Creative Writing

Find your voice

At CCNY, you are entering classrooms as diverse as the city itself, where established authors help you find your voice and your vocation as writers, academics, communications experts, filmmakers and beyond.

By choosing a concentration in creative writing at City College, you are signing up to explore a wide range of genres under the guidance of an award-winning faculty whose fiction, nonfiction, poetry and dramatic writing are impacting the world today. Through intensive writing workshops, editorial positions on literary magazines, and internship and job opportunities, our goal is to help guide that wide array of voices we hear in our classrooms into the world.



Overview of Courses:
English majors concentrating in Creative Writing will complete a 39-credit combination of literature courses and workshops in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Students are encouraged to explore a variety of styles, genres, literary forms, and methods of written expression. As workshops will vary in style, students are allowed to repeat advanced-level workshops (with different instructors) for credit. Introductory and intermediate courses provide a foundation for the beginning writer, while advanced workshops allow the more experienced writer to further develop their own style and voice. In addition to coursework, students are encouraged to attend readings and submit their work to Promethean (the official literary journal of City College), the CCNY Spring Poetry Festival, and to the Annual English Department Awards & Prizes.

Alongside our core curriculum, students will choose writing and English electives that suit their interests and ambitions. Below, we’ve provided an overview of the course offerings specific to creative writing (please see the Concentration Major Requirements section below for a detailed outline or all requirements):

Introductory Courses:

Introduction to Creative Writing: This course is an entry-level overview of creative writing, introducing students to various genres and techniques as they learn to produce creative work. Above all, students will be required to write extensively, learning the craft through experience and instructor feedback.

Intermediate Creative Writing: This course offers students a chance to expand on the fundamentals learned in Introduction to Creative Writing and focus more exclusively on their own craft, as opposed to a broader survey of genres and styles.

Prose (Nonfiction): This course is an introduction to the various forms that comprise creative nonfiction, from the personal essay and memoir to narrative journalism, travel writing, criticism, op-eds and more. Students enrolled in this course will learn to tell “true stories,” while also interrogating what a “true” story is.

Workshops:

Advanced Poetry: This workshop allows students to explore and hone their voice as emerging poets, exploring new forms while sharpening their work.

Advanced Fiction: This workshop is an opportunity for students to produce and critique works of short fiction while focusing on the form and theory of fiction writing.

Dramatic Writing: Courses in playwriting and film and television writing allow students to explore the forms and techniques of dramatic writing, taught by experienced dramatists.

Children’s Writing: This course is an opportunity for students to explore the unique challenges and opportunities of writing for children. Exploring the genres of fables, fairy tales and other children’s literature, students will learn to find a voice that speaks to a young audience.

In addition to satisfying CCNY’s core requirements (checked by the Dean’s Office, NAC 5/225), English majors must complete 3 credits of Gateway (ENGL 25000) and 36 additional credits in the Creative Writing concentration as outlined below. A total of 39 credits are required of English majors.  No more than 12 transfer credits may be used to fulfill major requirements.  

Important: Publishing courses do not meet the requirements for either the English major or minor.

Requirements:

1. All majors must take English 25000 which is a pre-requisite to all 300- and 400-level Literature classes and it must be taken at the beginning of your work for the major.

2. All majors must take one additional 200-level Literature course (a Genre Survey, a Historical Survey, or a Literatures of Diversity course). This class is a pre-requisite to taking 300- and 400-level Literature classes and must be taken at the beginning of your work for the major. 

3. All majors must take two 300-level Literature courses. One 300-level Literature class may be taken concurrently with a 200-level Literature course, but completing the Gateway class and an additional 200-level Literature course is a pre-requisite for enrollment in 300- and 400-level Literature courses.

4. All majors must take two 400-level Literature courses. Completing two 300-level Literature classes is a pre-requisite for enrollment in 400-level Literature classes.

Further Requirements for Creative Writing Concentration:

18 credits (six classes) of Creative Writing courses (22000 and above) and 3 credits of Literature courses at any level. Completion of ENGL 22000 and ENGL 22100 are pre-requisites for Advanced Creative Writing workshops. Certain creative writing workshops may be taken repeatedly for credit.

Mandatory Gateway course for all English Majors (3 cr.):

Introduction to Literary Study: ENGL 25000 

Additional Courses (36 cr.):

(Please note: ENGL 32100 and ENGL 32200 may be taken twice for credit, and ENGL 32000 may be taken three times for credit)

Introduction to Creative Writing (22000)
Intermediate Creative Writing (22100)
Creative Writing (22000 or above)
Creative Writing (23000 or above)
Creative Writing (32000 or above)
Creative Writing (32000 or above)
Elective Literature (200-level)
Elective Literature (200-level or above)
Elective Literature (300-level)
Elective Literature (300-level)
Elective Literature (400-level)
Elective Literature (400-level)

Olivia Wood, Lecturer in English
Location: NA 6/219
Phone: 212-650-6360
owood@ccny.cuny.edu

Spring 2024 Advising Hours 

Mondays, 3:30-4:30pm (in-person)
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30pm (in-person)
Fridays, 12:30-2:30pm (Zoom)
Students should schedule appointments on Calendly booking page.


Director

Salar Abdoh
Program Director, Undergraduate Creative Writing
Location: NAC 6/352
sabdoh@ccny.cuny.edu