Undergraduate

Creative Writing Minor

The minor in Creative Writing offers students the opportunity to engage deeply with their own writing and that of their peers in a graduated series of workshops led by professional writers of poetry and prose. Participants in the program take four workshops sequentially during their undergraduate careers, plus one upper-level English literature course of their choice. Eligibility for the Creative Writing minor requires either successful completion of the appropriate 200-level Creative Writing workshop with a grade of A or A-, or submission of an acceptable portfolio of work to the Creative Writing faculty.

Fifteen credit hours consist of the following:

  • Three credits at the 200-level (ENGL271 or ENGL272 or ENGL273 or AASP298W/ENGL278C)
  • Three credits at the 300-level (ENGL352 or ENGL353)
  • Six credits at the 400-level (two sections of ENGL498 or of ENGL499)
  • Three credits in any upper-level English literature course.

After admission to the minor, students choose to specialize in either prose (352, 498) or poetry (353, 499).  Students admitted directly to a 300-level workshop must take three workshops (9 credits) at the 400 level.

Find an overview of creative writing courses here.

Minor Course Restrictions

  1. A grade of C or better is required in each of the courses making up the 15 credits of the minor.
  2. No more than six of the 15 semester hours may be taken at an institution other than the University of Maryland, College Park.
  3. No more than six of the 15 semester hours may count toward the student’s major or toward college requirements.
  4. No course used to satisfy the requirements of another minor may count toward the Creative Writing minor.

Writers’ House Students

Students in the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program who also wish to complete the Creative Writing minor should note the following:

  • Students in the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program may substitute ARHU319 for one of the 400-level Creative Writing workshops (ENGL498 or ENGL 499).
  • Students in the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program, may also count their three-credit supporting class toward the minor, provided that the supporting class is a 300- or 400-level English course.
  • Students in the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program, who are also English majors, and who wish to complete the Creative Writing minor, may double count credits as explained above. They may not, however, “triple-count” credits; that is, they may not use any of the same credits to satisfy both the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program and the English major.

Admission and Advising

Participants in the Creative Writing minor will be advised in the English Undergraduate Studies Office, 1128 Tawes Hall (tel. 301-405-3825).

Students who wish to apply to the Creative Writing minor should go to the ARHU minors webpage (http://www.arhu.umd.edu/undergraduate/academics/minors) to complete a contact form. The completed form will be sent to the Creative Writing minor advisor in the English Undergraduate Studies Office who will contact you to schedule an advising appointment.  Please note that you can only be admitted to the minor if you have fulfilled the prerequisites: either successful completion of the appropriate 200-level Creative Writing workshop with a grade of A or A-, or submission of an acceptable portfolio of work to the Creative Writing faculty.

All minors in the College of Arts and Humanities are “capped,” that is they are open only to a limited number of students. Students will be enrolled in the Creative Writing minor as space permits according to the original time of submission of their completed contact form and completion of prerequisites.

University regulations specify "to ensure appropriate academic advising, students who wish to pursue a minor should inform both the college responsible for their major and the unit offering the minor as early as possible, but in no case later than one full academic year before the expected date of graduation."  We recommend you seek admission to the minor and receive advising within the first six credits of your minor.  To do so, please fill out the contact form, as noted above at http://www.arhu.umd.edu/undergraduate/academics/minors

Graduation

Students who fulfill minor requirements will receive a minor notation on the official transcript. Please contact the English Undergraduate Studies Office for more information.