creative writing major cuny

Creative Writing

The department offers many opportunities to students interested in creative writing.  We treat the study of creative writing not as an alternative to rigorous scholarly engagement in the reading of and writing about literary and critical texts nor as an exercise in easy self-expression. Rather, it is a discipline whose students practice the techniques and strategies of close reading and whatever writing is appropriate to a given genre: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and playwriting. The English Department offers electives in each of these genres, as well as one course that introduces students to the writing of nonfiction and another that introduces them to the writing of poetry, fiction, and plays.  Throughout the Creative Writing curriculum, students learn to see the crucial interrelationship of reading and writing practices, as they begin to note and to take part in the myriad choices a poet or essayist or novelist or playwright makes at the level of, for example, the word, the sentence, the poetic line, the line of dialogue, the scene, the stanza, the paragraph.

Over the past several years, undergraduate English majors have been admitted into seven of the top ten MFA Creative Writing programs in the U.S.; they have published novels and volumes of poetry; and their nonfiction has appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The New York Times .  These students attended equally to creative and scholarly studies, following the English Department’s curricular emphasis on the critical intersection of these disciplines. Many majors primarily interested not in creative writing but in literary criticism find that creative writing courses add a valuable dimension to their experience of and knowledge about literature, and many non-majors also take creative writing courses.

Undergraduate creative writing courses

As an English major , you may take as many as three creative writing courses among the six electives for the major. You may take more, and you may take any of the 300-level workshops more than once, but only three creative writing courses (and three different ones) may be applied to the major. Additional credits may be applied to the 120 needed for graduation. The courses, all of which feature reading and writing assignments in the strategies and techniques of a specific genre and the extensive use of peer review, are as follows:

English 200W: Essay Writing The writing and criticism of formal and informal essays, various types of articles, reviews, and reportage, with an emphasis on the fundamentals of style and structure and the development of effective expression. This course is recommended for majors and non-majors who wish more work in the basics of essay writing.

201W: Essay Writing for Special Fields Practice in writing appropriate to a particular field, such as medicine, law, business, music, or film.  The course is regularly offered as a BALA class on business writing, with enrollment limited to students in that program.  When it is offered on a different topic, it is open to all students who have completed 110.

English 210W: Introduction to Creative Writing An introduction to the writing of poetry, fiction, and plays, with related readings. This course is a prerequisite for English 301W, 302, and 304.

English 211W: Writing Nonfictional Prose An introduction to the writing of nonfiction an art form, in such modes as the personal essay, the review, new journalism, the memoir, and the postmodernist pastiche, with related readings. This course is the prerequisite for English 303W.

English 301W: Fiction Workshop Intensive practice in the writing of fiction, with related readings.

English 302: Playwriting Workshop Intensive practice in the writing of plays, with related readings.

English 303W: Nonfiction Workshop Intensive practice in the writing of nonfiction as an art form, with related readings. In some semesters, the course focuses on one mode of nonfiction, such as the memoir or environmental writing.

English 304: Poetry Workshop Intensive practice in the writing of poems, with related readings.

Note: The prerequisite for 301W, 302, and 304 is a grade of B in 210W or permission of the instructor and that the prerequisite for 303W is a grade of B in 211W or permission of the instructor.

Utopia PKWY

Utopia PKWY , the undergraduate literary journal, is an outlet for students to publish their own and each other’s work, and an opportunity for English majors and students from other disciplines to work together toward a community project that involves staff meetings, public readings, practice in the editorial demands and obligations of producing a literary journal, and interaction with faculty advisors.  The journal is published once a year, usually in the Fall semester, and while it takes submissions from all Queens College undergraduates, it is selective in deciding on what student work to publish.  Many students whose work was included in a recent edition of the journal were accepted into nationally known MFA Creative Writing programs, including the Queens College MFA.  Active engagement in the production of our literary journal provides students with the opportunity both to socialize with their classmates, and to gain insight into the editorial processes and business concerns involved in publishing an annual literary journal.

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Creative Writing, B.F.A.

• Creative Writing, B.F.A. Program Page
• Creative Writing, B.F.A. Four-Year Degree Map for Bulletin Year 2018-2019
• Creative Writing, B.F.A. Four-Year Degree Map for Bulletin Year 2019-2020
• Creative Writing, B.F.A. Four-Year Degree Map for Bulletin Year 2020-2021
• Creative Writing, B.F.A. Four-Year Degree Map for Bulletin Year 2021-2022

Department Goal 1: Read and think critically.

Program Objective 1: Learn to read literature with a focus on the ways in which form serves content.

Program Objective 2: Use close reading effectively to identify literary techniques, styles, and themes.

Program Objective 3: Learn to read and comment constructively and critically on the creative writing of peers in the workshop context.

Department Goal 2: Understand how language operates.

Program Objective 1: Demonstrate knowledge of literary tropes and techniques (for example: metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, word play, and sonic effects such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhythm, etc.) 

Department Goal 3: Express ideas–both orally and in writing–correctly, cogently, persuasively, and in conformity with the conventions of the discipline.

Program Objective 1: Create original examples of creative writing that demonstrate complexity through attention to rhetoric, syntax and tone.

Program Objective 2: Comment and write cogently and persuasively about classmates’ writing in the workshop context.

Program Objective 3: Demonstrate the ability to respond to constructive criticism from instructor and peers by effectively revising writing assignments.

Program Objective 4: Demonstrate the ability to use the currently accepted conventions of standard English mechanics and grammar, with an eye toward how those standards can be stretched in order to achieve innovative modes of expression.

Department Goal 4: Conduct research

Program Objective 1: Learn how to research and seek out historical and contemporary literary voices relevant to their individual voice.

Program Objective 2: Make use of the opportunities that Brooklyn College and New York City afford by attending readings, plays, literary panel discussions, and submitting to literary magazines.

Outcomes for demonstrating achievement of objectives:

Written work (including poems/stories/plays, in-class writing exercises, short written reflections on literary techniques used by published writers, workshop responses for peers, revised writing samples, etc.)

Contributions to class discussions and workshops

Attendance at readings, panels, performances or a related research project (such as researching literary magazines/submitting one’s work); documented via written summary of the activity handed into instructor

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Did you know that Kingsborough is the only community college in Brooklyn? Brooklyn! The birthplace and residency of some of the most important writers in American history is also the home of a community college that nurtures its borough’s writers and  artists.

• Department of English Kingsborough Community College
• 2001 Oriental Blvd. Room C-309 Brooklyn, NY 11235
• 718-368-5849 (phone)
• 718-368-4786 (fax)

Co-Directors, Creative Writing

• Brian Katz 
• 718-368-6740
• [email protected]
• 718-368-5229
• [email protected]

Our Creative Writing program celebrates our city and its many writers with a curriculum that opens doors and invites creativity.

Here are the classes we offer. 

English 59, Introduction to Creative Writing , presents both traditional and innovative ways of writing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The course is designed to help students become better creative and critical thinkers by encouraging participants to explore a range of forms in a supportive and absorbing environment.

In English 56, Creative Writing: Fiction , students will experiment, a lot, with writing. They will write a number of short stories throughout the semester, some of which will be very short (and written in class), and some of which will be longer, and written outside of class. Aside from reading and modeling stories on other stories and writers, we will also look at other types of storytelling: e.g., art, music and film, in an attempt to explore what storytelling is, in its various incarnations.

English 57, Creative Writing: Poetry , allows students to discover the many forms of writing poetry in an environment that challenges their expectations and engages their expanding skill set. Yes, there will be quite a bit of rap. It might get loud!

English 58, Creative Writing: Nonfiction , offers instruction and practice in the art of writing nonfiction, including autobiography and memoir, cultural memoir and critique, nature, travel, and community writing, and literary journalism. We will examine the ways in which both traditional and experimental genres can enrich your development of superior artistry.

English 60, Creative Writing: Screenwriting , focuses on the practice and art of writing screenplays and scripts, along with study of works of screenplays as examples and models. Students are encouraged to engage and participate in the many film-related activities in Brooklyn and beyond.

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Journalism and Creative Writing

The Journalism and Creative Writing specialization helps students develop the research, interviewing, writing, editing, and multimedia storytelling skills that are crucial to success across a broad spectrum of fields and professions in this information age.

Our faculty of professional writers and editors will teach you to research, report, interview, and write about urban affairs, politics, crime and the courts, arts and culture, law, education, science, sports, and many other topics. Students have an opportunity, through the media internship program, to gain professional experience during their studies.

All students are invited to showcase their reporting, writing, and editing skills through participation in Dollars & Sense , the national award-winning Baruch College magazine. The program also features opportunities for student awards, paid internships, and full-tuition fellowships.

For creative writing students, this specialization, which is affiliated with the extraordinary Harman Writer-in-Residence program, can help you to improve your own writing. You will find your own voice, as you experiment with a range of writing forms, including biography, creative non-fiction, fiction, and screenwriting, all while you expand your ability to create literary prose that reflects both your talent and critical thinking skills.

Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions 646-312-3974

Department Chair: Professor Vera Haller

646-312-4338​

MFA in Creative Writing

A home for writers in harlem.

For more than four decades, City College has been a home for writers in Harlem. Since its inception, some of the most distinguished writers in America have taught here at our West Harlem campus, including Donald Barthelme, Gwendolyn Brooks, Kurt Vonnegut, Marilyn Hacker, William Matthews, Grace Paley and Susan Sontag. Our MFA Program in Creative Writing is dedicated to diversity, excellence and inclusion . The mission of our program is simple: We want every student to find his or her unique voice, whether through fiction, nonfiction, drama, screenwriting, experimental or genre fiction and/or poetry, while simultaneously preparing them for life beyond graduate school as writers, teachers, scholars, and more.

Our recent award-winning graduates include Hasanthika Sirisena, Lisa Ko and Brendon Kiely. New York Times Bestsellers and Pulitzer Prize winners include Walter Mosley, Oscar Hijuelos, and Ernesto Quinonez. In small workshops, craft courses and literary analysis, our students immerse themselves in their writing. Meanwhile, they discover a thriving community through literary magazines, public readings and visiting writers.

“Our MFA program is dedicated to diversity, excellence and inclusion. We help emerging writers find their voice, polish their craft, and enter the contemporary publishing landscape.”

We welcome our MFA students to attend the program at their own pace, either full-time or part-time. We believe in access and opportunity not for just a select few, but for all those who are committed to their creativity, literature and who take the craft of writing seriously.

Finally, despite its prime location and storied past, the City College’s MFA program is dedicated to remaining at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in New York City. We welcome our MFAs to attend the program at their own pace as full-time or part-time students. We believe in access and opportunity not just for select few, but for all those who believe in the life of literature and who take the craft of writing seriously.

Fall Application Deadline: February 15

APPLY ONLINE

Visit our full program site here

In the press.

‘The Blue-Collar Harvard’

Fledgling authors from underrepresented backgrounds and nontraditional students are turning to graduate creative writing programs at the City University of New York to tell their stories.

by Sara Weissman,  Inside Higher Ed,   June 22, 2021

The class for the creative writing master of fine arts program at City College of New York this past spring was its largest yet — enrollment jumped from 120 students in the fall to 140 this spring. There were 105 students enrolled in fall 201

What makes the CCNY MFA in Creative Writing Different from other programs?

“Diversity. We’re located in Harlem. Our unofficial tagline is “Ten times the diversity for one tenth the price,” because we’re also comparatively affordable”…

MFA Program Profile: Emily Raboteau on CCNY Publisher’s Weekly, May 2015

We have students of all backgrounds in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, and age. No one group is the majority, and therefore none of the work is treated like minority literature. There are radical implications for the kinds of work our students are putting out into the world for it to be nurtured, respected, celebrated, and intelligently critiqued in the classroom.

IndoorVoices Podcast interviews the Director: Episode 65: Michelle Valladares on CCNY’s creative writing MFA

By Kathleen Collins, October 18, 2021

In Spring 2021, the Creative Writing MFA at City College saw an unprecedented enrollment spike. It’s not exactly clear why it occurred, but Director Michelle Valladares has some ideas about that. She has lots of ideas, in fact, about unique and exciting ways to grow the program even more while still maintaining a manageable cohort size…

What Alumni Are Saying

Michelle Valladares Assistant Professor & Director of MFA in Creative Writing Location: Room 6/219 Phone: 212-650-6694 [email protected]

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MFA Creative Writing

Fiction | creative nonfiction | poetry.

The Creative Writing MFA is a full-time, two-year program in which students take three set classes per semester:

Class credits Each class earns the student three credits toward the thirty-six credits required to graduate.

Transfer credits The program does not accept any transfer credits.

Genre restrictions MFA students may only take craft classes and workshops in the genre for which they are accepted.

Non-matriculated students We don't accept non-matriculated students or auditors.

International students We welcome applications from international students. Please direct any questions about special requirments for international-student applications, to the Office of Graduate Admissions: Tel. 212-772-4490. Click here to visit their website.

There's also some useful information on the Hunter International Students Office website . 

The Distinguished Writers Series Attendance at all readings organized by the program is considered a degree requirement. For more information see our calendar .

Teaching fellowships At the end of their second semester, students are eligible to apply to teach the undergraduate course “Introduction to Creative Writing.”

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The Department of English is home to three undergraduate major concentrations (Literature, Creative Writing and Secondary English Education) and three graduate programs (Literature, Creative Writing and Language and Literacy). Our courses are taught by a diverse faculty, many of whom have authored award-winning novels, memoirs, volumes of poetry, and influential works in fields of literary theory, cultural criticism, rhetoric, pedagogy, biography and historical scholarship. In addition to our course offerings, the English Department maintains an active calendar of readings, guest lectures, craft talks and professional development seminars designed to further enhance the education of our students. 

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The City College of New York MFA in Creative Writing

A home for writers in harlem.

A Conversation with Carlos Aguasaco, Chai & Chat Reading Series

In My Eyes, You Are Beautiful: A Reading & Conversation with David Unger

New article by Professor Salar Abdoh in “The Atlantic”

Our mfa program is dedicated to diversity, excellence and inclusion. we help emerging writers find their voice, polish their craft, and enter the contemporary publishing landscape. .

Writing Faculty

The distinguished faculty of the MFA in Creative Writing program has included Gwendolyn Brooks, Donald Barthelme, Joseph Heller, Grace Paley, Susan Sontag, Marilyn Hacker, and Michelle Wallace, to name a few.

For Students

Stay informed about program requirements, deadlines, application process, course listing, and graduation.

In The Press

‘the blue-collar harvard’.

Fledgling authors from underrepresented backgrounds and nontraditional students are turning to graduate creative writing programs at the City University of New York to tell their stories.

by Sara Weissman , Inside Higher Ed,  June 22, 2021

The class for the creative writing master of fine arts program at City College of New York this past spring was its largest yet — enrollment jumped from 120 students in the fall to 140 this spring. There were 105 students enrolled in fall 2019.

What makes the CCNY MFA in Creative Writing Different from other programs?

“Diversity. We’re located in Harlem. Our unofficial tagline is “Ten times the diversity for one tenth the price,” because we’re also comparatively affordable”…

MFA Program Profile: Emily Raboteau on CCNY Publisher’s Weekly, May 2015

We have students of all backgrounds in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, and age. No one group is the majority, and therefore none of the work is treated like minority literature. There are radical implications for the kinds of work our students are putting out into the world for it to be nurtured, respected, celebrated, and intelligently critiqued in the classroom.

IndoorVoices Podcast interviews the Director:

Episode 65: michelle valladares on ccny’s creative writing mfa.

By Kathleen Collins, October 18, 2021

In Spring 2021, the Creative Writing MFA at City College saw an unprecedented enrollment spike. It’s not exactly clear why it occurred, but Director Michelle Valladares has some ideas about that. She has lots of ideas, in fact, about unique and exciting ways to grow the program even more while still maintaining a manageable cohort size…

Testimonials

What alumni are saying.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Mostly dividing his time between New York City and Tehran, Iran, Salar regularly publishes personal essays and short stories, plus numerous translations of other authors that appear in journals across the world.

A professor at the City University of New York’s CITY COLLEGE campus in Harlem, he teaches workshops in the English Department’s MFA program and also serves as Director of Undergraduate Creative Writing. Website: salarabdoh.com

Author Website

Spring 2020

Spring 2019

She has been anthologized in Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond, and The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry by Indians . Her honors include a Pushcart Prize Nomination and she was awarded “The Poet of the Year” by the Americas Poetry Festival of New York. She is currently working on a book about faith called Searching for Tara.

Naima’s second novel,  Didn’t Never Know , is the story of the integration of a public high school in a small Southern town, which sets off a chain of events that bonds two families together in unexpected and complicated ways over the course of their lives. It is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing.

Naima’s stories and essays have appeared in the  New York Times , the  Rumpus ,  Aster(ix) ,  Kweli ,  The Paris Review Daily , and elsewhere. She has taught writing to students in jail, youth programs, and universities. Naima is currently visiting faculty at the MFA program at City College in Harlem and Antioch University in L.A.

Unger has been a featured writer in book festivals in San Juan, Miami, Los Angeles, Guatemala, Sharjah, Managua, Bogotá, Lima, La Paz, Oaxaca, and Guadalajara.

She received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Arizona, and her Ph.D. from Stanford University.  She teaches a range of subjects from feminist and critical literary theory, poetics, film studies, contemporary literature, and women’s literature.

He has taught poetry and nonfiction workshops. An independent book editor with an interest in the ways writers engage with the culture, he has also led MFA courses in publishing and authorship.

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