Major

In the Creative Writing Major, students inaugurate a life-long apprenticeship in the literary arts. Creative Writing majors study classic and contemporary literature and learn the fundamentals of narrative, poetic, and dramatic craft. Students learn the following:

  • effective use of the writing process
  • use and ethos of the workshop class
  • devices of narrative technical craft
  • devices of discursive technical craft
  • devices of poetic technical craft
  • close reading skills

For a minor in Creative Writing students take five courses which bear the CW designation. Three must be Eckerd College courses, and two CW courses must be 300 level or higher. A Literature course may be substituted for one of these courses.

For the BA and BFA in Creative Writing, majors complete the following coursework:

Majors complete the THREE core 200 level workshops:

  • CW201A Introduction to Poetry
  • CW 202A Introduction to Fiction
  • CW 203A Introduction to Nonfiction
Majors complete at least ONE core 300 level workshops:

  • CW 301 Intermediate Poetry
  • CW 302 Intermediate Fiction
  • CW 303 Intermediate Nonfiction

Majors select at least ONE of the core 400 level workshops:

  • CW 401 Advanced Poetry
  • CW 402 Advanced Fiction
  • CW 403 Personal Essay

Majors select at least TWO elective courses bearing the Creative Writing (CW) disignation.

  • All CW-designated courses taken beyond the completion of the three 200, one 300, and one 400 level course workshops can be applied toward the completion of the two elective courses.

Majors select at least FOUR elective courses bearing the Literature (LI) designation.

  • At least two of the four LI electives must be at the 300 level or above.

Majors complete CW 498: Creative Writing Capstone in the spring of their senior year.

For the BFA in Creative Writing, students must also complete the Publishing & Editing sequence in addition to all courses required for the BA:

  • Cw 210A Internship with the Eckerd Review OR CW 215A Internship with The Current
  • CW 310 Craft of Writing
  • CW 410 Publishing and the Writing Career


“I was able to grow and take risks with my writing that I don’t believe I would have done at another college. I spent months in different countries studying subjects that were not my major and each of these trips impacted me as a student and as a writer. Whether you write for the award-winning newspaper, study abroad, mentor other students, or volunteer at local schools, Eckerd can help you achieve goals you were unaware you even had.”
—Mackenna Cummings ’15