Fall 2026 Course Atlas
Course Listing
Click course titles to view details. Subject to change.
Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in the workshop unless noted otherwise.
Students are required to attend on-campus readings and colloquia sponsored by the Creative Writing Program outside of class time.
House: A fiction writing workshop focused on structure(s)
Yanique Tuesday 8:30-11:15
NO APPLICATION REQUIRED
PLEASE NOTE: Students will need to purchase Blue Books and writing instruments to use in class. Devices will not be permitted.
This is a class in which structure is both the craft concept and the content material. We will read stories and novels about houses in order to think through what these structures mean in our lives. We will use this learning to consider what architecture can teach us about the creative act of building stories and novels. We will write fiction that is attuned to narrative structure and to the role of structures in stories.
Texts:
Moses Ascending, Sam Selvon
(additional text TBA)
Pre-requisite: none
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.
Sections:
ENGCW 271W-1 Ciano Monday 2:30-5:15
ENGCW 271W-2 Christle Thursday 1:00-3:45
Ciano's section:
“Too often in workshops and classrooms there is a concentration on the poem’s garments instead of its life’s blood,” writes poet Linda Gregg in her essay “The Art of Finding.” In this introductory course, we will, of course, address the fundamental “garments” of writing poetry, those essential poetic tools of craft. But, more than that, we will strive to tap into the experiences that compose our “life’s blood” — those things that have shaped who we are, what we think, what we feel, and how we see the world. Each student should feel affirmed that the singularity of their lived experience lends them the power to write poems that no one else can write. Through considered attention to our work and that of our peers, and the close reading of work by other poets, we will find ways to make that “life’s blood” sing.
Students will write weekly poems, as well as reading responses, feedback to one another, and a final portfolio. We will work to create a space of community through dynamic discussion, participation, and the sharing aloud and workshopping of our own poems. Over the course of the semester, each workshop participant, buoyed by our classroom community, will move closer to writing the poems they most want, and most need, to write.
Texts:
Students will be given PDFs.
Grading:
20% Participation & Preparedness
20% Weekly Poems
30% Reading Responses
30% Final Portfolio (Revised poems and an artist’s statement)
Christle's section:
A poet's artistic practice is not confined to the page; it permeates and shapes their movement through the world. This course will explore some of the ways in which a poet's habits—including associative thought, pattern recognition/making, perception of alternate meanings, keeping a notebook, and making oneself available to astonishment—can be consciously woven into daily life. We will look to a range of published poems, including three full-length collections, to observe what happens when those practices meet the page. You will learn how to name and experiment with specific poetic tools and techniques through in-class exercises, weekly poem assignments, and written responses to course texts. Regular workshop discussions of student poems and two individual conferences will aid in the production of a portfolio of revised poems at the semester’s end. Attendance at all Creative Writing Reading Series events is required, as is attendance at the first class meeting.
This course is open and welcoming to all, whether you intend to major in Creative Writing, are a senior who finally has room in your schedule for a course outside your usual area of study, or simply find yourself curious about how poetry happens. This is not to say the course will be easy—it will place serious demands on your imagination!—but if you are game, you are likely to find joy in the work.
Important note on attendance: Because this is a discussion-driven, intimate, highly participatory class that meets only once a week, your ongoing presence in the classroom is vital. Missing more than one class will negatively affect your grade. Students who miss three classes may be asked to withdraw.
Texts
TBD
Assessment is based on the following:
Writing of weekly poems (20%)
Class participation, including annotations on classmates' poems (20%)
Craft-based responses to books (20%)
Individual conferences and attendance at CW events (10%)
Weekly notebook entries (10%)
Final portfolio of revised poems and introductory essay (20%)
Yanique Mon/Wed 10:00-11:15
Pre-requisite: none
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop. Attend as much of the class as possible.
PLEASE NOTE: Students will need to purchase Blue Books and writing instruments to use in class. Devices will not be permitted.
Making People and Place: Empathy and Attention
This is an introductory course on the art of fiction writing. We will focus on elements of craft such as character development, narrative control, dialogue, scene development, setting, structure, openings and endings. We will engage with fiction writing as always about creating human beings with histories, bodies, and social realities; as always about creating a world anew for an audience; and as always a form of communication with an ongoing humanity—be it dead writers, current beloveds, future anonymous readers or one’s own self. Students will come to understand the fiction workshop as a place to face fears, biases and the limitations of the imagination all via practice and hard work. Students will come to see fiction as a place to communicate as writers and critics. Students come to see fiction writing and critical reading as a place to engage bravely and vulnerably with grief, joy and the full range of human emotions between.
Texts:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat
Handouts assigned by the professor
Grading:
Students will be assessed on four elements of the course, as listed below. Each aspect of the class will be weighed equally at 25%. Students must perform with excellence on all elements of the course to receive an A-. Excellence is defined by the professor. Students performing very well will receive a grade on the B to B+ scale. Students performing well will receive a grade on the C+ to B- scale. Students performing mediocrely will receive a grade on the D to C scale. Students performing inadequately will be asked to leave the class or they will receive an F grade. The A grade is reserved for students who exceed the professor’s expectations.
Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop
Sections:
ENGCW 370RW-1 Tolin Tuesday 2:30-5:15
ENGCW 370RW-2 Cooper Wednesday 1:00-3:45
Tolin's section:
Only accepted students should attend the first class.
Writing sample: 10-15 pages of fiction (double-spaced), genre writing accepted
Inventing Time in Fiction
This course expands craft concepts introduced in introductory creative writing coursework with a special focus on the narrative possibilities of time. How might we maintain a short story’s necessary “intensity of focus” across a timeframe that spans centuries? How might a novel that takes place over the course of a night give every detail heightened significance?
In addition to exploring the pressures of different timeframes across forms, we will discuss fiction that breaks linearity, gesturing toward the future and/or using elements like time travel to negotiate narrative constraints. We will also consider the ways time interacts conceptually with common thematic preoccupations in fiction, such as love and mortality.
Texts:
There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
All other selections for the class will be provided as PDFs that students do not have to purchase.
Assessment:
Creative Writing (60%)
- Workshop Story #1, roughly 7-25 pages (15%)
- Workshop Story #2, roughly 12-30 pages (15%)
- Final Portfolio (30%)
- Two revised workshop stories and a 4-6 page self-reflection (double-spaced, Times New Roman, etc.)
Participation (30%)
- Peer critiques (15%)
- Graded for completion and written in the form of a letter to your peer. As a general format, try to begin with 3 things you thought were working well in the piece, followed by 3 things you have questions about or would like to see in revision
- Literary citizenship (15%)
- Includes attendance, participation during peer workshops, participation during peer presentations, attendance of creative writing departmental events, participation in in-class exercises, prompts, small-group activities, and meeting with me in office hours after each of your workshops to debrief workshop and discuss next steps for the piece
Presentation on a Craft Element (10%)
- This component of your grade will have a separate assignment sheet.
Cooper's section:
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.
Writing sample: 10-15 pages of literary fiction (double-spaced), no genre fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, horror, romance, etc.)
This workshop is designed to build upon the experience and skills students have acquired in previous fiction workshops. Students taking this class will be expected to push themselves consistently to develop and hone their storytelling skills, and to engage with the gamut of human emotions and experiences—through both their own writing and the work of others (including published writers and fellow students). We will plumb the roots of storytelling and practice the various elements of craft (character, point of view, dialogue, setting, scene-building, structure, etc.), with students producing two strong, original pieces of short fiction, one of which will be revised significantly and submitted at semester's end (to serve as a final exam). Also required: detailed, thoughtful written and oral feedback on fellow student writing in workshop, as well as reading of and responses to published work. Class participation is not optional. (Note: we will center character-based literary fiction, meaning this course is not one in which genres like fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, horror, romance, etc. will be read or written.)
Texts:
No texts, but students will be expected to print a significant amount of pages throughout the semester.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on their writing and class participation:
- Writing (50%): two original workshop stories; one significant revision.
- Participation (50%): oral and written responses to student and published work; class discussion/participation; shorter writing assignments; attendance; overall effort/improvement.
Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop
Writing sample: 3-4 poems on separate pages
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.
Sections:
ENGCW 371RW-1 Christle Tuesday 1:00-3:45
ENGCW 371RW-2 Ciano Wednesday 2:30-5:15
Christle’s section:
This is an intermediate, intensive workshop in which you will read, discuss, create, revise, and otherwise experience an abundance of poetry. We will seek, in our meetings, to make connections between the language and ideas of poetry and those of the worlds we inhabit. Together we will develop and expand a shared vocabulary we will use to communicate how poems can be made, read, understood, furthered, and enjoyed. You will read five full-length poetry collections, as well as an abundance of other texts (posted to Canvas) in order to familiarize yourself with the breadth of possibilities and traditions from which you might draw. Highly engaged, curious, respectful participation in discussion of classmates’ work, assigned texts, and other conversations is required. In varying forms over the course of the semester you will receive a combination of feedback from both myself and your peers, which you will use as you revise your poems for your portfolio.
Writing assignments will include one new poem each week, in-class exercises, weekly notebook entries, annotations on classmates’ poems, craft-based responses to three of the assigned texts, and a final portfolio, which will include revised poems and an introductory essay.
The Creative Writing Program is hosting several readings this semester, and your presence will be required at all of them.
An openness to experimenting with new forms of reading, writing, and attention will buoy your work.
Required texts to be purchased:
TBD
Assessment and grading:
Writing of weekly poems (20%)
Class participation, including annotations on classmates' poems (20%)
Craft-based responses to books (20%)
Individual conferences and attendance at CW events (10%)
Weekly notebook entries (10%)
Final portfolio of revised poems and introductory essay (20%)
Important note on attendance: Because this is a discussion-driven, intimate, highly participatory class that meets only once a week, your ongoing presence in the classroom is vital. Missing more than one class will negatively affect your grade. Students who miss three classes may be asked to withdraw.
Ciano's section:
In this intermediate course, you will find a community of poets serious about their craft, hoping to deepen their engagement with the art of poetry. Through the shared sense of trust and endeavor provided by the workshop community, we will closely read the work of published poets and that of our peers as we draft new poems ourselves. To structure our in-class discussions and the weekly creation of new work, we will look closely at four books of contemporary American poetry, using these works as guides, touchstones, and wellsprings, as we situate our own poetic experiments in a larger conversation. Students should be prepared to feel deeply, think critically, and embrace play and invention in the making of new work.
Texts: TBA
Grading:
Assignments for this course include one new poem each week, in-class exercises, feedback on your peers’ work, and the memorization and recitation of one poem from our class readings over the course of the semester. With my feedback, and the feedback of your classmates, you will put together a portfolio of revised work as your final assignment, accompanied by an artist’s statement.
All students are required to attend the Creative Writing Program’s readings this semester.
Pre-requisite: none
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.
Sections:
ENGCW/THEA 372RW-1 Pharel Monday 2:30-5:30
ENGCW/THEA 372RW-2 Belflower Thursday 2:30-5:30
Pharel’s section:
Writing sample: 2-5 pages in any genre, preferably dramatic writing or poetry; optional: artist statement, 1 page or less -- a brief statement of who you are and why you are interested in writing. What concerns you? What excites you?
Plays are a human truth told in time. That truth is then brought to an audience to react, decide, reflect, and revolt. Plays are a singular democratic practice and gift in the human experience.
Every single one of us has brilliant plays inside us, stories that connect others and help people feel alive, but how do we tell them? How do you figure out and access your truth - but more importantly, how can you make your truth legible to the outside world?
In Intermediate Playwriting, we will be learning various elements of the craft, voyaging over a century worth of American playwrights to learn different tools and techniques, but more importantly for you to access what excites you and what themes you’d like your work to be in conversation with. In breaking down literary texts and exploring theatrical history, I often pose the central questions: What makes a play a play? What is theatricality? By investigating the foundations of story and identifying the elements that make a text theatrical, students develop a deeper understanding of both the craft and the medium. We will do this over a series of multiple exercises, and you will write a one-act play.
The most important thing to me is that you read and write. The more you read the more you know. I’ve designed exercises to help you discover aspects of our voice as you build up your play. This is not the kind of class where you can make up as you go, the best thing you can do is meet each deadline and try to read ahead. I highly suggest taking notes on the plays. What questions do you have? What moves you? Class discussions will be a great time to break it all down.
Lastly, the ability to speak your truth is priceless. Students have gone on to explore diverse fields, from law to social advocacy, carrying with them a deeper understanding of their own perspectives and those of others.
Please Note: This class is three hours long. It starts at 2:30. Class ends at 5:30, not 5:15. We will take one 10-minute break or two 5-minute breaks every class period. Please plan accordingly.
Texts:
Some PDFs will be provided. Students may go to the library to see if plays are available or purchase them through Concord Theatricals and Dramatists Publishing. Students will watch STRATFEST@HOME’s production of Wedding Band.
Belflower's section:
Writing sample: 2-5 pages in any genre, preferably dramatic writing or poetry
Description TBA
Kornick Thursday 1:00-3:45
Students are not required to attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop. Please make your best attempt to attend the first or second class.
Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop
Pre-requisite for non-majors: none
Writing sample: 2 pages of creative writing in any genre (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction—not academic essays); or a visual/multimedia sample with a text component (i.e. a short film, images with an artist’s statement, an artist’s book, etc.)
Hybrid Forms
In this course, we’ll explore the boundaries of creative nonfiction, and how writers tell true stories in innovative, genre-bending ways. We’ll read lyric essays, photo and video essays, works that include found text, autofiction, and other nonfiction commonly classed as hybrid—that is, drawing from more than one genre. Each week, students will write a short, experimental exercise inspired by our reading; twice in the course of the semester, students will bring in a more developed workshop submission. Poets are welcome in this class, as are writers of fiction and, of course, those already working in creative nonfiction. Equally welcome are visual artists, and there will be space in this class for experiments that include multimedia elements (though no visual art background or interest is necessary). More broadly, students will develop their craft as creative nonfiction writers, considering how we represent ourselves, our lived experiences, and other people in our work in ways that are both compelling and ethical. Through experiments in hybridity, we will expand our understanding of structure, form, and the shape a true story can take.
Texts: TBA
Grading:
- Participation & Preparedness (25%): The quality (not frequency) of verbal communication, engagement and preparedness in craft discussions of readings and workshop, attendance (mandatory), and written feedback to one another factor into this grade.
- Workshop Submissions (20%): Each student will bring in two fully developed submissions for workshop this semester. Workshop submission evaluation is based on (1) meeting page and prompt requirements, (2) how well the work engages with the elements of creative nonfiction and hybridity we’ve discussed in class, and (3) whether students’ own craft as a writer is developing based on feedback.
- Weekly Exercises (30%): On weeks students aren’t being workshopped, they will bring in a short writing experiment in response to a prompt inspired by that week’s reading. Weekly exercises should be early drafts; they will be evaluated based on engagement with the prompt.
- Final Portfolio Revisions (20%): At the end of the semester, students will significantly revise one workshop submissions and two exercises based on instructor feedback, that of workshop, and the student’s own sense of how the work should evolve.
- Final Portfolio Craft Statement and Process/Publishing Note (5%): Alongside the revisions, students will also turn in a 1-2 page, single-spaced reflective statement about where they are in their writing. At the end of this creative statement, students will also include a brief note (one paragraph) about the revision process, and what avenues (literary journals, agents, and/or popular outlets) students envision as a fit for the work, considering content, length, and audience.
All students are required to attend the Creative Writing Program’s two readings this semester.
ENGCW 378RW-1 / FILM 378RW-2 Kras Wednesday 1:00-3:45
(Professor Joe Conway’s Screenwriting class does not require consent. Please direct inquiries to Film & Media Studies for that section. Do not include Conway's class on the Creative Writing application.)
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.
Pre-requisite for CW and Film majors: any 200-level workshop or FILM 101
Pre-requisite for non-majors: none
Writing sample: 2-5 pages in any genre, preferably screenwriting or playwriting
Feature Films
A writing-intensive course in screenwriting for undergraduates. Weekly screenings and/or readings may be required.
Texts and materials:
Texts will be provided via PDF or online links.
The instructor will assign additional readings and films to view. Some films may be viewed in class, while others may be recommended for viewing at home. You will need to obtain your own access to assigned films for viewing at home (for instance, renting from the library, streaming platforms, etc.)
Standard screenwriting software of your choice (you may use a free demo version). Examples: Final Draft, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Fade In, etc.
A paper notebook and pen are also required for times when devices will be required to be put away.
Assessment:
- Weekly Class Participation, Class Exercises, & Group Work (15 weeks, 3 pts. each) 45 points
- Attendance at Emory Reading Series 4
- Script Coverage Report 10
- In-class Personal Pitch 6
- In-class Screenplay Pitch with Pitch Deck 10
- Treatment of Screenplay 10
- Screenplay Pages 15
Total 100 points
Policies:
Attendance Policy:
Students may miss no more than two (2) days. Thereafter, the student will receive a grade of zero in class participation points for missed days that do not have appropriate documentation submitted (such as a doctor’s note or funeral notice). Students are responsible for obtaining missed course material from their fellow students.
AI Policy:
The use of generative AI for activities in this course is prohibited.
Klibanoff Tuesday 2:30-5:15
(crosslisted with AAS/AMST/HIST 387RW-1)
Pre-requisite: none; not open to first-year students
Writing sample: minimum 3 pages of nonfiction writing – the work that best represents your research and/or writing skills and interests, can be excerpts of two or three papers
In the years between 1945 and 1968, untold numbers of American citizens were targeted for death because of their race, beliefs, or civil rights work – and in some cases merely because of what they drove, how they spoke, or the ever-shifting lines of racial etiquette they crossed. In many cases, their murders were inadequately investigated or prosecuted, their stories left untold, and the crimes against their humanity never punished. The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project at Emory University is both a class and an ongoing historical and journalistic exploration of the Jim Crow South through the prism of unsolved or unpunished civil rights-era murders in Georgia. Using primary evidence – including FBI records, NAACP files, old newspaper clippings, court transcripts, and personal archives – students come to see and understand history from the inside out. Student essays, grounded in secondary readings that provide broader context, will be aimed at the project website, coldcases.emory.edu. Students also may become engaged in helping research a new season of the podcast, Buried Truths, based on a case we’ll be examining in class.
Students should budget for photocopying.
NOTE: This course is not open to first-year students. All students, including students from African American Studies, American Studies, and History, must fill out and submit the application form in Word format and include a writing sample of at least 3 pages of nonfiction. The sample should be the work that best represents your research and/or writing skills and interests; it can be excerpts of two or three papers.
Texts:
Course packet handed out in class
Assessment:
There will be frequent writing assignments and frequent requests to revise your work. I will read your work closely, make comments on your theme, your structure, your language, word selection, grammar, punctuation, spelling and citations, as well as your integration of primary evidence and secondary material. You may work on a team project, may be tasked to help with the podcast Buried Truths, and will write an 8- to 10-page final paper. I will build in time for peer review of your work. There will be an in-state class trip via van that you will be expected to participate in, at no cost, maybe on a Saturday. (It may take two trips to get everyone there). I will meet with you out of class to focus on both the research and the writing. You will see that I am as serious about your mastery of writing as I am of your command of the historical events we will examine. My goal is not merely for you to learn and understand the history, but to be able to convey it clearly.
Extracurricular activities:
Students are required to attend readings and colloquia sponsored by the Creative Writing Program outside of class time.
Kras Tues/Thurs 4:00-5:15
Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.
Pre-requisite for CW and Film majors: any 200-level workshop or FILM 101
Pre-requisite for non-majors: none
Writing sample: 2-5 pages in any genre, preferably screenwriting or playwriting
Writing a TV Pilot
A writing-intensive course in TV writing for undergraduates. Weekly screenings and/or readings may be required.
Texts and materials:
Texts will be provided via PDF or online links.
The instructor will assign additional readings and TV episodes to view. Some episodes may be viewed in class, while others may be recommended for viewing at home. You will need to obtain your own access to assigned titles for viewing at home (for instance, renting from the library, renting on streaming platforms, etc.)
Standard TV writing software of your choice (you may use a free demo version). Examples: Final Draft, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Fade In, etc.
A paper notebook and pen are also required for times when devices will be required to be put away.
Assessment:
- Weekly Class Participation, Class Exercises, & Group Work (15 weeks, 3 pts. each) 45 points
- Attendance at Emory Reading Series 4
- Script Coverage Report 10
- In-class Personal Pitch 6
- In-class TV Show Pitch with Pitch Deck 15
- TV Pilot Script Pages 20
Total 100 points
Policies:
Attendance Policy:
Students may miss no more than two (2) days. Thereafter, the student will receive a grade of zero in class participation points for missed days that do not have appropriate documentation submitted (such as a doctor’s note or funeral notice). Students are responsible for obtaining missed course material from their fellow students.
AI Policy:
The use of generative AI for activities in this course is prohibited.
Permission required: accepted Creative Writing and Playwriting honors students only. One semester of honors may count as one workshop.