Students also learn from prominent visiting writers at our annual Writers Fest each Spring. Recent graduates of the program include MacArthur “Genius” Award Winner Karen Russell; Veronica Roth, whose bestselling novel “Divergent” was first drafted while she was a student; poet Peter Kline; and award-winning essayist Angela Mears.
Recommended Schedule for Prospective Writing Majors
Courses for Prospective Creative Writing Majors, in a recommended order.
*Denotes courses that are REQUIRED for the Creative Writing Major
ENG 202-Introduction to Creative Writing
This optional course introduces students to poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing and prepares students for other creative writing courses.
*ENG 206 - Reading and Writing Poetry
*ENG 207 - Reading and Writing Fiction
*ENG 208 - Reading & Writing Creative Nonfiction
These three single-genre courses are required for all tracks in the creative writing major and minor. Students applying for the poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction tracks must have completed the course in their chosen genre, and must have either enrolled in or completed a course in another genre, before applying.
Some students fulfill the ENG 206, 207, 208 requirement well before applying to one of the sequence tracks. In that case, we recommend that you stay in writing practice and continue building your portfolio by taking a non-sequence 300-level course (ENG 306, 307, 308, or 309). Please see the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Creative Writing for further suggestions and help with course planning.
Note that ENG 206, 207, 208 must be taken in the English Department; creative writing courses taken in the School of Professional Studies do not count towards the creative writing major or minor.
Declaring the Cross-Genre Track
Students may declare the cross-genre track at any time, with no application process or prerequisites. Cross-genre major students must choose three advanced courses from among ENG 306, 307, 308, and 309, while cross-genre minor students must choose two of these courses. Students may take all different courses or repeated the same course number for credit with a different course topic. These courses can be taken at any time or in any order, except that students must take the prerequisite course in the same genre before moving on to the corresponding advanced course (e.g., 206 before 306, and so on).
Admission to the Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction Tracks
Admission to poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction “sequences,” yearlong 300-level course sequences in a single genre, is by application only. Admission is granted primarily on the basis of the quality of the student’s submitted manuscript and evidence of promise. An applicant may be admitted to study as a major, a minor, or a sequence-only student.
The cross-genre tracks of the major and minor are open to all students, without any prerequisites or application process. Declaring the cross-genre track of the major or minor does guarantee admission into the poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction track. Cross-genre students may, however, switch to the poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction track after being accepted through the standard application process.
For applications to the fiction and nonfiction tracks, the writing sample should be 7-15 pages.
For applications to the poetry track, the writing sample should be 4-5 poems.
Students may apply for admission to the poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction tracks no earlier than the spring of their sophomore year.
The "Sequences"
Theory and Practice of Poetry (ENG 393), Fiction (394), and Creative Nonfiction (395):
These year-long sequences of courses ask students to pursue a rigorous exploration of a single genre that includes explication and critical writing, imitation and modeling, close reading of literary texts, and the creation of original creative work.
The sequences are arranged in three consecutive quarters. They begin in the fall with specialized courses in the fundamental technical and rhetorical bases of each genre. Poetry students study the uses of metaphor and mode, and the theory of prosody (including both the major form of poetry in English -- accentual-syllabic verse -- and the minor forms of accentual, syllabic, and free verse). Fiction students consider the tenets of realism and its alternatives, and practice different approaches to style, characterization, structure, and point of view. Creative nonfiction students focus on essay forms, logical method, authorial tone, and techniques of discourse and description. In all genres, imitations and models of great writers are assigned. The latter portion of the sequence in each genre is devoted to intensive writing of a longer original work: a poem of at least 120 lines or an essay or novella of 25 to 35 pages.
Other Required Courses for MAJOR Students
In addition to the sequences, all creative writing majors must take:
ENG 392 - The Situation of Writing
“The Situation of Writing,” which is typically offered in the winter quarter, investigates the writer’s relation to the culture, both currently and historically. The course addresses such questions as the relation of criticism to imaginative literature, the rise and fall of specific literary genres, the effect of the university on the production and consumption of literary works, the state of the publishing industry, and international literary contexts.
The “Third-Genre Intro” Course
English 206, 207, or 208, whichever introductory course was not completed before application to the sequences. This requirement ensures that writing majors will have had experience reading and writing in all three major non-dramatic modes of imaginative writing.
Six literature classes
These courses must be selected from English Department offerings ONLY:
- One 200-level or 300-level literature course
- One English 300: Seminar in Reading and Interpretation
- One 300-level literature course on material written prior to 1830
- One 300-level literature course on material written after 1830
- Two 300-level literature courses from either period
Other Required Courses for MINOR students
In addition to the sequences, creative writing sequence-based minors must take:
Two literature classes
These courses must be selected from English Department offerings ONLY:
- One 200-level or 300-level literature course
- One 300-level literature course
Other Program Features
The Annual Writers Fest gives students the chance to learn from and interact with guest Writers-in-Residence for a three-day celebration of master classes, public readings, and a panel discussion on craft.
Writing by students at Northwestern is recognized by the award-winning student literary magazine, Helicon, and by the Department of English Annual Writing Competition, held in the spring.
Creative Writing Alumni Testimonials
“The first story I wrote at Northwestern had all these crazy car accidents and things. I learned how to quiet down, how to write clearly and how to construct stories that were subtle and not so heavy-handed. And I loved hanging with the other writers in the program. You can't write a book without getting feedback, because you're too close to the work.”
-- Veronica Roth, author of the bestselling Divergent series
“I still believe our program at Northwestern is as good as any graduate program in the country. It was nice to have the opportunity when I was 19 to spend so much time reading and writing with these other writers. There was such a serious sense of purpose. That’s a testament to Brian and Sheila and the rest of the faculty. They really could create a community.”
--Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia!, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and winner of a MacArthur Genius Award.
“As a Creative Nonfiction student in the Creative Writing program, I was pushed hard -- by my professors and fellow writers -- to find my voice. Not just my voice as a writer, but as a person and advocate of my life and experiences. More than anything else, I learned that I am still learning. I am still finding that voice, and always will be. I learned that this fact is okay, it is right, it is what makes me write.”
--Danielle Littman, 2013 graduate.
"We're not just educating people for professional tracks; we're educating them for their lives."
--Professor Mary Kinzie, Founder of the Creative Writing Program and award-winning poet.
