Sample Course Descriptions
Fiction Workshop. The fiction workshop is designed to establish a community of writers. The workshop will focus on the individual writing direction and practice of each student. Short stories, novel excerpts, and other prose pieces may be presented. Students are encouraged to complete ongoing writing projects and explore new directions for further writing. Discussions are based on the manuscripts of students in the workshop, occasionally informed by important readings of direct significance.
Poetry Workshop. The poetry workshop is designed to establish a community of writers. The workshop will focus on the individual writing direction and practice of each student. All forms of poetry may be presented, including text/image projects. Students are encouraged to explore techniques that expand their range and help them bring the world into their poems. Discussions are based on the poems of students in the workshop, informed by an ongoing dialogue about image, line, and gesture. Important readings of direct significance will be presented.
Creative Nonfiction Workshop, Interdisciplinary Workshop, and Exploratory Workshop. Offered in alternate semesters, the Creative Nonfiction Workshop will focus on memoir and essays, formal and informal. The Interdisciplinary and Exploratory Workshops encourage students to experiment in different forms and genres. Discussions will be based on students' manuscripts. Important readings of direct significance will be presented.
Thesis Project. To complete the MFA in Writing, each student writes a full-length manuscript and produces it in an aesthetically effective format, taking advantage of interdisciplinary or collaborative possibilities at CCA. Manuscripts are flexible in substance and design. They center on poetry, short story, novel, creative nonfiction, script, or an experimental literary form, and may also involve the use of a visual medium. The Writer's Workshops, during the second year, provide advising and community support and allow the artistic freedom necessary to accomplish this substantial work. During the second year, the student will also work with a thesis committee, which includes an advisor.
Reading Intensive Seminars. Each semester, several Elective Seminars are offered, covering a wide range of topics. These topics vary from semester to semester. In the past, courses have included seminars that focus on topics from the contemporary short story to the work of individual writers such as Anton Chekhov and Flannery O'Connor as well as the following: Writing in Book Structure, Writing on the Body, Contemporary World Literature, First Books, Unwriting Writing, Text Performance/Performance as Text, and Essay Lust.
Mentored Study. Mentored Study provides one-on-one study each semester with a faculty mentor. Meetings are regular and frequent and are based on writing the student produces. The course gives a student the freedom to pursue his or her own direction seriously and intensively, while being engaged and guided by a faculty mentor through in-depth discussion and detailed critical commentary. In consultation with the mentor, a student may also choose to incorporate relevant readings into the course. These readings provide the basis for reflective or critical writing by the student that becomes part of the overall dialogue.
Course Requirements
- First Year (30 units)
- Writer's Workshop
- Mentored Study
- Reading Intensive Elective Seminars
- Elective(s) or Studio Course
- Second Year (30 units)
- Writer's Workshop
- Mentored Study
- MFA Thesis
- Elective(s)
Current Courses
See the Course Schedule for current courses and their descriptions.