Our Undergraduate Creative Writing Major

The undergraduate Creative Writing major at the University of Illinois is one of the oldest of its kind in the country. The major combines small workshops (with three-course sequences in poetry or fiction, plus select nonfiction classes) and a variety of literature courses. The result is a strong but flexible program that prepares students for work or graduate study in a variety of fields.

Students in the undergraduate program can also get professionalization skills in editing and publishing through a for-credit course developing issues of the online version of the award-winning literary journal, Ninth Letter, and through work on Montage Arts Journal, run by CW students and featuring literary and visual art by University of Illinois undergraduate student writers and artists. Through our program, writers shape their literary voices, develop distinctive styles, and intensify their critical, editorial, and storytelling skills. Students write about what matters most to them and develop professional abilities while honing their powers of expression.

Note: We also offer a minor. Please visit our creative writing minor requirements page for more details.

Creative Writing Major Requirements

Literature for Creative Writers (6 credit hours)

CW 100: Introduction to Creative Writing
CW 200: Reading for Writers

Craft (3 credit hours)

CW 243: The Craft Essay: Creative Reading, Reflection, and Revision

Creative Writing Workshops (12 credit hours)

Creative Writing majors must complete at least one of the following 3-course (9-hour) sequences:

CW 106: Poetry Workshop I
CW 206: Poetry Workshop II
CW 406: Poetry Workshop III

CW 104: Fiction Workshop I
CW 204: Fiction Workshop II
CW 404: Fiction Workshop III

The remaining 3 hours in this category can be satisfied by a fourth CW Workshop outside of the chosen sequence. CW 404 and CW 406 may be repeated once for credit, but may not be repeated to fulfill this requirement.

Writing and Literature (3 credit hours)

3 hours of Writing and Literature coursework, either:

3 hours of non-Workshop CW coursework (CW 460, or another approved non-Workshop CW course)

3 hours of ENGL coursework

Additional Literature Coursework (12 credit hours)

12 additional hours of approved coursework, including:

9 hours of approved ENGL Literature coursework or related courses in other departments with approval.
3 hours of an ENGL Difference & Diaspora course or a related course in another department with approval.

For more information on the Creative Writing major and minor, please visit our listings in the Academic Catalog.

Major requirements Minor requirements Course offerings

Faculty

The faculty of the Creative Writing Program represent a diverse range of writing and teaching styles and interests and are actively working in various genres and media, including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, theater, and film. Faculty members have received numerous awards and fellowships. A small selection of these includes the Yale Series of Younger Poets, the Native Writers' Circle Award of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction, the FC2 National Fiction Competition, a Whiting Award, the A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Prize, the William Peden Prize, the Academy of American Poets Award, the Bakeless Prize, Wallace Stegner fellowships, and fellowships from the NEA, Guggenheim Foundation, Yaddo, MacDowell, Bread Loaf, Sewanee, and many others.

Follow the links below to learn more about our undergraduate Creative Writing program's core faculty members: