Creative Writing English (3+2 with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing) allows students to complete the B.A. in English (ENG) and the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA) at Western in five years. To remain qualified for the 3+2, upon earning 60 credits each student must:
- maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA, and 3.0 within the emphasis in the major;
- earn a minimum grade of B+ in at least two English courses;
- submit an 800- to 1,000-word personal statement describing the student's writing experience and commitment to writing;
- submit a creative writing sample of at least ten pages appropriate to the MFA concentration the student is applying to;
- provide two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be an academic reference addressing the applicant's ability to succeed in a low-residency program.
If any aspect of a student's performance is found to be insufficient, the relevant MFA Concentration Director will recommend denial of acceptance to the GPCW Program Director and the Graduate Studies Dean, and the student will need to find a new emphasis or minor in order to complete the undergraduate degree. Upon meeting the requirements, and completing Year Three (reaching 93 credits in this plan-see "DEGREE PLAN") holding to the same GPA and general performance standards outlined above, the School of Graduate Studies will designate the student as an "MFA candidate in Creative Writing with provisional acceptance." Upon completion of Year Four (reaching 12 8 credits in this plan-see "DEGREE PLAN"), the student will receive their BA and the School of Graduate Studies may designate the student as an "MFA Creative Writing degree-seeking student." Students who have completed Year Four and all other requirements of the 3+2 program and all Western undergraduate requirements (120 total credits, 40 upper-division credits, general education requirements, the ENG undergraduate courses listed under the English Comprehensive Emphasis) but choose to leave the MFA program before completion of Year Five will still have completed the undergraduate ENG Comprehensive Emphasis and have earned the 120 credits necessary for a Western undergraduate degree.
A minimum of 45 credits is required for the B.A. components of the emphasis including a three-credit, upper-division literature elective. In the fourth and fifth years, an additional 60 credits of Creative Writing MFA coursework results in the MFA in Creative Writing degree.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
ENG 161 | Introduction to Creative Writing (GT-AH1) | 3 |
ENG 250 | Critical Approaches to Literature | 3 |
ENG 358 | Global Literatures: Studies in: The Underworld | 3 |
ENG 371 | Literary Theory and Criticism | 3 |
ENG 405 | Advanced Writing | 3 |
ENG 445 | Literary Magazine Submission and Production | 3 |
ENG 463 | Major British Authors: | 3 |
ENG 464 | Major American Authors: | 3 |
ENG 493 | Senior Seminar I: Studies in: Criminal Justice | 3 |
ENG 494 | Senior Seminar: Studies in: | 3 |
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Borderlands: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality | ||
Women and Literature | ||
Literary Culture of the American West | ||
Environmental Literature (GT-AH2) | ||
Ancient World Literature (GT-AH2) | ||
Literature and Ethnicity: Studies in: | ||
Women Writers | ||
Myth and Culture | ||
Select two of the following: | 6 | |
Creative Writing: Fiction | ||
Creative Writing: Poetry | ||
Creative Writing | ||
Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
British Literature: Medieval and Renaissance Texts | ||
British Literature: Milton through the Romantics | ||
British Literature: The Victorians to the Present Day | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
American Literature Early to Civil War | ||
American Literature-Civil War to Present | ||
Total Credits | 45 |
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Summer before Year 4 of 3+2 (Year 1, Summer 1 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CRWR 600 | The Common Read & Writing Craft | 2 |
And any ONE of the following: | 3 | |
FUNDMT WRITING GENRE FICTION I | ||
Foundations of Poetry | ||
Scenes & Sequences | ||
Introduction to Nature Writing | ||
Total Credits | 5 |
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Fall of Year 4 of 3+2 (Fall 1 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Select any ONE of the following pairs: | 12 | |
Genre Writing I- Romance and Mystery Fiction | ||
Genre Studies I-Romance and Mystery | ||
OR | ||
Adapting the Feature | ||
Feature Structure & Genre | ||
OR | ||
Poetry Now | ||
Poetry Craft and Technique | ||
OR | ||
Craft of Creative Nonfiction | ||
Genres of Nature Writing | ||
Total Credits | 12 |
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Spring of Year 4 of 3+2 (Spring 1 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Any ONE of the following pairs: | 12 | |
Genre Studies II- Western, Speculative, and Young Adult Fiction | ||
Genre Writing II- Western, Speculative, and Young Adult Fiction | ||
OR | ||
Writing the Television Screenplay | ||
TV Structure & Genre | ||
OR | ||
Poetry Workshop I | ||
Poetic Lineages | ||
OR | ||
Writing Place: New Forms and Techniques | ||
Writing about Nature and Society | ||
Total Credits | 12 |
Upon successful completion of the prescribed courses listed above, University defined General Education, and elective requirements totaling 120 credits (with 40 at the 300-level or higher), students are eligible for their B.A. conferral. Students electing to complete the MFA in Creative Writing must complete the courses of their declared emphasis curriculum. 31 credits of the the following including:
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Summer before Year 5 of 3+2 (Year 2, Summer 2 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CRWR 694 | MFA Thesis | 2 |
And any ONE of the following: | 3 | |
FUNDM WRITING GENRE FICTION II | ||
From Thesis to Book | ||
Visual Storytelling | ||
Book-Length Considerations | ||
Total Credits | 5 |
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Fall of Year 5 of 3+2 (Fall 2 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CRWR 694 | MFA Thesis | 3 |
And any ONE of the following: | 6 | |
Short Forms Genre Fiction Writing | ||
Poetry Workshop II | ||
Screenwriting Workshop I | ||
Nature Writing Workshop | ||
Total Credits | 9 |
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Spring of Year 5 of 3+2 (Spring 2 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CRWR 694 | MFA Thesis | 1 |
Select any ONE of the following pairs: | 12 | |
Business Fundamentals for Genre Writers | ||
Pedagogy & Practicum | ||
OR | ||
The Concept & The Pitch | ||
Screenwriting Workshop 2 | ||
OR | ||
Special Topics in Poetry | ||
The Writing Life | ||
OR | ||
Special Topics in Nature Writing | ||
Professional Development in Nature Writing | ||
Total Credits | 13 |
Core Creative Writing MFA Courses, to be taken in Summer after Year 5 of 3+2 (Summer 3 of MFA):
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CRWR 697 | Special Topics | 1 |
And any ONE of the following: | 3 | |
CAREER PLANNG FOR GENRE WRITER | ||
Graduate Poetry Seminar | ||
Screenwriting Thesis Production | ||
THESIS SEMINAR IN NATR WRITNG | ||
Total Credits | 4 |
Year One | ||
---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | |
ENG 102 | Writing and Rhetoric I (GT-CO1) | 3 |
MATH | Essential Skills | 3 |
Gen Ed | Gen Eds | 3 |
Gen Ed | Gen Eds | 3 |
Gen Ed | Gen Eds | 3 |
HWTR 100 | First Year Seminar | 1 |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
ENG 103 | Writing and Rhetoric II (GT-CO2) | 3 |
ENG 161 | Introduction to Creative Writing (GT-AH1) | 3 |
ENG 250 | Critical Approaches to Literature | 3 |
Gen Ed | Gen Eds | 3 |
Gen Ed | Area II | 4 |
Credits | 16 | |
Year Two | ||
Fall | ||
Elective | 3 | |
ENG 230 |
Environmental Literature (GT-AH2) or Borderlands: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality or Women and Literature or Literary Culture of the American West or Ancient World Literature (GT-AH2) or Literature and Ethnicity: Studies in: or Women Writers or Myth and Culture |
3 |
ENG 372 |
British Literature: Medieval and Renaissance Texts or British Literature: Milton through the Romantics or British Literature: The Victorians to the Present Day |
3 |
Gen Ed | Area II | 4 |
Gen Ed | Gen Eds | 3 |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
ENG 371 | Literary Theory and Criticism | 3 |
ENG 358 | Global Literatures: Studies in: The Underworld | 3 |
ENG 300 |
Creative Writing: Fiction or Creative Writing: Poetry or Creative Writing or Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction |
3 |
ENG 384 or ENG 385 |
American Literature Early to Civil War or American Literature-Civil War to Present |
3 |
Elective | 3 | |
Credits | 15 | |
Year Three | ||
Fall | ||
ENG 493 | Senior Seminar I: Studies in: Criminal Justice | 3 |
ENG 464 | Major American Authors: | 3 |
ENG Elective | Upper Division Literature | 3 |
Elective | 3 | |
Elective | 3 | |
Credits | 15 | |
Spring | ||
ENG 463 | Major British Authors: | 3 |
ENG 494 | Senior Seminar: Studies in: | 3 |
ENG 300 |
Creative Writing: Fiction or Creative Writing: Poetry or Creative Writing or Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction |
3 |
Elective | 3 | |
Elective | 3 | |
Credits | 15 | |
Summer | ||
CRWR 600 | The Common Read & Writing Craft | 2 |
CRWR 601 |
FUNDMT WRITING GENRE FICTION I or Foundations of Poetry or Scenes & Sequences or Writing Place: New Forms and Techniques |
3 |
Credits | 5 | |
Year Four | ||
Fall | ||
ENG 405 | Advanced Writing | 3 |
Choose one of the following sets: | 12 | |
Genre Writing I- Romance and Mystery Fiction | ||
Genre Studies I-Romance and Mystery | ||
OR | ||
Poetry Now | ||
Poetry Craft and Technique | ||
OR | ||
Adapting the Feature | ||
Feature Structure & Genre | ||
OR | ||
Craft of Creative Nonfiction | ||
Genres of Nature Writing | ||
Credits | 15 | |
Spring | ||
ENG 445 | Literary Magazine Submission and Production | 3 |
Choose one of the following sets: | 12 | |
Genre Studies II- Western, Speculative, and Young Adult Fiction | ||
Genre Writing II- Western, Speculative, and Young Adult Fiction | ||
OR | ||
Poetry Workshop I | ||
Poetic Lineages | ||
OR | ||
Writing the Television Screenplay | ||
TV Structure & Genre | ||
OR | ||
Writing Place: New Forms and Techniques | ||
Writing about Nature and Society | ||
Credits | 15 | |
Summer | ||
CRWR 602 |
FUNDM WRITING GENRE FICTION II or Foundations of Poetry or Visual Storytelling or Book-Length Considerations |
3 |
CRWR 694 | MFA Thesis | 2 |
Credits | 5 | |
Year Five | ||
Fall | ||
CRWR 620 |
Short Forms Genre Fiction Writing or Poetry Workshop II or Nature Writing Workshop or Screenwriting Workshop I |
6 |
CRWR 694 | MFA Thesis | 3 |
Credits | 9 | |
Spring | ||
CRWR 694 | MFA Thesis | 1 |
Choose one of the following sets: | 12 | |
Business Fundamentals for Genre Writers | ||
Pedagogy & Practicum | ||
OR | ||
Special Topics in Poetry | ||
The Writing Life | ||
OR | ||
The Concept & The Pitch | ||
Screenwriting Workshop 2 | ||
OR | ||
Special Topics in Nature Writing | ||
Professional Development in Nature Writing | ||
Credits | 13 | |
Summer | ||
CRWR 604 |
CAREER PLANNG FOR GENRE WRITER or Graduate Poetry Seminar or Screenwriting Thesis Production or THESIS SEMINAR IN NATR WRITNG |
3 |
CRWR 697 | Special Topics | 1 |
Credits | 4 | |
Total Credits | 159 |