English & Creative Writing

Academic Department Introduction

We believe literary study to be creative and critical in equal measure. Our courses range from introductory writing to in-depth studies of influential writers, genres, historical periods, theories, and themes in English, American, and world literatures in English. Critical courses span a broad range of topics and approaches, from Shakespeare to the Harlem Renaissance to speculative fiction. Numerous courses in creative writing include poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for children, and writing for film, television, and video games. Our creative writing and critical courses are not separated from each other but closely intertwined and mutually supportive. In all courses, we foster and develop a deep, complex, passionate response to literary language.

Learning goals

Acquire a knowledge of English literary history, including canonical and contemporary works from diverse traditions.
Recognize and demonstrate an ability to work with critical methodologies employed in the discipline of literary studies.
Read literature with deep attention and responsiveness to content, language, and form.

Programs of study

English major and minor

Students form and develop the skills of analysis, interpretation, and argument through the intensive study of writers and their works in literary, cultural, and historical contexts.

Major requirements

Minor requirements

English & creative writing major

In addition to acquiring the skills of analysis, interpretation, and argument, students develop a distinctive literary voice and study the history and cross-cultural diversity of the genres, traditions, and styles in which they are working.

Major requirements

Course highlights

Shakespeare Part I: The Elizabethan Period

ENG223

In our course we will focus on Shakespeare’s plays as words on the pages of books and as dramatic scripts that directors, actors, and others bring to life in theaters and on TV and film screens. We will study Richard II, a history play; two comedies, Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It; and Hamlet, a tragedy. All four were written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. We’ll conclude with Measure for Measure, a comedy, dark comedy, or problem play. It was written early in the reign of King James I, who came to the throne in 1603. We’ll think about the continuities and changes in Shakespeare’s powerful and passionate writing as the nation moved from Elizabeth to James.

Gotham: New York City in Literature, Art, and Film

ENG258

This course examines how that icon of modernity, New York City, has been depicted in literature and the arts, from its evolution into the nation’s cultural and financial capital in the nineteenth century to the present. We’ll consider how urban reformers, boosters, long-time residents, immigrants, tourists, newspaper reporters, journalists, poets, novelists, artists, and filmmakers have shaped new and often highly contested meanings of this dynamic and diverse city. We'll also consider how each vision of the city returns us to crucial questions of perspective, identity, and ownership, and helps us to understand the complexity of metropolitan experience. Authors may include Walt Whitman, Edith Wharton, Anzia Yezierska, Langston Hughes, Frank O’Hara, and Colson Whitehead. We’ll look at the art of John Sloan, Georgia O’Keeffe, Helen Levitt, Berenice Abbott, Andre D. Wagner, and others. We’ll close the semester with films set in New York. (AMST 258 and ENG 258 are cross-listed courses.)
The Short Story Collection Lab

ENG215

Is constructing a short story collection like making an album or assembling a puzzle? In this creative writing workshop, we’ll explore the process of building a cohesive collection, examining how individual stories can stand alone while contributing to a greater whole. We will consider which story should open the collection, which should be the send off, and what type of stories should occupy the middle by drawing inspiration from excerpts of collections from writers like Pemi Aguda and Carmen Maria Machado. Through discussions on links like character, setting, and theme, we’ll analyze what makes collections feel satisfyingly unified. You’ll develop a plan for your collection, identifying thematic connections, story order, and published works to use as models. You will complete five stories over the semester and workshop two of them with peers. At the end of the semester, you will submit an excerpt of your collection-in-progress. Whether starting fresh or you have a couple of existing stories from previous workshops languishing in a drawer, join this workshop to transform them into a cohesive, memorable collection.

Explore all courses

Places and spaces

The Department of English & Creative Writing has a common room with a terrace; both are used for quiet study, socializing, and department events.

English & Creative Writing Department Common Room

Research highlights

In her most recent book, The Natural Laws of Plot (Penn Press, 2022), Professor Yoon Sun Lee argues that plot cannot be considered merely as an abstract shape or form. In realist novels, plot is interested not only in human aims but in non-human forces, laws, and structures that operate at various scales independently of any character’s intention or desire. Emerging together with natural philosophy, the plots of realist novels helped envision a unified, objective world within and against which any action unfolds.
Professor Cord Whitaker’s research asks how the Middle Ages matter to the modern study of race and racism. His book, Black Metaphors (Penn Press, 2019), uses rhetoric, theology, and literature to establish the variety of medieval treatments of color and difference. Black Metaphors illuminates the process by which one interpretation among many became established as the truth, and demonstrates how modern movements—from Black Lives Matter to the alt-right—are animated by the medieval origins of the black-white divide.
Limerence (Rebel Satori Press, 2023), a poetry collection by Professor Tavi González, probes the inextricable tension, pain, pleasure, and danger in relationships between men. González’s experiences of love, sexual desire, and romance are not sentimental, as they are often intertwined with questions of consent and violence. Poignant and searing, the poems ask readers to appreciate and reexamine the meaning of love, trust, and safety.

Opportunities

Internships

The Writing Program and the Department of English & Creative Writing jointly sponsor funded summer internships at Slate, W.W. Norton & Company, Maven Screen Media, Calligraph, and Speculum.
Special Collections

The College owns first and early editions of many novels and poetry collections, illuminated manuscripts, and 573 love letters between the Victorian poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, which students are invited to view.

Beyond Wellesley

Many of our alums work in publishing, journalism, media, education, and the tech industry. They hold positions as writers, editors, and teachers, among other professions. Recent employers include Hachette Book Group, Publicis Sapient, and City Year.