The New South's Writing Workshop

Undergraduate Studies in Creative Writing

The Department of English offers a wide variety of courses designed to improve the skills and the knowledge of the writer.

Engl 3150A Intro to Creative Writing--Poetry
Engl 3150B Intro to Creative Writing--Fiction
Engl 3160 Narrative Techniques
Engl 3170 Poetic Techniques
Engl 3180A Contemporary Poetry
Engl 3180B Contemporary Fiction
Engl 4310A Senior Seminar: Workshop in Poetry
Engl 4310B Senior Seminar: Workshop in Fiction

If you are interested in fiction as your concentration for the English major, please note that the following required courses must be taken in sequence:

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.