAL CHANGE. 5 Credits.

Cross-listed: GWSS 389.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
Examines fictional images of women as these images reflect the changing roles and status of women from Greece to the present, focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries.

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ENGL 347. WORLD LITERATURES. 5 Credits.

Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
The literature in this course represents a broad range of cultures and ethnicities. Students will read works in a variety of genre from across history and around the globe. Most syllabi in this course will not include British or American texts as those are considered in other surveys.

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DESN 360. ZINE AND PUBLICATION DESIGN. 5 Credits.

Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
This course facilitates development of personal style and voice, as students design, edit, and create their own “zines” (reproducible hand-made booklets). Students practice graphic layout, typography, and professional book assembly. Analog production methods and desktop publishing software will be used. Student-made zines will be sold at “Spokane Zine Fest” and other in-person and digital outlets.

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Contact Us

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Lisa Denker

Senior Secretary
EWU Creative Writing, Public Administration, and Urban and Regional Planning
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Catalyst Room #438