Creative Writing
The Associate of Arts in creative writing is a two-year degree program that builds on students’ love for literature and writing by preparing them for a variety of writing-based careers. In addition to courses in poetry, fiction writing and creative nonfiction, the program offers opportunities for students to workshop their writing in small groups and to gain editing experience by working on a quarterly national magazine.
Program Benefits
- Graduate with the skills you need to become a lucrative freelance writer.
- Learn from faculty who possess high degrees in their fields, who have relevant and valuable real-world experience and who make an effort to know you personally.
- Enjoy our small class sizes and supportive campus community.
- Take advantage of incredible internships and jobs available in the exciting Nashville market.
What to Expect
As a student in Trevecca’s Associate of Arts in creative writing program, you’ll enjoy engaging academic courses built for those who are passionate about literature and writing. This 60-hour degree can typically be completed in just two years, preparing you to enter a four-year degree program or to move into a variety of writing-based careers.
The curriculum consists of both liberal arts core classes and two courses in poetry writing, two in fiction writing and one in the composition of creative nonfiction. Beyond being exposed to both canonical and contemporary writers, you’ll gain valuable and practical tips for beginning and sustaining a career in writing. Trevecca also hosts creative writing workshops where students write and revise original work in peer groups that are both challenging and supportive.
If you are interested in gaining additional editing experience, you’ll have the opportunity to serve on the editorial staff of the Cumberland River Review, a digital, literary quarterly featuring new work by nationally recognized writers. You’ll also have opportunities to attend on-campus readings and author events sponsored by the English department.
Why Choose Trevecca?
Founded in 1901 and a leader in online education for more than two decades, Trevecca helps students discover and pursue an individual calling by providing innovative instruction; cultivating a supportive, Christ-centered community; and establishing relationships that open doors.
Recognized nationally and locally for academic quality, Trevecca has earned a reputation for providing the world with servant leaders, problem solvers and difference makers. Trevecca’s holistic approach to education encompasses intellectual, social, emotional, physical and spiritual growth.
As a Christian university, we offer programs that explore the ways faith intersects with your field of study. This means you can gain your creative writing degree in a supportive, Christian community with small classroom sizes and engaged faculty members who care about you and your goals.
Course Descriptions
Get details on all the courses you’ll complete as you work toward this degree at Trevecca.
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Financial Aid & Costs
Nearly every student at Trevecca receives some form of assistance in paying for college. Learn all about the affordability of a TNU education and options for receiving aid.
Career Opportunities
With your Associate of Arts in creative writing from Trevecca, you’ll be ready to pursue a career in writing or enter a four-year degree program. Graduates of the creative writing program have gone on to jobs in a number of industries. Positions for creative writing graduates include:
- Publishing/editing assistant
- Nonprofit administrator
- Content developer
- Marketing coordinator
- Teacher
"With high performance standards and professors devoted to student development, the TNU English program prepares a student for immediate employment in their desired field. I have benefited from the Trevecca English department and from the instruction given by its Christ-loving professors."
Course Descriptions
Get details on all the courses you’ll complete as you work toward this degree at Trevecca.
Life, Calling, and Purpose
INT 1100
English Composition II: Critical Reading, Writing, and Thinking
ENG 1080
Emphasizes intellectual and analytical reasoning through reading and writing assignments. Includes instruction in library and research technologies and the writing of a research project.
World Literature
ENG 2000
Designed to engage students in dialogue with a variety of Western and Non-Western world literature, past and present. ENG 2000 is a recommended prerequisite for all upper-level literature courses.
Creative Writing: Beginning Poetry
ENG 2100
Students will write and critique original poems in a workshop environment. Contemporary poets will be studied as models.
Creative Writing: Beginning Fiction
ENG 2200
Students will write and critique original short stories in a workshop environment. Contemporary writers will be studied as models.
Literary Magazine Practicum
ENG 2310
A one-credit-hour, applied course wherein students serve as editors of The Cumberland River Review, Trevecca's national literary magazine. The work of the magazine's editorial staff is as follows: Editors read submissions from national and international writers and poets; vote and comment on each poem, story, or essay; and meet monthly to discuss which submissions should be accepted for publication. CRR receives well over five hundred submissions per semester; each submission consists of as many as five poems or a short story of up to five thousand words. May be repeated for credit as many as four times, for a total of four credit hours.
Creative Writing: Advanced Poetry
ENG 3460
Students will produce advanced poetry to be critiqued in a workshop environment. Contemporary poets will be studied as models with an emphasis on the manuscript as a whole.
Creative Writing: Advanced Fiction
ENG 3470
Students will produce advanced fiction to be critiqued in a workshop environment. Contemporary writers will be studied as models with an emphasis on the development of plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, and diction.
Creative Writing: Nonfiction
ENG 3480
Students will write and critique original works of creative nonfiction in a workshop environment. Contemporary essays will be studied as models.
Contemporary Writing
ENG 3490
A study of Western poetry and fiction from 1980 through today. Contemporary Writing will focus on the analysis of work for which an incomplete body of criticism exists.
General Electives — 10-12 hours
*ENG 2310: May be taken for credit as many as four times; additional hours accrued in this manner are applied as general electives.
*For a complete list of courses, tracks and other relevant information, view the program's course catalog.
