BAWriting & Literature

A creative writing degree is an investment in your development as a writer and reader. You’ll have the opportunity to practice image-making, meter, and other poetic gestures; character development and fiction forms; lyric essays, literary journalism, travel writing, hybrid narratives, and more.

Your workshop submissions in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction will be informed by close readings and analyses of writing that spans movements. We read the Romantics, Gothic literature, non-Western traditions, graphic novels—we read everything. Courses focused on literary writing by a single author, such as Walt Whitman or Octavia Butler, allow us to dive deeper into diverse perspectives and critical theory.

Our curriculum also includes four open electives, giving you the freedom to explore different disciplines such as community arts, printmaking, painting and drawing, and illustration.

Connect with published writers and literary organizations

Our students learn what it’s like to live and work as a writer through internships with Bay Area literary organizations. Within our classrooms and workshops, guest lecturers and faculty—all widely published—guide students through the fundamental steps for publication.

Our faculty are accomplished scholars, prose writers, poets, nonfiction writers, and playwrights. They publish New York Times best-sellers, mount exhibitions, and even write libretti for operas. Students benefit from their diverse practices during small workshops and one-on-one sessions.

Our students emerge from the Writing and Literature program with highly transferable skills in critical thinking and oral and written communication. Alumni secure positions at newspapers, literary nonprofits, small-press publishers, and advertising agencies. Many have gone on to pursue graduate degrees in creative writing, education, law, and library science.

Our students are excited to study various styles and formal techniques with acclaimed writers. They want to stretch their creative writing skills in intimate workshops and establish industry connections at prominent presses and journals. Inspired by CCA’s resources for fine arts and design, students are comfortable going beyond the written page to make compelling work. As thoughtful readers, collaborators, and community members, they’re prepared to flourish in many professional spheres that require critical thinking and literary inventiveness.