Graduate Creative Writing Programs: An Inside Look (a one-day class)
The growing popularity of graduate creative writing programs has lead to more options than ever for writers seeking an intensive course of study. What are the pros and cons of considering a graduate creative writing degree in today's climate? What are the differences between an MA and an MFA and what is a PhD in creative writing? How do programs determine financial aid and how should that factor into your own decision-making? Our half-day program covers these and other questions and offers guidance on how to research and apply to the hundreds of programs available nationwide, including low-residency programs. Former
UCLA Extension Writers' Program students who have gone to pursue graduate creative writing degrees give first-person assessments and advice. Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 1 -4 pm.
The Art of the Short Story
Each week in this advanced workshop, offered through the
UCLA Extension Writers' Program, we'll critique in detail three student stories, to be read prior to class (so please allot several hours of prep time and plan to be in attendance at least nine of the ten weeks). We'll also talk about publishing strategies and other practical matters. Participants have gone on to enroll in graduate programs at Alabama, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Iowa, and George Mason, and to publish stories in
Calyx, Cimarron Review, Harvard Review, Mississipi Review.com, Nimrod, North American Review, Phoebe, Ploughshares, Puerto del Sol, Seattle Review, Stand, West Branch, and elsewhere. (Read as much of
12 Short Stories and the recommended Rust Hills book before the first class as you can.) 10 weeks, Thurs. 7-10 pm, Sep 25-Dec 4 (no class on Thanksgiving, Nov 27).
Topics in American Lit: L.A. Stories
Los Angeles has inspired writers and communicators like few other cities. This course, offered through
Emerson College, will explore a variety of narrative repre-sentations of L.A. across different media and genres and will offer each student a chance to create his or her own L.A. story—a work of fiction, literary journalism, or another form to be agreed upon with the instructor. By reading or viewing and then discussing the works of Nathanael West, Joan Didion, Gore Vidal, and many others, students will develop not only a deeper knowledge of the city in which they now find themselves, but will also learn about the creative processes and themes through which L.A. has come to be most widely understood.
Wearing her trademark beret,
Suzanne Lummis, poet and grand-daughter of city booster Charles Fletcher Lummis, visits the spring '04 L.A. Stories class.
Short Story Markets (105 KB)
