Recent visitors to the Brandeis website may have seen the announcement of a new major in creative writing. Beginning fall 2003, Brandeis will offer a B.A. in Creative Writing, distinct from the current B.A. in English. Creative writing is long ingrained in the Brandeis curriculum; workshops in the subject have been offered since 1951, and in 1977, the English departments formed a creative writing track of the English major. With the most recent development, students concentrating in creative writing will receive an entirely separate degree.
Olga Broumas (poet-in-residence and director of the program), said the changes lie not in the nature of the program but in its anticipated breadth. "We are looking to broaden our course offerings and make the program more available."

Remaining at the core of the program will be writing workshops in poetry, fiction and other genres, taught by renowned writers-in-residence, as well as the creation of a book-length thesis in poetry or fiction.

Jessica Marks '04 is currently on the Creative Writing track and hopes to graduate with a double major in English and creative writing. "There's more of a fallback now that we can have two separate majors if we so choose. We can show the academic ... and creative aspects of our writing," she said.

Both the present track and the future major stand out from other academic programs at Brandeis in that they are highly selective: Interested students must apply and be accepted. The same is true of each of the writing workshops, which are capped at 12 students. Although these students need not be Creative Writing majors, they are chosen on the basis of writing samples.

Prospective majors apply in April of their sophomore year by submitting 20 pages of poetry or 35 to 50 pages of fiction, as well as a transcript and letters of recommendation.

Broumas said the selection is based on three main criteria: "talent, ability, and development," as well as "whether the student is at the point where we can envision as a community that he or she would be able to pull together a book-length work in 18 months. Many people who are wonderful writers are just not at that place," she added. "Writing a book in 18 months is an incredible proposition. Most books take five to seven years."

Other options do not require a thesis or an additional application. Students may pursue the Creative Writing minor or construct an independent-study program.
The Brandeis program is one of few of its type that is solely for undergraduates. At other institutions, faculty attention is often reserved for graduate students, who then in turn instruct the undergraduates. "We have master's level faculty devoted to undergraduates (at Brandeis). All of our creative energy as writers goes towards undergraduates," Broumas said.

"There is a certain level of engagement, reciprocity, intensity, and one-on-one that happens when there are only four faculty and eight seniors," Broumas added. She said students who go from Brandeis' program on to graduate school in creative writing are often disappointed, as they suddenly become one of 60 students in a class.
The current faculty, all recipients of the prestigious Guggenheim fellowship, includes Broumas, as well as fiction writer-in-residence Jayne Anne Phillips and poets John Burt and Mary Baine Campell. Joining them this year are Fannie Hurst writers-in-residence poet and physician Rafael Campo and fiction writer Jill McCorkle.
Creative Writing students said they are very enthusiastic about the program and the opportunities inherent in its structure. "I'm in love with the English department," said Yael Shinar '03, who graduated last semester and is now completing her thesis in poetry. The professors, she continued, are "engaging, rigorous, and affectionate." "It's a self-drive major," she said. "(The program) doesn't tell you that there's a way to write. It's not about intimidating or dismantling your work."

Shinar said she was pleased with the extensive resources provided by the department, including a reading series, entitled The School of Night that brings distinguished authors to Brandeis. Past authors have included J.M. Coetzee, Li Young Lee, Denis Johnson and Russell Banks, among others.

Shinar also discussed the closeness that emerges among students in the program. "The people who take the workshops are a pretty tight community. I meet regularly with several of my peers and we talk about our work and our lives," she said. "Without a community, the desire to write could be really alienating because it's a solitary task. If you don't have a community of writers, it's easy to get lost."

"You have someone there to supervise your first book; it's an amazing experience," Marks said. "I'm really excited -- to have written a book and only be 20."
Kelley Collacchi '06 has just begun Rafael Campo's poetry workshop and plans to apply for the major next year. "Having a teacher who loves writing and is sharing that with you makes the class a lot more personal because he knows a lot more what it's like to be a beginning writer, trying to find your voice and your passion. The professor, having been through that, knows exactly what buttons to push," she said.

Collacchi said she has researched the poetry written by the Brandeis faculty. "It was almost flattering to realize that I would be able to work with such published and recognized poets," she said.

Fiction writer-in-residence Jayne Anne Phillips, expressed a desire and expectation that the new major will draw more freshmen with an interest in creative writing. "Writers diversify and intensify campus life, and Brandeis will benefit by their presence," Phillips said.