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The Creative Writing Program

The Creative Writing Program at the University of Connecticut provides undergraduate students in all departments with writing courses in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, from beginning to advanced classes. Undergraduate students may choose to receive a Concentration in Creative Writing. Graduate courses in creative writing are also offered, generally one per semester.

Writing Courses

While nearly all courses in the Department involve written assignments, here is a listing of courses whose primary concern is to help you develop as a writer. Whether you aspire to literature, have your heart set on the more commercial world of television, advertising, science, journalism, or children's book writing, or yearn for the private pleasure of a well-kept journal or a fascinating correspondence, skill in writing is a basic prerequisite. These are generic courses but each of them will sharpen your powers of observation and organization, improve your ability to think clearly, and add a new dimension to your intellectual growth.
  • Expository Writing: A facility in expository writing is basic to all forms of writing, including poetry and fiction. English 249- Advanced Expository Writing provides that groundwork. Remember that 85% of everything that is published is non-fiction, and professional guidance will expand your capacity to formulate your ideas with coherence and verve. Several one-credit sections of 296 are devoted to quick reviews of special writing applications--Business Writing and Grammar.
  • Creative Writing: The department offers 146: Creative Writing I, 246: Creative Writing II, and 247: Writing Workshop. See the course description in this booklet for the special emphasis of each section. There may also be possibilities for advanced work in creative and expository writing in 299: Independent Study which is a one-to-one tutorial with an instructor of your choice.
  • Writing Internships: The Department offers 297: Writing Internship which provides an opportunity for the student to work as a writer. Among participating agencies are: CIGNA, Chamber Music Plus, the Globe-Pequot Press, International Affairs, Congressman Gejdenson's Office, Curbstone Press, UConn Advance, IMS Advertising, Mintz and Hoke, Fleet Bank, Radio Station WHUS, the State Museum of Natural History, Wadsworth Atheneum, the Windham Textile Museum, the Women's Center. Credits are arranged with the instructor of record and students are selected by a department committee. Details will be available from the Undergraduate Advisory Office in CLAS 209. Click here for more information.

Writing Awards & Prizes

Several prizes for excellence in writing are offered each year. The Wallace Stevens Award for poetry is given in the Spring. The small cash prize is accompanied by publication, and a ceremony featuring a distinguished literary guest. The Hackman Award of $1,200 is given for a short story written by a UConn undergraduate. The Collins Literary Award of $1,500 is given to the best work published in Long River Review , the undergraduate literary magazine. Click here for more information on Creative Writing awards .

Freshman writing prizes abound. The Aetna Endowment funds six to eight awards annually, and the Ratcliffe Hicks $100 prize is awarded as funds are available. For additional information, contact the Aetna secretary, x 1124 or x 3167, or e-mail Prof. Lynn Bloom .

The Long River Review

The Long River Review is the University of Connecticut's literary and arts journal. It is produced entirely by undergraduate students and published each spring. Formerly Writing UConn , the journal received a new name-and a new life-in 1998 under the direction of Wally Lamb. The Long River Review 's primary mission is to give undergraduate student editors the opportunity to produce a high-quality journal and to publish exemplary works of creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and visual art by undergraduate and graduate students University-wide (including all of the regional campuses).