creative writing courses summer 2021

Course details

Creative writing summer school.

Immerse yourself in your writing over three intensive weeks spent in Oxford. 

This unique summer school offers opportunities for writers at both intermediate and advanced levels to work under the guidance of experienced tutors.

You will write, develop your technique, sharpen your critical faculties and discuss your work in small, focused seminars. Each weekday you will attend a talk given by an author, publisher, agent, or editor. You will live and work in beautiful Exeter College, the environment that nurtured J R R Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Martin Amis, William Morris, and many others.

At the end of your three weeks, you will have acquired new skills, made new friends, and developed a fresh portfolio of creative writing.

• A three-week residential summer school.
• Take part in interactive seminars featuring writing exercises and group discussion.
• Benefit from guidance by tutors who are both published authors and experienced teachers.
• Attend daily talks given by established authors, agents, editors and others.

Participate in open mic nights and peer-led workshop sessions.

• Study and live at Exeter College, founded 1314 - one of Oxford University's oldest colleges.
• Enjoy a range of social events, including walking tours and excursions.

What is meant by intermediate and advanced?

The intermediate strand of the summer school is open access; it is for keen readers aged 18 and over who have written regularly and read widely over a sustained period. Students on the intermediate programme take two seminars, one in fiction and one in creative non-fiction. Applications for the intermediate strand do not require samples of written work.

The advanced strand of the summer school is an intensive programme which is suitable for writers who have completed or nearly completed a single-honours degree in Creative Writing or English Literature, or who have taken a significant number of courses in creative writing or English literature. Students on the advanced strand are likely to have developed specialisms in their work; they choose two from seven available seminars: creative non-fiction, fiction (two options), middle-grade and teen/young adult fiction, poetry, scriptwriting, and short story. Applications for the advanced strand include a statement of purpose and samples of written work.

Both strands live and work in beautiful Exeter College, socialising, dining and attending plenary lectures together.

All of the seminars involve writing exercises, group discussion, and the development of a portfolio of creative writing.

Each seminar has two two-hour meetings per week. Classes typically contain no more than 15 students.

(See "Programme details", below, for seminar descriptions.)

Contact hours

The programme provides you with a minimum of 46.5 contact hours, comprising:

• 24 hours of seminar meetings (12 hours per seminar); and
• 22.5 hours of talks (15 sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours).

Social programme

You can enjoy optional social events throughout the summer school. These may include a walking tour of Oxford, after-dinner talks and weekend excursions to sites of literary and/or historical interest. Most of these activities incur additional costs.

You will have an opportunity to share ideas and work with your fellow students at open mic nights and informal peer-led workshop sessions.

Beyond the summer school, Oxford is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with a busy cultural and social scene offering a wide variety of plays and shows, concerts, films and exhibitions.

Programme details

Intermediate-level seminars.

Click here to download the intermediate-level seminar timetable .

Creative Non-Fiction

Writing about real lives and experiences – your own, or someone else’s – is rewarding but also daunting. What if you have too much information, or your story involves other people? How do you fill the gaps? How do you keep the reader reading? What if your core purpose is to write creatively not about a life, but about a specific place or time, journey or sickness, idea or vocation? And when does storytelling tip over into fiction? In this course we will use practical exercises, examples, discussion and the sharing of writing to explore ways of imagining, researching, developing, shaping and voicing real-life material to form a narrative.

Tutor: Dr Emma Darwin’s memoir,  This is Not a Book About Charles Darwin  (Holland House Books, 2019), explores her disastrous attempt to write a novel about her family. Her debut novel,  The Mathematics of Love  (Headline Review, 2006), was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers’ and other awards; her second,  A Secret Alchemy  (Headline Review, 2009), was a  Sunday Times  bestseller;  Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction  (John Murray Learning) was published in 2016. She has a PhD in Creative Writing (London) and was an Associate Lecturer at the Open University; she blogs at  This Itch of Writing .

In this course you will explore who you are as a writer, reflecting on the stories that you see and hear in the stuff of everyday life and thinking about what you, uniquely, can bring to those stories that you choose to tell. We will discover how to depict fictional worlds, characters, relationships, situations and sequences of events so that they seem ‘real’ but at the same time sing on the page and make for compelling reading. To this end, we will be spending our time on writing exercises and discussion - sharing our work, ideas and experiences as and when we are comfortable to do so.

Tutor: Suzannah Dunn has published two collections of short fiction and twelve novels, seven of them historical, one of which,  The Confession of Katherine Howard,  was a Richard and Judy Pick. Her thirteenth novel,  Levitation for Beginners , will be published by Little, Brown in 2024. She has decades of experience as a tutor of creative writing in all kinds of settings with writers of all levels of confidence and skills. For five years she was Director of Manchester University’s MA in Novel Writing, and is now a tutor and mentor at Curtis Brown Creative.

Advanced-level seminar options

Click here to view the advanced-level seminar timetable .

We tell stories about ourselves and others every day. Taking a close look at autobiography, memoir, and biography, we will discuss how these stories are told and the extent to which this influences what we think we know about our own lives and those of others. The course will focus on narrative prose. It will provide an opportunity for students to work on an idea for a life story or an existing project. Students will be encouraged to work on their own writing during the course. We will discuss the challenges we all face as writers and how to address them. There will be opportunities to explore contemporary examples of life-writing that challenge traditional autobiographical and biographical narratives and the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. We will address questions about form and style that help us to decide what kind of narrative we want to write, whether it be a book, an article, or a short life story.

Tutor: Rebecca Abrams is the author of Touching Distance , which won the MJA Open Book Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize for Literature, The Playful Self ,   Woman in a Man's World , and Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Medieval England .  She is the editor of Out of Exodus , two anthologies of new fiction, and Jewish Treasures of Oxford Libraries , which was long-listed for the 2021 Wingate Literary Prize.  A journalist of many years standing, Rebecca is a regular literary critic for the Financial Times , a former columnist for the Daily Telegraph , and the recipient of an Amnesty International Press Award for Journalism.

Fiction: Turning Ideas Into Narratives

This course is aimed at those who are starting to write prose but do not yet feel fully confident. Using a variety of exercises and some examples from literature, we shall investigate the formation of character, and develop character arcs. Then we shall develop story and plot outlines together, planning scenes. Finally, we shall attempt to identify and discuss your unique strengths and preferences with a view to finding your USP - unique selling point.

Tutor: Dr Rachel Bentham has been Royal Literary Fellow at Bath University, and teaches for both Bristol and Bath Spa Universities. Her plays and short stories have been regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and her poetry is internationally published. She has recently completed a novel set in nineteenth-century Tahiti. A recent collection of haiku was called  Let All Tongues Flower  (Firewater Press, 2013); and her most recent collection, also of haiku, is titled  Other Roads North  (2019) and reached number one on Amazon.

Fiction: Fine-Tuning Your Writing

This course is designed to help you hone your craft as a writer and see your project through to its completion. We shall start by examining your aims and motivation, troubleshooting any problems you are having in maintaining commitment and progress. We shall explore how to give your writing maximum resonance and power, analysing how you can use voice and point of view, give your characters extra depth and weave together story strands, themes and images. Finally, we shall look at sending your work out into the world, with workshopping and advice on editing and pitching.

Tutor: Lorna Fergusson is a writing coach, editor and speaker. She runs Fictionfire Literary Consultancy and has taught on various Oxford University writing programmes since 2002. She is the author of The Chase and An Oxford Vengeance . Her stories have won an Ian St James Award and the Historical Novel Society’s Short Story Award, as well as being shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and Pan Macmillan’s Write Now prize. In both 2021 and 2022 she was runner-up for the Mogford Prize. She is developing one of the Mogford stories into a novel, and is working on poetry, a collection of short stories and a book on mindset for writers.

Middle-Grade and Teen/Young Adult Fiction

The middle grade and teen/young adult fiction markets are exciting, and rewarding, areas of publishing. This course, run by an established novelist, will look at the way successful writers have chosen subjects and themes, explored fantasy and/or social realism, and found exactly the right voice to appeal to younger readers. It will also explore such key topics as planning, plot development and perspective. Students will be guided in the development of a story of their own, and there will be plenty of opportunities to workshop ideas and get feedback on stories as they progress.

Tutor: Julie Hearn is the critically acclaimed author of a number of novels for young adults, all published by Oxford University Press. Included are:  Follow Me Down,  shortlisted for the Branford Boase First Novel Award , The Merrybegot,  shortlisted for the  Guardian  Children’s Fiction Prize and the Highland Children’s Book Award ,  and  Rowan the Strange,  shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and described by  The Guardian  as “nothing short of extraordinary”. Her eighth novel,  I am NOT adorable,  written for younger children, was published by Jolly Heron in 2018 and a collection of short stories,  The Princess Thing,  is in the pipeline.

Poetry may well be 'a pheasant disappearing in the brush', as Wallace Stevens quipped, but on this course we will carefully and cunningly follow that pheasant into the underwood. In this series of workshops, we will go in deep and examine new and old examples of poetry, to figure out how it can be made. You can write poetry in so many ways these days, and you will experiment with traditional and avant-garde methods of writing poems, learning not only how to write different kinds of metrical lines but also accomplished free verse, among other things. Ben Jonson knew that 'a good poet's made, as well as born', and on this course you will be made into one through continual practice, innovative imitation, and workshop discussion.

Tutor: Dr Edward Clarke teaches English literature and art history at various colleges and the Department for Continuing Education, Oxford University. He is the author of two books of criticism, The Later Affluence of W. B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens and The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry , and he has edited a selection of poems by Henry Vaughan and George Herbert, Divine Themes and Celestial Praise . His collection of poems, A Book of Psalms , was published 2020. ‘Clarke’s Psalter’, the documentary he presented about writing these poems, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. His latest collection of poems is called Cherubims . A selection of his poems, The Voice inside Our Home , was recently published.

Scriptwriting

This course is based on the study and creation of scripts for stage, screen and radio and on helping aspiring dramatists to develop a practice to engage with a golden age of script writing. Convincing characters in coherent plots, with a keen awareness of genre, is the basis of all good fiction. We shall explore such core elements, culminating in the submission of a short script. In the third week, students can workshop a script begun outside the course. Dramaturgy will be strictly focused to help writers to develop individual writing for performance projects, using processes that are ‘industry standard’.

Tutor: Shaun McCarthy has had over a dozen stage plays professionally produced and a range of radio dramas broadcast. His adaptations include J.M. Synge’s  The Aran Islands  (BBC R4 Classic Serial), a stage version of  A Christmas Carol  that was a critique of David Cameron’s ‘big society’ and had a happy, unexpected ending; and a re-set of Strindberg’s  Miss Julie  to Oxford 1963. He teaches a range of creative writing courses for OUDCE, runs Hooligan Theatre Productions to develop his new plays and co-runs the writing events and residential writers’ retreats company ‘Stage and Page' in the UK and Italy.

The Short Story

This course encourages you to become a braver, more vital writer by experimenting with the short story form. As close to poetry as it is to prose, the short story is ideal for testing uncommon characters and situations, innovative structures and syntax. Unlock voices and creative techniques that will transform your writing practise. In the final week we will focus on intensive self-editing and how to transform a saggy, weak story into a powerful, shapely narrative, through close examination of language, rhythm, energy and pace. Perfecting short fiction is a great way to build your track record through publication in literary journals and entry to awards judged by agents and publishers.

Tutor: Susannah Rickards' collection of short fiction,  Hot Kitchen Snow,  drawn from experiences of growing up in North East England and working in East Africa, won the international Scott Prize in for best debut fiction collection in 2010, and is published by Salt. Her writing regularly appears in journals and anthologies and has been broadcast on BBC radio. She read English at Oxford University and now lives in Surrey, UK, where she writes and mentors new and established authors.

Recommended reading

Each seminar has its own requirements for preparatory reading.

Students will be enrolled as readers at Oxford University's main reference library, the Bodleian. They will also have access to the Continuing Education Library.

Certification

All students who complete the programme will receive an attendance certificate.

Those seeking credit at their home institution may request a detailed certificate which lists contact hours (for seminars and talks), an assessment of their contribution to seminar discussions, grades achieved for written work, and the number of private study hours required. Certificates will usually be sent to students' home institutions within a month of the end of the summer school.

As Oxford University does not offer credit for this summer school, those wishing to obtain credit from their home institution for attending this programme must make appropriate arrangements with that institution in advance.

Residential: Standard (shared bathroom) - £4,380; Residential: En suite (private bathroom facilities) - £4,765; Non-residential (no accommodation; limited meals) - £2,255

Programme fees

Residential: Standard (shared bathroom facilities) - £4,380 Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks); access to IT facilities and libraries; accommodation in a standard single room with shared bathroom facilities for the nights of Sunday 21 July to Friday 9 August 2024 inclusive; meals in hall from dinner on Sunday 21 July to breakfast on Saturday 10 August 2024 (except lunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

Residential: En suite (private bathroom facilities) - £4,765 Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks); access to IT facilities and libraries; accommodation in a single en suite room with private shower and toilet for the nights of Sunday 21 July to Friday 9 August 2024 inclusive; meals in hall from dinner on Sunday 21 July to breakfast on Saturday 10 August 2024 (except lunch on Saturdays and Sundays).

Non-residential - £2,255 Fees include tuition (2 seminars and the daily programme of talks); access to IT facilities and libraries; no accommodation; lunch Monday-Friday, and the programme`s formal opening and closing dinners on Sunday 21 July and Friday 9 August 2024, respectively.

There are no sources of funding (scholarships, bursaries, etc) available for applicants.

Invoicing and payment

Successful applicants who accept their offer of a place on the summer school will be invoiced for the appropriate programme fee once they have been formally enrolled on the programme.

Invoices will be emailed to students together with full instructions for payment. Fees may be paid online with a credit or debit card, or by bank transfer.

Students are required to pay the full fee within 30 days of the date on which their invoice was issued. Late applicants (see "Apply for this course", below) are required to pay the full fee within 7 days of their invoice date.

Please note that:

• students need to purchase travel insurance to cover the programme fee, travel costs, and any other expenses incurred (see "Cancellations", below);
• a student's place on the summer school is not confirmed until their fees have been paid in full;
• places will not be held for students whose fees are not paid in full by the due date; and
• in no circumstances will students be admitted to the summer school unless all fees have been paid in full.

When you have paid your fees

Your place on the summer school is confirmed as soon as your payment is received by OUDCE.

You will receive a receipt for your payment: an automated email from [email protected] if paid online, or via email from [email protected] if paid by bank transfer.

The Programme Administrator will provide all non-UK/Irish nationals enrolled on the summer school with a standard format pdf letter by email confirming enrolment and course details (see "Level and demands", below).

Cancellations

Intermediate-level strand

All enrolments are subject to OUDCE's Open Access Terms and Conditions .

You will enter into your contract with the University when you pay the course fees in full.

You have the right to cancel your contract at any time within 14 days, beginning on the day you paid your fees. You will receive a full refund of any payments you have made.

Advanced-level strand

All enrolments are subject to OUDCE's Short Selective Course Terms and Conditions .

By accepting your offer of a place on the summer school you enter into your contract with the University.

You have the right to cancel your contract at any time within 14 days, beginning on the day you accepted the offer. You will receive a full refund of any payments you have made within those 14 days.

Both strands

If you cancel your place at any time after the expiry of the 14-day period you will not be entitled to a refund.

You need to purchase travel insurance to cover the programme fee, travel costs, and any other expenses incurred.

If you wish to cancel your place on the summer school you must inform the Programme Administrator by email at [email protected]

OUDCE reserves the right to alter details of any course should illness or any other emergency prevent a tutor from teaching, and to cancel a course or individual seminar if exceptionally low enrolment would make it educationally unviable.

Course aims

Each seminar has its own course aim and objectives.

Teaching methods

Students will attend a programme of talks and readings.

Elements of seminar teaching will normally include:

• mini lectures by tutors;
• tutor-led class discussions;
• writing exercises;
• small group activities; and
• individual student presentations.

Students will attend short (10-minute) one-to-ones with their tutors to receive feedback on their written work.

Learning outcomes

Each seminar has its own learning outcomes.

Assessment methods

Tutors will monitor and assess students’ contribution to class discussions.

Students are expected to submit an assignment of 2,500 words in length for assessment for each seminar taken.

Application

Before you submit your application.

• ensure you meet the admissions requirements (see "Selection criteria", below);
• check the seminar timetable  carefully to ensure that your first and second choice courses do not run at the same time (advanced-level applicants only);
• make sure you have all the required supporting documents listed below;
• ensure you are familiar with the terms and conditions of enrolment on the summer school, especially those relating to payment of fees and cancellations (see "Payment", above); and
• read the 'Important information regarding immigration and visa requirements' (see "Level and demands", below).

The application process - intermediate strand

Complete the application form (intermediate) .

Please ensure all sections are completed fully, clearly, and in BLOCK CAPITALS.

The form must be accompanied by:

In the case of non-native speakers of English, official evidence of English language proficiency.

A portrait photograph (JPEG format).

Applications should be emailed to: [email protected]

Application deadline

Applications for the intermediate strand will be processed on a first come, first served or rolling basis until 1 May 2024.

Subject to the availability of places, late applications may be accepted until 1 June 2024.

After you have submitted your application

Applicants will normally be offered a place by email from [email protected] within 14 days of their application having been received.

Applicants who are offered a place on the summer school must respond in writing within 14 days to accept or decline the offer. In accepting an offer of a place applicants are committing to paying their programme fees in full by the due date.

Late applicants will normally be offered a place within 7 days of their application having been received, and will then have 7 days in which to accept or decline the offer.

The application process - advanced strand

Complete the application form (advanced) .

The form must be accompanied by the following documents as PDF files unless otherwise indicated:

• A brief statement of purpose (250-300 words) detailing your academic reasons for wishing to attend the summer school. This should include what you feel the programme would offer you and your writing, and what you feel you could bring to the summer school. This may include details of creative writing courses you have previously taken, or the relevance of the summer school to your present course of study or professional development. It is essential that you clearly state your reasons for wishing to enrol on specific seminars.
• Please provide samples of your work relevant to your first and second choice courses and ensure that the name of the seminar is printed at the top of each sample. As a guideline prose fiction, creative non-fiction and dramatic dialogue samples should be no more than 1,000 words in length (please provide an extract of a longer piece of work if appropriate); applicants for the poetry seminar should provide five short poems.

You will receive an email from [email protected] confirming receipt of your application materials, and informing you when your application will be reviewed by the admissions panel.

Application deadlines

The advanced strand of the summer school operates a gathered field closing date system by which applications are reviewed fairly and equally in batches at specific dates throughout the admissions period rather than on a first come, first served or rolling basis.

There is a limited number of places available on every seminar within each gathered field, and in assigning successful applicants to seminar groups the admissions panel will pay particular attention to applicants' personal statements.

There are three deadlines for applications to the advanced strand of the programme:

• Gathered field 1 - 1 March 2024
• Gathered field 2 - 1 April 2024
• Gathered field 3 – 1 May 2024

Subject to the availability of places, late applications may be considered on a first come, first served basis until 1 June 2024.

Notification of the admission panel's decision

Applicants will normally be notified of the panel's decision by email from [email protected] within 14 days of the relevant gathered field deadline.

Late applicants will be notified within 7 days of their materials having been received, and successful applicants will then have 7 days in which to accept or decline the offer of a place.

Enrolment - both strands

Students will be formally enrolled on the summer school once they have accepted their offer of a place.

The enrolment process includes the issuing of invoices, which will be emailed to students together with full instructions for payment (see "Payment", above).

Any queries?

Please contact the Programme Administrator by email at [email protected]

Level and demands

Participants are expected to.

• undertake preparatory reading in advance of the programme;
• attend all seminar sessions and talks and readings;
• be actively engaged with their seminar topics;
• submit an assignment of 2,500 words in length for each seminar taken; and
• undertake approximately 96 hours of private study during the programme (elements of private study will include: reading, writing and other preparation between seminar meetings, work in the library, writing papers, etc).

Important information regarding immigration and visa requirements

OUDCE welcomes international students on all its courses. However, it is the responsibility of successful applicants to ensure that they conform to UK immigration law.

If you are not a UK or Irish national, you might need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa to study in the UK. We strongly recommend that you establish whether you will require a visa before submitting your application.

Information regarding visiting the UK to study is available on the UK Government’s website  as well as Oxford University’s Student Immigration website .

If you will require a visa, you should ensure your summer school application is submitted as early as possible to allow yourself sufficient time to complete the visa application process (see current visa processing times ).

The Programme Administrator will provide all non-UK/Irish nationals enrolled on the summer school with a standard format pdf letter by email confirming enrolment and course details once their fees have been paid in full.

For legal reasons the Programme Administrator is not permitted to provide any visa advice to applicants; any queries should be addressed to [email protected] .

The University takes no responsibility for a visa being denied at any point before or during a course.

Please note that the standard cancellation policy applies in all cases. (See "Cancellations", above.

Support for students with disabilities

OUDCE welcomes applications from students with disabilities or learning difficulties. Individual student needs are taken into account, and adaptations and assistance provided within the resources available. We ask that students advise us in advance where any special provision might be needed. Further information is available at www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/students-with-disabilities .

Selection criteria

This is an intensive programme of study taught to an informed international audience. Applicants should be confident that they are academically and linguistically prepared for such a programme.

Academic requirements for the intermediate strand

We welcome applications from all aspiring writers aged 18 and over.

You should be a keen reader who brings an open-minded, questioning approach to both reading and writing; you should also have written regularly and read widely over a sustained period.

Academic requirements for the advanced strand

Applications are welcomed from those who have completed or nearly completed a single honours university degree programme in creative writing or English literature, or a combined honours university degree programme in creative writing and English literature.

If your degree is in a different, but related, subject, the admissions panel will look for evidence that you have taken a significant number of courses in creative writing or English literature, namely the equivalent of two years’ worth of credits.

The summer school is not appropriate for those who have already achieved commercial publication.

English language requirements

As students are expected to participate fully in seminar discussions and are required to produce written work, it is important that applicants can demonstrate an appropriate level of proficiency in the four language skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking.

If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your proficiency in the form of an original certificate or a certified copy that is not more than two years old on the date the summer school starts. You must satisfy one of the following requirements:

IELTS Academic - minimum overall score of 7.5, with not less than 7.0 in each of the four components

TOEFL iBT - minimum overall score of 110, with not less than 22 for listening, 24 for reading, 25 for speaking and 24 for writing

C1 Advanced (formerly known as Cambridge English: Advanced or CAE) - minimum overall score of 191, with not less 185 in each of the four components.

For further information on English language qualifications:

Click here for IELTS

Click here for TOEFL

• Click here for Cambridge English

The requirement to provide English language test scores may be waived in either of the following circumstances:

• If you have completed a full-time degree-level programme at a recognised institution where teaching and assessment throughout the course was undertaken entirely in English, and the programme was completed with a gap of no more than two academic years to the course to which you are applying. If you studied this course in a country that is not majority English speaking, you will need to provide evidence that the course was taught in English. This can either take the form of a link to the appropriate page of the institution’s website or a statement from the institution confirming this.
• If you have worked for a minimum of two years in a majority English speaking country where the main language for the role was English, and your role involved daily professional use of each of the four language components (reading, writing, listening and speaking).

Accommodation

Founded in 1314, Exeter College is one of Oxford University`s oldest colleges and is situated in a prime city centre location.

Bedrooms and meals

Students who choose to attend the summer school on a residential basis will have a single study bedroom.

Bedrooms are located up the four to nine floors of a staircase; bath and/or shower and toilet facilities on each staircase are shared. A limited number of rooms have private bathroom facilities (shower and toilet) and these are available for a higher fee. Early application for these rooms is essential.

Students cannot be accommodated at Exeter College either prior to or beyond their programme dates. Family members and/or friends who are not enrolled on this summer school cannot be accommodated in college.

Residential students will take meals in the college's dining hall. All meals are self-service with a range of options available. The only exceptions are the summer school's opening and closing dinners, which are formal served set menu meals. Should applicants have any dietary requirements (eg vegetarian, gluten-free) they are required to complete the relevant section on the application form.

Please be aware that accommodation at Exeter College is limited and may not be available for those who submit their applications towards the end of the admissions period.

Non-residential students

Students who choose to attend the summer school on a non-residential basis are responsible for finding their own accommodation. Information on accommodation in Oxford is available at:

• Conference Oxford
• Experience Oxfordshire
• University Rooms Oxford

Lunch is provided for non-residential students Monday-Friday, and the summer school's opening and closing dinners are also included in the non-residential programme fee.

IT requirements

Although it is not required, most students bring a laptop to Oxford to assist them with their studies.

For residential students, wireless internet access is available in all bedrooms; for all students, wireless access is available in communal spaces of the college.

All students will be eligible to use the computers and printer in Exeter College's computer room.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support

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Four Weeks, 8 Undergraduate Credits

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Summer On-Campus Writing Workshops

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The Creative Writing Program offers Intro to Prose & Poetry workshops throughout the summer. Classes are held on NYU's Greenwich Village campus. Coursework ranges from an introduction to the fundamentals of the craft to more advanced explorations of specific forms, techniques, and genres. Workshops are open to NYU and non-NYU students. Read more

Explore summer courses and register.

Offered in collaboration with the School of the Arts, the Writing Department at Columbia University offers summer workshops and craft seminars in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry designed by acclaimed writers and editors. Hone your craft in courses that cater to a wide variety of writing styles, from comedy writing to travel writing, children's books, YA, art writing, and everything in between. Students can apply to take individual courses listed below as a Visiting Student or as a part of the Arts in Summer program .

For questions about specific courses, contact the department.

FICTION WORKSHOP WRIT1001S001 3 pts

The Fiction Writing Workshop is designed for students who have little or no experience writing imaginative prose. Students are introduced to a range of craft concerns through exercises and discussions, and eventually produce their own writing for the critical analysis of the class. Outside readings supplement and inform the exercises and longer written projects. Enrollment limited to 15.

Course Number

Summer 2024, times/location, section/call number, fiction workshop writ1001s002 3 pts, nonfiction writing workshop writ1101s002 3 pts.

The Nonfiction Writing Workshop is designed for students new to the practice of such genres as reportage, criticism, biography and memoir. Various techniques are explored through exercises and other assignments. Critique of student work is supplemented by outside readings.

POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP WRIT1201S001 3 pts

The Poetry Writing Workshop is designed for all students with a serious interest in poetry writing, from those who lack significant workshop experience or training in the craft of poetry to seasoned workshop participants looking for new challenges and perspectives on their work. Students will be assigned writing exercises emphasizing such aspects of verse composition as the poetic line, the image, rhyme and other sound devices, verse forms, repetition, collage, and others. Students will also read an variety of exemplary work in verse, submit brief critical analyses of poems, and critique each others original work.

POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP WRIT1201S002 3 pts

Writing about art writ3215w001 3 pts.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites. Department approval NOT required. 

This course will introduce students to writing about visual art. We will take our models from art history and contemporary art discourse, and students will be prompted to write with and about current art exhibitions and events throughout the city. The modes of art writing we will encounter include: the practice of ekphrasis (poems which describe or derive their inspiration from a work of art); writers such as John Ashbery, Gary Indiana, Eileen Myles, and others who for periods of their life held positions as art critics while composing poetry and works of fiction; writers such as Etel Adnan, Susan Howe, and Renee Gladman who have produced literature and works of art in equal measure. We will also look at artists who have written essays and poetry throughout their careers such as Robert Smithson, Glenn Ligon, Gregg Bordowitz, Moyra Davey, and Hannah Black, and consider both the visual qualities of writing and the ways that visual artists have used writing in their work. Lastly, we will consider what it means to write through a “milieu” of visual artists, such as those associated with the New York School and Moscow Conceptualism. Throughout the course students will produce original works and complete a final writing project that enriches, complicates, and departs from their own interests and preoccupations.

WRITING CHILDREN'S BOOKS WRIT4313S001 3 pts

Travel writing writ4320s001 3 pts, writing the young adult novel writ4323s001 3 pts.

The Young Adult (YA) publishing boom has changed the way we read—and write—coming-of-age stories. This course will introduce students to the elements that shape YA novels, and explore the fiction writing techniques needed for long projects, including narrative arcs, character construction, worldbuilding, and scene work. We’ll study work from a wide range of YA genres and authors, including Angie Thomas, Elana K. Arnold, Leigh Bardugo, Jason Reynolds, A.S. King, Elizabeth Acevedo, and more.

Students will begin to write and outline their own YA novel, and a variety of in-class writing exercises will support the development of each project. All students will workshop their own writing and respond to the work of others. By the end of class, students will have a portfolio of materials to draw from, and a richer understanding of the YA landscape and its possibilities.

HOW TO WRITE FUNNY WRIT4810S001 3 pts

Creative Writing

Join the creative writing summer school at oxford summer courses.

At Oxford Summer Courses, we foster a nurturing environment for aspiring young writers to delve into the art of Creative Writing. Our bespoke learning experiences, tailored for ages 16-17 and 18-24, are meticulously crafted to ignite independent thought within a supportive community ambiance, hosted at the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge University colleges. Apply now to study Creative Writing and embark on a transformative summer school journey with Oxford Summer Courses.

Choose your Creative Writing summer school

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# Summer # Tutorials

Teaching Methodology (Ages 16-17)

Embrace the Oxford method with tutorial-style teaching, where our expert tutors facilitate self-directed learning and critical thinking through interactive seminars in small groups (limited to 8 students). Throughout the course, participants undertake two pieces of independent work, be it essays or problem sheets, meticulously evaluated in personalised 1:1 or 2:1 tutorials. These sessions not only provide valuable feedback but also encourage students to explore diverse perspectives within their writing. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate and a personalised letter of recommendation from their tutor.

Teaching Methodology (Ages 18-24)

Similarly, participants in the 18-24 age group follow the Oxford method with tutorial-style teaching, engaging in interactive seminars in small groups (also limited to 8 students). They undertake two pieces of independent work, which are thoroughly evaluated in personalised 1:1 or 2:1 tutorials, providing opportunities for valuable feedback and exploration of diverse perspectives. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate and a personalised letter of recommendation from their tutor.

What's Included (Ages 16-17 & 18-24)

• All teaching, including tutorials (1 or 2 students per tutor), small group seminars (8 students or less) and skills development workshops.
• Accommodation and breakfast every day.
• All evening meals including those at local restaurants.
• A Friday evening three-course formal hall.
• A graduation ceremony.
• All programmed visits and excursions.
• Airport transfers.
• Access to Oxford Summer Courses Foundations.
• Travel and medical insurance included.
• Welcome pack: Including an Oxford Summer Courses backpack, notebook, and water bottle.

Reasons to Study Creative Writing

Enrolling in the Creative Writing summer school at Oxford Summer Courses offers a rich and multifaceted learning experience that nurtures critical thinking, unleashes creativity, and fosters cultural understanding. Participants engage with diverse perspectives and explore various mediums, honing essential communication skills, nurturing empathy, and experiencing personal growth. This interdisciplinary journey not only imparts valuable knowledge but also equips students with the adaptability and resilience essential for lifelong learning and success in today's dynamic world.

Apply Now to Oxford Summer Courses

• Ready to embark on an unforgettable summer of learning and growth? Apply now and join us at Oxford Summer Courses.
• Limited spaces available - don't delay!
• Did you know that you can extend your stay with Oxford Summer Courses when you apply?
• Did you know that we offer flexible payment options ?

Bree, Canada

"the creative writing course helped me properly analyse famous writers’ works in order to fully understand them while letting me create my own short stories and poems.", get our newsletter.

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Looking for creative writing summer camps?

April 9, 2021.

This summer, many of our talented WITS Writers-in-Residence will be leading Scribes Summer Camps with our community partner, Hugo House! Young writers, grades 5-12, will have the opportunity to participate in week-long, all-day camps in which they can safely focus on, dig deep into, and nurture their inner writer. Our WITS writers, as well as guest teaching artists, will lend their expertise and perspective to help students improve their writing and create astonishing new works.

Below is a complete catalogue of all courses led by our WITS writers, which span the genres of poetry, prose, comics, sci-fi & fantasy, songwriting, and visual/audio storytelling , and with camps including immersions into exhibits at the Wing Luke and Northwest African American Museums , and beyond!

Creative Writing Scribes with Arlene Naganawa & Sara Brickman

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. Camp sessions will be facilitated by two local artists: Arlene Naganawa is a published poet and educator, and Sara Brickman is a published writer, performer, and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Starts July 5th.

Scribes with the Wing Luke Museum with Arianne True & Sara Brickman

Students will immerse themselves in diverse stories, exhibits, and activities from the Wing Luke Museum, an integral institution for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our region. As students explore works curated from the museum, they will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. Camp sessions will be facilitated by two local artists: Arianne True is a published poet and educator, and Sara Brickman is a published writer, performer, and educator; it will also feature guest speakers from the museum. This camp will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to the Wing Luke Museum.

Starts July 12th.

Creative Writing Scribes with Arlene Naganawa

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. Camp sessions will be facilitated by two local artists: Arlene Naganawa is a published poet and educator, and Colleen Barry is an artist, published writer, and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Starts July 26th.

Comics and Graphic Novels Scribes with Greg Stump and Arianne True

Students will expand their creative writing repertoire by exploring storytelling and poetry in graphic forms, studying topics like memoir, expression, mood, and character. Students will read a wide variety of work from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. Camp sessions will be facilitated by two local artists: Greg Stump is a published comic writer, graphic novelist, and educator, and Arianne True is a published poet and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. This camp will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Starts August 2nd.

Creative Writing Scribes with Samar Abulhassan and Jay Thompson

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Samar Abulhassan and Jay Thompson are both published poets and educators; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Starts August 9th.

Poetry, Music, and Memory with Samar Abulhassan

“Music isn’t simply music,” the poet Kevin Young said. “It’s memory. It’s connecting us to our past.” In this class, we’ll immerse ourselves in the magic of music and poetry. You’ll tap into your own jukebox of memory through summoning songs from your past and present, connecting to a songwriter you love, for example, by creating a golden shovel poem inspired by a favorite song passage. Expect poems to surface from treasured yet forgotten memories. We’ll also create a collective jukebox, pooling some of our favorite song lyrics together to create fun writing experiments, pausing to read inspiring texts by Victor Hernandez Cruz, Ross Gay and Sonia Sanchez and Bob Kaufman.

Starts April 22nd.

Creative Writing Scribes with Samar Abulhassan

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Samar Abulhassan is a published poet and educator, and Courtney Bird is a published writer and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy Scribes with Greg Stump

Students in this camp will explore the worlds of science fiction and fantasy in order to develop their creative writing skills. Students will read a wide variety of work from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: JP Kemmick is a published writer and educator, and Greg Stump is a published comic writer, graphic novelist, and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. This camp will culminate with a presentation of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Songwriting Scribes with Totem Star with Matt Gano

In this music-infused camp, students will explore the craft of lyric and songwriting. Students will read and listen to a wide variety of work from carefully curated songwriters and lyricists and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Matt Gano is a is a published poet, performer, and educator, and Zoser Dunbar is a singer/songwriter; it will also feature guest teaching artists. This camp will culminate with a performance of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Starts July 19th.

Audio/Visual Storytelling Scribes with Corinne Manning

In this multi-sensory camp, students will expand their storytelling repertoire by engaging with a variety of storytelling formats from carefully curated writers. They will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be led by two local artists: Corinne Manning and Meredith Arena, both of whom are published writers and educators; it will also feature guest teaching artists. This camp will culminate with a performance of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Creative Writing Scribes with Karen Finneyfrock

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: JP Kemmick is a published writer and educator, and Karen Finneyfrock is a poet, novelist, and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Poetry Scribes with Sierra Nelson and Arianne True

Students will delve into the craft of poetry, immersing themselves in diverse forms of written expression and learning poetic techniques. Students will read a wide variety of work from carefully curated poets and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Sierra Nelson and Arianne True, both of whom are published poets and educators; it will also feature guest teaching artists. This camp will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Grades 9-12

Creative writing scribes with sierra nelson & corinne manning.

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Sierra Nelson is a published poet and educator, and Corinne Manning is a published writer and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Creative Writing Scribes with the Northwest African American Museum with Naa Akua and Daemond Arrindell

Students will immerse themselves in diverse stories, exhibits and activities from the Northwest African American Museum, an integral institution of art, history, and culture in our region. Students will learn elements of prose and poetry to develop their creative writing skills, while participating in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Naa Akua is a published poet, performer, and educator, and Daemond Arrindell is a published poet, playwright, performer, and educator, it will also feature guest presenters from the museum. This camp will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to the Northwest African American Museum.

Poetry Scribes with Daemond Arrindell and Shelby Handler

Students will delve into the craft of poetry, immersing themselves in diverse forms of written expression and learning poetic techniques. Students will read a wide variety of work from carefully curated poets and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Daemond Arrindell is a published poet, playwright, performer, and educator, and Shelby Handler is a published writer and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. This camp will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Creative Writing Scribes with Karen Finneyfrock & Shelby Handler

In this exploratory camp, students will develop their creative writing abilities by experimenting in a wide variety of prose and poetry. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to inspire their imaginations. This camp will be facilitated by two local artists: Karen Finneyfrock is a poet, novelist, and educator, and Shelby Handler is a published writer and educator; it will also feature guest teaching artists. The week will culminate with a reading of student work and the option for students to contribute a chosen piece to a digital anthology of their work.

Posted in Writers in the Schools

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Summer Quarter

Creative writing at stanford, what's your story.

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SUMMER REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN. ENROLL TODAY!

COURSES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Summer 2021 Courses

English courses enable students to focus deeply on the diversity of stories people tell and to develop their own stories.

The Department of English offers over 200 courses each year about the stories people tell—past and present—with a focus on literature, language, rhetoric, film, media, and creative and analytical writing. Our courses for English majors contain 15-25 students, allowing for discussion-centered, hands-on experiences.

Course Catalogue

See the Undergraduate Catalog for a full list of our course offerings and Testudo for our current courses. Also see the Office of Extended Studies website for information about our summer and winter courses. Below are specialized descriptions for current and upcoming courses.

Major Requirements

If you are an English major and English-Education major,   consult our English / English-Education Boilerplate . View English major requirements  and English-Education major requirements a given course meets.

See our boilerplate for English majors declared before 2018 .

Summer 2021 Undergraduate Courses: English

Summer 2021 Graduate Courses

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The following list is by Term. The course offerings below are for the Summer 2024  semester. Check the current  Course Schedule .

WRTG 3020: TOPICS IN WRITING 

This course focuses on role of the European Union in Europe and how it has informed the geopolitical, economic, social and cultural landscape of our contemporary world. We will examine the overarching theme of the integration of the European Union using writings that illuminate its history, institutions, policies, politics and culture. Europe is in crisis: it has not experienced such refugees numbers since World War II; it’s monetary system is being stretched to its limits with the bailout of Greece; its immigrant populations are changing the cultural landscape and many countries are experience a pushback from ultra-nationalists groups. Europe is the United States main trading partner and in that context, is it important and expedient for us to understand the history and complexity of this relationship. The course readings consist of writings that appeal to several different discourse communities examining the emergence of the European Union, and in working with them we learn how writers adapt content and style conventions, such as tone, genre, vocabulary, and organization to respond to multiple audiences and different rhetorical situations. By reading and analyzing different types of texts---including required course readings, texts you discover through research and peer essays—you will learn more sophisticated ways of communicating knowledge, particularly how audience, purpose, and context (rhetorical situation) in a text intersect with one another to make meaning. This writing course is designed to develop your critical thinking and analytical skills, increase your awareness of the relationship between writing and how knowledge is disseminated, better understand how rhetoric works in our lives and using research to draw connections between your ideas and those of others—both scholarly and non scholarly.

In this class, we will study an array of nonfiction genres including vignettes/shorts, autobiographical poetry, radio essays, humorous and satirical essays, lyric essays, graphic memoir and other types of work by nonfiction writers known for risk-taking and originality in content and form. We will consider and practice the techniques nonfictionists use to suit different purposes and appeal to various audiences. We will also discuss the philosophical questions raised by the acts of nonfiction writing and reading. While most of the focus will be on contemporary nonfiction writers, we will reflect on the genre as part of a diverse, evolving, long-standing literary tradition. Like professional writers, you will develop strategies for brainstorming ideas and for writing, revising and editing drafts. You will practice critiquing your own work, the work of your classmates and the work of published writers. You will also practice conducting research within the CU Library system and beyond.

This course will examine the ethics and rhetorics at play in historical and contemporary

arguments about space exploration. From survival of the human species to mining for commercial benefit, arguments for space exploration are always motivated by various political, social, and economic interests. This class will examine such motivations from a rhetorical perspective in order to help you develop a critical eye about the space industry’s ethical, political, economic, and cultural dimensions. As a writing course, this class also aims to help you use such critical awareness to craft your own well-researched, persuasive arguments 

about a space exploration topic of interest to you. Whether you choose to write about issues such as terraformation, space waste, contamination, or space tourism, your goal will be to write a compelling argument that confronts the complexities of space exploration in the 21st century. 

We’ll approach  The New York Times  from two broad perspectives. First, as an encyclopedia of genres in journalism. In WRTG 3020, students will write editorials, short and long forms of journalism (from news analysis and music reviews to scientific journalism and narrative nonfiction), and finally – in line with our era of digitality and visuality – multimodal compositions based on the  NYT ’s  Daily  podcast or its  Op-Doc  series.

Secondly, we’ll conceive of the  NYT  as an occasion for staging an ethical relation to ourselves as producers and consumers of information. To this end, we’ll treat the  NYT  as a technology for:

• sharpening the quality of our attention
• maintaining a critical “mood” toward the media
• charting our relation to time, history, and long-term problem-solving
• and, finally, establishing bonds in a community of fellow writers and readers of the news.

To that end, we’ll practice various modalities of information literacy: annotation, lateral reading, fact checking, information timelines, and cross-media comparisons.

Bringing these strands together, we might say that the highest form of ethics today is an ethics of information – ethical both in our wariness toward ideological abuses of the media and in our ability, through writing, to hold ourselves and others accountable to the democratic order of society.

What is the relation between music and language? What does it mean to approach music, not just lyrics, as a text—one that is authored, conveys a message, and one whose message is in part constructed by its audience and context? This course invites you to explore music as a way of knowing and communicating. Drawing on listenings and readings from a broad range of musical and literary genres, students will analyze, share, critique, and create musical texts, select and pursue lines of inquiry related to their areas of interest, and apply their round knowledge of sound, sense, form, and perspective to refine their communicative skills and style.

"To “be” a body suggests that you are only a body. You are meat and some blood. You are hard bones and flexing cartilage. You are tangled veins and skin. Is that all, though? ― Roxane Gay In this course, we will explore how the body is both rhetorical and persuasive. Some of the questions that drive this course are: What does it mean for the body to be a tool of argumentation? How do bodies persuade? How are bodies persuaded? How do the means of embodied persuasion vary across genres? How can the body, as argued by Elizabeth Grosz, “be understood as the very ‘stuff’ of subjectivity?” And what does such an understanding mean in the context of embodied rhetoric and argumentation? Through critical writing, reading, thinking, and discussion, we will examine the ways that the body is all at once a material, social, political, and rhetorical entity. Our inquiries will lean heavily on feminist scholarship that refutes the longstanding idea that the body is separate from—and beneath—the mind. We will instead collectively unpack how bodies make, retain, and transmit varying forms of knowledge and ways of knowing, and apply these understandings to multiple forms of textual, visual, and auditory media, and to our own embodied experiences. Alongside its theoretical aims, this course emphasizes writing clear, effective, and well-researched arguments across academic and popular genres. The nature of this class is deeply collaborative and process-oriented, centering discussion, peer-review, and extensive revision. Students will build upon concepts learned in lower-level courses to elevate their efficacy and confidence in writing toward varying audiences within and beyond the institution. In addition, students will be asked to do the reflective, often vulnerable, and rewarding work of developing their own styles and voices as writers."

WRTG 3030: WRITING ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

“How Science Persuades” is a rhetorically based WRTG 3030 Writing Seminar that examines the relationship between science & society in shaping our contemporary world.  The discipline of Rhetoric and Composition is particularly well suited for this inquiry in that it gives students the sophisticated rhetorical perspectives that will allow them to utilize a toolkit of strategies for the purpose of creating persuasive scientific writing for a range of important contemporary audiences.

This course is a rhetorically informed introduction to science writing that hones communication skills as we examine the relationships among science, engineering, and society, and the manner in which scientific and technical information moves across different rhetorical contexts and becomes relevant to a variety of audiences. The course is intended for upper-division students in Engineering and for students in Arts and Sciences majoring in the sciences. Taught as a writing seminar emphasizing critical thinking, revision, and oral presentation skills, the course focuses on helping students draw on their technical expertise while engaging audiences beyond their own disciplines. The course draws on broad rhetorical principles for cogent writing and speaking and applies them to the demands of communicating in the fields of science and engineering and in the work environments of organizations.

Welcome! We're living in an interesting historical moment in which pseudo-science is readily accepted and actual science is often dismissed or viewed with great skepticism. As you are about to become scientists and engineers, it is critical that you understand what's happening in the public sphere that has created an atmosphere of distrust for actual science and of credulous approval of pseudo-science. This course, therefore, asks the questions: How is science communicated in the public sphere, how is it used rhetorically in discussions about environmental, social, economic, and political issues, and why is proven science being discredited within the public domain? To answer these questions, we’ll focus on representations of science in news media, in public policy, and in industry. 

Because the ways we perceive and choose to interpret science significantly shapes our understanding of our world and how it works, the work of this course will better prepare you to be more savvy, more informed, and more intentional readers and writers so that you can engage in the important political, environmental, economic, and social challenges of our time. 

WRTG 1150: FIRST-YEAR WRITING AND RHETORIC

Rhetorically informed introduction to college writing. Focuses on critical analysis, argument, inquiry, and information literacy. Taught as a writing workshop, the course places a premium on invention, drafting, and thoughtful revision. For placement criteria, see the Arts and Sciences advising office. Meets MAPS requirement for English. Approved for Arts and Sciences core curriculum: written communication.

FIRST-YEAR​ WRITING AND RHETORIC, Rebecca Lee, MA

From Instagram and Facebook to Big Data and the Internet, the role of social media in the shaping of identity, of relationships, and of our minds is not only fascinating but also troubling: these media are rhetorically constructed, and users who don’t understand this fact are vulnerable to the potential for their lives to be shaped, in profound ways, by the entities (government, companies, and corporations, to name a few) who produce social media content. Of course, these entities are not working alone—they are connected not only to an individual user but also to most, if not all, of that user’s social network, which means that the user is less likely to evaluate content in their feed and more likely to accept it as truth. In a moment when “alternative facts” are offered and accepted as readily as the intake of a breath, this lack of critical engagement is a problem.

In this course, we will explore the connections between social media and our lives, the ways in which our understanding of who we is shaped by such media, and the extent to which rhetorical knowledge can allow us to begin to make choices about how we want to respond to ourselves and to the world around us. We will explore topics such as how identity is rhetorically constructed, in what ways identity is a form of power, whose identity matters, how social media influences our minds, and how this knowledge can prepare us to curate the “mind” that we want. To this end, we’ll look at a variety of “texts,” from analytical writing to calls-to-action to digital stories, and students can expect to encounter a wide range of written and creative assignments, including journaling, creative nonfiction, petition writing, and digital storytelling.  

In this course, we’ll explore the protean, creative form of the essay and its Internet version, the blog, using a selection of essays drawn from a number of sources, including The Next American Essay, by John D’Agata and other readings that will be on D2L and online. What is an essay or a blog? How do current events, locations, politics, ethnicity, other genres, cultural psychology, economics, and so forth affect the form and narrative of the essay? In this class, we will extract the essay from its academic box and understand what a rich poetic, political, and cultural heritage it has. We will investigate the essay’s vital role in social, political, physical, and emotional exploration into what it means to be human on this planet. We will query how the narrator’s position in relation to audience, use of rhetorical devices and poetics, publication medium, and real world context affect the essay. An understanding of the work of essayists and bloggers can influence your own forays into critical and creative writing and thinking. You will write a series of essays (including a blog) of different lengths to experiment with different kinds of essays for different audiences. Your essays will constitute a substantial part of class reading.

When we think about the self, typically we think about beliefs we have, certain physical traits and psychological attributes that define us. We think of an identity with which we wake up each morning and go about our day. Perhaps we look in the mirror and recognize ourselves, and other people, by looking at us and interacting with us, come to know us, too. In time, we become conscious of the narrative form our lives take, the rhetorical structure that provides us with a purpose and meaning.  We become familiar with the “story of our lives.” But how real is this self and how true are these stories? Is the identity we construct for ourselves reliable and stable? And what is the connection between this self and these stories? 

Description coming soon.

Eco-Socialism, also known as green socialism or socialist ecology, is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology, and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansion of the capitalist system is the cause of social exclusion, poverty, war, and environmental degradation through globalization and imperialism under the supervision of repressive states and transnational structures. It is also a branch of scientific understanding and writing delegated to fringe elements of the academic and political community. In this course, students will develop their skills as scientific thinkers and writers through furthering their understanding of eco-socialism and how eco-socialism is portrayed in the news media. Projects include a position statement, rhetorical analysis, and action plan. 

FIRST-YEAR​ WRITING AND RHETORIC, Riley Bartlett, M.F.A.​

"In The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson argues that “You are in the most literal sense cosmic,” and Carl Sagan often stated that “We are star stuff,” a fact that science has just proven: 97% of the body is composed of elements from the stars. The human body is a fascinating, mind-boggling machine that we tend to ignore, unless something feels amiss. In this class, we will embark upon a quest to understand what it means to be “a body,” to be “embodied,” and to have a body labeled, categorized, commodified, and destroyed. We will consider, from a rhetorical perspective, whose body matters and to whom; how bodies are used by individuals, corporations, and governments; and how bodies are controlled, interconnected, and transformed. WRTG 3020 is designed to provide students with an opportunity to strengthen their rhetorical communication and critical-thinking skills. The course focuses on analysis, engagement, and argument, with special attention to rhetorical technique; it reinforces, deepens, and extends the content of the lower division writing courses. By reading and analyzing different types of texts—including required readings, your own research, and peer essays—you will learn to hone your understanding of rhetoric to improve the effectiveness of your writing. Within the realm of understanding effective rhetoric do lie both: the global level of the writing process (clarity, cohesion, concision, precision, and revision) and the formal level of the writing process (grammar, punctuation, and writing conventions). Students will be able to reinforce these skills by practicing them via peer-review, which includes receiving and providing feedback with their classmates on these skills. The overarching goal of this course is to help you gain the tools with which to recognize habits that weaken your work, to develop new habits of engagement, and to realize your potential in writing; in other words, you will learn how to represent yourself effectively through language. Though this process is sometimes difficult, students who participate eagerly and openly will learn how to translate this information beyond the classroom setting."

In this class, we will remain steadily focused on our central investigative question: “Is a dystopia actually a utopia?” By this, I mean that many so-called “bad places” (dystopias) can in fact easily be viewed as “good places” (utopias), primarily because they create environments where humans are incapable of actually knowing they exist in a dystopia. The “bad place” is the “good place.” Such blurring of the line between dystopias and utopias stems largely from 2 primary sources. These are pleasure and fear. That is, people do not know they live in a dystopia when kept in a pleasure induced state of bliss, while fear can have the ability to create a warped sense of reality where falsehood becomes great and beautiful “truth.” We will explore these fascinating ideas through texts taken from both the pleasure and fear sides of dystopias. These will primarily include, Yevgeny Zamiatin’s We, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and George Orwell’s 1984. Other texts will include writings by Samuel Butler, H.G. Wells, and further shorter pieces by Huxley, among others.

As a term, creative nonfiction implies that it is doing something atypical or unconventional with writing—adding to nonfiction an inventive or imaginative quality that it normally lacks. Nonfiction—as a stand-alone concept—indeed often comes with unfair associations of dullness, or of staidness, but, even still, creative nonfiction could be considered a different beast altogether, employing narrative and stylistic techniques from fiction (and sometimes poetry) to tell true stories or recount real events. Creative nonfiction can, accordingly, encompass a variety of writing modes, including memoir, personal essays, travel narratives, and investigative reporting, and we will explore these forms in weekly writing workshops and readings. Rounding out the course will be a focused study of the genre of creative nonfiction itself—including its practice by others and the theories that ground it. At base, this is a course motivated by imaginative and personal storytelling that uses the essay form to engage its audience.

As a future professional in the sciences or engineering, you will be expected to write and speak clearly and convincingly to audiences not only in but also, and especially, outside your field. The purpose of this course is to provide you the opportunity to practice techniques for communicating analytically and persuasively, to further develop your creative- and critical thinking skills, and to consider how your field relates to other fields and to the civic arena. One way you will pursue these objectives is through a service-learning project, for which you will tutor local high school students for a total of eight hours in math, the sciences, or a variety of other subjects. You will use this experience to examine the relationship among doing, teaching, and learning a field; the sociological, political, and institutional factors shaping education in math and the sciences; and the various rhetorical norms involved in scientific pedagogy and practice. Of course, you will do more than the service-learning project this semester. Most of the material you will work with in class will be produced by you, discipuliextraordinaria. You will collaborate with one another, write with one another, teach one another. Count on staying busy each and every class period. Together, we will analyze the characteristics of persuasive writing about and in the sciences and education. The course will include brief units on logic and visual rhetoric. At various points in the semester we will discuss the craft of writing—e.g., writing strong, beautiful sentences that capture audiences, filling them with awe and admiration and wonder. You will complete a number of informal writing assignments. You will write two professional career documents: a personal statement and an exit message, both addressed to your service-learning partners. In groups you will write children’s books for local first graders, fallacious dialogues, and posters that teach the CU campus community about Shakespearean-era science. And you will put together an annotated bibliography that will prepare you for your final project: a piece of writing that uses book arts to share research in math or the sciences with a public audience.

FIRST-YEAR​ WRITING AND RHETORIC, Seth Myers, Ph.D.

FIRST-YEAR​ WRITING AND RHETORIC, Dr. Jennifer Stewart

Writing 3020 satisfies upper-division core requirements in the College of Arts & Sciences by extending student rhetorical knowledge and writing skills, engaging theoretical perspectives and addressing specialized disciplinary communities. This course is meant to build upon the knowledge you gained in WRTG 1150 and will help you to improve your writing by introducing you to more complex analytical reading skills as well as a variety of rhetorical strategies. Readings and in-class discussions are meant to arouse curiosity and allow for the practice of critical thinking and analysis. In order to have a common area of reading, discussion and research, I have selected the theme of the "politics of drugs" for our focus this semester. Through selected readings, videos and research we will look at the history of drugs (both worldwide and in the U.S), the debate over marijuana legalization and the politics of the drug war both domestically and internationally. The class will ask such questions as: What is a drug? Why are some drugs illegal and others accepted and legal? Is there a basic human need for drugs? What is the relationship between the war on drugs and other U.S. policy (both domestic and international)? For the final paper, you will be able to research and explore areas of your own interest such as: drugs and music, addiction, caffeine as a drug, prescription drug abuse, law enforcement, etc.

Why do conversations around health, medicine, and science often reveal contradictory ideas about what it means to be “healthy”? This course is designed primarily for students interested in health professions who want to examine ways language shapes our perceptions of  health, medicine, expertise, and science . We’ll analyze various rhetorical practices by looking at public conversations and common health professions genres, and you’ll conduct a project that examines rhetorical practices for a health-related topic of your choice.

"I don't know what happens to country." — John Grady Cole in All the Pretty Horses. How is it that Americans feel entitled to open spaces, with privacy somehow included? This course studies the aesthetics of, ambivalence about, and violence in American spaces (real and imagined) to provide students with a field of inquiry for writing well researched and radically revised academic essays. We will range widely from poetry and fiction through spatial theory in two progressions. Progression I, Dimensional American Fictions, leads through brief exercises to a revised close reading essay on literature or film. Progression II, Histories and Theories of Space, explores the violence that tensions over space elicit in art and life; students weave extensive research through several revisions of an interdisciplinary essay. Readings may include poetry from Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman; fiction from Chester Himes to Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy; and brief selections of non-fiction from F. J. Turner to Michel de Certeau and contemporary journalists. We will study one film, such as Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven . All students are welcome: close reading skills, advanced research, attention to the writing process, and stylistic prowess are goals of—not prerequisites to—this.

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Creative Writing

College of arts & sciences, introduction to creative writing.

Undergraduate Prerequisites: by stamped approval only; see Room 211,236 Bay State Road. - Primarily a creative writing workshop, in which students write and revise their own short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and read their peers' work with generosity, providing constructive feedback. Students also learn to read closely the work of literary masters past and present. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Aesthetic Exploration. 4 cr. Tuition: $3180

Summer 2 (July 1-August 9)

Summer Creative Writing

Tory adkisson.

Tory Adkisson is the author of The Flesh Between Us (SIU Press 2021), winner of the Crab Orchard Series Open Book Competition. His poems have appeared widely in journals such as Third Coast , Crazyhorse , Adroit Journal , Boston Review , Quarterly West , and elsewhere. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The Ohio State University and previously taught writing at the University of Georgia and Seattle City Colleges before coming to UC Berkeley.

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Kim Freeman

Kim Freeman has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Connecticut. She has taught writing for more than twenty years. She teaches Reading & Composition courses and writing in the biological sciences at UC Berkeley. Prior to joining the College Writing Programs’ faculty, she taught at Northeastern University in Boston, where she directed the Writing-in-the-Disciplines Program. In addition to her interest in writing in the disciplines, particularly the sciences and narrativeis about the climate crisis and sustainability, she is also interested in creative writing and writing ...

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Miriam Bird Greenberg

Miriam Bird Greenberg (they/she) teaches College Writing R1A and 134 (The Craft of Poetry). A poet and occasional essayist with a fieldwork-derived practice, Miriam is the author of In the Volcano’s Mouth , winner of the 2015 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, about the contemporary nomads, hitchhikers, and hobos living on America's margins, and their own experiences living and traveling in those worlds. They're currently at work on a hybrid-genre manuscript about the economic migrants and asylum seekers of Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions.

A high school dropout and former hitchhiker...

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Joseph Horton

Joe Horton teaches creative writing and R1A for the CWP and the Fall Program for First Semester. He is also a Continuing Lecturer at UC Davis.

He is formerly interim director of the English Department Writing Program at the University of Michigan, where he won three Hopwood Awards. A Pushcart Prize nominee, his recent fiction and nonfiction has appeared with Ploughshares, Midwestern Gothic, the Colorado Review and TIME magazine. He is also playwright-in-residence with Savio(u)r Theatre Company, and his plays have been nominated for six Off West End Awards in London, including Best...

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Judy Juanita

Judy Juanita's poetry collection, Manhattan my ass, you're in Oakland, won the American Book Award 2021 from the Before Columbus Foundation. Her short story collection, The High Price of Freeways , won the Tartt Fiction Prize at the University of West Alabama [UWA], and was published by Livingston Press [UWA] in 2022. Her semi-autobiographical novel, Virgin Soul, chronicles the journey of a young woman who joins the Black Panther Party in the 60s (Viking, 2013).

Her poem "Bling" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Juanita's short stories and essays appear widely. Her...

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Belinda Kremer

Belinda Kremer holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Poetry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since 1996, she has taught pre-composition, composition, advanced writing, disciplinary writing, literature, creative writing-- poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, drama-- writing for the sciences, writing for digital media, pedagogies of writing, and writing-tutor training in Michigan, New York, and California. Belinda also has extensive backgrounds in writing program and writing center administration, and in supporting faculty in teaching writing with technology. Her poetry appears in...

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Michael Larkin

Michael Larkin has an M.F.A. in fiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh, and a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley. In addition to teaching courses in reading and composition and creative writing, he is co-curator of the annual UC Berkeley Summer Reading List for New Students and formerly the coordinator of the College Writing Programs' Summer Bridge Course, CW N2-- Writing the Bridge: From High School to the University .

• Read more about Michael Larkin

John Levine

John Levine has a B.A. in English and Black Studies from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, where he also completed extensive coursework in college-composition pedagogy. He has been teaching writing since 1995 and teaching public speaking since 2006. He teaches Reading and Composition courses, public speaking, and creative writing at UC Berkeley. He also coordinates the long-running Berkeley Writers at Work series. Before becoming ...

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Eric Longfellow

Eric Longfellow is a fiction writer with a Ph.D. in English/creative writing. Before joining the faculty at Berkeley, he taught writing, comparative literature, and creative writing at San Francisco State University and Illinois State University. His research and pedagogical interests include psychoanalytic theory, feminist studies, queer theory, and Marxist theory.

In addition to his academic career, he has worked in the publishing industry gaining editorial experience with Dalkey Archive Press and FC2. Previous fiction and nonfiction can be found in The Millions, The Rumpus, and...

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Kaya Oakes (she/her) has been a lecturer in College Writing since 2000. She teaches R1A, R4A, R4B, and a variety of creative nonfiction courses. She is the author of six books, most recently including Not So Sorry: Abusers, False Apologies, and the Limits of Forgiveness (Broadleaf Books: 2024), The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life's In Betweens To Remake the World (Broadleaf Books: 2021, one of Sojourners ' 2021 Books to Inspire Faith and Justice), The Nones Are Alright (Orbis Books: 2015, Religion News Association best books ...

• Read more about Kaya Oakes
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An Approach to Creative Writing Summer School

Short course

This popular course provides a firm footing in the fundamentals of creative writing. Learn from a professional writer and editor how to develop a story and gain the confidence to write creatively.

No starting dates

Starting date to be confirmed.

• Duration: 10 days (unconfirmed)
• Fees: £295 (unconfirmed)
• Location: Online (unconfirmed)
• Register interest

Testimonials

Very enjoyable and informative course for a creative writing beginner, with an excellent tutor.

Suzanne Farg

Former Student

I loved this course and found it to be very informative and thorough.

Claudia Macpherson

I got all that I hoped for and a lot more! I got lots of ideas and practical ways to both inspire me to want to write and also to think about doing something productive with my writing. I feel a lot more confident about the ideas that I have and motivated to see some of them through.

Johanne Butler

Former student

• Course overview

What will I learn?

Assessment and certificates, eligibility, recommended reading, an approach to creative writing summer school course overview.

This is an eclectic course that aims to help you find your writing niche and develop a practical creative routine over the summer, alongside a small community of writers.

Over ten weeks, you will be led by a professional author and Doctor in Contemporary Literature, Rosa Rogers. Uniquely, our programme has been devised out of discussions with ex and current students at City, thus it takes an organic and personal approach to developing beginners' writing craft.

Our An Approach to Creative Writing Summer School will take place online and be structured through a mixture of mini-lectures, creative exercises, group discussion and writing workshops. We will focus on honing our craft in multiple genres and forms i.e. short stories, poetry, prose poems and novel openings. Our pieces will be shared for peer review with the aim to help us produce work to our highest standard. You will be continuously supported by your tutor and also you will hear from invited guest speakers who are experts in their fields. By the end of the course you will aim to complete < 5 poems or < 5,000 words of prose (or a hybrid of each).   This course is personalised and can adapt in relation to your particular needs. If you have any questions before we begin, you can contact the course tutor, Rosa Rogers, at [email protected] .

This course is ideal preparation for our Short Story Writing and Novel Writing and Longer Works courses .

Who is it for?

Aimed at beginners with little to no experience of creative writing, our Approach to Creative Writing classes will provide inspiration and guidance on how to begin to write creatively.

Find out more about our Creative writing and publishing courses

• Learn Creative writing and publishing

This course runs online every Tuesday 6.30pm-8.30pm for 10 weeks. The course will run from July 19h to the September 20th.

• Delivered over ten weeks, this City writing summer school is the ideal way to explore your potential as a writer
• Led by a professional writer and Doctor of Contemporary Literature
• Flexible online learning
• Awarded a free City, University of London certificate

Explore our Writing Summer Schools here.

• How to find inspiration for your writing and develop a practical routine
• How to find your niche in writing poetry and/or prose pieces
• How to create characters, sustain a narrative, hone your craft and find your voice
• How to ensure your writing is lucid and vivid
• How to assess, revise and edit your work
• How to give and receive constructive criticism through workshopping.

Informal assessment will take place through group discussion, class room activities, and questions and answers sessions as guided by your tutor.

Certificates are issued for every student who has completed the course and attended at least 70% of the sessions.

No prior knowledge or ability is required for this course.

English requirements

Applicants must be proficient in written and spoken English.

• Bird by Bird , Anne Lammot, Anchor 2007
• Steering the Craft , Ursula Le Guin, Mariner Books 2015
• The Voice that Thunders , Alan Garner, Vintage
• The Well of Lost Plots , Jasper Fforde, Hodder
• Short Circuits (revised edition), Vanessa Gebbie (ed), Salt 2013

Please note that this reading material is entirely optional, but are books the tutor has found useful as a writer.

Rosa Rogers

Rosa Rogers is a final year PhD practitioner in The Contemporary Novel: Practice as Research where she has completed her debut novel 'Composition' (2021). Her short stories, poetry and visual art have been published and/or exhibited in The Menteur (Paris), Stirred Press, Northern Quarter, East Street Arts, The Media Centre and Vortex Gallery.

Rosa has performed her work across France and the UK. She is the creator of community projects: Poetry etc. and Tales of a Town and is the former Co-Director of Vortex Gallery. She currently works as an assistant lecturer in Creative Writing in Canterbury, London, and Nantes.

City Short Courses: Writing

Passionate about writing? Hear about our students’ journeys towards publication with the help of City short courses.

Have a question?

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• +44 (0)20 7040 8268

Creative Writing Academy

• How to Apply

Steps to Complete Your Application

300- to 500-word personal statement.

Write a 300- to 500-word personal statement describing why you want to attend the Summer High School Programs at Georgetown University. Your completed essay should be uploaded to your online application prior to submission.

Completed School Official Reviewer Form

Provide the contact information of your current high school counselor (preferred), teacher, or principal who will be able to speak to your overall academic readiness for the program and can verify your current GPA. Upon submitting your application, your chosen point of contact will receive an automatic email request with instructions for completing the form.

International Student Requirements

International students participating in the Academies are not required to obtain a visa or submit TOEFL scores. For more information on international student requirements, including mandatory health insurance, please visit our Resources for International Students page.

This is the application for the Academies. If admitted, you will be able to register for any of our Academies (as availability allows). Please note: An offer of admission does not guarantee your seat in an Academy. Registration is conducted on a first-come, first-served basis, and to secure a seat in your chosen program, you must register and submit tuition payment.

Upon starting your application, you will receive a NetID and GUID. A NetID (username) is the login credential that will allow you to access the various electronic resources made available to you while participating in our program. Your single-use password is “gu + the last 6 digits of your GUID”, and will expire after logging in with it for the first time. 

You are REQUIRED to enroll in Georgetown’s Duo two-factor authentication service, install Duo on your mobile device (you’ll use this device to approve login push notifications from Duo), enroll in Georgetown’s online password management system, and change your single-use password using the password management system .

Additional Information

Summer applications are reviewed starting in late fall. Our Admissions Office only reviews completed applications, which include the applicant’s personal statement essay, a response from the applicant’s reference, and an application fee (if submitted after January 31). Admission decisions are released as they are made. Please allow up to three weeks after we have received your completed application for an admission decision to be emailed to your primary email address.

Note: Email is the primary form of communication throughout the application and admission process. Only the primary email address listed in the application will receive the automatic communications and application updates. Please ensure that both parent/guardian and student emails are entered correctly on the application. If there is a change in either email address, please inform our office immediately at [email protected] . We strongly recommend that you double-check your Spam folder for potential missed emails from the University.

Deadline Dates:

• Early Bird Deadline Dates : January 31* *Application fee waived for all applications submitted by this date
• Final Deadline : May 15 Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis

To apply to the Summer Programs for High School Students, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be a current or rising high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior during the academic year prior to your summer program
• Show evidence of good academic standing, with at least a 2.0 GPA

For the following Non-Credit Academies, students must be at least 15 years old by the date of check-in (no exceptions):

• 1-Week Medical Academy
• 1-Week Nursing Academy
• 3-Week Medical Academy
• Biotechnology for Science & Health

If you are an eligible homeschooled student applying to the Summer High School Programs, your School Official Reviewer Form may not come from a family member or paid tutor; the form must come from a teacher or another person who can speak to your academic abilities and capacity to thrive in a college environment.

English Proficiency

TOEFL scores are not required for the Academies. To fully participate and enjoy these programs, we recommend that you be able to:

• In English, understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in your field(s) of interest.
• Interact with a degree of English fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers possible.
• Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

Visa Information

International students participating in the Academies are not required to obtain a visa.

For more information on international student requirements, including mandatory health insurance, please visit our Resources for International Students page.

Want to learn more?

Request information to find out the latest on the Summer Programs for High School Students.

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• Summer 2025

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Courses - CW Summer 2020

Course descriptions are available through the links below. When faculty have not provided a specific description, the UW General Catalog description is provided.

Students should review our Registration Policies before enrolling.

Course offerings for future quarters are tentative and are subject to change. For the most up-to-date schedule and enrollment information, please consult the UW Time Schedule .

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More From Forbes

A writing room: the new marketplace of writer classes, retreats, and collectives.

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A Writing Room is one of the fast-growing writer collectives. The four co-founders (left to right): ... [+] Reese Zecchin, Director of Production; Jacob Nordby, Director of Writer Development; A. Ashe, Creative Director; Claire Giovino, Community Director.

The past decade has brought an explosion in the number of books published each year in the United States (an estimated three to four million annually). In turn, this explosion is bringing a growing and evolving marketplace of writer classes, retreats and collectives. It is a marketplace creating new jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities—both for mainstream tech, marketing and managerial workers, as well as for writer/artist denizens of America’s bohemia.

The Drivers of Growth in Book Publishing

The number of book sales in the United States remains healthy, though it has leveled off in the past four years. In 2020, 756.82 million book unit sales were made in the US alone. This number climbed to 837.66 million in 2021, before falling slightly to 787.65 million units in 2022 and 767.36 million units in 2023.

What has changed dramatically has been the number of books published. Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler Publishers estimates that three million books were published in the US, up 10 times from the number only 16 years ago . Other estimates put the number of published books annually at closer to four million .

The main driver of this growth in books published has been self-publishing. According to Bowker , which provides tools for self-publishing, an estimated 2.3 million books were self-published in 2021. Up through the 1990s (now the distant past in publishing), writers of all types of books, fiction and nonfiction, were dependent on convincing publishing houses to publish their work. As the technology for self-publishing and print on demand grew in the early 2000s, writers could publish on their own, and a very large number of Americans began to do so.

Fueling growth also is the level of affluence and discretionary income that an increasing segment of American society is reaching. For centuries, theorists across the political spectrum have envisioned a society, freed from basic economic needs, pursuing creative activities, with writing as a primary activity. In The German Ideology , Karl Marx could write about the economy of abundance in which individuals pursue writing as one of a series of daily activities—hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, write criticism in the evening. John Maynard Keynes in a 1930 essay, “ Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” , envisions a time a hundred years forward (2030) in which writing is no longer the province of the upper classes. Contemporary theorists on the future of work, such as John Tamny, similarly see a blooming of creative and artistic activities by the average citizen.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, a writing room, and the emerging marketplace of writer training.

A marketplace of writing coaches, classes and retreats expanded throughout the late twentieth century and first years of the twentieth century. Published authors and even recently-minted graduates of MFA programs hung out shingles for individual coaching and small classes. Colleges expanded their writing programs and certifications, and writer retreats multiplied. Co-working and literary event spaces were established in major cities ( The Writers Room in New York, The Writers Grotto in San Francisco). But the marketplace continued to bump up against geographic and logistical limitations.

Then, along the came the internet, and its evolution.

Today, hundreds of businesses throughout the country offer assistance to aspiring writers. Many continue to offer some in-person assistance through coaching, classes or retreats. But as in other fields, the internet has allowed for a nationwide (worldwide) reach that these businesses are taking advantage of to scale. The major pre-internet writer assistance companies, such as The Writers Studio , added online courses and instruction, and the early internet-based companies from the 1990s, such as Writers.com (a pioneer in the internet field), steadily expanded their offerings. New enterprises are springing up on a regular basis, including the writer collectives.

A Writing Room is one of the fastest growing of the writer collectives, and its suite of services illustrate the how the field is evolving.

A Writing Room has its roots in the writing classes that novelist Anne Lamott had been teaching for some years, and her interest by the early 2020s in creating a larger on-going community of writers. Lamott connected with a team of four entrepreneurs who had experience with previous start-ups and expertise in online tools. In early 2023 they set out to develop A Writing Room.

Novelist Anne Lamott, one of the partners in A Writing Room.

A Writing Room launched in June 2023, and followed a few months later with an inaugural writers retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Though hastily arranged, the retreat attracted more than 400 in person attendees and over 1600 attendees online. In the first half of 2024, the company set up a membership structure of monthly and annual memberships. Within months, over 550 writers had joined.

The products that members can access are aimed in part at teaching the craft of writing. In a recent author discussion (with close to 400 participants joining online) Lamott discussed the craft of writing with novelist Donna Levin . Both started publishing in the 1980s. They noted how much publishing and the role of the writer have changed, but emphasized the fundamentals that have remained over their forty years, related to craft and the responsibility of the writer: the daily commitment, the careful development of plot and characters, the numerous rewrites (as many as you think you need, and one more).

A Writing Room offers a series of on-demand courses, online discussions with authors and publishing professionals, and daily writing prompts, built around writing as craft. It further offers instruction on the paths to and options for publication, building a following of readers.

At its center, A Writing Room is about being part of a community of writers, giving and receiving regular feedback from other members, as well as feedback from writing mentors and coaches. In an interview earlier this year, Lamott explained:

The great myth about writing is that it's an entirely solitary activity. This really isn't true. Every book I've ever written has been with a lot of help from my community. I wouldn't be the writer I am today — and wouldn't even want to write — without people to share the process and finished work. Writing is a process, but it doesn't have to (and really shouldn't be) done in total isolation.

The writing process can feel overwhelming. It often does for me. Believe me, a trusted writing friend is a secret to life.

Other emerging writing collectives also emphasize community and cooperation. Levin underscored this point in the recent online discussion: “Writing can be such an isolated activity, and to some extent needs to be. You want to seek out a community that can give you the support you need and also the honest feedback.”

How the New Marketplace Is Evolving And Jobs Created

The founders of A Writing Room know that the marketplace for writer assistance is fast changing, and they need to be quick to adapt to increased competition. Already, several developments are driving change in the field:

· The entrance of major online education companies (i.e. Masters Class , Coursera, Udemy ).

· Faculty recruitment of writers with built-in audiences of sizable twitter and other social media followings.

· Partnerships with the major publishers and agencies, who hold out the promise of publication to participants of the classes, retreats and collectives.

· Specializations by race and ethnicity, gender, geography and genre.

· Market segmentation, and attention to higher income consumers.

A number of these developments reflect the changes in the broader publishing world and are likely to continue. Overall, the marketplace itself will be expanding, as publishing technology advances, along with discretionary income.

The jobs being generated by this new marketplace are a mix of tech, administrative, and writing coach positions. At A Writing Room, recent hires include a community liaison, video editor, customer support, and a “beta reader” providing feedback to writers on their drafts. The hiring process is sweeping up into jobs not only workers who have been in the regular economy, but also residents of America’s bohemia: writers and artists who previously were outside of (and often scornful of) the market system. What can be better than that.

In his 2023 book, The Novel, Who Needs It , Joseph Epstein, former editor of American Scholar , offers a paean to fiction as above all other intellectual endeavors that seek to understand human behavior. But what he says of fiction is true of other writing (memoir, history, even forms of self-help) that arouses the mind.

Yes, there are way too many books published each year, and yes only a very small percentage of writers will earn any significant income from their writing. But who knows what individual book will succeed commercially or critically, or add to our shared knowledge or wisdom. And really, why not encourage the craft of writing. How much does America benefit from most of the paper-pushing, meetings and e-mails that now pass for work in our economy of affluence.

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Elektrostal (Q198419)

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The flag of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia which I bought there during my last visit