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Creative Writing

Committee Chair: Christina von Nolcken, W 414, 702-8024

Committee Coordinator: Julia Klein, W 407B, 834-8524

Web: creativewriting.uchicago.edu

Students at Chicago pursue creative work in the context of academic study. Unlike professionally focused, free-standing creative writing programs at other universities, creative writing at Chicago is a region for interdisciplinary intellectual work. A playwright working through the University Theater under the auspices of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities may take writing workshops in fiction or poetry as part of developing scripts. Students in the visual arts join forces with writers in work on graphic novels. And students in non-English languages and literatures may find themselves taking not only literature courses but also poetry or fiction writing workshops as part of developing translation projects. What makes Creative Writing at Chicago unique is the combined commitment to fostering creative work in the context of rigorous academic study, and the commitment to cross-arts and interdisciplinary training for writers, performers, and artists. Drawn by the energy and vitality of this program, student demand for courses, readings, and workshops makes Creative Writing the largest new Humanities initiative for the College.

Students can pursue their creative writing interests within the formal requirements of the two interdisciplinary majors below; in other programs of study, with approval to count writing courses toward requirements; or among the eight to eighteen electives available to students across the range of other programs of study.

(1) Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities. Students wishing to engage the dialogues between creative writing and other studies in the humanities, including artistic mediums (e.g., dance, film, theater, visual arts), may apply to explore writing opportunities through one of the options in this major.

(2) English Language and Literature. Students majoring in English Language and Literature may choose to produce a creative writing project to satisfy part of the requirement for honors. Prior to Winter Quarter of their fourth year, students must complete at least two creative writing courses in the genre of their own creative project. In Winter Quarter of their fourth year, students will work intensively on their project in the context of a designated creative writing thesis seminar. The senior project may take the form of a piece of creative writing, a text developed by a director in collaboration with actors and designers, an actor's journal in connection with a dramatic production, or a mixed media work in which writing is the central element.

Program Structure

Creative Writing courses are cross listed to enable students to apply to courses based on their level of preparation rather than on their level in the degree program. Classes are organized in the following way:

Beginning. Beginning courses are designed as introductions to creative writing, and admission is determined by lottery. The lottery is open only to students without prior enrollment in a creative writing course at the University of Chicago. Although students will be selected at random, they must also submit to jnklein@uchicago.edu a writing sample that is three to five pages in length. Submissions are due in advance of the term by the deadline. The purposes of the sample are (1) to indicate some experience with writing and (2) to familiarize the instructor with his/her students. Each class is limited to twelve students.

Intermediate. Intermediate courses are intended for students with some writing experience. Admission requires consent of instructor based on submission of a writing sample. For specific submission requirements, see course descriptions. Submissions are due in advance of the term by the deadline. Each class is limited to twelve students.

Advanced. Advanced courses are intended for students with substantive writing experience. Admission requires consent of instructor based on submission of a writing sample. For specific submission requirements, see course descriptions. Submissions are due in advance of the term by the deadline. Each class is limited to ten students.

Thesis Seminar. Enrollment in thesis seminar courses is limited to students who are working on their creative thesis to meet B.A. and M.A. requirements. Students must consult with their respective departments about prerequisites and other requirements; students must obtain permission in advance. Each class is limited to ten students.

Special Topics. Several special topics courses are offered each year. These courses vary in terms of subject matter, requirements for the submission of writing samples, and enrollment limitations.

Cross-listed Courses. Courses originated by other departments that include creative writing components are cross listed by Creative Writing (CRWR).

Required Writing Samples

Consent of instructor is typically required to enroll in Creative Writing courses, based on faculty review of student writing samples. For specific sample submission requirements, see course descriptions. Samples should be sent as e-mail attachments in Word format to the Creative Writing coordinator (jnklein@uchicago.edu) by the submission deadline. All submissions must include: the student's name, ID number, and e-mail address; the desired course's name and number; and the instructor name.

Submissions for Creative Writing courses should be e-mailed as Word documents to the Creative Writing coordinator (jnklein@uchicago.edu) by the submission deadline. Students interested in courses offered by the Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities (ISHU) should check course descriptions or contact the administrator of the Theater and Performance Studies Option (TAPS).

Submission deadlines are: Autumn Quarter, September 1; Winter Quarter, December 1; and Spring Quarter, March 1. For more information on creative writing courses and opportunities, see http://creativewriting.uchicago.edu.

Faculty and Visiting Lecturers

C. Allen, G. Allen, I. Brunetti, S. Buffam, 500 Clown, K. Cochran, E. Crane,
C. Felsenthal, A. Logue, L. McEnerney, J. McMahon, T. McNulty, B. O'Reilly,
A. Obejas, B. Ojikutu, J. Powell, S. Reddy, M. Sloan, M. Slouka, M. Stielstra,
T. Weiner, Staff

University Creative Writing Advisory Committee

H. Coleman, W. Doniger, N. Field, J. Goldsby, O. Izenberg, L. McEnerney, A. Obejas,
S. Reddy, L. Rothfield, J. Schleusener, M. Strand, C. Vogler, C. von Nolcken

Courses: Creative Writing (crwr)

10200/30200. Beginning Fiction Workshop. PQ: Admission by lottery. Open only to students without prior enrollment in a creative writing course at the University of Chicago. This beginning-level fiction writing class uses a wide range of exercises and activities to help students discover their oral and written voices. Point of view, seeing-in-the-mind, gesture, audience, and other aspects of story are emphasized so that students can attempt to incorporate basic storytelling principles, forms, and techniques into their own writing. The major goals of the class are to guide students to discover and use the power of their individual voices, heighten their imaginative seeing and sense of imaginative options, and develop their overall sense for story structure and movement. Students select at least one of the assignments undertaken, rewrite it extensively, and attempt a publishable-quality, complete story movement (short story or novel excerpt). M. Stielstra. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

10300/30300. Beginning Poetry Workshop. PQ: Admission by lottery. Open only to students without prior enrollment in a creative writing course at the University of Chicago.This course is taught as a workshop. The principal texts are those written by the students during the quarter, and class discussion centers on those works. In addition, several other texts may be examined, primarily in order to enable students to begin criticizing and editing their own works. It is imperative that all students participate in discussing the works of everyone else in the class. This is a class in which everyone is free to experiment. Ideally, students, by the end of the semester, have a clearer idea of what they want to be doing and how they want to be doing it. S. Buffam. Winter.

10500/30500. Beginning Playwriting. (=ISHU 26600) PQ: Admission by lottery. Open only to students without prior enrollment in a creative writing course at the University of Chicago. This course introduces the basic principles and techniques of playwriting through creative exercises, discussion, and the viewing of contemporary theater. Structural components of plot, character, and setting are covered as students develop their dramatic voices through exercises in observation, memory, emotion, imagination, and improvisation. C. Allen. Spring.

12000/32000. Intermediate Fiction Workshop. PQ: Consent of instructor. Students entering this workshop are expected to have some experience in writing fiction. The principal texts for this course consist of the students' own writings, though outside texts augment student learning. Form, story, character, dialogue, aspects of style, and other elements of craft are discussed; careful attention is paid to the individual student's voice as well as to the process of revision. E. Crane, Autumn; A. Logue, Winter; Staff, Spring.

13000/33000. Intermediate Poetry Workshop. PQ: Consent of instructor. This course is taught as a workshop. Students entering this workshop are expected to have some experience in writing poetry. Principal texts consist of the students' own writings. It is imperative that all students are willing to participate in discussing the works of others in the class. M. Sloan, Autumn; S. Buffam, Winter, Spring.

14000/34000. Intermediate Creative Nonfiction.PQ: Consent of instructor. In this course, students focus on the interaction between nonfiction and literary elements that constitute creative nonfiction through writing exercises and readings. Prior experience with this genre of writing is expected, as is participation in discussions and the completion of assignments. M. Slouka. Autumn.

15000/35000. Intermediate Playwriting. (=ISHU 26650) PQ: Consent of instructor. B. O'Reilly, Autumn; G. Allen, Winter.

22101/42101. Advanced Fiction: The Longer Manuscript. PQ: Consent of instructor. Texts by Toni Morrison, Jonathan Franzen, David Eggers, and John Edgar Wideman are read in an effort to extract a sustainable voice from students so that they may "tell" their most viable stories over the length of a novel/novella manuscript. Ideally, each manuscript is workshopped on two separate occasions during the course of the quarter. Students should enter this class serious about their fiction writing, committed to reading, and willing to explore the elements which permit craft to transcend form, even while working within its lengthy parameters, and become extended aesthetic. The writing sample submitted for review is ideally a portion of the work workshopped during the quarter. B. Ojikutu. Autumn.

22102/42102. Advanced Fiction: Research for Fiction Writers. PQ: Consent of instructor. Components include in-class writing, discussion, and readings ideally suited for the writer working with history, environments or experiences alien to her/his own life stories or personal knowledge. One research project is required during the term. Attendance and active class participation are required. Students keep a folder of all work for class. At semester's end, folders are used to evaluate work as a whole and to more closely examine growth. Generally, one half of class will be devoted to presentation and exercises, the other to student work and discussion. The class meets once a week. A. Obejas. Winter.

22103/42103. Advanced Fiction: The Longer Manuscript. PQ: Consent of instructor. PQ: Prior work on a longer manuscripts (i.e., novel, novella, connected short stories). This workshop meets once weekly to read, discuss, and analyze students' original work. Students rewrite, revise and reevaluate from week to week. Students also critique peer writing in depth. Outside readings are provided. A. Obejas. Spring.

23100/44100. Advanced Poetry Workshop. PQ: Consent of instructor. This course is taught as a workshop. Students entering this workshop are expected to have some experience in writing poetry. The principal texts for this course consist of the students' own writings. It is imperative that all students are willing to participate in discussing the works of others in the class. S. Reddy. Spring.

23101/43101. Advanced Workshop in the Practice of Poetry. (=ENGL 16306/36306) PQ: Consent of instructor. Must be taken concurrently with CRWR 23102/43102. This seminar/workshop enacts the proposition that we acquire the art of poetry in important part by the practice of the art of reading it. Our Tuesday seminar sessions are devoted half to a sketchy survey of English Renaissance lyric, Wyatt to Waller, with attention to the evolution of traditional English measure, and half to readings introducing other traditions and issues. Our Wednesday workshop sessions focus on poems-in-progress by members. J. Powell. Autumn.

23102/43102. Seminar in the Practice of Poetry. (=ENGL 16305/36305) PQ: Consent of instructor. This course must be taken concurrently by those enrolled in CRWR 23101/43101, but may be taken individually. This seminar enacts the proposition that we acquire the art of poetry in important part by the practice of the art of reading it. Our sessions will be devoted half to a sketchy survey of English Renaissance lyric, Wyatt to Waller, with attention to the evolution of traditional English measure, and half to readings introducing other traditions and issues. J. Powell. Autumn.

24000/44000. Advanced Creative Nonfiction Workshop. PQ: Consent of instructor. In this course, students focus on the interaction between nonfiction and literary elements that constitute creative nonfiction through writing exercises and readings. Prior experience with this genre of writing is expected, as is participation in discussions and the completion of assignments. T. McNulty. Autumn.

26000. Writing Argument. (=ENGL 11400/31400, HUMA 25300, ISHU 21403) This a pragmatic course in the rhetoric of arguments, meaning that we won't be asking whether an argument is internally valid but rather why it is more or less successful in persuading readers. By "pragmatic," we mean that we focus mainly on the arguments of students. We use arguments from politics, academics, and the professions to develop an analysis of argument, but the main goal is for students to use this analysis to enhance their ability to write arguments that succeed with their readers. In the final weeks of the course, we look at arguments that class members have chosen for discussion, as well as at competing theories. K. Cochran, T. Weiner. Winter.

26001. Writing Biography. (=ENGL 12700/32700, HUMA 25301) Unlike courses in literary criticism or in the history of literature, this course uses the study of other people's writing primarily as a means to improve one's own writing. Students identify successful biographical writing techniques in the class readings and then practice these techniques in frequent assignments. T. Weiner. Autumn.

26100/46100. Cross-Genre Writing: Writing the Graphic Novel. PQ: Consent of instructor. Cartooning can be a means for creative self-discovery, the exploration of ideas, and social and political commentary. Participants will learn to develop material for creating graphic novels by keeping a sketchbook that will serve as a journal for notes, observations, experiences, memories, and anecdotes. They then translate this material into various cartoon narratives, ranging from simple one-panel cartoons to full-fledged, multiple-page stories. The class will explore the various rhythms of storytelling inherent in the cartoon language with a focus on honing down the material in the sketchbooks into finished pieces through critiques and class discussions. I. Brunetti. Spring.

26400/46400. Special Topics in Creative Nonfiction: Writing Profiles. PQ: Consent of instructor. This course focuses on techniques for writing magazine-length profiles and, where desired, on expanding profiles into book-length biographies. Class reading consists of skillfully executed profiles, both current and classic, and discussion of why and how these profiles illuminate a subject. Students select a profile subject, looking for multi-dimensional people who have not been written about widely or who can accommodate a fresh angle. They then compile a list of key interviewees, learn how to find and gain access to subjects' papers and correspondence, and navigate laws regarding fair usage of such material. Publication will have no bearing on evaluation; but, for those so inclined, the instructor will help decide on an appropriate magazine and offer suggestions on writing a query letter. C. Felsenthal. Winter.

27000/47000. Special Topics in Writing for Performance: From Classic Text into Clown Theater. PQ: Consent of instructor. Students explore risk and play in performance, as well as the use of classic text, to create physically charged clown theater. Students develop a common physical vocabulary, find techniques to put themselves into a place of onstage liveness, and create a performance based on a piece of classic literature that features improvisation, risk, and humor. A final public performance will be held. 500 Clown. Winter.

27100/47100. Television Writing: The Situation Comedy. (=ISHU 27313) PQ: Consent of instructor based on writing sample and application. In this intensive workshop-oriented seminar, students learn the basics of the TV sitcom writing process by participation, culminating in the creation of their own first draft, half-hour spec script. Students also examine many of the basic principles of comedy writing, focusing on comic characters, comedic premises, and story structure. Class meetings involve lectures/discussions about various concepts pertinent to the sitcom form and exercises designed to reinforce comedic analysis techniques presented, as well as in-class viewing and deconstruction of exemplary sitcom scenes and episodes. Attendance at each class section and classroom participation required. E. Ferrara. Winter.

27101/47101. Screenwriting. (=ISHU 27311) This course introduces students to the basic elements of a literate screenplay, including format, exposition, characterization, dialog, voice-over, adaptation, and the vagaries of the three-act structure. Weekly meetings include a brief lecture period, screenings of scenes from selected films, extended discussion, and assorted readings of class assignments. Because this is primarily a writing class, students write a four- to five-page weekly assignment related to the script topic of the week. J. Petrakis. Autumn, Winter.

27102/47102. Advanced Television Writing: W.R.I.T.E. (Writers' Room Immersion Training Experiment). (=ISHU 27315) PQ: ISHU 27313 or consent of instructor based on writing sample. Enrollment limited. This workshop focuses on developing the collaborative group dynamics of writing "by committee," as well as recreating the atmosphere found in a television sitcom staff writers' room. An established network sitcom is chosen by the instructor and announced prior to the first class. As part of writing teams, students serve as "staff writers" for the selected series. Students concentrate on developing and pitching numerous story ideas and writing treatments and full scripts, as well as collaboratively rewriting/punching-up their own work and that of their peers. Attendance at each class section and classroom participation required. E. Ferrara. Spring.

27103/47103. Advanced Screenwriting. (=ISHU 27314) PQ: ISHU 27311 and consent of instructor based on eight-page writing sample in screenplay format. Class limited to eight students. This course requires students to complete the first draft of a feature-length screenplay (at least ninety pages), based on an original idea brought to the first or second class. No adaptations or partially-completed scripts are allowed. Weekly class sessions include reading of script pages and critique by classmates and instructor. J. Petrakis. Spring.

27104/47104. Solo Performance: Biography. (=ISHU 27305) PQ: Consent of instructor. This course focuses on the performance of biography. Students write and perform their own forty-five-minute solo performance based on the life and work of someone who inspires, shocks, or compels them. The class is a writing, acting, and staging workshop focused on getting these original pieces ready for the audience. It's an incredible Herculean task to completely create and perform one's own show, so we are a supportive performance community to each other throughout the process. J. Thebus. Winter.

27105/47105. Theater and Performance Studies Colloquium. (=ISHU 29800) PQ: Consent of Director of Undergraduate Studies and Chair of Theater and Performance Studies Option. Required of fourth-year TAPS majors. Creative Writing or MAPH students preparing theses for performance may participate with permission from their home department and the Director of Undergraduate studies. Students participate in both Autumn and Winter Quarter but only register once. Autumn, Winter.

29200/49200. Thesis Seminar: Fiction. PQ: Open to students working on B.A. and M.A. theses in fiction with consent of instructor. This course focuses on the extended development necessary for the completion of longer material, specifically the creative thesis. Students should already have a body of work in process (this can be in different stages) and be prepared to discuss their plans for their final manuscript in lieu of a formal proposal. Intense peer reading, critiquing and editing is required. A. Obejas, M. Slouka. Winter.

29300/49300. Thesis Seminar: Poetry. PQ: Consent of instructor. This course is an advanced creative writing seminar intended for students writing B.A. and M.A. theses in poetry (there is, however, usually enough room in the class to accommodate additional students, so all qualified students are encouraged to apply). Because it is a thesis seminar, the course focuses on various ways of organizing larger poetic "projects." We consider the poetic sequence, the chapbook, the long poem, the poetry collection, and the book-length poem as ways of extending the practice of poetry beyond the individual lyric text. Because this class is designed as a poetry workshop, the work of students is the primary text over the course of the quarter. S. Reddy. Winter.

29400/49400. Thesis Seminar: Creative Nonfiction. PQ: Open to students working on B.A. and M.A. theses in creative nonfiction with consent of instructor. This course focuses on the extended development necessary for the completion of longer material, specifically the creative thesis. Students should already have a body of work in process (this can be in different stages) and be prepared to discuss their plans for their final manuscript in lieu of a formal proposal. Intense peer reading, critiquing, and editing is required. J. McMahon. Winter.

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