Majorly creative

The creative writing program at EWU has been slowly flowering over the last decade. The faculty count has risen from two in 2001 to, currently, six full-time (eight total) members. It's no surprise that they have now begun offering, for both undergraduate and graduate English majors, an "Emphasis on Creative Writing" track to modify their degrees.

"Most of the creative writing students I know have found jobs, not necessarily in the regular workplace. It's weird. They just, know how to write! I have a student who works in a medical environment, translating all of the technical medical jargon in to words that regular people can understand…Plus, all of the skills that go in to learning how to write are involved in your everyday life…To see, as you're walking around the world, what is the stuff that is going to mean something..." -Natalie Kusz, EWU Creative Writing

If you are an undergraduate English major, or a hopeful creative writing major, it is worth your time to consider these things:

• Literary studies is closely tied to the creative writing emphasis and therefore this program requires only 3 - 5 classes not already being taken

• For other majors that also require poetry, that class can be applied to the creative writing degree

• Having a multi-faceted approach showing on your resume shows employers that you probably know how to communicate and write above and beyond the standards of a regular liberal arts degree.

If you are a graduate student majoring in English, it is worth your time to consider these things:

• You are eligible to add variety to a M.F.A. without having to alter any plans for Ph.D. work.

•The exposure to professional writers and possible internships are very helpful.

The program offers writing workshops, literary studies, and form and theory courses in poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Individual thesis instruction makes up close to twenty-five percent of the coursework at the graduate level."

Writing workshops are purposefully small and enable students to hone their writing skills through instruction and peer feedback and critique. The program sponsors several readings each academic year by distinguished writers. Recent guests include Marilynne Robinson, Thomas Lynch, Patricia Hampl, Tomaz Salamun, Linda Bierds, Thomas Lux, Alison Baker, James Welch, Valerie Martin, John Edgar Wideman, Dorianne Laux, Yusef Komunyakaa, Phillip Lopate, and Samantha Chang.