The MA/MS in English with a specialization in creative writing allows students to do advanced work in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Students accepted into the specialization complete workshops in these three genres and study scholarship about creative writing and literature. For their theses, students concentrate on one genre and work closely with faculty mentors who offer expert advice and guidance throughout the thesis-writing process. Hybrid theses that cross genre boundaries and include visual/ audio elements are also welcome. Appearing as poems, stories, essays, and graphic novels, students’ theses address environmental issues, personal challenges, and historical controversies, among many other topics.
Please reach out to Lynne McNeill, the Director of Graduate Studies, for specific programmatic questions.
The aim of this specialization is to allow students time after their undergraduate work to hone their craft, continue their apprenticeship as a writer, complete a substantial body of work, and pursue publication. The degree caters especially to those who plan to continue their studies by seeking a PhD or MFA in creative writing, as well as to future college instructors and secondary educators.
Students and graduates have won regional and national awards for their creative work, including The Norman Mailer Prize, The Utah Original Writing Competition prize, and The Elizabeth R. Curry Poetry Prize. They have published essays, poems, and stories with literary magazines like Orion, Bellingham Review, Ninth Letter, The American Scholar, Sugar House Review, Cimarron Review, Mud Season Review, and Brevity, as well as book-length work with Finishing Line, SLAB, Dzanc, and The Cupboard Pamphlet presses. In addition to publishing work in books, chapbooks, and prestigious literary journals, graduates of the Specialization have been accepted into well-regarded MFA and PhD programs in creative writing at universities, such as The Ohio State University, University of Montana, and University of Tennessee.
Senior Lecturer Shanan Ballam was recently interviewed by both The Herald Journal and KSL, discussing her experiences recovering from a stroke and returning to language and writing. Her forthcoming book, first poems after the stroke, delves into these.
On Thursday April 25th at 7 pm in Logan Library Community Room A, there will be a reading, presented by Helicon West, by the USU Creative Writing and Art Contest Winners
On Wednesday, April 3 at 11:30 am in the Merrill-Cazier Library room 101 Patrick Milian will be reading from his book Unquiet Country. Patrick Milian is the author of The Unquiet Country (Entre Ríos Books) and the chapbook Pornographies (Greying Ghost).
Associate Professor; Director of Graduate Studies
Office: Logan (RWST 213)
Email: lynne.mcneill@usu.edu
