Creative Writing at Emory University

Ever considered delving deeply into writing at the collegiate level? Ever dreamed of finding creative inspiration on a beautiful, forested campus? Then follow the Professor to suburban Atlanta for a visit to stately Emory University.

The Best Colleges website named Emory one of the 10 most beautiful campuses in the country, calling it a “classically gorgeous Southern campus,” and USA Today named it a top college for aspiring writers. With Emory’s flexible program, small class sizes, and top-notch faculty, the Professor can certainly see why writers thrive here.

Students in the Creative Writing Program practice their art in great depth and breadth. The program is designed to help budding writers master all the ins and outs of writing — from analytical and critical thinking skills to the processes of generating ideas, drafting a text, revising, and editing.

Students specialize in one (or more) of these genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, playwriting, and screenwriting. However, the program allows enough flexibility for students to follow their interests wherever they take them, so switching genre specializations partway through the program is allowed.

Emory University

Emory’s average class size is 19, and the writing classes are even more intimate, with many capping out at 15.

The Creative Writing Program’s faculty includes such prestigious writers as Natasha Trethewey, the current poet laureate of both Mississippi and the United States, and Kevin Young, recipient of the 2013 PEN Open Book Award.

The department hosts a Creative Writing Program Reading Series featuring readings, book signings, and conversations with authors, which are open to the college community and the general public.

The professor noticed Emory University has some interesting distinctions. It’s one of only a handful of schools in the nation ranked among the top in both athletics and academics. It also has over two million square feet of LEED-certified building space, and the university has made a commitment to having three-quarters of the food served on campus come from local or sustainable sources by 2015.

In addition to Emory’s famously beautiful campus, the university’s environs are ideal for students in other ways, too. Nearby Atlanta, with its low housing costs and bustling culture, has made its share of top-college-town lists. The city also has a favorable business climate: It is home to 26 of the Fortune 1000 companies and 1,250 multinational corporations, and it has the 10th largest concentration of high-tech jobs in the country — all of which is great news for recently graduated job seekers.

Speaking of job seekers, the Professor learned that Emory’s creative writing graduates have an immensely varied range of career tracks from which to choose. Some work for corporations, while others become journalists, editors, novelists, marketing writers, or teachers. Many of Emory’s creative writing graduates go on to law school, medical school, master of fine arts programs in writing, or other graduate-level education.

To learn more about Emory University’s application requirements and deadlines for the Creative Writing Program and other courses of study, please visit www.emory.edu.