More and more students are looking for the write stuff
U.S. colleges, universities see rising demand for courses on creative writing
NEW HAVEN, CONN. Some credit the rise of social media. Others attribute it to a flourishing culture of self-expression. Whatever the reason, colleges and universities across the U.S. are seeing a boom in demand for courses on creative writing.
Schools are adding writing programs to accommodate interest in what has become the rarest of fields in the humanities — a sector that is growing, rather than losing students to science and technology.
The number of schools offering bachelor’s degrees in creative writing has risen to 733 from three in 1975, says the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, an industry group based in Fairfax, Va.
So what will these students do after graduating? “Most of them are aware that this probably is not going to be their career. At least, I hope they’re aware,” said David Galef, director of the creative writing program at Montclair State University in New Jersey. “They’re interested in doing something they feel is creative.”
While some will become professional writers, others may find work in fields such as public relations or advertising. One Montclair State undergraduate, Gil Moreno, 46, enrolled years after completing a bachelor’s degree in business management, and dreams of becoming a writer. Even if he can’t do it professionally, he’ll keep it up on the side.
“I’m looking to get away from the business world,” he said. “I’m kind of looking to live in my own separate world.”
In some English departments, the boom has created tension between creative writing and those who emphasize instruction of literature. At Yale’s English department, professors say their writing program is unusual in requiring that all courses include reading in contemporary work of the chosen genre. “All over the country students are more interested in writing about themselves than they are in reading other people,” said English professor Leslie Brisman. “We are in favour of creativity. We are not in favour of ignorance.”
The number of course offerings in creative writing has roughly doubled over the past five years at Yale, where creative writing director Richard Deming suspects the interest can be credited, at least partly, to social media.
“This act of expressing one’s voice in a public way — some people feel that they want to add craft, they want to hone those skills and take it to a place of more intensity,” he said. “It just builds from there.”
Another explanation for the boom, says David Fenza, director of the AWP, is a cultural disconnect between English departments and college students who come from increasingly diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Erica Wachs, a Yale junior specializing in creative writing, arrived at the Ivy League school thinking she would study either English or global affairs. Her first writing classes included some of the most exciting moments of her freshman year, including sessions with writers discussing their craft. She now is planning a career writing for the entertainment industry.
“I hope writing is what I will spend the rest of my life doing,” she said.