Minor Program ERMIN1497 Creative Writing
The Department of English and Drama’s Minor in Creative Writing is designed to allow students to focus on either the literary or dramatic arts, or to integrate their work in both these areas of creative expression. In lectures and tutorials in two courses at the 200 level, they will learn about the artistic traditions that frame their own writing; and experiment with producing and sharing written work in a variety of genres, using a range of formal techniques. These introductory courses serve as a foundation for 300-level workshops, in which students develop a more specialised focus, e.g. playwriting, prose fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, editing, or writing for interactive new media. Finally, all students in the Minor can apply for admittance to the department's selective, 400-level capstone Creative Writing Workshop, in which over the course of a year they will be encourage to develop their portfolio of creative work towards publication. When students graduate with a Minor in Creative Writing they will have learned to use language creatively to develop observations, insights, and complex ideas. They will be able to write imaginatively, compellingly, clearly, and effectively, and to produce creative work in a range of literary and dramatic modes, genres, and forms. Courses in the Minor emphasize the way that how writers learn their craft from other writers, and the ways in which new modes of written expression emerge in the context of artistic tradition and historical circumstances. The Minor will also introduce students to the processes involved in editing and publishing creative work in print and other media.
Program Requirements: In order to complete the Minor in Creative Writing successfully, students will require a total of 4.0 credits, from the following courses:
- 0.5 credits in ENG289H5 Creative Writing
- 0.5 credits in ENG291H5 Reading for Creative Writing
- 1.0 credit in either ENG489Y5 Creative Writing Workshop; or in two of the following courses: ENG373H5 Creative Writing: Poetry; ENG374H5 Creative Writing: Prose; ENG375H5 Editing Literary Texts; ENG376H5 Creative Writing: Nonfiction; ENG377H5 Special Topic in Creative Writing; ENG378H5 Special Topic in Writing for Performance; DRE362H5 Playwriting
- 1.0 credit in ENG201Y5 Reading Poetry; or 0.5 credits from the following courses: ENG101H5 How to Read Critically; ENG280H5 Critical Approaches to Literature; DRE360H5 Developmental Dramaturgy; and 0.5 credits from the following courses: ENG/ DRE121H5 Traditions of Theatre and Drama; ENG202H5 British Literature in the World I; ENG203H5 British Literature in the World II.
- 1.0 credit in other ENG or DRE courses. We strongly encourage students to take courses whose descriptions indicate that instructors set/allow assessed creative assignments. These are specially indicated on the departmental website each year.
No more than 1.5 credits can be double counted towards two programs of study in English, Drama, or Creative Writing.
NOTE: Students without pre- and co-requisites or written permission of the instructor can be de-registered from courses at any time. Pre- and co-requisites will be strictly enforced.