Creative/Critical Writing Concentration

Creative/Critical Writing Concentration Overview

UC Santa Cruz offers a concentration in Creative/Critical Writing for Literature Ph.D. students. This is an individualized course of study in which students can write a creative dissertation with a critical introduction or a cross-genre creative/critical project. Students have completed speculative novels, collections of poems and personal essays, experimental memoirs, biographies, cross-genre work, and translations of works of poetry and prose. Descriptions of previous qualifying exam and dissertation topics can be found with student bios here.  

 (please refer to the Literature Ph.D. Program overview for more information)

Entering students complete all the requirements for the Literature Ph.D. with the addition of a creative/critical enhancement to their degree in the form of original creative work, with a critical introduction, and, if desired, work in poetics, translation, form and/or critical writing from the perspective of writerly practices.

Admissions

In addition to the regular requirements for an application, applicants to the Creative/Critical Writing concentration should also submit 20-25 pages of prose (at least one complete piece and an additional sample preferred) or 10-12 pages of poetry. The writing can be poetry, prose fiction, creative non-fiction or hybrid/cross-genre.

Faculty

The following faculty are participating Creative Writing faculty mentors:
Christopher Chen
Micah Perks
Jennifer Tseng
Rob Wilson
Ronaldo Wilson