Fall 2025
Creative Writing Workshop Application Instructions–Fall 2025
Admission to all upper-division English Creative Writing workshops is by application ONLY. Please read and follow the posted application instructions carefully.
Students do not need to complete an “A” workshop before completing a “B” workshop, and may apply for the level they feel best suits their writing abilities. Not certain which level is most appropriate? Students may apply to both the “A” and “B” workshops in the genres of their choice, and our creative writing faculty will determine placement.
Introduction to Creative Writing
English 20W / TAs Alvarado, Box, & Kiebach
Enrollment by instructor consent and NOT by enrollment pass time: Interested students should apply by 8 pm on September 15, 2025. Enrollment preference for English 20W will be given to first and second-year students. Approved applicants will receive a PTE directly from the instructor.
To apply, please prepare a brief (no more than 250 words) note explaining why you wish to take this course, and what previous experience you have with creative writing courses (if any—none required!). Applications may be submitted through our approved web form, which you can access HERE beginning June 26. Students applying to English 20W should enroll in an alternate course during their enrollment passes, and should not assume that they will be admitted.
Questions should be directed to the English Undergraduate Advising Offices via MyUCLA MessageCenter.
Students who are interested in taking English 20W in lieu of English 4W while working on their lower-division major or minor requirements should contact a Dept. of English advisor.
Creative Writing: Intermediate Poetry
English 136A / Prof. Wilson
Not open to credit to students who have previously completed ENGL 136A, 136B, or 136.
In this intermediate poetry workshop, you’ll write a new poem each week, and you can expect many of the same experiences you’d have in any other writing course: discussion of exemplary published work, group work, and peer critique.
How to Apply:
Enrollment is by instructor consent. If admitted, you must attend the first class. To apply for the course, submit by e-mail attachment (in one document) three to five of your best poems. In the body of the e-mail, provide your name, UID number, major, class level, and a brief note (no more than 250 words) about your experiences with poetry, literary poets who interest and/or influence you, any other creative writing courses you may have taken (none required!), and any other creative writing courses to which you are applying this quarter.
The subject line of your message should be your last name followed by the course number (example: Smith 136A) and it should be sent to rwilson@english.ucla.edu AND creativewriting@english.ucla.edu.
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025
Acceptance Notifications
Accepted students will be notified by e-mail.
Due to the volume of submissions, the professor is unable to provide feedback or suggestions regarding the students’ submitted work.
Creative Writing: Advanced Poetry
English 136B / Prof. Stefans
This 3-hour seminar requires students to submit weekly writing, including first drafts of poems, targeted writing exercises, and eventually, revised versions of poems that have been workshopped during the quarter. Students will also be expected to meet periodically in small breakout groups with one or two classmates.
The aim of the course is to elevate each student’s writing to the next level–ideally, to the point where you feel confident submitting your work to literary journals.
All forms of poetry are welcome, whether formal, experimental, prose poetry, performance-based, or mixed media, as long as the primary genre remains poetry. As a class, we will also co-edit a small journal featuring the best work by each student, culminating in a launch reading.
How to Apply:
Please submit a single PDF titled with your last and first name (in that order). Your PDF should include:
- Your name, student ID number, major, and year
- A brief but representative selection of your recent poems (about 3-5 pages)
- A paragraph or two describing your experience and development as a poet, including favorite poets, books, etc.
- A quote from a favorite poem, along with a few sentences explaining what you appreciate about it
The subject line of your message should be your last name followed by the course number (example: Oliver 136B) and it should be sent to stefans@humnet.ucla.edu AND creativewriting@english.ucla.edu.
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025
Acceptance Notifications
Accepted students will be notified by e-mail.
Due to the volume of submissions, the professor is unable to provide feedback or suggestions regarding the students’ submitted work.
Creative Writing: Advanced Prose (Short Fiction)
English 137B / Prof. D’Aguiar
Imagine an accordion. The instrument at its most compressed represents poetry; when extended to its fullest, the baggiest of prose fiction. Short stories abound at various points along the accordion between the contraction of the poem and the stretch of the novel. We read and discuss exemplars of short stories to discern the music of how short fiction works. Students write, score, conduct, three original stories for discussion in a workshop format and revise them into a final portfolio.
How to Apply:
Email a word document of one of your short stories (no less than 5 pages and not more than 8 pages maximum length) with a brief statement of your recent reading in fiction and past creative writing experience.
The subject line of your message should be your last name followed by the course number (example: McDonald 137B) and it should be sent to freddaguiar@ucla.edu AND creativewriting@english.ucla.edu.
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025
Acceptance notifications:
A class list announcement will be posted at the main English department office, 149 Kaplan Hall. Accepted student may also receive email notifications.
Due to the volume of submissions, the professor is unable to provide feedback or suggestions regarding the students’ submitted work.
Topics in Creative Writing—Narrative Nonfiction
English M138.2 / Prof. Jager
In this workshop devoted to narrative nonfiction, we will study short samples of the genre, and students will write their own pieces to be shared and discussed in class. Assignments will include first-person pieces, profiles based on interviews, and fact pieces incorporating library and internet research. The course is not limited to English majors and has enrolled many students from across the humanities as well as in the physical and social sciences.
How to Apply:
Enrollment requires a PTE, and interested students should submit (1) a 250-word personal statement about their writing goals and interests, (2) a list of ALL undergraduate courses taken so far, and (3) a 5-10 page double-spaced nonfiction writing sample.
Please submit all applications via email to <ejager@humnet.ucla.edu> for consideration on a rolling basis.
This course qualifies as an eligible non-fiction topic for the Professional Writing minor.