Creative Writing
The undergraduate program in creative writing at UWM stresses both parts of the title: creative, writing. Our students spend every moment of every class developing their creative skills, and they write (and rewrite) an enormous amount. The result is an incredibly diverse and talented body of creative writers, who create everything from poems to novels to stories to zines, online and in print. They work on the program’s nationally-recognized undergraduate literary magazine, Furrow, and attend and/or organize dozens of creative writing events on- and off-campus year-round.
Students who major in English with a creative writing concentration focus their studies in either poetry or fiction, but all will write in more than one genre before they graduate. Creative writing workshops, where students’ works are the main texts, form the bulk of the curriculum, particularly at the more advanced levels; it’s in this way that students develop not only their writing skills but also their critical reviewing and thinking skills.
Our graduates have gone on to many different careers, including editing, publishing, advertising, marketing, public relations, teaching, law and more. Whatever field they choose, what’s common is that they do uncommonly well.
Track Requirements
Track C: Creative Writing
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGLISH 215 | Introduction to English Studies | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| ENGLISH 233 | Introduction to Creative Writing | |
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| ENGLISH 414 | Special Topics in Creative Writing: | |
| ENGLISH 415 | Fiction Workshop | |
| ENGLISH 416 | Poetry Workshop | |
| ENGLISH 418 | Literary Journal Production | |
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| ENGLISH 286 | Writing about Film and Television | |
| ENGLISH 320 | Studies in Film and Television Authorship: | |
| ENGLISH 325 | The Art of Fiction: | |
| ENGLISH 326 | The Development of the Novel: | |
| ENGLISH 327 | The Development of the Short Story | |
| ENGLISH 329 | Film and Literature | |
| ENGLISH 341 | The Development of Drama: | |
| ENGLISH 342 | Comedy: | |
| ENGLISH 344 | Modern Drama: | |
| ENGLISH 360 | The Art of Poetry: | |
| ENGLISH 361 | The Development of Poetry: | |
| ENGLISH 378 | Survey of Current Literary and Cultural Theory | |
| ENGLISH 383 | Cinema, Television, and Genre: | |
| ENGLISH 395 | Feminist Media Criticism and Theory: | |
| ENGLISH 417 | Readings for Writers: | |
| ENGLISH 515 | Literature and the Other Arts: | |
| ENGLISH 547 | Studies in Theory and Criticism: | |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| ENGLISH 301 | Survey of English Literature, Beginnings to 1500 | |
| ENGLISH 302 | Survey of English Literature, 1500-1660 | |
| ENGLISH 303 | Survey of English Literature, 1660-1798 | |
| ENGLISH 452 | Shakespeare | |
| ENGLISH 454 | Milton | |
| ENGLISH 456 | Writers in English Literature, 1500-1660: | |
| ENGLISH 457 | Writers in English Literature, 1660-1798: | |
| ENGLISH 504 | Studies in Literature, 1660-1800: | |
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| ENGLISH 304 | Survey of English Literature, 1798-1900 | |
| ENGLISH 305 | Survey of English Literature: 1900 to the Present | |
| ENGLISH 306 | Survey of Irish Literature | |
| ENGLISH 307 | Survey of American Literature to 1865 | |
| ENGLISH 308 | Survey of American Literature, 1865-1965 | |
| ENGLISH 309 | Survey of Contemporary American Literature | |
| ENGLISH 332 | LGBTQ+ Literature: | |
| ENGLISH 372 | Survey of American Indian Literature | |
| ENGLISH 373 | Survey of Ethnic Minority Literature | |
| ENGLISH 374 | Survey of U.S. Latino/a Literature | |
| ENGLISH 375 | Survey of Asian American Literature | |
| ENGLISH 377 | Survey of African-American Literature, 1930 to the Present | |
| ENGLISH 381 | World Literatures Written in English: | |
| ENGLISH 458 | Writers in English Literature, 1798-1900: | |
| ENGLISH 459 | Writers in English Literature, 1900 to the Present: | |
| ENGLISH 460 | Writers in American Literature, 1500-1900: | |
| ENGLISH 461 | Writers in American Literature, 1900 to the Present: (subtitle) | |
| ENGLISH 463 | Writers in African-American Literature: | |
| ENGLISH 465 | Women Writers: | |
| ENGLISH 505 | Studies in Literature, 1800-1900: | |
| ENGLISH 517 | Studies in African-American Literature: | |
| ENGLISH 518 | Studies in Irish Literature: | |
| ENGLISH 520 | Studies in American Indian Literature: | |
| ENGLISH 522 | Studies in World Literature Written in English: | |
| ENGLISH 523 | Studies in U.S. Latino/a Literature: | |
| ENGLISH 524 | Studies in Asian-American Literature: | |
| Select 3 credits in an upper-level English elective | 3 | |
| ENGLISH 615 | Advanced Workshop in Fiction (capstone experience) (satisfies L&S research requirement) | 3 |
| or ENGLISH 616 | Advanced Workshop in Poetry: | |
| Total Credits | 36 | |
Please Note: In order to register for the ENGLISH 615 or ENGLISH 616 capstone (see below), students must have completed successfully two 400-level workshops (ENGLISH 414, ENGLISH 415, ENGLISH 416) as follows:
- Prerequisites for ENGLISH 615 fiction capstone: ENGLISH 415 and one of the following: a second section of ENGLISH 415 or ENGLISH 414 or ENGLISH 416.
- Prerequisites for ENGLISH 616 poetry capstone: ENGLISH 416 and one of the following: a second section of ENGLISH 416 or ENGLISH 414 or ENGLISH 415.
- Students may not take the two required 400-level workshops in the same semester, and they may not take either of them concurrently with ENGLISH 615/ENGLISH 616.