Creative Writing Courses for Yale College Students Fall 2025
Students may take more than one creative writing class in the same term, but not two in the same genre: Drama, Fiction, Nonfiction and Journalism, Poetry. In addition, students who enroll in ENGL 4400/4401 The Creative Writing Concentration Senior Project may not enroll in any other creative writing course in the same term.
Courses may be searched under the Course Information Attribute “YC ENGL Creative Writing” on Yale Course Search (YCS).
Some Courses Require an Application in Advance
Applications for courses that require them in advance will be due by the extended deadline, midnight on April 3, unless noted otherwise below. Applicants will be notified of decisions by 5:00pm on April 10. When registration period begins, admitted students must add the course to their Registration Worksheet and request Instructor Permission in YCS. Instructors will approve admitted student requests in YCS; approved students must then return to YCS to Confirm Changes and complete registration in the course. Admitted students who do not complete registration in the course by May 1 (or the date requested by the instructor, whichever comes first) may have their places filled from the waiting list. Applicants who submit after the April 3 extended deadline may be accepted to the waiting list.
Online Application Tip: log into your Microsoft account using your Yale email address and password. Please note that if you are trying to access the form while logged into any email on your browser that is not your Yale one, the page will not load.
Where No Application is Listed Below
Please check the course sites on Canvas for further information; these can be accessed through YCS by clicking on the Syllabus link in the course window. In most cases, students may enroll during registration period by submitting an instructor permission request through YCS or by enrolling on a first-come-first-served basis, depending on the course.
Independent Creative Writing Courses
Proposals for the Writing Concentration Senior Project are due on March 26. Other independent study course proposals are due at noon on April 2. Students will be notified by 5:00 pm on April 10 whether the proposal has been approved or revisions are required.
Questions? Contact Erica Sayers or Jane Bordiere.
Special Writing Courses
ENGL 2012 (formerly ENGL 412) Literary Production: Poetry. Staff.
ENGL 2013 (formerly ENGL 413) Literary Production: Prose. James Surowiecki.
The courses listed above do not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration.
Introductory Creative Writing Courses
MULTIGENRE
ENGL 1023 (formerly ENGL 123) Introduction to Creative Writing. Marie-Helene Bertino, Richard Deming, R. Clifton Spargo, Staff.
ENGL 1023 counts as an introductory course for English Majors; does not count towards the Creative Writing Concentration.
ENGL 2411 (formerly ENGL 405) The Craft of Graphic Narrative. Alison Bechdel.
Application for ENGL 2411 - email submissions directly to Professor Bechdel.
FICTION
ENGL 2441 (formerly ENGL 404) The Craft of Fiction. Michael Cunningham, Adam Sexton.
Information Sessions for Professor Michael Cunningham’s Fall 2025 Courses: Professor Cunningham will be holding two different introductory sessions on April 3 at 3:00pm in LC 101 and April 4 at 4:00pm in LC 317. Students interested in Professor Cunningham’s highly sought-after class are strongly encouraged to attend one of these.
Application for ENGL 2441, Cunningham sections, due April 4 @ 5:00pm
Hard copies will be distributed at the introductory sessions, but you may bring a completed application with you.
POETRY
ENGL 3164 Shakespeare and the Craft of Writing Poetry. Danielle Chapman.
Hybrid: Renaissance junior seminar or creative writing workshop w/permission
Intermediate Creative Writing Courses
POETRY
ENGL 3421 Poetry Writing. Maggie Millner.
Application for ENGL 3421
DRAMA
ENGL 3431 Playwriting. Donald Margulies.
Application for ENGL 3431
ENGL 3434 Writing the Television Drama. Aaron Tracy.
See Canvas for application instructions
ENGL 3435 American Horror Stories. Brian Price.
Application for ENGL 3435
FICTION
ENGL 3441 Fiction Writing. Marie-Helene Bertino.
Application for ENGL 3441-01
NONFICTION
ENGL 2464 Approaches to Contemporary Biography: Writing and Reading Biography. Karin Roffman.
ENGL 3454 Writing about Contemporary Figurative Art. Margaret Spillane.
ENGL 3461 Nonfiction Writing: Writing About Architecture. Christopher Hawthorne.
Advanced Creative Writing and Journalism Courses
MULTIGENRE
ENGL 4411 Making Comics. Alison Bechdel.
Application for ENGL 4411 - email submissions directly to Professor Bechdel.
POETRY
ENGL 4421 Advanced Poetry Writing. Cynthia Zarin.
Application for ENGL 4421
DRAMA
ENGL 4434 The Art and Craft of Television Drama. Derek Green.
Application for ENGL 4434
FICTION
ENGL 4441 Advanced Fiction Writing. Caryl Phillips, Staff.
Application for ENGL 4441
NONFICTION
ENGL 4451 The Genre of the Sentence. Verlyn Klinkenborg.
Application for ENGL 4451
ENGL 4464 The Others: Writing Literary Conflict. Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah.
Application for ENGL 4464
ENGL 4460 Journalism. Steven Brill.
Application for ENGL 4460; please submit your application to Professor Brill by Friday, March 28, if possible, but no later than April 2.
ENGL 4459 Writing about Science, Medicine, and the Environment. Carl Zimmer.
ENGL 4459 Application due April 18 at 5:00pm
ENGL 4469 Advanced Nonfiction Writing. Anne Fadiman.
ENGL 4469 Application
Independent Study
ENGL 3400 Tutorial in Writing. Staff. ENGL 3400 Application
ENGL 4400 The Creative Writing Concentration Senior Project. Staff. ENGL 4400 Application