Advanced Academic Programs

This course surveys issues and trends in recent fiction and nonfiction, with emphasis on the diverse work and methods of American writers publishing today. Students read and discuss contemporary writing and hear from Writing Seminars faculty or other accomplished writers. This core course focuses on developing skills to read as a writer, and it explores the similarities and differences between factual and nonfactual writing, including the roles of truth, accuracy, and reader expectation. This core course is required for all incoming fiction and nonfiction students and usually must be completed before students in those concentrations enroll in a writing workshop. This course replaces Contemporary Nonfiction as one of two nonfiction core courses.

Students examine the elements of fiction, including point of view, plot, character development, and the forms of short stories and the novel. The course also introduces students to the writing process, the techniques of reading as a writer, and the workshop process. Readings usually include short stories, one or more novels, and books or articles on craft. Writing assignments may involve exercises, response writings, and one complete piece, either an original short story or novel chapter. Revisions also may be required. This core course is required for all incoming fiction students as a prerequisite to any workshop. Others may take it as an elective, although the program may limit the number of registrants from outside fiction.

The intensive reading and writing exercises of this course help students gather information and transform it into clear, creative prose - whether inliterary essay and memoir or journalistic forms such as articles, reviews, or opinion. Reporting techniques include interviewing, personal observation, and examining documents. Writing techniques include structure, quotation, detail, word choice, transition, and revision. This core course is required for all incoming nonfiction and students prior to enrolling in a workshop. Students in fiction may consider this course as an elective.

This core course develops and hones the reporting, creative, and explanatory skills demonstrated by the best science-medical writers. In addition to writing assignments and exercises in journalistic and literary writing, students will complete field trips and other real-world experiences. The course covers interviewing, ethics, and the use of scientific journals and databases. In some cases, students may be able to choose from a range of writing topics, including nature, technology, health, space, biology, medicine, or other technical or scientific issues. Science-Medical Writing students should complete this course before enrolling in a writing workshop. Enrollment is encouraged by other students interested in this growing professional and creative field.

Tuesday 6:00 – 9:00 pm; 06/04 – 07/23

Thursday 6:00 – 9:00 pm; 07/18

Saturday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm; 06/15 – 06/29

Saturday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm; 07/13

This innovative new course is the factual writing version of 490.667. The course allows students to earn either Nonfiction Workshop credit or a Nonfiction reading elective credit in a single, combined course. Students seeking workshop credit will submit nonfiction in the usual manner; enrollees needing elective credit will complete extensive reading and exercises in factual writing. At times, all students will engage together in workshop discussion or reading analysis. At other times, the two groups might separate for special attention to reading or the workshop. The dual goal is to provide Nonfiction elective students with workshop experience as they earn reading course credit, while workshop students will enjoy the full writing critique process while also completing helpful readings along the way. Students must complete Nonfiction Techniques before enrolling in this course. (Registration Note: Nonfiction students may enroll in this course if they need either workshop or elective credit.)

(Also listed as optional core course for Nonfiction and Science-Medical Writing)
Many of today's finest creative writers have backgrounds in journalism, with its emphasis on research, accuracy, clarity, ethics, and public responsibility. This craft course features intensive study and exercises in these and other elements, including news writing, interviewing, journalism history, objectivity, deadlines, competition, and professional standards. Students in nonfiction and science-medical writing without a background in journalism are urged to consider this course as an additional foundation for their broader creative writing goals. The course includes frequent writing assignments, lectures from practitioners, and exercises in-class and off-site, with analysis of online and print newspapers and news magazines, plus news broadcasts, blogs, and other forms. Some nonfiction and science-medical writing applicants or degree students may be urged to take this course to improve their writing samples or to help prepare for core courses or writing workshops. Fiction writers and poets may consider this elective with an adviser's permission.

Fiction workshops concentrate on intensive writing and revision, with some required reading. As members of a general workshop, students submit short stories or novel chapters to their instructor and to their peers for regular critiques. Typically, two or three stories or chapters are submitted during a semester; revisions are required. Workshop participants also must submit detailed critiques of their fellow students' writing. In most cases, students need to submit short stories in at least one general workshop before progressing to novel chapters in a later course. See Writing the Novel Workshop. Students may take Fiction Workshop up to three times.

Fiction workshops concentrate on intensive writing and revision, with some required reading. As members of a general workshop, students submit short stories or novel chapters to their instructor and to their peers for regular critiques. Typically, two or three stories or chapters are submitted during a semester; revisions are required. Workshop participants also must submit detailed critiques of their fellow students' writing. In most cases, students need to submit short stories in at least one general workshop before progressing to novel chapters in a later course. See Writing the Novel Workshop. Students may take Fiction Workshop up to three times.

Fiction workshops concentrate on intensive writing and revision, with some required reading. As members of a general workshop, students submit short stories or novel chapters to their instructor and to their peers for regular critiques. Typically, two or three stories or chapters are submitted during a semester; revisions are required. Workshop participants also must submit detailed critiques of their fellow students' writing. In most cases, students need to submit short stories in at least one general workshop before progressing to novel chapters in a later course. See Writing the Novel Workshop. Students may take Fiction Workshop up to three times.

This course allows students in nonfiction and science-medical writing to earn a workshop credit in the same class. Students in both concentrations are urged to enroll. With the instructor's permission, students in one concentration may submit writing in the other concentration. For more information about the type of writing required for this course, see the descriptions for 490.670 Nonfiction Workshop and 490.673 Science-Medical Writing Workshop. This is NOT a workshop for writing only about science or medicine.

These general workshops give students extensive experience in writing and revising their factual work, regardless of topic or form. Submissions are critiqued by peers as well as by the instructor. Students typically submit two to four essays, articles, or book chapters; revisions are required. Reading and writing exercises also may be required. Students may take these workshops up to three times.

These general workshops give students extensive experience in writing and revising their factual work, regardless of topic or form. Submissions are critiqued by peers as well as by the instructor. Students typically submit two to four essays, articles, or book chapters; revisions are required. Reading and writing exercises also may be required. Students may take these workshops up to three times.

These general workshops give students extensive experience in writing and revising their factual work, regardless of topic or form. Submissions are critiqued by peers as well as by the instructor. Students typically submit two to four essays, articles, or book chapters; revisions are required. Reading and writing exercises also may be required. Students may take these workshops up to three times.

In these general workshops, students receive professional guidance in translating complex scientific or medical knowledge and research into graceful, lucid prose. Directed to the general reader, science writing emphasizes clear, accurate writing about a broad range of scientific or technical subjects. Students may submit individual essays or articles, or parts of a larger work in progress. Writing submissions are critiqued by peers as well as by the instructor. To offer diverse writing opportunities, science-medical writing workshops may be combined with nonfiction workshops; see 490.669 above. This course also counts toward the workshop requirements for nonfiction students. Students may take this workshop up to three times.

In these general workshops, students receive professional guidance in translating complex scientific or medical knowledge and research into graceful, lucid prose. Directed to the general reader, science writing emphasizes clear, accurate writing about a broad range of scientific or technical subjects. Students may submit individual essays or articles, or parts of a larger work in progress. Writing submissions are critiqued by peers as well as by the instructor. To offer diverse writing opportunities, science-medical writing workshops may be combined with nonfiction workshops; see 490.669 above. This course also counts toward the workshop requirements for nonfiction students. Students may take this workshop up to three times.

In these general workshops, students receive professional guidance in translating complex scientific or medical knowledge and research into graceful, lucid prose. Directed to the general reader, science writing emphasizes clear, accurate writing about a broad range of scientific or technical subjects. Students may submit individual essays or articles, or parts of a larger work in progress. Writing submissions are critiqued by peers as well as by the instructor. To offer diverse writing opportunities, science-medical writing workshops may be combined with nonfiction workshops; see 490.669 above. This course also counts toward the workshop requirements for nonfiction students. Students may take this workshop up to three times.

This specialized workshop introduces students to innovative forms by comparing and analyzing two directions for American fiction in recent decades—traditional and experimental. Assignments challenge students to experiment with styles that differ from their previous work; extensive reading assignments come from the latest collections. The course follows a format similar to that of 490.660 Fiction Workshop above. The course is open to fiction students who have completed or waived the fiction core courses.

This specialized workshop is designed for students who are writing a novel. Students must submit a total of 40-75 pages of a novel in progress, plus a synopsis. Revisions also may be required. Included are readings and discussions on the particular demands of longer fiction. Prerequisite: Fiction Workshop, or permission of the program fiction advisor. (Enrollees also must have completed or waived the fiction core courses.)

The best travel writers weave a rich "sense of place"— a trait also crucial to literary fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction. The telling detail, apt metaphor, historical reference, cultural connection, and vivid character sketch, coupled with reflections that link these observations to broader themes, can elevate travel writing beyond the guidebook. In this specialized workshop, students complete exercises, hear guest speakers, and analyze the works of acclaimed writers. Students may be asked to visit an assigned nearby location to prepare writing. This workshop is intended for nonfiction and science-medical writing students and counts as a writing workshop. (Enrollees must have completed or waived nonfiction core courses.) Students in fiction or poetry may enroll with the permission of the program director or assistant director.

Articles or books about people are a central component of contemporary nonfiction and science-medical writing. In this specialized workshop, students examine methods used in profile articles, biographies, and, to a lesser extent, fictionalized biographical accounts. Students usually write two or three profiles or biography chapters in this course, plus revisions. This course is open to nonfiction and science-medical writing students who have completed or waived both core courses in their concentrations.

Writers have long enjoyed a major impact on contemporary thought by producing compelling essays about personal experiences, feelings, or ideas. In this specialized workshop, students experiment with memoir and the personal essay as distinct forms and as an exploration of the self. Seminal essays are read to clarify students' thoughts and to help them develop their own voice and style in personal nonfiction. This course is open to nonfiction and science-medical writing students who have completed or waived both core courses in their concentrations.

This specialized workshop in nonfiction and science-medical writing combines extensive reading and writing in the area of opinion. Students explore the conventions governing effective editorials, personal columns, first-person writing, and other kinds of commentary. Specialists from different areas discuss their craft in guest lectures. This workshop is open to students who have completed or waived the nonfiction and science-medical writing core courses.

This specialized workshop focuses on writing reviews. Students learn that reviews and criticism require special writing skills and detailed knowledge. Students read and write reviews of various entertainment and art, including books, films, plays, television, and music. Students might be asked to attend films, concerts, and plays, or to critique certain books and recordings. This course is not focused on literary criticism. It is designed for nonfiction and science-medical writing students who have completed or waived core requirements; fiction or poetry students may enroll with the permission of the program director or assistant director.

An advanced workshop is offered occasionally to select students, depending on enrollment and available faculty. The course may focus on a special form or topic, or it may be led by a visiting writer, special instructor, or other experienced faculty member. The concentration in which this course is offered varies. In most cases, enrollment will be competitive, and new writing samples may be required. This workshop counts as one of the three required for the degree. Interested students should discuss this course with their advisor or the program's director or assistant director. Application information and other details for each Advanced Workshop will be presented in the appropriate term's Course Schedule. Prerequisite: At least one workshop in the student's concentration or permission of the program director or assistant director, plus approval through any special application process.

This craft elective is open to students of all concentrations. Through close reading and brief exercises, students learn various techniques to assemble sentences and establish syntactic relationships within paragraphs. Students imitate other writers, as well as revise, exchange, and discuss paragraphs or stanzas from their own work. Authors to be studied may include Updike, Munro, and Welty in fiction; Dillard, Maclean, and Mitchell in nonfiction; Brodsky, Hecht, and Bishop in poetry; and Thomas, McPhee, and Quammen in science and nature.

This reading elective is designed primarily for fiction and poetry students, although any student may enroll with an advisor's permission. The course focuses on Shakespeare's ability to create art of the highest quality while remaining entertaining to large audiences—a goal that has proved elusive to many of today's writers. Students analyze how Shakespeare created dramatic and poetic traditions and was instrumental in shaping current prose fiction. The course involves reading, discussing, and possibly attending plays, as well as critical and creative writing options.

This craft elective is meant primarily for fiction writers, especially those writing or wishing to write a novel. Others, however, might find it of interest. The course focuses on a writer's analysis of novels, expanding the study of fiction into techniques and issues relating to the longer form. Topics include structure, character arcs, style, consistency of voice, techniques of backstory, and plot management. Class assignements may include response writings and orginal fiction as well as oral presentations. Readings ususally include a number of novels, plus books or essays on novel craft.

In this fiction reading course, stories or novels from such authors as Kafka, Beckett, Waugh, Marquez, Malamud, Coetzee, and Tanizaki are used to explain how different cultures may have different literary traditions but how the mechanisms of good writing are universal. Class assignments may include response writings and original fiction as well as oral presentations.

This new course offers intensive study in poetry techniques, readings, and workshop. Poetry students who enroll earn full course credit for a core course, elective, or workshop, as needed. Content of this course will be targeted to the needs of students who enroll and to the strengths of differing instructors. Fiction & Nonfiction students may take this course as an elective, focusing on technique and reading. (This course was formerly Development of Poetry & Poetics I.)

In this craft elective, students examine aspects of voice in contemporary novels and short stories, and essays, articles, and nonfiction books, considering how style, point of view, tone, structure, and culture all contribute to an author's or narrator's individual voice. In recognizing how authors use these elements, students use exercises to strengthen their own writers’ voices. Readings include novels, short stories, essays, articles and nonfiction books, as well as articles on craft. Class assignments may include response writings and original fiction or nonfiction as well as oral presentations.

This reading course examines the historical development of fiction craft, emphasizing the interrelationship of social and cultural development with the maturation of writing. Students learn to appreciate how contemporary authors have roots in the fiction of the past, and how they themselves might be inspired by those who came before them. The course requires extensive reading as well as creative and critical writing. Section I examines fiction before the 20th century; Section II examines the 20th century. Either section may be taken, and neither has to be taken in order.

This cross-concentration reading elective explores how personal identity is transformed into fiction, poetry, and essays. Writers studied include those whose race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability figure prominently in their work, as well as writers who ignore or dismiss such categorization. Students may be asked to write responses, creative pieces, craft analyses, or essays for discussion by the class. This course should be of interest to students of any concentration.

This fiction reading elective begins with a brief review of the history and development of short fiction, moving to analysis of contemporary forms, trends, and practitioners. Featured authors may include Chekhov, Carver, Paley, Barthelme, Munro, and Dixon. The course focuses on intense reading, analysis, and discussion more than writing assignments. Students also may be asked to make class presentations and to review a range of literary journals.

This reading/craft elective examines the formative genres of fiction. Students will read examples of romance, confession, anatomy, and novel and consider contemporary fiction in terms of these historical trends. The readings will range from ancient Egyptian tales and Greek romances to typically misplaced 19th century works such as Flaubert's The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Colette, Camus, Julian Barnes, Stephen Dixon, and Lucy Ellmann also may be included in the reading. Students will respond to the readings with fictional pastiches reflecting the forms under study, culminating in a final hybridized project.

This reading elective allows students to analyze and discuss contemporary nonfiction and science-medical writing without the additional requirement of extensive writing assignments. While students write brief reviews and make a class presentation, the course largely involves reading and discussing such masters of the genre as McPhee, Wolfe, Didion, Talese, Kidder, and others. Extensive reading is required, and students should be prepared for significant class participation. This course is designed primarily for students in nonfiction and science-medical writing; fiction writers and poets also may find it of interest. The goal of the course is to develop reading and craft-analysis skills that will help writers grow throughout their lives.

This course explores how science, medicine, and technology can be affected by politics and practices within government, the private sector, and within the fields themselves. Students use the evolution of science policy as context for discussion, research, and writing about contemporary issues. Students in science-medical writing are encouraged to take this course, which requires class presentations and an essay on science policy and politics.

This reading course focuses on Mother Nature, human nature, and the nature of the beast. The course is recommended for science-medical and nonfiction writers, although others may find it of interest. Students analyze books, essays, and articles from writers who tell gripping, true stories about topics ranging from outdoor adventure to personal reflections on illness. Readings include authors such as Richard Selzer, Diane Ackerman, E.O. Wilson, Amy Bloom, Reynolds Price, and John McPhee.

In this reading elective, science-medical and nonfiction students analyze current and classic books, magazine articles, and newspaper series to discover how the best science, medical, nature, and environmental writers create compelling, entertaining, factual literature. Craft Topics include structure, pace, sources, content, and using language to explain complex subjects or to create lyrical writing. Assignments may include brief reviews and a team presentation of one of the books read for the course, which may include such writers as Erik Larson, Atul Gawande, Rachel Carson, John McPhee, James Gleick, Lewis Thomas, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Jonathan Weiner.

This reading and craft elective course is designed for nonfiction and science-medical writers. To improve as writers and learn about markets, students read, study, and discuss a range of contemporary mass-market magazines and magazine writing in print and online. Students write brief reports and deliver presentations, although the course involves a minimum of writing and a maximum of reading. Students focus on magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Salon, Discover, Harper's, The New Yorker, Slate,?Outside, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and Wired, as well as less-prominent digital and print publications. This course generally does not cover literary journals.

This revised and re-titled elective course presents intensive readings in Fiction and Nonfiction from around the world. By discussing both fact and fiction, students learn how different cultures, values, and histories create differing literature. Readings  include a sampling from at least three continents. Fiction and Nonfiction students earn elective credit in this reading  course, which focuses mostly on analysis and discussion but also may involve student and team presentations and a final project of creative or analytical writing. (This course was formerly International Nonfiction.)

This reading course focuses on essay and memoir both short and long, with the goal of deeper understanding of these popular writing forms. The course is designed for nonfiction and science-medical writing students; others may consider it with an advisor's permission. Only minor writing assignments or exercises are included. Students who want to submit their essays and memoir in a writing workshop should consider 490.693 Writing the Memoir and Personal Essay or regular nonfiction workshop.

This new reading elective course for science-medical writers and nonfiction students spotlights award-winning writers. Whether the prize is a National Magazine Award, a Pulitzer, a Peabody award for electronic media, or other honors, the work in this course offers lessons in reporting and writing for any student. A special feature will be class visits by prize-winning authors – to discuss how they created their winning work. Readings and guests for each section of this course will be announced, but they might include Pulitzer-winners Siddhartha Mukherjee or Natalie Angier, Peabody winner Christopher Joyce, or National Book Award finalist Lauren Redniss. Students in this course join in team or individual presentations, with several options for a final writing assignment. Readings may include articles, essays, or books.

This special course based at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore or at other hospitals in the Washington area allows writing students, program alumni, and others to experience the front lines of medicine. Participants spend time observing doctors and nurses in action and may be assigned to follow a practitioner during a full work shift at the hospital. The course also includes meetings with doctors, nurses, and patients and includes a final writing project. While the course targets science-medical writers, it will be of interest to a range of students, alumni and others, including medical practitioners, scientists, and communication specialists. Students should be prepared to attend classes at the main hospital complex in Baltimore, at an assigned hospital in the Washington Metro Area, and at other locations such as the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

This new course takes students to the front lines of science, labs, and current research, with a focus on developing writing ideas, reporting skills, and the craft of explanatory writing. Depending on individual student interest, this course is designed as a companion or alternative to our Medicine in Action course at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Science in Action focuses on fields beyond medicine and health, including space, environment, energy, climate change, and other topics. While this course will meet in regular classrooms for much of the term, the course also involves four to six field trips during or outside regular class time and sometimes beyond the student's home campus  – including the student’s choice of one of two available Saturday field trips. To help students plan, tentative dates for these trips will be announced weeks in advance, before the course begins. This course also uses video conference technology or digital teaching tools to link to out-of-town labs or events, to discuss research with guest scientists, or to combine students from Washington and Baltimore.

Mount Desert Island, Maine, home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, is a place of exquisite natural beauty. With several thriving environmental science centers and a world-class genetics laboratory, the island is also a hub of cutting-edge research. This Hopkins Conference on Craft science-medical writing course allows participants to immerse themselves in the region's stimulating natural and intellectual environments while honing their reporting skills, refining their writing artistry, and gathering information for stories. Possible field excursions, where participants can observe and interview researchers on the front lines of science, include: Great Duck Island, where biologists study a diverse population of nesting seabirds; internationally acclaimed Jackson Laboratory, where scientists target the genetic roots of cancer, aging, and heart disease, and, of course, beautiful Acadia, where naturalists work to conserve the park's plants and wildlife. Course participants engage in writing workshops and craft exercises, discuss nature literature, and have a chance to publish Maine-inspired writing in a regional publication or a Writing Program newsletter. This course can count as a workshop or elective for M.A. in Writing Program students.

This cross-concentration reading course, designed for students of any concentration, focuses on a writer's analysis of masterworks in fiction, nonfiction, and science-medical writing. The course involves extensive reading and discussion to study matters of technique and to investigate the changing boundaries among the genres.

This new elective course, for students in all concentrations who now teach writing or wish to, combines practical aspects such as creating a syllabus and responding to student writing, with a discussion of the use of technology, the role of teacher as expert or facilitator, and the philosophical consideration of what matters most to you as a teacher. While teaching at different venues will be covered, the focus is the college level. Students will design two courses, one on teaching a specific concentration (fiction, poetry, nonfiction, etc.) and a second on composition or literature. The course concludes with each student teaching part of a class.

This new elective course, covering fiction for children through young adults, combines lectures, reading, discussion, exercises, and brief critiques. Besides craft elements such as character, plot, voice, and humor, the course will address professional issues, such as markets, agents, and reader age groups. This course is not a workshop, but students will submit for critique one short picture book or novel chapter. This course is designed as an elective for fiction students. Students are urged to complete Fiction Techniques before enrolling. Students from outside the Fiction concentration must have the permission of the program fiction advisor before enrolling.

This new craft elective course, designed for students from any program concentration, focuses on a wide range of writing techniques that add richness, context, and depth, including description, detail, setting, observation, metaphor and simile, allusion, contrast, and background research. Students will read and analyze travel, short fiction, memoir, science, novels, nature, poetry, creative nonfiction, and other forms. Technique will be developed through reading, analyses, and writing exercises. This course counts as an elective in nonfiction, fiction, or science-medical writing.

(Washington & Baltimore) This new elective course focuses on the editing and production of the national literary and arts journal, The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, housed at The Johns Hopkins University, M.A. in Writing Program. Students will work with Editor-in-Chief, Rae Bryant, in exploring today's print and digital publishing markets through both writer and editor lenses. Responsibilities will include reading and discussing nationally prominent journals such as The Missouri Review, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Hopkins Review, and Tinhouse; learning Content Management Systems (CMS) as necessary tools for today's writers and editors; reading regular submissions to Eckleburg for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; curating artwork; and reading submissions for the Eckleburg award contest. Students may submit staff reviews of prominent works and local events for possible Eckleburg publication. This course counts as an elective for students from any program concentration, and students can enroll from either campus. The course will be at least half online but also will include in-person editorial meetings and opportunities for students to attend local events.

This fiction craft elective involves intensive writing and reading to introduce students to basic elements of drama studies and playwriting. Playwriting, with its heritage of portraying events through conflict, remains one of our most active literary forms. Students write part or all of a short play for class critique and may be asked to attend one or more local productions. The course is designed primarily for fiction students who have completed Fiction Techniques. Fiction students who have not completed that course or other students interested in this course must first get their advisor's permission and then contact the program fiction advisor for permission to enroll. Enrollees should recognize the extensive writing requirements of this course if they decide to pair it with a workshop.

Film is a central artistic medium of our age. In this intensive writing course, students are introduced to the basics of film studies and screenwriting by reading scripts, examining films from a writer's perspective, and writing one or more short screenplays. Topics include dialogue, characterization, plot, subtext, and visual storytelling. The craft elective is designed primarily for fiction students who have completed Fiction Techniques. Fiction students who have not completed that course or other students interested in this course must first get their advisor's permission and then contact the fiction advisor for permission to enroll. Enrollees should recognize the extensive writing requirements of this course if they decide to pair it with a workshop.

For much of the past century, lyric poetic forms were favored so much that the reading public almost forgot narrative poems existed. But a close look at poetry from Frost, Robinson, and Jeffers reveals the beginnings of modernist narrative that survives richly into the 21st Century. From older poems like Frost's "Maple" or Warren's "Audubon," to today's longer works such as Bricuth's "Just Let Me Say This About That" or Leithauser's "Darlington's Fall," readers frequently find a symbiotic combination of lyric and narrative elements so closely enjoined it is impossible to tease them apart. In this new reading course, poetry and fiction students focus on a broad selection of styles, forms, and subjects to explore narrative arc, character and scene development, dialogue, imagery, metaphor, and other elements. Poets will compose shorter narrative poems, and fiction writers will practice tight, intense narrative using poetic devices.

This new elective course is designed to hone skills in the elements of fiction through an intensive revision process. The course is intended for fiction students who have a significant body of writing. All enrolling students must have completed at least one, and preferably two, fiction workshops before attending. The course will cover fiction fundamentals such as setting, character, plot, and structure but also expand into advanced techniques such as symbolism, mood, and time movement. Students will improve the use of those and other techniques by reviewing and revising their own writing. While some workshop methods will be employed, this course will focus more on specific techniques than a workshop-style evaluation of student writing.

From Emerson, Frost, Melville and Wharton, through such contemporary writers as John Updike, Marilynne Robinson, Tracy Kidder, Richard Russo, and Elizabeth Strout, New England is rich in literary heritage. This cross-concentration reading and craft course for the Hopkins Conference on Craft in Bar Harbor, Maine, will focus on a writer's analysis of essays, poems, stories, or books set in, or written by writers from this region. We'll cast a particular eye toward setting and a sense of place, and we'll look at these works both in terms of how they grow out of the New England literary tradition and how they connect to any literature written about, and set within, a particular region or culture. Participants in this course will write both creative and reflective responses to the readings and discussions. They also will join other conference participants in afternoon craft exercises. This course is open to participants from any writing concentration and counts as an elective for M.A. in Writing students.

This new elective reading course, offered for students in poetry and any other program concentration, features prominent international poetry and poetic forms from a variety of countries, cultures, and centuries. Featured poets may include Nobel winners Czeslaw Milosz, Wole Soyinka, or Derek Walcott. This course also will explore the theories and practices employed by contemporary writers such as Richard Wilbur, Charles Martin, and Rachel Haddas to translate poetry into English. The goal is to provide students inspiring, challenging exposure to new forms, styles, and approaches to verse.

This final course is required for all degree candidates and is offered only in the fall and spring terms. The two major goals of the course are the completion of a successful thesis and an enriching, challenging capstone experience for the entire program. A creative writing thesis must be of considerable ambition and length – portions of a novel or a nonfiction or science-medical book, or a collection of poems, short stories, essays, or articles. Thesis students should select their best, most revised work from previous program courses; not all program writing will become part of a student’s thesis. Students taking this course are required to submit a full thesis draft by the second week of the course; the author spends the term revising the thesis under the supervision of an approved advisor. To provide extensive time for revision, thesis students meet as a class only for certain weeks during the term. During those class sessions, students contribute to and help edit a class journal project, engage in forward-looking discussions on the writing life, participate in a program-capping roundtable discussion, and rehearse and conduct a public reading. Prerequisite: All other required and elective courses; this course concludes the degree program. Students are not allowed to take any other course at the same time as Thesis & Publication unless the other course is additional to program requirements. Even in such cases, the program director or assistant director must approve the other course.

This course is only for thesis students who completed 490.801 Thesis & Publication but failed to finish an approved thesis and were not approved for an Incomplete. If both conditions are met, students must register for this course for every term following Thesis & Publication until the program approves a final thesis. Individual meeting times and days will be arranged. For more information, consult your advisor. This course requires the payment of a significant fee for every term until a thesis is approved.

This non-credit course is designed for students in the Advanced Academic Programs or others who want to improve their general academic and workplace writing skills. The 20-hour course focuses on techniques that can be applied to classroom papers, reports, and theses, or to workplace projects and documents. The course features exercises in structure, language, usage, and form. Students critique each other's work in a writing workshop, and some students may be able to submit writing from courses in other programs. This course is not a creative writing workshop and is not designed for students who need help with English as a second language.

This course is designed primarily for students from outside the M.A. in Writing Program. At publication time for this directory, the program was considering changes to or the possible elimination of this course.

This introductory course is designed for fiction students who want to develop basic familiarity in the elements of the craft. Some students in this course explore their abilities in fiction writing but will not pursue a degree at this time; others want to determine whether a graduate program is an appropriate goal; others need to develop fiction samples for application as a degree candidate. Some applicants to the degree program might be asked to enroll in this course. Students write fiction of various lengths and styles, critique their colleagues' work, and read extensively in their areas of interest. This course does not cover poetry, nonfiction, or science-medical writing. This course is offered only during select semesters and only with sufficient enrollment. At publication time for this directory, the program was considering changes to or the possible elimination of this course.