<p>I absolutely adore Carleton, and it would be far and away my first choice except for one reservation; English, in the traditional sense, seems to be strong at Carleton while the more modern type literature/creative writing classes seem sparse and of varying quality. </p>
<p>As someone who is 100% going to major in English and take every writing class available (I plan on going to a writing workshop after college exclusively for creative writing, although of course things may change), I was wondering whether anyone could comment on whether the English dept. would be challenging and stimulating for a creative writer?</p>
<p>Btw, for reference, the other top contender for me is Oberlin, which seems a lot stronger in creative writing (it's available as a major) but as long as Carleton has opportunities I can seek out, I would much prefer to attend Carleton.</p>
<p>Hey there! I’m a perspective English major, not necessarily interested in creative writing, but I can try to give some insight. </p>
<p>You’re right about the assumption that Carleton’s English department is stronger with reading literature than with creative writing; however, there are still a lot of creative writing options. </p>
<p>This spring, the department is offering:</p>
<ol>
<li>The Crafts of Writing: Creative Non-Fiction</li>
<li>Advanced Crafts of Writing: The Short Story</li>
<li>Advanced Crafts of Writing: Poetry</li>
</ol>
<p>The full list of 2009-2010 creative writing courses is here: <a href=“https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/english/creativewriting/[/url]”>https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/english/creativewriting/</a></p>
<p>There’s also a playwriting course offered through the theatre department every two years (they offered it last term so will next have it in 2011-2012). There are also various publications on campus in which you can publish your creative writing as well as contests every so often.</p>
<p>If you’re serious, as a writer, I would advise you to go to the school with the stronger writing program. Not only are there more courses, but there are more connections to publishing.</p>
<p>No disrespect to Carleton intended.</p>
<p>Eh, I don’t know. There are several English faculty members with published works of creative writing. I’m sure that they would be happy to advise you about publishing opportunities.</p>
<p>I love creative writing too, but I wouldn’t want to get my undergrad degree in it. For me, coming to a school like Carleton and getting an outstanding overall education will make me a better world citizen, which will in turn make me a better writer than attending a series of workshops focused on craft. As someone said above, you can still take workshop classes at Carleton. You can also take my word that Carleton English classes will improve your writing. I was a good writer (YoungARTS finalist in creative writing, 5s on AP Lit and AP Lang, etc.) coming in, but I’m still learning here.</p>
<p>And for what it’s worth, I’m a freshman and my play is getting a production in Northfield in a couple of weeks. It can be done. :)</p>
<p>I’m a fairly serious creative writing type too, but are you sure you want to do your undergrad in creative writing? I like to think that having a broader education in the humanities gives me a better perspective on life the universe and everything and makes what I have to say that much more valuable and interesting. But obviously Oberlin is a wonderful school, so you certainly can’t go wrong with that decision.</p>