About This Program
Do you love to tell stories and experiment with language? Are you looking for a writing community that offers encouragement, feedback, and a structured environment to help you develop your dream creative project? The Creative Writing Certificate program is uniquely designed to support individual creative projects through small, collaborative workshops, one-on-one mentorship with creative writing faculty, and professional development opportunities. The program offers introductory and advanced courses in poetry and fiction writing as well as courses in journal and memoir, playwriting, nature writing, and new media writing. Through the certificate program, you will develop your own projects in the genre(s) of your choosing, learn to read like creative writers, and gain valuable editing skills by offering constructive feedback on your peers’ work.
The Creative Writing Certificate program offers all writers— regardless of major or previous experience in creative writing—an open, welcoming environment to explore the craft of writing as well as support from the first draft to the final capstone.
Program Highlights
- A range of classes in several programs, allowing you to write in diverse modes and hone your craft. Many classes focus on the workshop format, so you get direct feedback on your work from fellow students and faculty
- Many opportunities embedded in classes to share your work more widely in digital and print publications and to celebrate your writing with an end-of-year reading
- The Roaring Muse—the student arts and literary publication at UMD—is a chance for editorial and publishing experience
- The final capstone project is another way you can professionalize your work and prepare for next steps in your writing journey through one-on-one faculty mentorship
Research & Experiential Learning
- Creative Writing capstone projects: You work directly with creative writing faculty to revise and finalize a portfolio of creative work. Through the capstone experience, you not only receive feedback on your work, but also guidance on your career goals related to creative writing, whether that’s finding a community of writers after graduation, applying to an MFA, or finding a job in a creative field.
- End-of-year reading: You are invited to our annual celebratory reading at the Zeitgeist, where students from all genres come together to share stories, poems, plays, and essays written in the past year.
- Opportunities: By joining the Literary Guild, you can connect with other creative writing students and gain editorial board experience through the Roaring Muse, UMD’s literary magazine.
Potential Careers
- Creative writers (novelists, poets, memoirists, short story writers, screenwriters, playwrights, etc.)
- Editors (copywriters, proofreaders)
- Technical writers, grant writers, and content writers in a variety of fields
- Teachers of English and creative writing
- Content marketers and social media managers for non-profits, literary magazines, and literary programming
- Literary agents
Scholarships
- Michael Robert Lenz Creative Writing Scholarship
- Mike Lenz Creative Writing Prize
Get Involved
- The Literary Guild
Requirements
Refer to the link below for more detailed information about the program, admission requirements, sample plans, and contact information.