Writing

What if you could...

What if you could express yourself fully and deeply, with firm, yet gentle, prodding from your professors and classmates...

Writing sets students on a
road to capture the world in
all its dizzying complexity

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE HUMAN

At Drew, writing is done in a workshop setting where the primary text for the course is written by you and your fellow students. Our workshops help you move past your fears and toward true expression. But mostly we train you in thinking—sophisticated, playful, serious thinking.
We share with you all that is wonderful about the liberal arts—a deep and serious dialogue with peers, serious reading of the literature of the past, the crossing of cultural, temporal and linguistic boundaries and a kind of fearless curiosity about oneself and others—so that you grow as a person.
You can choose to focus on poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or playwriting. Our minor also emphasizes the art of reading literary texts, which gives you the chance to learn from great writing.
We regularly host public readings by renowned authors, from National Book Award winner Mark Doty to Pulitzer Prize—winning poet Paul Muldoon. You also have a shot at reading your own work at an awards event in our beloved coffeehouse, The Other End.
You can intern in all types of settings, from large publishers like Pearson Publishing and local newspapers to the unparalleled Dodge Poetry Festival—the largest in the nation—and Lucky magazine in Manhattan.

Passionate Faculty

Patrick Phillips

Assistant professor

I am finishing my third book of poems, which I worked on as a Guggenheim Fellow, and recently turned in the manuscript of When We Leave Each Other, a book of translations of the work of the leading poet in Denmark, Henrik Nordbrandt. In my spare time I chase things: mountain peaks, tennis balls and especially my two young sons.

Ph.D., New York University

Imagine Studying

observational skills to create literature beyond your own experience in “Advanced Fiction”

View the catalog details

Minor

Minor

Requirements for the Minor (20 credits)

Students may complete a minor in writing with an emphasis either in nonfiction or in creative writing.

I. Areas (16 credits)

12 credits should be in the student's area of emphasis (nonfiction orcreative) and 4 credits in the other. A workshop may be repeated.

ENGL 311 - Nonfiction Writing (4)

Workshops with weekly round-table editing sessions, offering writing and reading assignments in established and innovative nonfiction forms. Emphasizes expressive writing-the personal and informal essay, autobiography and biography, the character sketch, vignette, narrative, and prose lyric.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

At the discretion of the department, may be taken twice for credit.

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: Satisfaction of the College writing requirement.

ENGL 312 - Nonfiction Writing: Articles (4)

Workshops with weekly round-table editing sessions, offering writing and reading assignments in established and innovative nonfiction forms. Emphasizes the factual article as a literary form-practice in assembling facts (research and interviewing procedures) and in shaping the informative, lively article, editorial, and critical review.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

At the discretion of the department, may be taken twice for credit.

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: Satisfaction of the College writing requirement.

ENGL 313 - Creative Writing Workshop: Short Fiction (4)

Exercises in characterization, setting, dialogue, and narration. Incorporates these elements of fiction into complete stories. Class discussion of manuscripts.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

At the discretion of the department, may be taken twice for credit.

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: Satisfaction of the College writing requirement and submission of appropriate writing sample.

ENGL 314 - Creative Writing Workshop: Poetry (4)

Practice in elements of the poet's craft, focusing particularly on the language of emotion and the uses of metaphor. Explores traditional verse patterns and encourages the development of one's own imaginative perception and style.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

At the discretion of the department, may be taken twice for credit.

Offered: annually.

Prerequisite: Satisfaction of the College writing requirement and submission of appropriate writing sample.

ENGL 315 - Creative Writing Workshop: Advanced Fiction (4)

This course is a workshop for students wishing to develop a sophisticated fiction writing vocabulary and a vigorous exploration of literature via the study and creation of it. The course will be made up of creation classes on specific issues of craft, such as point of view, character development, and dialogue. Students will read full novels and story collections and be expected to use skills gleaned from these texts in their own work. The course will push students past the "write what you know" paradigm; key to this course will be developing research and observational skills in order to create and appreciate literature beyond your own experience.

Course may be repeated twice for credit.

Offered: fall semester.

Prerequisite: ENGL 311,ENGL 312,ENGL 313 or ENGL 314, submission of writing sample and application.

ENGL 316 - Creative Writing Workshop: Advanced Poetry (4)

An advanced course in the art of poetry for students who have completed an introductory creative writing workshop. Focused on advanced strategies for developing poets, including metrics, prosody, traditional formal schemes, imitations, radical revisions, experimental poetry, sequences, and the longer lyric.

Course may be repeated twice for credit.

Offered: fall semester.

Prerequisite: ENGL 311, ENGL 312, ENGL 313 or ENGL 314, submission of writing sample and application.

II. Additional (4 credits)

ENGL 212 - Spoken Word (2)

This course explores literature as a performance art. Students will learn to write poetry and/or prose with a focus on the sounds and rhythm of language. Students will memorize and recite their own poetry and prose, as well as works by spoken word and canonical writers, such as Saul William and Sylvia Plath.

ENGL 216 - Introduction to Journalism (4)

An introduction to the fundamentals and procedures of operating a newspaper. Emphasizes gathering news and writing clear, vigorous copy. Studies layout, editing, feature and editorial writing, and copy-editing as well as the ethics and responsibilities of journalism.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Offered: fall semester.

Prerequisite: Satisfaction of the College writing requirement.

ENGL 220 - History and Structure of the English Language (4)

A study of the development of English from Anglo-Saxon to its present status as a "global" language. The development of English is placed within the framing social, political and economic contexts of its speakers. May also examine the historical development of theories attempting to explain English, its styles, dialects, and literatures.

Offered: in alternate spring semesters.

ENGL 221 - History of Rhetoric (4)

Rhetoric, most typically defined as "the art of persuasion," has had a variety of descriptions based on the describer and his or her historical context. This class will study the changing definitions of rhetoric from 5th-century B.C. Greece to contemporary American culture and why those changes took place. Students will also be asked to analyze rhetoric's relation to politics, religion, law and cultural identity from antiquity to the present day.

Offered: in alternate spring semesters.

ENGL 300 - Independent Study in Literature (2-4)

A tutorial course with meetings by arrangement and oral and written reports. Students who wish to pursue independent study must offer for approval of the instructor a proposal on a literary topic not covered in the curriculum. Joint proposals by two or more students may be submitted.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Course may be repeated.

Offered: every semester.

LING 220 - History and Structure of the English Language (4)

A study of the development of English from Anglo-Saxon to its present status as a global language. Examines the historical development of theories attempting to explain English, its styles, dialects, and literatures. Recommended: LING 101.

THEA 255 - Playwriting (4)

Writing the one-act play from rough draft through polished revision. Exercises in characterization, plot, setting, dialogue, theme, metaphor and dramatic structure. Course focuses on developing material based on observation, adaptation, and imagination through the use of journals, newspapers and improvisation. Class meetings focus on the reading and discussion of student work and selected published plays.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Offered: every semester.

Prerequisite: THEA 101 and permission of instructor.

THEA 355 - Advanced Playwriting (4)

A writer's workshop with an emphasis on form, language, theatricality, and deep revision. Students complete a full-length play or two one-act plays. Class meetings focus on the reading and discussion of student work and selected published plays as well as preparing manuscripts for production and publication.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

May be repeated for credit.

Prerequisite: THEA 255 and permission of instructor.

Note

Independent study in writing is ordinarily undertaken only after a student has completed the writing workshops in the student’s chosen genre.

Writing sets students on a road to capture the world in all its dizzying complexity

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE HUMAN

Passionate Faculty

Patrick Phillips

Assistant professor

Imagine Studying

Writing sets students on a
road to capture the world in
all its dizzying complexity