The Program at a Glance:
- We are the only UC campus with a Creative Writing Major and Minor.
- We offer three main genres of study: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, with workshops and seminars at the heart of a creative writing major’s journey at UCR.
- Some specialized courses include: The Anatomy of Poetry; Fiction & Film; Prose Poem & Short-Short Story; Metafiction; Children’s Literature; The Writer in the World; Experiments in Poetry; Professional Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry; Spoken Word Poetry (The Verbal Coliseum); Speculative Fiction; Memoir; The Sentence
- We have roughly 140 majors . . .
- And 14 full-time, tenured professors, all of whom are published authors with extensive teaching experience.
- Two of our lecturers write short stories (Brandon Williams and Josh Hardina) and another, Rachelle Cruz, has published a middle-grade novel, My Summer of Shapeshifting, Experiencing Comics: An Introduction to Reading, Discussing, and Creating Comics, two books of poems, one of which won the American Book Award, and a co-edited anthology, Kuwento: Lost Things: An Anthology of New Philippine Myths.
- Faculty honors include the Los Angeles Book Prize in Poetry awarded to Allison Benis White; Guggenheim Fellowships to Emily Rapp Black (nonfiction), Steve Erickson (fiction), and Laila Lalami (fiction); National Book Award finalists Allison Hedge Coke (poetry) and Laila Lalami (fiction) and longlist recipient Charmaine Craig (fiction); National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships to Andrew Winer (fiction), Laila Lalami (fiction); and Alex Espinoza (fiction); a Lannan Literary Fellowship to Katie Ford (poetry) and a Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award to Steve Erickson (fiction); A Southern Book Club Prize to Dolen Perkins-Valdez, who also has received NAACP Image Award and a BCALA Award for Fiction; Emmy and Peabody nominations to Reza Aslan, whose book, Zealot, was a #1 New York Times Best Seller.
- The Department hosts Writers Week each spring, the longest-running free writing festival in the country, and undergraduates at each event receive a free book signed by the author.
- Recent Creative Writing Majors have gone on to jobs & careers in the following fields: Publishing, Non-Profit Arts Administration, K – 12 Teaching, Editing, Preschool Teaching, College and University Teaching, University Administration, State Government, Medicine, Business Administration, Advertising, Digital Content Writing, Legal Proofreading, and more. Please email Undergraduate Director Katie Ford with your employment news after you graduate! katie@ucr.edu
- And some have continued their education with graduate studies in . . . Fine Arts (Fiction / Nonfiction / Poetry / Screenwriting/ Playwriting), Library Science, Literary Publishing, English, Comparative Literature, Medicine, and Law.
The Major & Minor:
With intimate class sizes for focused student attention, the Creative Writing major is a demanding and rewarding program for all aspiring writers. For students who are interested in minoring in Creative Writing, the Department also offers a Creative Writing minor.
University Requirements
Students must complete the general University requirements for admission to the Undergraduate Division. Applicants should access the Undergraduate Studies section for a complete listing, and www.futurestudents.ucr.edu for more information.
College Requirements
Students must complete the breadth requirements of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. For a detailed list of requirements, see Breadth Requirements.
Major Requirements:
The major requirements for the B.A. degree in Creative Writing are as follows:
Prerequisite courses: CRWT 056 or equivalent, and ENGL 001A or equivalent.
- Lower-division requirements (20 units; five courses)
Two Creative Writing survey courses from CRWT 046S, CRWT 047S, CRWT 048S, CRWT 046, CRWT 047 or CRWT 048
and
Two Creative Writing introductory courses from CRWT 057A, CRWT 057B, or CRWT 057C
and
One literature survey course from CRWT 012/CPLT 012, CRWT 040 or CRWT 040S, CRWT 041, CRWT 042, CRWT 044, CRWT 045, CRWT 076, ENGL 014, ENGL 017, CRWT 097H
- Upper-division requirements (36 units)
- Two workshop courses in primary genre:
Nonfiction CRWT 132 & CRWT 134
Or
Poetry CRWT 160 & CRWT 170
Or
Fiction CRWT 162 & CRWT 172
b) One workshop in second genre: CRWT 132, CRWT 134, CRWT 160, CRWT 162*, CRWT 170*, CRWT 172
*These workshops may be repeated; however, only 4 units total can be applied to the major.
c) One workshop in third genre: CRWT 132, CRWT 134, CRWT 160, CRWT 162*, CRWT 170*, CRWT 172*
*These workshops may be repeated; however, only 4 units total can be applied to the major.
d) Four upper-division courses in Creative Writing: CRWT 136, CRWT 146, CRWT 151, CRWT 155, CRWT 164A/TFDP 164A, CRWT 164B/TFDP 164B, CRWT 164C/TFDP 164C, CRWT 171, CRWT 173, CRWT 176, CRWT 182, CRWT 185, CRWT 187/CPLT 187, CRWT 191 (may be taken twice but used only once for major credit), CRWT 198I (may be taken only once, for 4 units)
e) Four (4) units of CRWT 195 or CRWT 195H (Senior Honors Thesis) or any upper division course in another subject outside of Creative Writing. Students interested in pursuing a thesis should inquire a professor they would like to study with, preparing a thesis proposal as well as a sample of creative work of 10-15 pages. Page requirements for a completed thesis: 40 pages of fiction or nonfiction; 20 pages of poetry.a thesis proposal with a sample of work of 10-15 pages to give to the professor for consideration.
Requirements for the Minor:
1. Lower-division requirements (16 units)
a) one introductory writing workshop: CRWT 056
b) one introductory reading course:
CRWT 040 or CRWT 040S, CRWT 046S, CRWT 047S, CRWT 048S, CRWT 046, CRWT 047, or CRWT 048.
c) two workshop courses from CRWT 057, CRWT 057B, CRWT 057C
2. Upper-division requirements (20 units)
a) Four (4) units from (1) CRWT 176 (or)
Any upper-division course in English, Comparative, Literature and Foreign Languages, or Theater (except ENGL 101, ENGL 103, FREN 100, FREN 101A, FREN 101B, FREN 101C, GER 101, GER103A, GER 103B, RUSN 103, SPN 101A, SPN101B, SPN 101C, SPN 105, SPN 106A, SPN106B)
b) Sixteen (16) units in one of the following emphases:
Nonfiction Emphasis:
(1) CRWT 132, CRWT 134
(2) Four (4) units CRWT 164A/THEA 164A, CRWT 166A/MCS 166A/TFDP166A, CRWT 171, CRWT 187/CPLT 187
(3) Four (4) units in any upper-level course in CRWT, excluding any course already taken.
Poetry Emphasis:
(1) CRWT 160, CRWT 170
(2) Four (4) units from CRWT 164A,/THEA 164A, CRWT 166A/MCS, 166A/TFDP 166A, CRWT 171, CRWT187/CLPT 187
(3) Four (4) units in any upper-level course in CRWT, excluding any course already taken.
Fiction Emphasis:
(1) CRWT 162, CRWT 172
(2) Four (4) units from CRWT 164A/THEA164A, CRWT 166A/MCS 166A/TFDP 166A, CRWT 187/CPLT187
(3) Four (4) units in any upper-level course in CRWT, excluding any course already taken.
Drama Emphasis:
(1) CRWT 164A/TFDP 164A, CRWT 164B/TFDP164B, CRWT 164C/TFDP 164C
(2) Four (4) units from CRWT 188A/MCS166A/TRDP 166A, CRWT 166B/MCS 166B/TFDP 166B, CRWT 166C/MCS 166C,
TFDP 166C, CRWT 187/CPLT 187, TFDP 121
(3) Four (4) units in any upper-level course in CRWT, excluding any course already taken.
Download pdfs here:
Major RequirementsMinor Requirements
Financial Aid
The Financial Aid Office assists students with meeting educational expenses that cannot be met from personal resources. To obtain financial aid students must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with the Financial Aid Office yearly. FAFSAs are available beginning December 1 for the upcoming academic year at the Financial Aid Office or at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Students applying for other grants, loans, and work-study should apply as early as possible. Applications are accepted year-round, with awards to late applicants based on fund availability.
For more information, contact:
Joseph Gonzales
Office Location: INTN 3129
Email: jgonz599@ucr.edu
Advisor for students with names: A – L
Jennifer Garrison
Office Location: INTN 3115
Email: jennifer.garrison@ucr.edu
Advisor for students with names: M-Z
Anthony (Tony) Gonzalez
Office Location: INTN 3111A
Phone: (951) 827-6053
Email: anthony.gonzalez@ucr.edu
Undergraduate Academic Advisor Supervisor