Department Website
Program Description
The New York University Program in Creative Writing, among the most distinguished programs in the country, is a leading national center for the study of writing and literature. The undergraduate and graduate programs provide students with an opportunity to develop their craft while working closely with some of the finest poets and novelists writing today. The creative writing program occupies a lovely townhouse on West 10th Street in the same Greenwich Village neighborhood where so many writers have lived and worked. The Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House allows writers—both established and emerging—to share their work in an inspiring setting.
The program's distinguished faculty of award-winning poets and prose writers represents a wide array of contemporary aesthetics. Our instructors have been the recipients of Pulitzer Prizes, MacArthur Genius, Guggenheim, and NEA fellowships, National Book and National Book Critics Circle awards, Pushcart Prizes, the Whiting Writer's Award, and more.
Undergraduates are encouraged to attend the program's reading series, which brings both established and new writers to NYU. Writing prizes, special events, and our undergraduate literary journal, West 10th, further complement our course offerings and provide a sense of community for undergraduate writers. If you have questions about the minor in creative writing, please contact us at creative.writing@nyu.edu.
Minor Declaration
To request declaration of a minor, CAS students should visit the host department. To request declaration of a cross-school minor, CAS students should complete the online Minor Application available in their Albert Student Center. Students may also use the Minor Application in Albert to request cancellation of a CAS or cross-school minor.
Program Requirements
The minor requires the completion of four 4-credit courses (16 credits), comprised of the following:
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| CRWRI-UA 815 | Creative Writing: Intro Prose & Poetry | 4 |
| or CRWRI-UA 9815 | Creative Writing |
| 12 |
| Total Credits | 16 |
General Information
The introductory workshop CRWRI-UA 815 Creative Writing: Intro Prose & Poetry, or the study away course CRWRI-UA 9815 Creative Writing, is generally the required foundational course, to be followed by 12 additional credits from the program's CRWRI-UA course offerings.
However, students who begin their minor by taking one of the program's 8-credit summer intensives—Writers in New York (CRWRI-UA 818, 819, or 835), Writers in Paris (CRWRI-UA 9818 or 9819), or Writers in Florence (CRWRI-UA 9828 or 9829)—are not required to take the introductory workshop (CRWRI-UA 815, CRWRI-UA 9815, or equivalent). Following completion of one of these 8-credit intensives, students may take advanced coursework in the same genre as their summer intensive and/or move directly into an intermediate workshop in an alternative genre. Students may also repeat an 8-credit summer intensive to complete the 16-credit minor. Intermediate and advanced workshops may be taken three times for credit.
Study Away
Students wishing to begin the creative writing minor while studying away at an NYU site should register for CRWRI-UA 9815 Creative Writing or, if studying away in the summer, for one of the 8-credit intensives offered in Paris and Florence (CRWRI-UA 9818, 9819, 9828, or 9829). These courses are not considered outside courses and will automatically be counted toward the creative writing minor. All other creative writing courses taken away require a petition for substitution and are subject to approval by the program.
Policies
Program Policies
Policies Applying to the Minor
The creative writing minor must be completed with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (C). No credit toward the minor is granted for grades of C- or lower, although such grades will be computed into the grade point average of the minor, as well as into the overall grade point average. No course to be counted toward the minor may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.
Policy on Course Substitutions
Students may petition to apply one outside (non- CRWRI-UA) course toward the minor, either as the introductory prerequisite (equivalent to CRWRI-UA 815 or 9815) or as an elective. Ideally, the equivalent course will focus on students' own creative practice, craft element(s) of genre, and incorporate a workshop (peer feedback) structure.
To petition to substitute an outside course, students must complete the course substitution petition form, available on the program's website, and provide the course syllabus (as described on the petition form). The undergraduate programs manager will review the submitted syllabus to verify course level and determine substitution eligibility. Students must petition for course substitution prior to registration.
If the program pre-approves a non-NYU course for substitution, it can only be counted toward the minor if 1. the Office of the Associate Dean for Students in CAS has also approved the course credit for transfer, and 2. the student receives a grade of C or better.
NYU Policies
University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.
College of Arts and Science Policies
A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page.