Creative Writing

The concentration in creative writing offers students the opportunity to explore an array of writing styles and genres, thereby helping them discover and develop their own voices. Beyond the introductory course in which students write fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction, students take specialized workshops offered each term, as well as tutorials and independent studies. A number of Simon’s Rock graduates have gone on to great success in graduate programs in writing, and have published their own stories, poems, essays, novels, and biographies. However, the concentration is intended to assist all students who wish to make creative writing a part of their major program, rather than only those students interested in writing as a profession. Because the concentration affords students the opportunity to explore writing as a means of knowing, it serves very well those major programs that focus on literary studies, gender studies, theater, visual arts, and the social sciences. Creative writing can help students become better readers of their own work, of themselves, and of the world around them.

Curriculum

Students in this concentration balance time spent on their own writing with literature courses in which they develop familiarity with literary genres and the works of published writers. All students are required to take Introduction to Creative Writing, which focuses on a number of different genres and assists students in developing effective skills for critique and revision of their work. They must earn an additional six credits through writing workshops and at least 11 credits through literature courses, including one of the College’s introductory genre courses. Two courses in the concentration must be at the 300 level or above. The minimum total credits for the concentration is 20. Beyond this, students are encouraged to take tutorials or independent studies in writing, to select literature courses that link up with and forward their writing interests, and to take courses in other disciplines that enrich their work in creative writing.

Writing Workshops

Literature 150 Introduction to Creative Writing

Two additional writing workshops selected from the list below:
Art History 100 Visual Art and Writing
Dance 211 Relationships between Dance and Creative Writing
Literature 101m Nature Writing/Writing Nature
Literature 102m Hearing Meter, Reading Rhyme
Literature 106m Creative Nonfiction
Literature 287 The Personal Essay
Literature 288 Fiction Workshop
Literature 289 Poetry Workshop
Literature 291 Translation Workshop
Studio Art 223 Writing and Photography Studio

Workshops may be taken at the 300 level by students who have already taken them once. Such students are expected to complete additional work.

Literature Courses

One genre course selected from the list below:
Literature 201 Art of Poetry
Literature 202 Art of Fiction: The Short Story
Literature 203 Art of Fiction: The Novel
Literature 205 Art of Autobiography: The Self as Subject
Literature 206 Art of Film
Literature 207 Art of Literary Analysis
Literature 239 Contemporary American Poetry: Constructs of the Self

Students are encouraged to select 300-level literature courses that best complement their primary writing interests. For example, poets might take Modern Poetry; playwrights might take Studies in Modern Drama.

Recent Senior Theses

“Why Shouldn’t Our Work Be Hard? An Inquiry into Lyric Writing and Performing”
“Fiona’s Horses: A Novel in Progress”
“Where I’m Coming From: A Family of Short Works”
“A Medieval Romance by Mark Twain: A Study of Imitation as a Technique in Creative Writing”
“A Mouthful: A Study in First Person Identity and Narrative Technique”
“A Nebula in a Plumb Line: Short Works of Fiction”
“Portrait of the Artist as a Young Black Woman”
“The Rainbow Covenant: A Story of Exile”
“The Way You Say It: A Collection of Poems”
“Feminism and the Politics of Film: Art, A Screenplay, and Essays”
“One Bright Morning I Woke Up and This is What They Said”
“From History to My Story: A Practical Study in Historical Adaptation”

Guest Writers

For many years the College has sponsored a series of readings by writers of fiction and poetry, both renowned masters and younger writers who can serve as role models for students. In recent years, writers have included Andrea Barrett, Jonathan Franzen, Seamus Heaney, E. Annie Proulx, Mary Jo Salter, Derek Walcott, Richard Wilbur, and many others. Students who enroll in the Guest Writers course have the opportunity to read a work by each visitor and to attend a master class held before the public reading. Students in the creative writing concentration are particularly urged to take advantage of this opportunity.

Faculty

Peter Filkins, Hal Holladay, Jamie Hutchinson, Brendan Mathews, Patricia Sharpe, Wendy Shifrin
Faculty Contact: Peter Filkins