Undergraduate Studies in Creative Writing

If you are interested in fiction as your concentration for the English major, please note the following required courses, which you must take in sequence (Areas 4, 5, 6, and 8 below):

ENGL 3150B Introduction to Creative Writing

ENGL 3160 Narrative Techniques

ENGL 3180B Contemporary Fiction Craft

ENGL 4310B Senior Seminar: Workshop in Fiction

The creative writing faculty does not allow overflows into filled classes.

You should expect ENGL 4310B, Senior Seminar: Workshop in Fiction to be offered in the spring semester only. Plan your long-term schedule accordingly!

In special cases, the Department of English might allow you to take ENGL 3180B Contemporary Fiction Craft at the same time as ENGL 3160 Narrative Techniques, or at the same time as ENGL 4310B Senior Seminar, but you will have to get permission to do so. Contact Heather Russel, Assistant to the Director of Creative Writing, at heather@gsu.edu or at 404-413-5806 for more information.

If you are joining the fiction writing program as a senior or a second-semester junior, it will be difficult (and perhaps impossible) to complete the four-course sequence by your anticipated graduation date. Please note that the Literary Studies concentration allows more scheduling flexibility than the Creative Writing concentration. Remember that students can write creatively even when they are not in a creative writing class, and a student pursuing the Literary Studies concentration is welcome to enroll in as many creative writing classes as he or she wishes (as long as the student meets the prerequisites). A student considering graduate study in writing might like to know that very, very few Georgia State graduate students have undergraduate degrees with concentrations in creative writing; in fact, many do not have undergraduate degrees in English.
If you have questions about the fiction concentration, you can make an appointment with a Department of English advisor at 404-413-5800.

Program for Concentration in Creative Writing
   (Students Choose Either Fiction or Poetry)

In addition to the 42 credit hours Core Curriculum courses (outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog page 180) required of all students seeking a baccalaureate degree, English Majors with a Concentration in Creative Writing must complete the following:

1. Area F: Courses Appropriate to the Major (18)

a. Foreign Language (6)

• Lang 2001 Intermediate World Language I (3)
• Lang 2002 Intermediate World Language II (3)

b. Required Courses (9)

• Engl 2120 British Literature (3)
• Engl 2130 American Literature (3)
• Engl 2140 Introduction to Literary Studies (3)

c. Select one elective from area C or Hist 1111, Hist 1112, Hist 1140, AAS 2010, or WSt 2010. (3)

• Engl 3280 English Drama (3)*
• Engl 3300 Medieval English Literature (3)
• Engl 3400 English Renaissance Literature I (3)
• Engl 3410 English Renaissance Literature II (3)
• Engl 3800 Early American Literature (3)
• Engl 3810 American Literature: 1820-1865 (3)
• Engl 3820 American Literature: 1865-1914 (3)
• Engl 3850 American Poetry (3)*
• Engl 3870 American Fiction (3)*
• Engl 3880 American Nonfiction Prose (3)*
• Engl 3980 Women's Literature I (3)*
• Engl 3990 Women's Literature II (3)*
• Engl 4100 Study of a Single Author (3)
• Engl 4110 Chaucer (3)
• Engl 4120 Spenser (3)
• Engl 4130 Shakespeare I (3)
• Engl 4140 Shakespeare II (3)
• Engl 4150 Milton (3)
• Engl 4200 Topics (3)*

2. Select one course. (3)

• Engl 3280 English Drama (3)*
• Engl 3290 English Fiction (3)*
• Engl 3500 Restoration and Earlier Eighteenth-Century English
• Literature (3)
• Engl 3510 Later Eighteenth-Century English Literature (3)
• Engl 3600 English Romantic Poetry (3)
• Engl 3610 English Victorian Poetry (3)
• Engl 3620 Nineteenth-Century English Nonfiction Prose (3)
• Engl 3980 Women's Literature I (3)*
• Engl 4100 Study of a Single Author (3)

3. Select one course. (3)

• Engl 3700 English Literature: 1900-1945 (3)
• Engl 3710 English Literature: 1945-Present (3)
• Engl 3720 Twentieth-Century English Poetry (3)
• Engl 3830 American Literature: 1914-1945 (3)
• Engl 3840 American Literature: 1945-Present (3)
• Engl 3850 American Poetry (3)*
• Engl 3860 American Drama (3)
• Engl 3870 American Fiction (3)*

4. Select one course. (3)

• Engl 3150a Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry (3)
• Engl 3150b Introduction to Creative Writing: Fiction (3)

5. Select one course. (3)

• Engl 3160 Narrative Techniques (3)
• Engl 3170 Poetic Techniques (3)

6. Select one course. (3)

• Engl 3180a Contemporary Poetry (3)
• Engl 3180b Contemporary Fiction Craft (3)

7. Select two elective courses in English or Folklore. (6)

8. Select one course. (3)

• Engl 4310a Senior Seminar: Workshop in Poetry (3)
• Engl 4310b Senior Seminar: Workshop in Fiction (3)

9. Senior Exit Portfolio in Creative Writing (fiction or poetry)

* This course varies in subject matter; students must receive written permission from their departmental advisers to apply one of these courses to a specific area.