Creative Writing

The stories we tell matter. And in creative writing, the matter is both what story you tell and how you tell it. Wheaton’s creative writing program offers both introductory and advanced courses in poetry, playwriting, fiction, and nonfiction. Students attend workshops, where they share their work and receive feedback from the professor and one another. Many students go on to share work with the broader community, whether on the physical page, online, or from the stage. A degree in creative writing could be the first chapter in your publishing career or the foreword to earning your MFA.

For questions, please contact the Creative Writing Coordinator, Kent Shaw.

Major

100%

100% of Creative Writing majors from the past five years have found employment or achieved a service opportunity within six months of graduation *

Recent Graduates


Sample First Jobs

  • Assistant, Alice Hoffman Writing
  • Deputy Field House Director, New Hampshire Democratic Party
  • Executive Project Assistant, Hachette Book Group
  • Public Relations, Racepoint Global
  • Teacher, New England Center for Children


Sample Graduate Schools

  • Middlebury College
  • New York University
  • Northeastern University
  • University of Vermont

*outcomes data is based on a knowledge rate of 58% for the classes of 2014-2018

Student-run literary magazines


The college is home to two literary magazines: Rushlight, housed in the Creative Writing program and Smudge, run out of the Marshall Center. The student editorial staff at Rushlight works with the Visual Arts program to select creative work. Published since 1855, issues of the magazine are released at the end of every spring semester. Smudge started in 2021 by students to tell stories centered around the experiences of people of color.



Department

Offered by the English department.