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Creative Writing

Creative Writing: Minor, Concentration

Hone your writing skills, deepen your knowledge of contemporary literature, reflect on the world, and engage with your imagination.

The Creative Writing Program offers students the opportunity to pursue fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Some creative writing courses are taught primarily as workshops, with an emphasis on drafting and discussing student manuscripts, while others take up special topics such as science writing and memoir and the psyche. All of them expose students to contemporary literature, teach them to read like writers, and allow them to explore countless approaches to telling stories, crafting images, and developing an ear for language.

Program Highlights

The program invites students to develop their own writing practices as well as join a community of working writers. Students in creative writing:

  • study with professors who are themselves published writers working in all three genres
  • select from a range of creative writing and literature courses that allow them to create a minor or concentration that is tailored to their interests
  • interact with some of the nation's most critically acclaimed writers through the Creative Writing Program's reading series
  • present their own work through writing contests, student reading series, and Holy Cross' literary magazine, The Purple  

Creative Writing News

photo collage, Alpha Sigma Nu recipients
31 Holy Cross Students Inducted Into Jesuit Honor Society
Thirty-one Holy Cross students were inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu,  the Jesuit honor society founded in 1915, at a virtual ceremony held recently. The new inductees exemplify the society’s values of excellence in scholarship, loyalty and service.  Selection to Alpha …
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Students Learn From, Network With Alumnae at Women in Business Conference
A talk about color theory might seem like an odd topic to hear at a conference for business-minded women. Maggie O’Neill ’99, artist and co-founder of SWATCHROOM, a design and fabrication firm, begs to differ. “The idea behind color theory, …
two students study in their room
Home Sweet Campus: A Peek Inside Residence Life at Holy Cross
Ninety percent of Holy Cross students live in one of 11 residence halls on campus — but how do they make those spaces feel like home? The answer is both literal and emotional. The Holy Cross housing experience starts as …