Program Co-ordinator: Dr. L. Mathews, Department of English Language and Literature

The Diploma aims to develop students' skills in writing in a variety of genres conventionally described as “creative,” such as fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction. It will also offer students the opportunity to take, as options, courses that provide a background in contemporary literature in these genres.

The eight course, 24 credit hour program will comprise at least five and as many as eight creative writing courses in at least three and as many as four genres. The overall aim of the program is to help students produce work that merits publication. To this end, the focus of the creative writing courses will be on the composition, critiquing, and editing of the students’ own work, and, in both the creative writing and contemporary literature courses, on analysing examples of excellent contemporary writing.

As has traditionally been the case, students will compete for admission to individual Creative Writing courses via the portfolio system. The Diploma will be earned by accretion.

Students are required to complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of course work, including at least 15 credit hours from the following:

• English 3900, English 3901, English 3902, English 3903, English 4910, English 4911, English 4912, and English 4913

The remaining courses must be taken from:

1. additional courses from the above list

2. one or more special topics courses in Creative Writing (English 4920-4930)

3. one or more of English 3100, 3155, 3156, 3158, 3160, 3161, 3171, 3172, 3173, 4080, 4270, 4302, 4822

4. one or more courses from the Diploma in Professional Writing