<p>so what's the creative-writing scene like at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>bump I'd like to know the answer to this quest. as well.</p>
<p>i knoww. i still do, too!</p>
<p>Senate and Determind--Should we all get in, I'd be ecstatic to create our own creative writing group. :)</p>
<p>Dartmouth has quite a few options for creative writers. You can write something and submit to the various newsletters/journals on campus. Also, since students have to fulfill distrib requirements, you can take a creative writing class to satisfy the art distrib. I did a quick search for all the courses and I see Creative Writing, Creative Writing: Poetry, Creative Writing: Fiction, Creative Writing: Lit Nonfiction, and lots n' lots of other tasty courses.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are other creative writing outlets out there that I don't know about. Sorry!</p>
<p>Oh, and this might be helpful: Creative</a> Writing</p>
<p>thanks for the info, edwardz! marimare, i'm already in - hope to see you in the fall!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Edwardz. </p>
<p>Ha I'm applying next year.</p>
<p>Off the top of my head:</p>
<p>There is a literary magazine. Overall, there are tons of publications to write for.
If you are funny, write for the jack-o-lantern.
If you write slam poetry, we have the soul-scribes which do (I would estimate) public 'performances' every other week or so. They are really good.</p>
<p>There is an annual event (I think it's called WIRED), which is a 24-hour play production event. (You are given a theme/topic to write about, and 24 hours until curtain call with a certain budget for costumes/makeup/set design). You could be a writer.</p>
<p>And definitely, feel free to start something. I would think that there would be tons of interest.</p>
<p>it certainly will not open any doors. but it won't close any, either. profs are talented, committed, and devoted, though there won't be any nobel laureates. they truly love working with the students. i have nothing but great things to say about the department, but then again, i was never aiming to be published. couple of my friends who are aiming for a career in writing don't seem to complain, though.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the information, everyone! km7hill, out of curiosity, who were your favorite teachers from the department?</p>
<p>I have only taken a couple of English courses so far, but looking at the course reviews, it seems nearly every prof in the department is awesome. I took English 12 (introduction to literary study) with Barbara Will freshman spring and loved it. She's a great prof, and the course is a great overview of the things you can do in the English department, from rhetoric to drama to prose to poetry to creative writing.</p>
<p>My focus was on fiction. And I loved Professor Hebert, with whom I worked extensively. However, Prof. Sleigh, who is now the director of the program at Hunter College, really did a lot to open my (and my friends') eyes to poetry, to depths that we never imagined before. I, who was on the fence b/w poetry and fiction, realized that I wasn't so cut out for poetry. My friend, on the other hand, grew so much as a writer as a result of his classes.
I think the program knows of its limits. Dartmouth is not a CW hotbed, and they understand that many aspiring writers will be choosing other programs at other schools. The faculty here just try to help you grow as a writer, on your own terms, however and whatever that may be. And I appreciated that a lot.
Prof. Huntington, I also had the pleasure to work with, both as a writer and as a student of literature. She is the poet laureate of NH, FWIW, and is absolutely fantastic to work with.
Put it this way: the professor's writing ability does not reflect on her ability to help you grow as a writer. Just because the faculty at D is less famous than those at other schools does not necessarily mean that they give inferior guidance. And ultimately, it comes down to your innate ability, desire, and drive. I think the profs at D play their role very well.
But the process of writing, while a lonely one, is also a community project, where you're workshopping your piece with other writers. Although some of my classes were amazing, some classes have been lackluster. I went to a writing program in HS, and I feel that the workshops conducted there have been more helpful than some workshops I had at D. So if you want to maximize your benefits, you can't downplay the importance of being a part of a community of serious, serious writers.</p>
<p>So there's no real answer. A lot of pros and cons either way. My friends who have sought an MFA have had no problems getting into programs + getting stipends out of it. So, no, Dartmouth definitely doesn't shut any doors.</p>