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Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing

College of Liberal & Creative Arts

The B.A. Degree in English:  Creative Writing

The undergraduate major in English: Creative Writing has been designed to recognize the difference between the educational objectives of students concentrating in Creative Writing and those concentrating in a traditional English program.

The English: Creative Writing major program emphasizes the primary importance of the study and practice of writing. In the writing courses offered by the Creative Writing Department, students learn how to communicate in the special language of fiction, drama, and poetry. In the creative process courses, topics such as Plays: Reading and Viewing, Personal Narrative, Contemporary World Poetry, and The Short-Short Story teach students to look at literature from the point of view of the writer through a study of technique, structure, and style. The craft courses introduce  the basic elements of writing fiction, poetry, or plays.

The English: Creative Writing major program also requires a number of literature courses so that students will continue to be exposed to the best writing of the present and past, as well as courses in theory, language, and literary criticism.

A Creative Writing B.A. major may be taken in the genres of Fiction, Poetry and Playwriting or a blend of those genres.

Access the list of the major requirements to better understand the structure of the major.

The roadmap puts all of your graduation requirements into an easy-to-follow semester-by-semester plan so you know what to take to stay on track.  Whether you are a freshman or a transfer student, you'll be able to find a roadmap that best fits you. 

Besides your major requirements, students must complete their GE and University requirements.  Be sure to make sure you've completed all of these requirements for graduation. 

To learn more about this major, check out the major department’s website below.  You can also find out how you can access their faculty advisors who can assist you not just with course choices, but also answer questions about the field and discuss your career plans.     

Department of Creative Writing

Humanities (HUM) Building, Room 573 Phone: (415) 338-1891 Email:  [email protected] Website:  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/ Chair: Nona Caspers

Freshmen Student Advising Information

After choosing “Basic Subjects” GE courses in  Steps 1-3  of your  Orientation process (if you haven’t done so, log onto your Orientation Profile page to follow the “Pre-Orientation Advising Module”), STEP 4   Choosing Major Classes will show you if there are any classes you can take to satisfy  major requirements  for your first and/or second semester.

Once you have determined your Roadmap above, review the first section below and write down any course recommendations based on your corresponding major roadmap on your  Freshmen Class Planner worksheet.

What major course(s) should I prioritize and successfully complete in my first semester?

First Semester Course Recommendations — Roadmaps A, B, C & D 

If there are any course(s) listed above, please enter this information onto “Step 4” of your Freshmen Class Planner. 

Transfer Student Advising Information

Please see the box above labeled “Major Curriculum/Roadmaps & GE/University Requirements” for information on what courses to take in your first semester at SF State. View our  Frequently Asked Questions for Transfers  for helpful tips and additional information.

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Professional Writing & Rhetoric

Professional writers are in demand to link ideas, technologies and products with people who need to understand those developments or to use them. San Francisco State’s Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) program can prepare you for that critical communications role through our major, minor and certificate programs.

Professional writers work in almost every field of industry and public life, including high-technology industries, business, government, research and nonprofit organizations. The work that PWR graduates go on to do might involve technical writing and documentation, editing, graphic and document design, training, research, information management, promotional writing, grant writing or other forms of proposal- and report-writing.

After completing the PWR program, you can begin your writing career with important advantages: an academic degree or certificate in the field, improved and focused skills, an understanding of professional expectations for writers, and a portfolio of relevant writing samples.

PWR was TPW

Note: Starting Fall 2019, the Technical and Professional Writing (TPW) program was replaced by the Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) program. With a few exceptions, students who declared TPW as their major prior to Fall 2019 are not affected by this change and can continue as TPW majors. Please contact PWR coordinator Neil Lindeman with any questions.

Program Contacts

Neil Lindeman , PWR Coordinator Email:  [email protected] Phone: (415) 405-0493 Office: HUM 423

Please get in touch anytime you have questions about your course of study and career planning. In addition, if you can, please arrange for an advising session during the semester you enter the program. At this session, we will set up an advising worksheet for your file, review program requirements, discuss your career interests, and identify a tentative course schedule for you.

- For PWR students with last names A-L, contact Bridget Gelms at  [email protected] - For PWR students with last names M-Z, contact Neil Lindeman at  [email protected]

• Requirements
• PWR Resources
• PWR Scholarships

Requirements for an English Degree with Professional Writing & Rhetoric Concentration

• ENG 218 - Writing the First Year: The World, the Text, and You (3 units)
• ENG 250 - Topics in Literature and Culture  (3 units)
• ENG 402 - Introduction to Professional Writing and Rhetoric  (3 units)
• ENG 420 - Introduction to the Study of Language  (3 units)
• ENG 461 - Literature in English Since 1800  (3 units)
• ENG 480GW - Junior Seminar - GWAR  (3 units)
• ENG 583 - Shakespeare: Representative Plays  (3 units)
• ENG 640 - Global Texts and Practices  (3 units)
• ENG 540 - Professional Editing (3 units)
• ENG 545 - Visual Rhetoric and Document Design (3 units)
• ENG 618 - Individual and Team Writing (3 units)
• ENG 200 - Writing Practices in Professional Contexts (3 units)
• ENG 470 - Writing Professional Promotions (3 units)
• ENG 471 - Writing Technical Documentation (3 units)
• ENG 490 - Grant Writing (3 units)
• ENG 585 - Professional Writing for Digital Audiences (3 units)
• Other courses with the approval of an advisor. 
• ENG 695 - Internship in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (3 units)

Review the current Bulletin for further information. 

Campus Resources

• Computer skills and tools training
• SF State Career Center

Professional Organizations

• American Institute of Graphic Arts
• American Medical Writers Association (Northern California chapter)
• American Society for Training and Development
• American Society of Indexers
• Association of Fundraising Professionals (Golden Gate chapter)
• Bay Area Editor’s Forum
• Board of Editors in the Life Sciences
• Council of Science Editors
• Development Executives Roundtable
• Grant Professionals Association
• International Association of Information Technology Trainers (Itrain)
• International Council for Technical Communication
• Northern California Science Writers Association
• Public Relations Society of America
• San Francisco Bay chapter
• Silicon Valley chapter
• The International Association of Business Communication (IABC)
• The National Writers’ Union (NWU)
• User Experience Professionals Association
• Write the Docs
• Young Nonprofit Professionals Network

Regional Scholarship

The Gordon Memorial Scholarship is sponsored by the Northern California chapters of the Society for Technical Communication. Please see below for more information and for the application. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2023.

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• Telephone: (415) 338-2264

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Schools & Departments

SF State’s curriculum — embracing the local, regional and international — prepares students for an increasingly global culture in which they will influence contemporary spaces, media and social interactions. We educate students for life in an increasingly complex world, rich with diversity and replete with challenges, in which they will make a difference by offering their vision to lead others.

B.A., M.A. and MFA programs in Studio Art, Art History and Museum Studies foster the development of specialized skills, encourage personal creative direction and promote understanding of the history and cultural practices shaping artistic expression. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

Visit the  School of Art website

Visit the  Museum Studies website

Named among the nation’s top 20 film schools by The Hollywood Reporter, Cinema has educated generations of filmmakers including Academy Award winners Steven Zaillian, Ethan van der Ryn and Steve Okazaki. Also offers B.A. and M.A. in Cinema Studies.

Visit the  School of Cinema website

For more than 50 years, the School of Design has earned a reputation of creativity, innovation, diversity and community outreach with its designs created in campus labs and beyond. Offers degrees in Industrial Arts, Visual Communication Design and Industrial Design.

Visit the  School of Design website

Liberal Studies

The School of Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University offers several interdisciplinary, multicultural programs, including Liberal Studies (B.A.), Integrated Teacher Preparation (B.A.), Comic Studies (minor) and California Studies (minor).

Visit the  School of Liberal Studies website

SF State’s tradition of musical excellence dates to 1899, when one of its inaugural courses was Pedagogy of Music. The excellence has since expanded to composition, performance, jazz and world music. B.A., B.M., M.A., M.M. degrees.

Visit the  School of Music website

Theatre & Dance

With esteemed alumni such as Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan, Golden Globe winning actor Jeffrey Tambor and Academy Award nominee Annette Bening, this school offers baccalaureate and graduate degrees emphasizing multicultural, multidisciplinary genres.

Visit the  School of Theatre & Dance website

Departments

Anthropology

Offering concentrations in archaeology as well as visual, cultural and biological anthropology, this department offers both undergraduate and graduate students a multi-field approach to further understand what it means to be human.

Visit the  Department of Anthropology website

Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts

The largest and most influential program of its kind in the West, BECA has graduated some of the top names in broadcast journalism, entertainment television and new media, including Bay Area news anchors Ken Bastida and Frank Somerville, Frasier producer Peter Casey and CNN anchor Mike Galanos.

Visit the  Broadcasting & Electronic Communication Arts website

Offering the only M.A. in Classics in the California State University, this department offers a deep focus on archaeology and art of the ancient world, in addition to languages and literature. Students also have the opportunity to work on an excavation in Pompeii, Italy.

Visit the  Department of Classics website

Communication Studies

As employers increasingly identify effective communication skills as the No. 1 criterion for hiring, this department fosters students’ skills in various communications contexts from multiple and interconnected perspectives to contribute to a more humane world.

Visit the  Department of Communication Studies website

Creative Writing

Offering studies in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and playwriting, this renowned department has transformed student writers into Pulitzer Prize winners and best-selling authors. Students perfect their craft through literary analysis and critiques of their work and their classmates. Offers B.A., M.A. and M.F.A.

Visit the  Department of Creative Writing website

English Language and Literature

With an incredibly diverse array of concentrations to choose, this department is renowned for its programs in composition, linguistics, literature, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and technical and professional writing.

Visit the  Department of English website

With one of the most prolific graduate History programs in the country, SF State sends more master’s graduates into Ph.D. programs than any other comprehensive university in the country, according to the American Historical Association. Offers B.A. and M.A.

Visit the  Department of History website

Humanities and Comparative World Literature

In the B.A. and minor programs (Humanities, Comparative World Literature, American Studies and Video Game Studies) students explore forms of cultural expression across boundaries between nations, regions, languages, time periods, cultural forms, genres and even the academic border between arts and sciences.  

Visit the  Department of Humanities and Comparative World Literature website

International Relations

This discipline made its debut as a field of study at SF State, the first university to offer a degree in the field. Today, the department remains among the top 15 nationwide, offering a B.A. and M.A.

Visit the  Department of International Relations website

Jewish Studies

Students in the B.A. and minor programs learn a variety of Jewish history, thought and culture from a world-renowned faculty. The Marvin L. Silverman Jewish Studies Reading Room contains a collection of more than 2,000 academic, reference and historical books on Jewish subjects.

Visit the  Department of Jewish Studies website

One of eight California programs accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, this department is home to the award-winning Golden Gate Xpress newspaper and a Pulitzer Prize-winning professor, Kim Komenich.

Visit the  Department of Journalism website

Modern Languages & Literatures

Learn a language, learn about the world. Choose from undergraduate and graduate options in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Russian and Spanish.

Visit the  Department of Modern Languages & Literature website

One of the top eight M.A. programs in the U.S. — according to The Philosophical Gourmet — this department provides students opportunities to study with distinguished scholars with expertise in philosophy of science, law, medical ethics, religion, feminism and more.

Visit the  Department of Philosophy website

Political Science

With an eye on social justice, the B.A. and M.A. programs lead students to active, engaged political lives, whether as informed citizens or as elected officials. Faculty expertise ranges from Bay Area and the national level to the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Visit the  Department of Political Science website

Women and Gender Studies

With a special focus on gender identity and representation — in addition to feminist issues — B.A and M.A. students study how bodies, families, communities and nations are gendered in specific cultural and historical locations and investigate connections to their own lives. Minor also offered.

Visit the  Department of Women and Gender Studies website

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Class Schedule and Course Descriptions

Fall 2024 class schedule and course descriptions.

C W 101 1  Introduction to Creative Writing   ONLINE  Matthew Davison      C W 101 2  Introduction to Creative Writing   ONLINE  Matthew Davison C W 101 3  Introduction to Creative Writing   Tuesday 12:30-3:15 PM TBA C W 101 4  Introduction to Creative Writing   Wednesday 12:30-3:15 PM TBA 

This introductory course focuses on the creative writing process of generating material through writing exercises in poetry, fiction and playwriting. It also examines for craft selected readings of exemplary stories, poems and plays. Open to all students. CROSS GENRE COURSE. 

C W 301 1  Fundamentals of Creative Writing   Thursday 4:00 – 6:45. PM   TBA

Prerequisite:  English 114, or equivalent. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors; non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Instruction and extensive practice in writing poetry, fiction and plays, with selected readings of exemplary stories, poems and plays. This course is the prerequisite to Short Story Writing, Poetry Writing and Playwriting.  CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 302 2 Fundamentals of Creative Reading  Tuesday 12:30-3:15 PM TBA

Prerequisite:  English 114, or equivalent. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors; non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Students learn to read like writers through lecture-discussion and reading assignments. Submerges the student in literature and asserts the importance of reading.

C W 511GW 1  Craft Of Poetry - GWAR   ONLINE Monday 4:00-5:40 PM   Paul Hoover

Prerequisites: Restricted to Creative Writing majors; GE Area A2;  C W 301  or equivalent. Focus on basic craft elements of poetry: diction, imagery, rhythm, voice and form. Close readings of published poetry. Creative and critical writing. (ABC/NC only)

C W 512GW 1  Craft Of Fiction - GWAR  ONLINE Tuesday 12:30-2:00 PM  Matthew Davison 

Prerequisites: C W 301; ENG 114; ENG 214; Restricted to Creative Writing majors. Focus on basic craft elements of fiction: plot, dialogue, character, point of view, and place. Discussion of student and professional writing. (ABC/NC only)

C W 520 1  Writers on Writing     Tuesday 7-9:45 PM   Caro De Robertis 

Prerequisite for C W 520 : Upper-division standing; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor. Faculty and visiting writers representing a wide range of styles and subjects will visit the class to read and discuss their writing. Students will respond to the readings and visits on an ongoing basis through critical essays and creative writing exercises. Paired with C W 820. Note:  this course can be used to fulfill 3 units of the “creative process” requirement. It can only be taken once for credit. Students who have completed C W 820 may not take C W 520 for credit. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 550 1   Poetry Center Workshop ONLINE Wednesday 12:30-3 PM Tonya Foster

Prerequisite for  C W 550 : Upper-division standing; GE Area A2; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor. A poetry writing and study course aligned with The Poetry Center Reading Series. Features guest performances throughout the semester by outstanding local, national, and international poets, writers, musicians, and related artists. C W 850 / C W 550  is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.

C W 601 1 Work In Progress  ONLINE Monday 4-5:40 PM  Andrew Joron 

Prerequisite: Senior standing in Creative Writing. 

Capstone course for seniors in which undergraduate final project is completed.

C W 606  Art of Revision  Thursday  12:30-3:15 PM   Matthew Davison

Prerequisites: C W 101 or C W 301; C W 302; C W 512GW or C W 603 Examine and experiment with the artistic processes of published writers (and a variety of other artists) who've taken a project from idea to completion. Study interviews, process notes, and "middle drafts" of these artists. Include analyses of the draft process, genre across artistic and literary forms, and creation and revision of student work. CROSS GENRE COURSE

C W 640 1  Transfer Literary Magazine     Wednesday  4-6:45 PM   Junse Kim

Prerequisite:  C W 301; C W 302; C W 511GW or C W 512GW or C W 513GW; or consent of instructor. This course will provide you with practical experience in literary publishing through work on  Transfer , SFSU’s undergrad literary journal.  Students will solicit and evaluate work for publication, gaining practical experience in editing, layout, and production of the journal, as well as in publicizing and promoting the finished product, and taking an active role in  Transfer ’s social media presence.  In addition, we will address various approaches to editing and aesthetics, as well as the politics of representation.  You will investigate your own editorial sensibility through exploratory essays and the creation of a hypothetical literary magazine.   Transfer  Magazine provides you with the opportunity to consider what’s currently being published in literary magazines and what you would add to that culture.  

This is a process course (not a lab) and can be used to fulfill 3 units of the Creative Process requirement. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 675 1 Community Projects-Literature Tuesday 7-9:45 PM Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: C W 101 or 301 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment is limited to undergraduate majors in English: Creative Writing and English: Education (Creative Writing). Non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Paid and unpaid internship positions designed to give CW students practical knowledge and experience are available through local literary and arts organizations, civic and community organizations, Bay Area school districts and within the Creative Writing Community at SF State. Check out our Community Projects in Literature Internship Leads at  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/content/communityprojects-0 . Incredible academic internships are also available for C W 675/875 credit through SF State's Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE). Check out their list of paid and unpaid internships at  http://icce.sfsu.edu . These working by remote and/or in person internships are robust opportunities to 'learn by doing'. If you have any questions, please contact Michael David Lukas at [email protected] . C W 675/875 may be taken twice for 6 units of credit.     

C W 699   Independent Study          By Arrangement   

Prerequisite:  Consent of instructor and a 3.0 GPA.  Upper division students may enroll in a course of Independent Study under the supervision of a member of the Creative Writing department, with whom the course is planned, developed, and completed. This course may be taken for one, two, or three units. No priority enrollment; enrollment is by petition, and a copy of your unofficial SF State transcript. Petition for Individual Study forms are available online  https://registrar.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/indstudyi.pdf . This form must be signed by the instructor you will be working with, and the department chair. Your instructor will give you the schedule and permit numbers to add the course during the first week of the semester. 

GRADUATE CLASSES:

Note:  Preference in all Creative Writing graduate courses will be given to students admitted to either the M.A. or the M.F.A. programs in Creative Writing.  Preference in M.F.A. level courses will be given to students admitted to the M.F.A. program.  Priority in M.A. and M.F.A. writing workshops and creative process courses will be given to students admitted in the genre of the course.  Other Creative Writing M.A./M.F.A. students may enroll in these courses only with the permission of the instructor.

C W 803 1  Advanced Short Story Writing   Thursday 4-6:45 PM   Junse Kim

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Priority enrollment given to graduate Creative Writing fiction students; open to Creative Writing students in other genres only on a space available basis, to be determined at the first class meeting. In this seminar/workshop we will dissect the intricacies of fiction craft in Short Stories through discussions of assigned readings, students’ work and in-class exercises. We will analyze character, conflict, narrative structure, plot development as well as other aspects of craft and consider how they all work together in fulfilling a story’s dramatic intent.  There will be an emphasis on integrating this knowledge into your own writing process, from initial draft to revision, in order to make your work fully realized.

C W 809  Directed Writing for Graduate Students      By Arrangement

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Permission of the instructor is required to take this course; you will be dropped without prior consent of the instructor. The semester before you plan to enroll in Directed Writing, submit a sample of your writing in the instructor’s mailbox along with a note explaining that you want to take their Directed Writing class. Be sure you include your name, address, phone number and email. If the instructor is on leave, please email your writing sample to her or him.                                                                 

 C W 809 1  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR          Michelle Carter [email protected]

 C W 809 2  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR          Caro De Robertis [email protected]

 C W 809 3  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR          Paul Hoover [email protected]  

 C W 809 4  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR         Chanan Tigay [email protected]

C W 810 1  Documentary Poetics, Lighting Up: Seeing Things, Feeling Spirit (an Image-Text Documentary Poetics Workshop) ONLINE Tuesday 4-5:40 PM Tonya Foster 

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in creative writing or consent of instructor. In a conversation with cultural critic and musician Greg Tate, cinematographer and filmmaker Arthur Jafa asserted that “rhythm in black art illuminates the spirit.” Jafa went on to explain that rhythm may be understood as the “least material but the most felt.” Spirit occupies that rhythmic territory in that it is on the outer edges of the material, and at the center of feeling. In music, it is the rhythm which holds us and moves us emotionally and intellectually. What are the textual and visual analogues for how music moves us—both crowds of us and the crowds within us? This is a writing workshop in which we'll explore what it is to witness and document what is and register possibilities of what may yet be. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

C W 810 2  Speculative Fiction  Thursday 4-6:45 PM  Andrew Joron

Prerequisite: classified graduate status, M.A. or M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Speculative fiction is a genre that gives priority to “cognitive estrangement,” using narrative prose to push beyond ordinary reality into a zone where the familiar becomes strange and the strange familiar. This course will survey various modes of modern speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy, dystopian and Gothic literature, surrealism and magical realism. Students will utilize readings in these modes as points of departure for their own creative writing. The assigned readings will include works by Philip K. Dick, Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang and Nnedi Okorafor.  

C W  820 1  Writers on Writing   Tuesday  7:00-9:45 PM   Caro De Robertis 

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of the instructor. Faculty and visiting writers representing a wide range of styles and subjects will visit the class to read and discuss their writing. Students will respond to the readings and visits on an ongoing basis through critical essays and creative writing exercises. Paired with C W 520. Note:  this course can be used to fulfill 3 units of the C W 810 (creative process) requirement. It can only be taken once for credit. Students who have completed C W 520 may not take C W 820 for credit.  CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 840 1  14 Hills Literary Magazine  Tuesday 4-6:45 PM  Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Fourteen Hills is a working small press as well as a graduate course in editing, publishing, and other skills essential to thriving and leading in the contemporary literary world. Each year, we publish one issue of  Fourteen Hills: the SFSU Review , a nationally recognized literary print magazine, as well as the Michael Rubin Book Award (MRBA) winner, a book-length work by an SF State student or recent graduate. Fourteen Hills is run entirely by students with support from our Faculty Advisor and the Department of Creative Writing. The course, taught primarily by the Editor-in-Chief, is designed to give students an opportunity to observe and engage in many aspects of running a literary magazine, from editorial decisions to distribution logistics, from public relations and author interviews to curating a literary prize, from aesthetic considerations to the dynamics of equity and narrative justice in the broader publishing field. Students in the class serve as staff for the journal, working closely with the editors to consider and evaluate work for publication as well as learning about the copy-editing process, visual art selection, cover design, distribution, sales, and promotion. This is a class designed to merge real-world, hands-on publishing experience with the honing of skills that can ignite, inspire, and empower us in all our literary endeavors. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 850 1   Poetry Center Workshop ONLINE Wednesday 12:30-3 PM Tonya Foster

Prerequisite for  C W 850 : Graduate standing or permission of the instructor. A poetry writing and study course aligned with The Poetry Center Reading Series and with re-imagining the 70-year old Poetry Center as a Center for Poetry  and  Poetics. Graduate student writers will, in addition to writing their own poetry and short lyric essays, be asked to think through parts of the Poetry Center archives and propose PC multi-disciplinary futures. Features guest performances throughout the semester by outstanding local, national, and international poets, writers, musicians, and related artists. C W 850 / C W 550  is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.

C W 853 1   Workshop in Fiction  Wednesday  4-6:45 PM     Nona Caspers

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in the M.F.A. in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. Every work of art has its own consciousness and subtext waiting to be explored—its own demands and invitations.  In this graduate workshop course, we will strive to recognize what is alive and compelling in each other’s material, the invitations—and to help each other follow our own intuitive and intellectual impulses in developing the material. The following opening questions may help: what experience is being offered, on its own terms? And what’s strong and in motion? We’ll practice locating the heat, delights, surprises, intrigues. (These passages point to your subtext and once located can be further explored/crafted). We’ll locate possibilities for development and offer targeted writing experiments intended to unearth the real thing in the work-in-progress.  The intention is that the feedback discussions will stir up the writer’s (and everybody else’s) imagination in concrete ways, so they can further commit to and participate with the text’s deepest currents— on the text’s own terms .  Students can submit fresh work or significantly revised works-in-progress twice in semester (up to 25 pages)—projects that may already be in motion. Students will also have opportunities to show brief experiments. We will together create our class MFA Fiction Course Reader—to accompany each week’s discussion and inspire us toward the art of language and crafting possibilities. May be repeated for a total of 18 units. 

C W 854 1   Workshop in Poetry Wednesday 12:30-3:15 PM Paul Hoover

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in MFA in Creative Writing, the MA in English; Creative Writing, or the new MA in Creative Writing.  Students will concentrate on the creation and revision of their poetry.  The class format will include discussion of reading assignments, group discussion of student work, and in-class and at-home writing assignments. 

C W 855 1   Workshop in Playwriting Tuesday 4-6:45 PM TBA

Prerequisite: Restricted to graduate Creative Writing students or permission of the instructor. Students are expected to concentrate on the revision of a play, on bringing work to a finished state, ready for production. May be repeated for a total of 18 units.

C W 859 1  Practicum in Teaching Tuesday 4-6:45 PM  Michelle Carter

Open to both MA and MFA Creative Writing students.  Repeatable once for credit.  Students working for the first time as Pedagogical Apprentices to instructors of undergraduate Creative Writing courses are required to take this Practicum course concurrent with their work with a teacher of record.  Students meet as a group once every three weeks in tandem with asynchronous work on Canvas, posting teaching journals and case studies on a weekly basis.   This course provides pedagogical grounding for pragmatic classroom teaching work and offers students a structured forum in which to discuss their teaching under the supervision of an experienced teacher and in collaboration with other Pedagogical Apprentices.   NB: Each student must make arrangements with an instructor to serve as a Pedagogical Apprentice.

C W 860 1  Teaching Creative Writing Monday 4-6:45 PM  Nona Caspers

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. This course introduces advanced graduate students to the art and practice of teaching creative writing. Creative Writing 301 will serve as our prototype. We’ll be reading essays and interviews, discussing aspects of creative writing pedagogy and performing a variety of rigorous teaching activities. We’ll discuss giving useful feedback for student writers; designing effective writing assignments; use of texts and craft models; strategies for leading discussions of literary works and student works-in-progress. Students will also prepare and execute mini-lectures on a range of craft and process topics and develop a detailed syllabus for an introductory creative writing course. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 866 1  Craft of Translation Tuesday 4-6:45 PM  Caro De Robertis

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in creative writing or consent of instructor. In this course, we will delve into the rich, nuanced, ever-evolving world of literary translation—which is a creative act of its own, one that draws not only on one’s knowledge of language, but on one’s sensitivity to its music, shades of meaning, culture, aesthetics, and language. To unfurl these themes, we will engage in comparative translation, taking a global tour of international literature through the centuries and exploring the vast range of choices made by translators in bringing them to life in English. A core component of this class will be your own original work as a translator, and workshop discussions where the rubber meets the road. Fluency in the language you’ll be translating from is wonderful, but not required. Literary translation is an exquisite training ground for creative writers of all genres; in this class, you are invited to intensify your love affair with language, and your capacity to wield it with precision and power.

C W 875 1  Community Projects-Literature  Tuesday 7-9:45 PM   Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: C W 101 or 301 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment is limited to undergraduate majors in English: Creative Writing and English: Education (Creative Writing). Non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Paid and unpaid internship positions designed to give CW students practical knowledge and experience are available through local literary and arts organizations, civic and community organizations, Bay Area school districts and within the Creative Writing Community at SF State. Check out our Community Projects in Literature Internship Leads at  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/content/communityprojects-0 .  Incredible academic internships are also available for C W 675/875 credit through SF State's Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE). Check out their list of paid and unpaid internships at  http://icce.sfsu.edu . These working by remote and/or in person internships are robust opportunities to 'learn by doing'. If you have any questions, please contact Michael David Lukas at [email protected] . C W 675/875 may be taken twice for 6 units of credit.                         

C W 880 1 Vampires, Androids, Detectives Tuesday 12:30–3:15 PM   Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing M.F.A. C W or consent of instructor. Over the past two decades, the field of creative writing has undergone a number of significant developments. One of the most exciting and far-reaching is literary fiction’s cross-pollination with what has been called “the more speculative genres.” Authors as stylistically diverse as Kazou Ishiguro, Karen Russell, Marlon James and Michael Chabon have used the tropes of science fiction, fantasy, detective novels and comic books to help revitalize literary fiction in an age of hybridity and interconnection, while at the same time helping to redefine the very idea of realism. In this course we will map the “genre borderlands” exploring the idea of genre fiction, how various genres have changes in the past fifty years and how writers of all stripes have used genre tropes to push the boundaries of both literary and genre fiction. Concurrent with these discussions, we will also try our hand at writing in various generic styles, pushing our own work to new and exciting places.

C W 882 1  The Comedic Play  Monday 4-6:45 PM   Michelle Carter

The centuries-old comedic genres aren't going anywhere--satire, farce, burlesque, comedy of manners, parody. Nor is our pleasure in laughter, "that sudden glory," ever likely to wane.  It's hard to imagine a time in which comedy could feel more urgent, more necessary, or more impossible than our own. We turn to comedy, as ever, to entertain and amuse.  We also treasure it as a force of disturbance, of disruption. We look to comedy "to comfort the afflicted."  We also cherish its power "to afflict the comfortable." It can be a howl of pain, or an eruption of joy. It can interrogate or comfort. We hold dear its power to transgress, and at the same time, we fear its power to offend. And often struggle over the distinction.  

In this course, we'll read and view contemporary comedic works with a wide range of intentions. We'll analyze the aims of these works and the theatrical strategies their creators have employed, responding to creative prompts each week in search of our own discoveries. In the final weeks of the semester, each student will share a draft of all or part of a comedic play of their own.

C W 893  Written M.A. Creative Project (3 units)  By Arrangement

Prerequisite:  advancement to M.A. candidacy in Creative Writing.  Advancement To Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience Proposal forms must be on file in the Division of Graduate Studies the semester before registration. These 3 units M.A. students sign up for while working on the culminating experience/thesis/written creative project, which may be a collection of short stories, a group of poems, a novel or a play.  To enroll: contact your thesis/written creative work committee chair the first week of the semester for the schedule and permit numbers to add the class. You must enroll in this course or you will not receive credit for your thesis.

C W 893  Written M.F.A. Creative Work (6 units)   By Arrangement

Prerequisite:  advancement to M.F.A. candidacy in Creative Writing; Advancement To Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience Proposal forms must be on file in the Division of Graduate Studies the semester before registration. These 6 units M.F.A. students sign up for while working on the culminating experience/thesis/written creative project, which is expected to be a book length collection of short stories, or poems, or a novel or a play of publishable quality.  Enrollment is by permission number during priority registration/enrollment: you will be emailed the correct class and permission numbers to enroll in your section. You must enroll in this course or you will not receive credit for your thesis.

C W 899  Independent Study    By Arrangement

Prerequisite:  consent of instructor and a minimum GPA of 3.25.  A special study is planned, developed, and completed under the direction of a faculty member. This course may be taken for one, two, or three units. No priority enrollment; enrollment is by petition, and a copy of your unofficial SF State transcript. Petition Individual Study forms are available online  http://registrar.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/indstudyi.pdf  (699, 899). This form must be signed by the instructor you will be working with and brought with an unofficial transcript for the department chair signature. Your instructor will give you the schedule and permit numbers to add the course during the first week of the semester.       

Archived Class Schedules

• Spring 2024 Class Schedule
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• Spring 2020 Class Schedule
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Make this the year you finally write! Dust off that manuscript that has been sitting in a drawer, get a fresh new notebook, turn on some music, find yourself a little inspiration and begin. 

Joining the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute means more than just taking a class — it’s your invitation to our vibrant community of students and alumni who continue an open exchange of ideas. Join us and join our community.

Our Upcoming Workshops

Intro to fiction, the poetry workshop, write from the gut reading series, advanced prose: summer plot sprint, creative writing summer camp, art of the chapbook, who we are....

We’re an independent creative writing institute based out of San Francisco. Founded in 2015, we offer writing workshops in several genres to writers of all experience levels from all walks of life. We encourage people to share their work and connect with peers and mentors. Our instructors are published working writers, professors, editors and master teachers.

Our Teachers

Nick Mamatas

Award-winning Author of 100 short stories, 10 novels, dozens of essays and articles & an editor from Viz Media.

Alexandra Kostoulas

Founder & Director of San Francisco Creative Writing Institute

Tongo Eisen-Martin

Winner Of The American Book Award, California Book Award. Poet-in-Residence At Cambridge University

Our Instructors have taught at these Universities

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Novelist Joseph Cassara and Poet Tonya M. Foster Join Faculty

Tonya M. Foster (left and Joseph Cassara (right)

Department of Creative Writing Welcomes George and Judy Marcus Endowed Chairs

by Strategic Marketing and Communications

San Francisco State University has named Joseph Cassara and Tonya M. Foster the George and Judy Marcus Endowed Chairs in the Creative Writing department. Cassara, who most recently taught in the department of English at Fresno State University, joined San Francisco State as an assistant professor of creative writing. Foster most recently taught writing and literature at the California College of the Arts in Oakland. She is currently an assistant professor of poetry at SF State.

Both faculty will contribute to the literary life of the Bay Area by holding public lectures and readings as well as by spearheading events with visiting authors, says San Francisco State Creative Writing professor and department chair Nona Caspers. The University selected Foster and Cassara partly because of the significant contributions they’ve made to the literature on the African diaspora and Latinx cultures.

"They will add to the mix of cultural, aesthetic, and community perspectives of an innovative, rigorous Creative Writing department." -Nona Caspers, Creative Writing professor, and department chair

Dean of the College of Liberal & Creative Arts Andrew Harris said he’s happy for the next generation of students who will get to work with the new faculty. “These two will bring their creative brilliance and literary empathy to the department, the university, and the Bay Area as a whole,” he added.

Cassara is an award-winning author. His debut novel, “The House of Impossible Beauties” (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2018), is an imagining of characters from the 1980s documentary “Paris is Burning,” which explored New York City’s drag ball scene. The novel won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, two International Latino Book Awards, and the National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Fiction Book and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.

Cassara’s short fiction, essays, and criticism have appeared in or are forthcoming in The New York Times Style Magazine, The Boston Review, and a London-based anthology titled “The Queer Bible.” He holds a B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

Tonya M. Foster is the author of “A Swarm of Bees in High Court,” the bilingual chapbook “La Grammaire des Os” and the full-length collection “A Mathematics of Chaose: Thingification.” She is co-editor of the essay collection “Third Mind: Creative Writing Through Visual Art.” She is also an editor for the biannual literary publication Fence Magazine and the African American Review, a quarterly aggregation of peer-reviewed scholarly essays, fiction, and poetry.

In 2020-21, she was the Lisa Goldberg Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, where she completed “AHotB,” a book-length poetry manuscript that explores Fannie Lou Hamer’s idea that “a Black woman’s body is never hers alone.” Foster has also been a recipient of fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the Headlands Center for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Pan-African Literary Festival. She received the 2020 Creative Capital Award for “Monkey Talk,” a multidisciplinary project on surveillance, aesthetics, and race. She earned a B.A. in English from Tulane University, an MFA in Poetry from the University of Houston, and a Ph.D. in English from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

"Their literary work and work as artists who care about education as a practice of freedom - to question, to grieve, to celebrate - will help keep us awake and in motion as a multi-voiced campus and Bay Area community." -Nona Caspers, Creative Writing professor, and department chair

The establishment of both positions was made by possible by alumni George (B.A., ’65) and Judy Marcus (B.A., ’62), who gifted SF State’s College of Liberal & Creative Arts $25 million in November 2018. The funding helped establish four endowed chair positions, two in the Creative Writing department and two in the School of Cinema.

The University’s creative writing program has produced a number of successful writers and employs many award-winning authors, Caspers says. The new faculty will further cement SF State’s reputation by cultivating talent in students and deepening the Bay Area’s literary scene.

For more information about donating to the College of Liberal and Creative Arts, contact:

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Department Resources

The Department of Creative Writing has many resources for your education. Other departments on campus are here to help you too.

Scholarships

The Creative Writing Department offers scholarships in specific genres. To apply please go to  BAM/Academic Works  and search by scholarship. In order to apply for scholarship opportunities you must first fill out a general application on the BAM/Academic Works page. You can also view all  College of Liberal & Creative Arts scholarships . For more information, click on each scholarship name below. Applications for Fall will be announced by department email when they open. Please keep an eye on your email.

Clark-Gross Award in the Novel*  $100

OPEN TO ALL CREATIVE WRITING MAJORS  ENROLLED IN BOTH FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS.

• Scholarship Intent:  This is a yearly contest, with a monetary prize given for the best original written work of a novel or novel-in-progress, written by a Creative Writing student, either B.A. or M.A. or M.F.A.
• Applicants are all those Creative Writing students who have submitted a manuscript of their work of short fiction to the Creative Writing Department.
• Applicants/recipients must be enrolled in the semester in which the award is disbursed (spring semester).   
• Major:  Creative Writing      
• Class Level:   Undergrad: Any;  Grad: 2nd B.A./Masters/M.F.A.
• Enrollment Status:  Any
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad: 1 UNIT;  Grad: 1 UNIT
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App:  Not a Requirement
• Citizenship:  Any

James Milton Highsmith Drama Award*  $1000

• Scholarship Intent:  Award for a Creative Writing student, or students, for a play of any length with lesbian or gay themes.
• Criteria:  Original plays intended for stage production, which have not previously been published. Musicals, radio plays, teleplays and screenplays are not eligible.  
• Major:  Creative Writing       
• Class Level:   Undergrad: Any, Grad: 2nd B.A., Masters, M.F.A.
• Enrollment Status : Continuing
• Enrollment Requirement : Undergrad: 1 UNIT;  Grad: 1 UNIT

This award is made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of James Milton Highsmith.

Daniel Langton Poetry Prize*  $100

• Scholarship Intent:  Prize for achievement in writing by a Creative Writing Student.
• Major:  Creative Writing
• Class Level:  Undergrad: Any;  Grad: 2nd B.A., M.A., M.F.A.
• Enrollment Status:  Continuing
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad: 1 unit;  Grad: 1 unit

Anne Fields Poetry Contest* $100  

Available in the Spring semester only . OPEN TO ALL CREATIVE WRITING MAJORS  ENROLLED IN BOTH FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS.

• Scholarship Intent : Recognize achievement in poetry writing by awarding a prize for the best poem from a qualified student.
• Criteria:  Must be enrolled half-time in he semester in which the poetry is submitted for this prize.
• Undergrad : Any;  Grad: 2nd B.A., M.A., M.F.A. Creative Writing
• Class Level : Undergrad: Any;  Grad: 2nd B.A., M.A., M.F.A.
• Enrollment Status: Any

Elizabeth June Madden-Zibman Scholarship*  $5,000

• Scholarship Intent:  Scholarship for Creative Writing majors, graduate or undergraduate, enrolled full-time with verified financial need per Financial Aid and a minimum 3.0 GPA.  Candidates must demonstrate on-campus or off-campus involvement in a literary or poetry journal, active support of poetry readings by regular attendance or with event organization activities.  Candidates submit an essay or poem or short story of any length on a topic of concern to women, women's issues or women's experience in society.

The donor asks that  the candidates to read this https://sfsu.academicworks.com/donors/elizabeth-june  and, while doing so, to think about Lizzie, what it might have been like to be her as a student at SFSU at the end of the 1970s.

• Students who meet the AB540 definition are eligible to apply.  
• Must show financial need based on the FAFSA or CA Dream Application as provided by the Financial Aid Office.
• Candidates must demonstrate on-campus or off-campus involvement in a literary or poetry journal.
• Must demonstrate active support of poetry readings either by regular attendance or with event organization activities.
• Must submit an essay or poem of any length on a topic of concern to women, women's issues or women's experience in society and should discuss personal values such as the importance of higher education, health and physical education, social justice, empathy and openness to life experience.
• Class Level:  Undergrad: Any; Grad: Masters/M.F.A.
• Enrollment Status:  Continuing and Entering
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad: 12 units;  Grad: 8 units
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App:  Yes
• Citizenship:  US Citizen/Perm Res
• GPA:  Undergrad GPA: 3.0; Grad GPA: 3.0

Wilner Short Fiction Prize*  $100

• Scholarship Intent:  This is a yearly contest, with a monetary prize given for the best original work of short fiction, written by a Creative Writing student, either B.A. or M.A. or M.F.A.
• Applicants are all those Creative Writing students who have submitted a manuscript of their work of short fiction to the Creative Writing Department.  
• Applicants/recipients must be enrolled in the semester in which the award is disbursed (spring semester).
• Class Level:   Undergrad: Any, 2nd B.A.; Grad: Masters/M.F.A.

Marcus Second Year Graduate Student Scholarship*  TWO AWARDS OF $2,500

OPEN ONLY TO SECOND YEAR M.A. or M.F.A. CREATIVE WRITING MAJORS  ENROLLED IN BOTH FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS.

• Scholarship Intent:  For graduate students in any of the genres who have shown their commitment to rich and ambitious writing and translation.  Students upload a work-in-progress that demonstrates attention to craft, cultural/social awareness and the complexity of human experience.  The recipient would also be a student for whom this award would make a significant difference in their ability to focus on their studies and their writing.
• ​ Open to graduate students who will be entering their second year.
• Students upload a work in progress and a brief description (no more than 200 words) of how this award would make a difference in their ability to focus on their studies and their writing.
• Along with the following:
• Playwriting Submissions: 20-40-pages.
• Fiction and Creative Non-fiction Submissions: 20 pages.
• Poetry Submissions: 10 pages.
• Translation submissions: 10 to 20 pages.
• Class Level:  Grad: Masters/M.F.A. or M.A. (must be entering second year of graduate study)
• Enrollment Status:  Continuing SF State student
• Enrollment Requirement:  Grad: 1 unit
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App:  Not a requirement
• GPA:  Grad: 3.0

Kathryn A. Manoogian* Scholarship (Amount Varies)

OPEN TO M.A. & M.F.A. CREATIVE WRITING MAJORS  ENROLLED IN BOTH FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS.

• Scholarship Intent:  For one or two new or continuing graduate students in Creative Writing awarded on the basis of merit and financial need.
• All creative writing graduate students will be considered based on merit and financial need. 
• *Must apply for financial aid* using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the California Dream Application.
• Must have financial need as determined by FAFSA or the California Dream Application.
• Students who meet the AB540 definition are eligible to apply.   
• Class Level:  Grad: M.A. or M.F.A.
• Enrollment Requirement:  Grad: 3 UNITS
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App : Yes
• Citizenship:  US Citizen

Joan Gelfand Creative Writing Scholarship *

• Awarding Department:  Creative Writing Department
• Scholarship Intent:  To inspire success in publication through student support, this scholarship shall be open to undergraduates who have completed introductory writing courses and at least one semester.
• Criteria: 1.) Open to Creative Writing BA undergraduate students who have completed at least one semester and introductory writing courses. 2.) Students must be currently enrolled, full-time. 3.) Applicants must supply a writing sample (either 3-5 poems, 5 pages of fiction, or 5 pages of a play or manuscript). 4.) Scholarships shall be open to all regardless of immigration status.
• Major:  Creative Writing BA
• Class Level:  Other: Student who have completed at least 1 semester and introductory writing courses.
• Enrollment Status:  Continuing and entering students
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad:* 12; Grad: * N/A
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App:  No
• Minimum GPA:  No minimum GPA required

Tillie Olsen Prize - Creative Writing/Women Gender

• Awarding Department:  Creative Writing and Women and Gender Studies
• Scholarship Intent:  To award one $500 prize this year to a Creative Writing major whose writing is judged to be the best entry for that year and reflective of the issues or concerns or themes expressed in Tillie Olsen’s life work.
• Criteria:  The prize will be awarded annually, alternatively to an undergraduate student currently attending SF State majoring in Creative Writing or Women and Gender Studies(WGS).
• Major:  Multiple: Creative Writing or Women and Gender Studies
• Class Level:  Undergrad: Any, Grad: N/A
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad: 1 UNIT; Grad: N/A
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App:  Not a Requirement
• GPA:  HS GPA: N/A; Undergrad GPA: N/A; Grad GPA: N/A

*Award is coordinated with financial aid, according to State and Federal regulations.

The Marcus Recruitment, Bernice Ruben Arnold, Brainard, Dickey & Ylvisaker Scholarships

As long as a general application has been completed in bam/academic works , all newly admitted m.a. and m.f.a. students are automatically considered for these scholarships:.

• The Marcus Recruitment Scholarship  (two prizes annually of $7,500)
• Joe Brainard Fellowship  (Two or more prizes annually. Amount varies between $1000-$5000)
• The William Dickey Fellowship in Poetry  (Two or more prizes annually. Amount varies between $500 – $5000)
• Awarding Department:  Creative Writing
• Scholarship Intent:  To be able to offer a fellowship to an entering MFA students. This fellowship will attract applicants to our program.
• Criteria: 1) No Application; All applicants to the MFA program. 2) Selection will be based on quality of writing, 2 recommendation letters and undergraduate GPA.
• Major:  Single: Creative Writing
• Class Level:  Undergrad: N/A; Grad: Masters
• Enrollment Status:  Entering MFA student
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad: N/A; Grad: 3 UNITS
• Scholarship Intent:  The purpose of the Bernice Ruben Arnold Scholarship is to assist the Creative Writing Department in its desire to diversify its graduate student body through its promotion and recruitment of people from under-served communities.
• Students starting year one (1) of their Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing may apply
• Students must be enrolled in at least six (6) units per semester to receive the scholarship.
• Applicants must supply a writing sample for consideration.
• Students should demonstrate a commitment to promoting the values of diversity and cross cultural competency in Creative Writing.
• Citizenship is not a requirement.
• Scholarship is open to all students pursuing a Masters or M.F.A.
• Preference will be granted to students who self-report financial need and are first generation college students.
• Major:  Single: Creative Writing Masters and M.F.A.
• Enrollment Status:  Entering student
• Enrollment Requirement:  Undergrad: N/A; Grad: 6 UNITS
• Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App:  Not a requirement
• GPA:  HS GPA: N/A; Undergrad GPA: N/A; Grad GPA: N/A

*These scholarships are coordinated with financial aid awards according to State and Federal regulations.

Looking for additional scholarship opportunities not offered by our department? Please review the Outside Resources tab on this page!

Take Place! Reading Series

Students come from all over the world to enroll in our undergraduate and graduate programs, which  makes for an exceptionally gifted and committed student body. Creative Writing graduate students host the Take Place! reading series, working hard to develop a sense of community in the Creative Writing Graduate Programs. Follow Take Place! on  facebook!

Social Media

The Creative Writing Department posts regular updates to all of our social media pages and they are a great resource for our writers! Please read below for the type of postings available on each platform. Please follow or view the pages below.

The  Creative Writing Department Tumblr page  lists submissions opportunities, contests, writing conferences, fellowships, and residencies. You do not need a Tumblr account to see any of the content.  See our tags page for your specific interests.

The  Creative Writing Department Facebook page  lists events of interest to the student body and the larger local writing community. You do not need a Facebook account to see the content.

The  Creative Writing Department Twitter page  lists San Francisco State University specific announcements such as deadlines and annual events such as commencement, as well as events and announcements about the general writing community. You do not need a Twitter account to see any of the content. This account is run bon one of our Creative Writing professors! 

The Creative Writing Department Instagram  features images of our event flyers, event announcements, calls for submissions and more.

Outside Resources

Here are a few resources available outside of San Francisco State University to foster community and help one grow as a writer.

This is by no means a complete list.

Classes & Individual Writing Instruction

The Lab: Writing Classes with Matthew Clark Davison  or find The Lab on Facebook

Jane Ganahl

Playwrights Foundation  or find the Foundation on Facebook

San Francisco State University College of Extended Learning  or find the CEL on Facebook

San Jose State University Open University

The San Francisco Writers’ Grotto  or find the Writers' Grotto on Facebook

UC Berkeley Extension Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Writing

UCLA Department of Film, Television and Digital Media

The Writing Salon  or the Writing Salon on Facebook

Bookstores with Events

Books, Inc . or find Books, Inc. on Facebook

The Booksmith  or find The Booksmith on Facebook

Green Apple Books  or find Green Apple Books on Faceboo k

Moe’s Books  or find Moe's Books on Facebook

Reading Series and Other

Edify Online | Connect and Engage  Finds, qualifies, connects and manages independent instructors for Institutions providing online courses. Working with edX, MIT, Harvard, IBM and multiple other partner institutions to find qualified and willing facilitators for some of their online courses. These are paid, completely online opportunities to teach what you love to learners around the world! 

Entropy Magazine's Where to Submit List

The Grotto Fellowship  or find The Grotto Fellowship on Facebook

Kearny Street Workshop  or find Kearny Street on Facebook

LGBTQIA Scholarships

Litquake  or find Litquake on Facebook

Mill Valley Literary Review- Free Submissions for Creative Writing Students!

Poetry Flash  or find Poetry Flash on Facebook

Small Press Traffic  or find Small Press on Facebook

Scholarships for LGBTQ College Students

Guide to Volunteering

Senior Care Aging Matters Scholarship (for students who are caring for their aging loved ones)

SF State Creative Writing Videos

With assistance from the Marcus Funds, students, faculty, staff vidographers, and alumni, Creative Writing has created some wonderful video content for your review. Get to know our professors, hear from our students, and share some emotions by watching our video content !

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Minor in Creative Writing

The minor in Creative Writing provides students with a chance to pursue their passion for creative writing while engaging with a wide range of texts, ideas, and cultural works. In Creative Writing classes, students work with an active, publishing faculty. They learn by vigorous practice; by focused studies of craft; and by extensive reading, analysis and discussion of their work, as well as that of published authors.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Creative Work: Students will produce a written creative work demonstrating growth as writers.
• Literature: Students will read, discuss, and analyze the work of a broad range of writers from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds and explain how literature in general, and their own genre in particular, relates to the larger human experience.
• Craft Elements: Students will write and revise creative nonfiction, fiction, plays, and/or poetry using the elements of craft to embody their individual and universal visions as well as analyze and discuss craft elements in their peers’ work.

Minor in Creative Writing - 18 units

A minimum of 6 upper-division units are required to complete the minor.

All coursework used to satisfy the requirements of the minor must be completed with a minimum grade point average of 2.0.

Fundamentals (3 units)

Select One:

Craft (3 units)

Minor electives (12 units).

Select Four: