English: Creative Writing

About this opportunity

Housed in the Department of English, creative writing at ASU (https://english.asu.edu/about/academic-program-areas/creative-writing) is a vibrant program staffed by award-winning poets and fiction writers who work closely with you as you develop your voice and style, and as you learn the history and range of contemporary American writing in many forms. Our students enjoy additional opportunities through the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing (https://piper.asu.edu), the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands; they often intern for ASU's national literary publications (more info below); and many go on to graduate study. They also pursue careers in the arts and arts management, and/or in education, or they apply their critical thinking and reading skills in a wide range of fields (from astrobiology to nonprofit administration to tech leadership…). Any Barrett student who is considering a concentration in Creative Writing should contact the lead FHA.

Thesis

You will undertake an extended creative project usually completed in close study with a core faculty member in the creative writing program. For a thesis in fiction, professors typically expect the student to write and revise between 30-50 pages of prose, and in poetry, professors typically expect the student to write and revise 14-21 pages of poetry. The culminating event for honors thesis students is the Defense: all students present an excerpt of their work in a formal reading, approximately 6-8 poems or 5-10 pages of fiction; that presentation is followed by a discussion with the committee that raises questions about specific aspects of the thesis (related both to subject matters and to technique/formal choices...).

Group projects: Writers band together—this has been true forever!—to start publishing ventures, to collaborate (with each other, with visual artists, with composers, with engineers), or to reach out into the larger community (in service of the art, in service of the community itself...). ASU CW welcomes projects in which this kind of collegial and/or interdisciplinary vision brings students together and enlarges our experience of the literary arts.

What do you gain from a creative writing thesis? 

Thesis students test their commitment to writing outside the classroom, which is different from the workshop environment (and more closely resembles the general experience of a writer’s life...). The creative writing thesis both cultivates a student’s independence and also enables a close working relationship with the faculty mentor. Creative writing theses abide by BHC's requirements for who can serve on committees; feel free to contact the lead FHA for advice about forming your committee (you can do this before or after you have secured a director).

When a creative project is complete, the student will have a body of work large enough to serve as a work sample in a graduate school application. 

Academic Preparation

*Most students* accepted for creative writing theses are enrolled in the concentration in creative writing within the English major, have passed portfolio review, and taken at least one 400-level course in their genre (fiction or poetry). More info: https://english.asu.edu/admission/undergraduate-admission/concentration-... 

Recommended Timeline

Typically the thesis is completed over the last two semesters of a student's BA. Most often, the student has secured the director in the semester *before* that. You are welcome to reach out to the FHA in that third-to-last semester to start to plan your approach to the thesis, finding and inviting committee members, etc.

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors Contracts:

All creative writing courses *may* accommodate honors contracts, and all creative writing faculty work regularly and enthusiastically with honors students. We ask that you approach your professor early in the term to discuss whether a project is possible and what form it might take, and to establish a work schedule, plan, and deadlines.

Honors contracts may be for 1-8 hours of instruction, as determined by the professor in consultation with the student. In poetry, the writing usually involves no more than three pages of new poems in response to outside readings and/or a short paper responding critically to a selection of poems decided upon by student and professor. In fiction, the writing usually involves a single short story and/or a short paper responding critically to a selection of fiction decided upon by student and professor.

Internships: 

Hayden’s Ferry Review (http://haydensferryreview.com): Interns for HFR get a behind-the-scenes look at how an internationally-distributed literary magazine is run. Responsibilities may include reading and voting on submissions, writing features for the blog, assisting in social media, handling subscriptions, organizing fundraisers and more. Contact: hfr@asu.edu 

Superstition Review: s[r] (https://superstitionreview.asu.edu) is a national online literary magazine produced by undergraduate students at ASU. The mission of SR is to promote contemporary art and literature by providing a free, easy-to-navigate, high quality online publication that features work by established and emerging artists and authors from all over the world. We publish two issues a year with art, fiction, interviews, nonfiction, and poetry. Students will be exposed to all parts of magazine management such as production deadlines, corresponding with authors, choosing and formatting work for publication, conducting interviews, event planning, curating blog content, social media management, advertising, and other detailed steps of the publication process. During this internship students have the opportunity to become proficient in many technologies that are required in today’s job market. To learn more, email founding editor Patricia Murphy at pcm@asu.edu.

Thousand Languages: The Thousand Languages Project is a living, ever-developing database featuring translations of the work originally appearing in Hayden’s Ferry Review transformed from its original English into manifold world languages. 

Become an Intern! Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply. Contribute translation and/or non-translation work to this living database. Gain critical knowledge and hands-on experience in literary translation, editing, and publishing. To learn more or apply, visit the TLP Internship Page.

Contact Jacqueline Balderrama  jacqueline.balderrama@asu.edu with any questions.