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Creative writing at yale.

This may be one of the more niche posts I’ve made on this site, but it’s something I would have appreciated as a Baby Bulldog, so it’s worth a shot. If you’re an early admit (congrats, bowwowwow, boola boola, all that JAZZ!!!) or a prospective applicant (also very good!), and you might be interested in creative writing, this is the post for you.

I was very into writing fiction as a high schooler. Classic story: wrote exclusively Dursley-focused Harry Potter fanfic in my tween years (someone had to corner that market), then got a little older and started working on original stuff. I did competitions, summer programs, independent study—you name it. When it came time to apply to colleges, a robust creative writing program was important to me.

One of my biggest concerns in committing to Yale was that I wouldn’t be able to pursue writing in the way I wanted. While Yale does have a creative writing concentration within the English major, it doesn’t offer a stand-alone creative writing major. (And if you do go the CW concentration route, you need to complete 11 normal English courses in addition to the four writing courses you take.) Also, a lot (but not all!) of Yale’s CW courses are application-based, requiring you to submit a writing sample and a statement of purpose. This is because CW classes are often small workshops, so they need to cap off around 12-15 students.

I haven’t been accepted into every CW class I’ve applied to, and I probably haven’t taken as many classes as I could have at a school that offered a CW major. BUT I have managed to take five CW classes over five semesters, and really loved each one. Of these five, only two required applications, and they all spanned genres—fiction, journalism, playwriting, and poetry. 

After two-and-a-half years here, I can say with great confidence that Yale is a wonderful place to be a young writer. For one thing, the faculty is stellar. (Fiction Professor Susan Choi just won the National Book Award !), and the English department is constantly attracting cool literary people to campus. For another, if you’re into journalism, you really couldn’t be at a better place— The Yale Daily News runs like a national paper, and student editors are working almost full-time hours. Additionally, there is a huge range of publications on campus, including my personal favorite, The New Journal , which often publishes long-form creative nonfiction. Also, Yale students really and actually read these publications. It’s not unusual to see students pouring over the YDN at breakfast, cereal spoon hovering mid-air.

But the best part of creative writing at Yale is the other students. In my experience, there’s no competition among student writers here, even though everyone is definitely working at the top of their game. Students really support each other’s projects, whether that’s one-on-one workshopping, connecting a friend with the editor of an on-campus publication, or passing along internship opportunities or class recommendations. I know that writing in college, especially among young people who are often competing for the same fellowships or coveted spots in certain seminars, can be a cut-throat pursuit. But, in my experience, that is far from the case at Yale. 

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Requirements of the major.

The following is a summary of the requirements for the English major. For a full description, please refer to the  English Language and Literature  segment of the Yale College Programs of Study, under Subjects of Instruction.

English Major Roadmap  (pdf)

Number of courses  .

14 courses, including the Senior Requirement.

Distribution of Courses  

3 foundational courses chosen from ENGL 125, 126, 127, and 128.  At least one course in each of the following four historical periods: Medieval, Renaissance, 18th/19th Century, 20th/21st Century. At least one junior seminar. Up to 5 courses numbered 130 or below. Up to 2 creative writing courses.

Senior Requirement  

Meeting with Yale librarian.  Standard major : 2 senior seminars; or 1 senior seminar and 1 senior essay (ENGL 490); or a two-term senior essay (ENGL 490, 491).  Writing concentration : a senior seminar or senior essay, plus the writing concentration senior project (ENGL 489).

Substitutions permitted 

Up to 2 relevant upper-level courses in other departments may substitute for electives in the major; residential college seminars may substitute for electives in the major. A complete year of Directed Studies: Literature or ENGL 129 and 130 may substitute for one of the three required foundational courses. Two advanced courses covering material overlapping substantially with any one of the foundational courses may be substituted for it. All substitutions require the permission of the DUS. 

Writing concentration 

Students who enter the writing concentration must fulfill the same requirements as all English majors, except that they count 4 creative writing courses toward the major, including ENGL 489 (The Writing Concentration Senior Project). It is expected that senior applicants will have completed by the end of the fall semester the following: 1) at least two creative writing courses numbered ENGL 451 or higher, with at least one of these courses being in the genre in which they plan to complete ENGL 489 (i.e., either Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, or Drama) and 2) one creative writing course in another genre, numbered ENGL 131 or higher. Creative writing concentrators must complete at least 11 literature courses in addition to their creative writing courses.

Foundational Courses

125:  English Poetry I 126:  English Poetry II 127:  American Literature 128:  World Anglophone Literature

Historical Distributional Areas

Medieval Renaissance 18th Century/19th Century 20th/21st Century

Yale Creative Writing

• English Department

Introduction to Creative Writing

You are here, engl s123e (crn: 30774).

Online Course. Introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and drama. Development of the basic skills used to create imaginative literature. Fundamentals of craft and composition; the distinct but related techniques used in the three genres. Story, scene, and character in fiction; sound, line, image, and voice in poetry; monologue, dialogue, and action in drama. Enrollment limited to 14 students. 1 Credit. Session A: May 27 – June 28. Tuition: $5070. Technology Fee: $85. ( View syllabus )

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List of All U.S. Colleges with a Creative Writing Major

Writing has been my passion practically since I learned to read in kindergarten. I would write stories about princesses and my family dog, Gansett. When it came time to look at colleges, I was set on attending one with a strong creative writing program. Ultimately, I graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Writing Seminars.

Today, colleges across the country offer creative writing as a major. Because writing skills are essential for a wide range of careers, and because most curricula emphasize broad liberal arts competencies, a degree in creative writing can set you up for success in numerous fields, whether you want to be an editor or a lawyer.

Interested in majoring in creative writing? Learn which schools offer the major and what to look for in a program.

Overview of the Creative Writing Major

Creative writing is about more than spinning tales. For your major, you’ll generally need to pursue a curriculum grounded in literature, history, foreign language, and other humanities courses, along with distribution courses, if the college requires them.

Most creative writing majors must participate in workshops, in which students present their work and listen to peer critiques, usually with a certain number of advanced courses in the mix. In some cases, colleges will ask you to specialize in a particular genre, such as fiction, poetry, or playwriting. 

To succeed in creative writing, you’ll need to have a tough spine, in order to open yourself up to feedback from your classmates and instructors. You may need to give readings in public — if not as an undergraduate, certainly during your career. Of course, a passion for creating is essential, too, as is a willingness to revise your work and learn from the greats and your peers.

A creative writing major opens up doors to many careers, including journalism, content marketing, copywriting, teaching, and others. Even careers that don’t center around writing often have a strong writing component: you’ll need to write reports, deliver presentations, and so on.

Some writers go on to earn an MFA, which will help you hone your craft. It’s also often a prerequisite for teaching creative writing at the college level.

What to Look for in a College as a Creative Writing Major

Published authors on faculty.

Many world-renowned authors have another claim to fame: professorships. Writers who have taught their craft include (among many others):

• Maya Angelou (Wake Forest University)
• Colson Whitehead (many colleges, including Vassar College and Columbia University)
• Stephen Dixon (Johns Hopkins University)
• Viet Thanh Nguyen (University of Southern California)
• Eula Biss (Northwestern University)
• Toni Morrison (Princeton University)

Be aware that as an undergraduate, you may not be able to learn from the greats. That’s why it’s important to look into which courses these faculty teach before you have dreams of being mentored by Salman Rushdie — who is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU.

Genres Offered

While many schools that have creative writing majors offer fiction and poetry courses and tracks, there are some niche genres that could be more difficult to find. If you’re interested in playwriting, for example, you won’t find that at every school. Before you decide on a program, be sure it includes the genres you’d like to explore further, whether that’s flash fiction, creative nonfiction, or something else.

Workshopping Opportunities

The core of most quality creative writing curriculum is workshopping. This means sharing your work in your classes and listening to your peers discuss and critique it. While this may sound intimidating, it can do a lot to help you hone your work and become a better writer. Look for colleges that make this the bedrock of their curriculum.

Showcasing Opportunities

Are there opportunities to present your work, such as college-sponsored readings where undergraduates can participate? Or, perhaps the school has a great literary journal. At my school, students could submit their plays and have them performed by fellow students. 

List of All U.S. Colleges With a Creative Writing Major

What are your chances of acceptance.

No matter what major you’re considering, the first step is ensuring you’re academically comparable to students who were previously accepted to the college or university. Most selective schools use the Academic Index to filter out applicants who aren’t up to their standards.

You’ll also want to demonstrate your fit with the school and specific major with the qualitative components of your application, like your extracurriculars and essays. For a prospective creative writing major, the essay is particularly important because this is a way to demonstrate your writing prowess. Activities might include editing your school’s newspaper or literary journal, publishing your work, and participating in pre-college writing workshops.

Want to know your chances of being accepted to top creative writing schools? Try our Chancing Engine (it’s free). Unlike other calculators, it takes your individual profile into account, including academic stats and qualitative components like your activities. Give it a try and get a jumpstart on your journey as a creative writing major!

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Celebrating Health Profession Students' Poetry, Prose, and Visual Arts

Program for Humanities in Medicine 2024 Health Professions Creative Writing and Art Contest Awards Ceremony

Lenique Huggins - First place in Art category

Created by MD student Hang Nguyen. Second place in Art category

WInston Trope - Honorable Mention in Art category

Zeynep Inanoglu - Honorable Mention in Art category

2024 PHM Health Professions Creative Writing and Art Contest Award Ceremony - Student Winners

Winning artwork

Black Motherhood in Medicine

Created by MD student Lenique Huggins. First place in Art category

These Small Things

These are the titles of the poetry, prose, and visual artworks that received first-place in the annual Yale School of Medicine (YSM) Program for Humanities in Medicine (PHM) Health Professions Students' Creative Writing & Art Contest. On May 2, the student winners were celebrated at a gathering where they shared and often provided context for their creations. A supportive and appreciative audience applauded enthusiastically after each presentation.

Professor and PHM Director Anna Reisman, MD, welcomed everyone to the celebration, sharing that the contest began more than two decades ago. It originally was a poetry and prose contest just for medical students; the family of Marguerite Rush Lerner, MD, established and endowed the contest to honor her. Lerner was a dermatologist at YSM, as well as a children’s book author. (Lerner’s husband, Aaron Lerner, MD, PhD, was the first chair of Yale’s Department of Dermatology, and two of their four sons, Ethan Lerner, MD, PhD ‘82 and Michael Lerner, MD ’81, attended YSM.) Reisman explained that several years ago the contest expanded to include visual arts, and also students from across the health profession schools and programs—MD, MD-PhD, Physician Associate, Physician Assistant Online, Nursing, and Public Health.

This year, almost 100 students participated in the contest. MD student winners receive the Marguerite Rush-Lerner prize; the other Yale health professions students receive the Program for Humanities in Medicine prize. See the list of winners under "Related Links."

While second-year MD student Lenique Huggins had been thinking about creating Black Motherhood in Medicine for a few months, it only took two evenings to do so, once she began.

She explains that the inspiration for the piece started in her first week of medical school, when she learned that the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is 2.6 more than non-Hispanic white mothers. “As a young Black woman, this statistic especially pained me and my close friends.” Additionally, she says that in classes throughout the year, she was part of formal and informal discussions about being a mother in medicine. “I heard from classmates across racial backgrounds about their real fears of balancing pregnancy with their medical training and pregnancy complications among medical professionals.” That led her to begin to think about “my intersection as a future Black mother in medicine and the challenges I may face because of these identities. Now, as a second-year student, I created a piece that captures something I have thought much about these past two years.”

Huggins grew up in a Caribbean household close to art and culture from all over the world. “I’ve always been surrounded by music, dance, storytelling, and visual art, and my family hosted international students throughout my childhood. I started playing the piano at age three, and have been singing, dancing, and doodling for as long as I can remember.” However, it was not until she was an undergraduate at Duke University and participated in community service that she “began to understand the therapeutic value of art.”

Through her involvement in different programs at that time, including Families Moving Forward, a shelter for families without homes, and Reflections, a weekly art program for adults with dementia at Duke Nasher Museum, Huggins says, “I saw how encouraging self-expression could bring peace during uncertain times, reduce stress, and empower communities. When I went through a rough time in my sophomore year, I found myself using painting for a lot of healing.”

Huggins continues, “I will continue practicing art. It’s a self-care practice that helps me combat burnout and show up better for patients who need me.”

Class of 2025 MD student Hang Nguyen started painting at age 11, when her family immigrated to America from Vietnam. She explains, “I did not speak English at the time, so art was a vessel through which I could communicate my tumultuous adolescent mind.”

Currently, she paints often and says her favorite subject is “surreal, tranquil, and, occasionally, liminal landscapes, such as a classroom at midnight, an overgrown, abandoned church, and a long corridor that leads nowhere. For me, these landscapes represent a longing for a space that exists tranquilly, where one can be one's true self.”

Nguyen painted Submerged specifically for this contest; “In other words, this contest inspired me to look inward and reflect on — instead of simply overcome and move forward from — the challenges that I have encountered in medical school.” Through the work she wanted “to convey the various feelings that I experienced while studying for board exams using motifs that are near and dear to me like water and fish in a surreal, tranquil, and liminal ambience.” She painted it during time dedicated to Step 1, over the course of a week, working on it for an hour to two at night.

Hunger , On Chinese Medicine , and On the First Day of Anatomy Lab

First-year Physician Associate (PA) student Kelly Dunn was honored with three prizes: A tie for first place in prose for Hunger , a tie for second place in poetry for On Chinese Medicine , and honorable mention in prose for On the First Day of Anatomy Lab , each of which she shared with the audience. While Dunn, who “always considered the humanities to be a part of my life,” has been an avid reader and artist for as long as she can remember, she did not start writing until the COVID-19 pandemic. She says she mostly wrote nonfiction, and only semi-frequently, “whenever something momentous transpired, or I suddenly felt called to it,” explaining, “so much of my love and appreciation for writing comes from the fact that it’s a medium to better articulate an experience through. Having something so fresh and felt so acutely is a wonderful impetus to begin writing.”

The contest was one of Dunn’s first times writing poetry, “I’ve always been intimidated by it. Learning the different poetic forms and metric lines, as well as how to be economical with my words, seems like something I’ll never be able to achieve.” She continued, “I’m grateful for this contest for giving me an opportunity to try”

For Dunn, writing in PA school has been “incredibly helpful processing all that has happened. Every day I vacillate between feelings of immense wonder, humility, and gratitude— and these words in themselves don’t even do the moments I’ve witnessed justice.”

Acknowledgements

Reisman thanked PHM Manager Karen Kolb for her work coordinating the contest, and the 16 YSM faculty and staff members who served as judges:

Aba Black, MD, MHS, Anne Merritt, MD, MS, Terry Dagradi, Sarah Cross, MD, Lorence Gutterman, MD, Melissa Grafe, PhD, Randi Hutter-Epstein, MD, MPH, Kenneth Morford, MD, Sharon Ostfeld-Johns, MD, Vincent Quagliarello, MD, Lisa Sanders, MD, Nora Segar, MD, Elizabeth Marhoffer, MD, Rita Rienzo MMSC, PA-C, Sharon Chekijian, MD, PhH, and Cynthia McNamara, MD.

Featured in this article

• Aba Black, MD, MHS
• Sharon Anoush Chekijian, MD, MPH
• Sarah Cross, MD
• Terry Dagradi
• Randi Epstein
• Melissa Grafe, PhD
• Lorence Gutterman, MD
• Lenique Huggins
• Karen P Kolb
• Elizabeth Marhoffer, MD
• Cynthia Frary McNamara, MD, FACP
• Anne Merritt, MD, MS
• Kenneth Morford, MD, FASAM
• Hang Nguyen
• Sharon Ostfeld-Johns, MD, IBCLC
• Vincent Quagliarello, MD
• Anna Reisman, MD
• Rita Rienzo, MMSc, PA-C
• Lisa Sanders, MD, FACP
• Nora Segar, MD

Related Links

• Contest winners
• 4 YSN Students Earn Prizes at Health Professions Creative Writing and Art Contest
• On Chinese Medicine
• On the First Day of Anatomy Lab

• Precepting at YSN
• Event Calendar

2024 Program for Humanities in Medicine Health Professions Creative Medical Writing and Art Contest: “These Small Things” by Courtney Hart

Yale university’s 2024 program for humanities in medicine (phm) health professions creative medical writing and art contest awarded first prize in the prose category to courtney hart ’25 msn, a nurse midwifery/women’s health student. to read more about yale school of nursing (ysn)’s other prize winners in this contest, please visit ysn news ., these small things, by courtney hart, to read more about yale school of nursing (ysn)’s other prize winners in this contest,  please visit ysn news ..