princeton masters creative writing

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History Of The English Language

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Creative Writing Courses

Creative Writing

Poetry in the Political & Sexual Revolution of the 1960s & 70s

Frs 102 · spring 2021.

FRS 102 · Tuesdays, 1:30 - 4:20 PM

Instructors: Alex Dimitrov

What does artistic production look like during a time of cultural unrest? How did America’s poets help shape the political landscape of the American 60s and 70s, two decades that saw the rise of the Black Panthers, “Flower Power,” psychedelia, and Vietnam War protests? Through reading poetry, studying films like Easy Rider, and engaging with the music of the times (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors) we will think about art’s ability to move the cultural needle and not merely reflect the times but pose important questions about race, gender, class, sexuality, and identity at large.

The American Dream: Visions and Subversions in American Literature

Frs 176 · spring 2021.

FRS 176 · Wednesdays, 1:30 - 4:20 PM

Instructors: Joyce Carol Oates

What is “The American Dream”? Is it an ideal, a shared cultural goal, a perennial challenge? A riddle, a chimera? How does the American Dream manifest itself in individual works of art?

Introductory Poetry

Cwr 202 · spring 2021.

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Michael Dickman · Paul Muldoon · Monica Youn · Susan Wheeler · Tracy K. Smith

Practice in the original composition of poetry supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student’s growth as both creator and reader of literature.

Introductory Fiction

Cwr 204 · spring 2021.

Instructors: Alaa Al Aswany · Aleksandar Hemon · Daphne Kalotay · A.M. Homes · Idra Novey

The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers a perspective on the place of literature among the liberal arts. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student's growth as both creator and reader of literature.

Literary Translation

Cwr 206 / tra 206 / com 215 · spring 2021.

C01 · Tuesdays, 1:30 - 3:20 PM

Instructors: Jhumpa Lahiri

Students will choose, early in the semester, one author to focus on in fiction, poetry, or drama, with the goal of arriving at a 20-25 page sample of the author's work. All work will be translated into English and discussed in a workshop format. Weekly readings will focus on the comparison of pre-existing translations as well as commentaries on the art and practice of literary translation.

Yaass Queen: Gay Men, Straight Women, and the Literature, Art, and Film of Hagdom

Cwr 207 / thr 207 / gss 220 · spring 2021.

S01 · Tuesdays, 1:30 - 3:20 PM

Instructors: Hilton Als

Modern queer writers have long written about the rich and complicated relationship straight cis women have had with queer men. And yet, outside of queer literary circles, little attention has been paid to how these relationships challenge or replicate traditional family structures, and form a community outside of the status quo. We will examine the stories male writers constructed and analyze women writers who held a mirror up to those straight and queer men who were drawn to lesbian culture. By examining photography and painting, we will further look at the artist's relationship to and identification with queerness, or straight female power.

Advanced Poetry

Cwr 302 · spring 2021.

Instructors: Rowan Ricardo Phillips · Susan Wheeler

Advanced practice in the original composition of poetry for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings. The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers perspective on the places of literature among the liberal arts.

Advanced Fiction

Cwr 304 · spring 2021.

Instructors: Alaa Al Aswany · Aleksandar Hemon

Advanced practice in the original composition of fiction for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings. The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers perspective on the place of literature among the liberal arts. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student's growth as both creator and reader of literature.

Playwriting II: Intermediate Playwriting

Thr 305 / cwr 309 · spring 2021.

S01 · Wednesdays, 1:30 - 4:20 PM

Instructors: Migdalia Cruz

A continuation of work begun in Introductory Playwriting, in this class, students will complete either one full-length play or two long one-acts (40-60 pages) to the end of gaining a firmer understanding of characterization, dialogue, structure, and the playwriting process. In addition to questions of craft, an emphasis will be placed on the formation of healthy creative habits and the sharpening of critical and analytical skills through reading and responding to work of both fellow students and contemporary playwrights of note.

Advanced Literary Translation

Cwr 306 / com 356 · spring 2021.

Life is Short, Art is Really Short

Cwr 315 · spring 2021.

C01 - James Richardson · Tuesdays, 1:30-3:50 PM

Instructors: James Richardson

All literature is short — compared to our lives, anyway — but we'll be concentrating on poetry and prose at their very shortest. The reading will include proverbs, aphorisms, greguerias, one-line poems, riddles, jokes, fragments, haiku, epigrams and microlyrics. Imagism, contemporary shortists, prose poems, various longer works assembled from small pieces, and possibly even flash fiction. Students will take away from the thrift and edge of these literary microorganisms a new sense of what can be left out of your work and new ideas about how those nebulae of pre-draft in your notebooks might condense into stars and constellations.

Writing Near Art/Art Near Writing

Vis 323 / cwr 323 / eng 232 / jrn 323 · spring 2021.

C01 · Fridays, 1:30-4:20 PM

Instructors: Rindon Johnson

What we'll be writing together won't quite be art criticism and it won't quite be traditional historical writing either, what we'll be writing together is something more akin to poetry, fiction, art criticism and theory fused into a multivalent mass. Keeping in mind that language can hold many things inside of itself, we'll use somatic and idiosyncratic techniques as a lens, reading a range of poets, theorists, critics, writers and artists who are all thinking with art while writing about bodies, subjectivity, landscape, and the inimitable forms that emerge from the studio.

Introduction to Screenwriting: Writing for a Global Audience

Cwr 349 / vis 349 · spring 2021.

C01 · Wednesdays, 1:30-3:50 PM

Instructors: Christina Lazaridi

How can screenwriters prepare for the evolving challenges of our global media world? What types of content, as well as form, will emerging technologies make possible? Do fields like neuroscience help us understand the universal principals behind screenwriting and do tech advances that alter the distance between audience and creator, man and machine, also influence content of our stories?

Advanced Screenwriting: Writing for Television

Cwr 405 / vis 405 · spring 2021.

C01 · Mondays, 1:30 - 4:20 PM

Instructors: Susanna Styron

This advanced screenwriting workshop will introduce students to the fundamental elements of developing and writing a TV series in the current “golden age of television.” Students will watch television pilots, read pilot episodes, and engage in in-depth discussion about story, series engine, character, structure, tone and season arcs. Each student will formulate and pitch an original series idea, and complete the first draft of the pilot episode and season arcs by end of semester.

Revision Workshop

Thr 409 / cwr 409 · spring 2021.

S01 · Tuesdays, 1:30-4:20 PM

Instructors: Nathan Davis

This course will explore, through theory and (especially) practice, the rewriting/revising of plays, screenplays and teleplays. Students will begin the semester with a written piece of dramatic material that they wish to develop further. Through discussion, writing exercises, group feedback, and the study of existing scripts, each student will devise a revision process that is appropriate for their material and emerge with a new draft.

How to Write a Song

Atl 496 / cwr 496 · spring 2021.

Instructors: Bridget Kearney · Paul Muldoon

Taught by Bridget Kearney (Lake Street Dive) and Paul Muldoon (Rogue Oliphant) with class visits from guest singer/songwriters and music critics, this course is an introduction to the art of writing words for music, an art at the core of our literary tradition from the Beowulf poet through Lord Byron and Bessie Smith to Bob Dylan and the Notorious B.I.G. Composers, writers and performers will have the opportunity to work in small songwriting teams to respond to such emotionally charged themes as Gratitude, Loss, Protest, Desire, Joyousness, Remorse, and Defiance.

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Creative Writing

• CWR 201: Creative Writing (Poetry) Practice in the original composition of poetry supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student's growth as both creator and reader of literature. 
• CWR 203: Creative Writing (Fiction) The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers a perspective on the place of literature among the liberal arts. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student's growth as both creator and reader of literature. 
• CWR 205/COM 249/TRA 204: Creative Writing (Literary Translation) Students will choose, early in the semester, one author to focus on in fiction, poetry, or drama, with the goal of arriving at a 10-15 page sample, with commentary, of the author's work. All work will be translated into English and discussed in a workshop format. Weekly readings will focus on the comparison of pre-existing translations as well as commentaries on the art and practice of literary translation. 
• CWR 213: Writing Speculative Fiction Speculative fiction is where the impossible happens.Though this expansive genre is often tagged as escapism, it connects to a deep part of our nature. Our foundation myths and fables are speculative fiction, and their current of fear and wonder runs straight through to contemporary science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In this class, we'll learn about some fascinating genre traditions, embrace experimentation, and try to build universes that won't (per Philip K. Dick) fall apart two days later. A mix of mind-bending readings, stimulating class discussions, and eccentric writing assignments will inspire our own forays into the slipstream. 
• CWR 301: Advanced Creative Writing (Poetry) Advanced practice in the original composition of poetry for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings. The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers perspective on the places of literature among the liberal arts. 
• CWR 303: Advanced Creative Writing (Fiction) Advanced practice in the original composition of fiction for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings. The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers perspective on the place of literature among the liberal arts. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student's growth as both creator and reader of literature. 
• CWR 305/COM 355/TRA 305: Advanced Creative Writing (Literary Translation) Students will choose, early in the semester, one author to focus on in fiction, poetry, or drama, with the goal of arriving at a 15-20 page sample, with commentary, of the author's work. All work will be translated into English and discussed in a workshop format. Weekly readings will focus on the comparison of pre-existing translations as well as commentaries on the art and practice of literary translation. 
• CWR 310: Writing from Life What motivates us to write about our own lives? What is the relationship between the "I" who experiences and the "I" who writes? How scrupulous must we be about telling the truth? What are our moral obligations to the people we write about? In this workshop, we will consider different approaches to the people, places and things that have formed us. 
• CWR 313: Seeing is Believing: Drafting the Lasting Image In The Poet's Companion, Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux argue that images should "produce a bit of magic, a reality so real it is `like being alive twice." After mining our imaginations and memories, how do we deepen a reader's experience with the poem via the image? How does one draft an image readers will remember?This workshop-focused course will explore the image, its implications, as more than mere scenery, and seeks to focus the image at the poem's center. To do this, participants will review poems with images that reverberate and reimagine poems with images that idle. 
• CWR 345/AMS 345/GSS 383: Special Topics in Creative Writing: Writing Political Fiction In traditional workshops content and context come second to craft. Here we will explore writing political fiction, the politics of fiction and writing as political engagement. We'll read widely, from the most realistic depictions of the American political process and the varieties of immigrant experience to the work of afrofuturists and feminists. The personal is the political and our frame will range from the global to the domestic. We will write stories that inhabit experiences other than our own. This course will allow students to make interdisciplinary connections between courses on history, politics and identity and creative writing. 
• CWR 348/VIS 348: Introduction to Screenwriting: Writing the Short Film This course will introduce students to core screenwriting principles and techniques. Questions of thematic cohesiveness, plot construction, logical cause and effect, character behavior, dialogue, genre consistency and pace will be explored as students gain confidence in the form by completing a number of short screenplays. The course will illustrate and analyze the power of visual storytelling to communicate a story to an audience, and will guide students to create texts that serve as "blueprints" for emotionally powerful and immersive visual experiences. Final portfolio will include one short exercise and two short screenplays. 
• MUS 400/MTD 407/THR 407/CWR 407: Opera without the Singing: Fables, Fairy Tales and Narrated Musical Theater The course will lead students toward the creation of a work of musical theater (for lack of a better term) which will run parallel to the collaboration of the two instructors of the course, Adam Gidwitz and Steven Mackey. Instrumental musical performers of any instrument, composers, writers, actors and others who feel they can contribute to a theatrical presentation are needed. The course will include introducing existing relevant works, the progress and process of the ongoing work of the instructors collaboration and of course facilitation of the student creations. 
• NES 249/CWR 249: Middle Eastern Artist Master Class: Creative Writing This creative writing course, guided by Dr. Alaa Al Aswany, focuses on mastering fiction's essential elements and techniques, such as story sketching, dialogue, character creation, structure, and plot development. It emphasizes learning from the rich diversity of Middle Eastern writers, including those in the diaspora, living in exile, and revolutionary voices, to enhance students' writing practices. Participants will engage in writing exercises, craft two short stories, and work on a novel's treatment, plan, and opening chapter, benefiting from feedback from both the professor and classmates. 
• THR 205/CWR 210: Introductory Playwriting This is a workshop in the fundamentals of writing plays. Through writing prompts, exercises, study and reflection, students will be guided in the creation of original dramatic material. Attention will be given to character, structure, dramatic action, monologue, dialogue, language and behavior. 
• VIS 215/CWR 215: Graphic Design: Typography This studio course introduces students to graphic design with a particular emphasis on typography. Students learn typographic history through lectures that highlight major shifts in print technologies. Class readings provide the raw material for a sequence of hands-on typesetting exercises which punctuate the class weekly. Metal letterpress typesetting, photo-typesetting, and digital typesetting will be covered through online demonstration sessions. This semester, the class may also further explore the typographic future by engaging and designing novel electronic text entry interfaces and decoding a fictional alien typography. 

Optional Arts Supplement

The optional Arts Supplement is for students who have devoted a significant amount of time and energy to one or more art forms and who wish to have their work considered as part of their application. If you've excelled in  architecture, creative writing, dance, music, music theater, theater or visual arts , and would like us to consider your talent as part of your Princeton application, you are welcome to submit an Arts Supplement. 

Submission Guidelines

Princeton values the arts in all forms. We cannot, however, evaluate areas outside those in which our faculty have expertise. Please read the descriptions for each area for further guidelines on how to submit your supplementary materials.

Single-Choice Early action optional Arts Supplement is due on or before Nov. 6 at 11:59 p.m. (applicant's local time).

Regular decision optional Arts Supplement is due on or before Jan. 8 at 11:59 p.m. (applicant's local time).

Transfer optional Arts Supplement is due on or before March 8 at 11:59 p.m. (applicant's local time).

Instructions

On the Common or QuestBridge* Application, please indicate your intention to submit an Arts Supplement in Princeton’s member questions. You will be able to access the link to submit an Optional Arts Supplement in your Princeton Applicant Status Portal.

Please keep in mind that you need to submit your application to Princeton University before you can submit your optional Arts Supplement on your Princeton Applicant Status Portal. 

*For students who are participating in the QuestBridge College Match, we will be unable to review the optional Arts Supplement as part of the Match application review process, given the early timeline.

Helpful Tips

As one of your media uploads, we encourage you to include a résumé if you think that will add to an understanding of your training and experiences. Please keep in mind, information you provide in your arts supplement will only  be read by the arts faculty evaluating your supplement unless you submit it as additional information along with your application to Princeton.

Changes cannot be made to the optional Arts Supplement after submission. If you wish to include an arts letter of recommendation, it must be requested prior to submission and an arts résumé must be included as one of the media uploads, if you wish to submit one.

We only accept one submission per program.

Your completed arts supplement will be reflected on your Princeton Applicant Status Portal within 24 hours.

Documents (for example, additional academic information, research papers, etc.) should  not  be uploaded with your arts supplement. You may upload those materials through the additional information section of the application or on your Princeton Applicant Status Portal.

If you have excelled in an area of the arts not covered by our supplement, we are still interested in seeing how your talent and expertise might enhance our community. You may submit additional materials or links to your work through your application or on your Princeton Applicant Portal. Although we cannot guarantee that the Admission Office will have time to review your work, we will include it in your file.

For questions related to the Princeton optional Arts Supplement, please email  [email protected] .

Acceptable Formats:

We support media files as large as 5GB, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. We support the following file formats:

• .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
• .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
• .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff
• .doc, .docx, .odg, .odp, .odt, .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .rtf, .wpd

You may also include external media from YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud. Please do not upload links to personal websites.

Supplement Type, Category and Description of Acceptable Submissions:

Architecture.

Submit between 3-10 samples of your work in architecture or design. These can include blueprints/plans, drawings, renderings, 3D models, photographs or video.

Creative Writing

Categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translations

Include a portfolio of your work in any or all of the following media, totaling no more than five pages: poetry, short stories, novel excerpts and translations. Please do not submit journalism samples or complete books.

Categories: Choreography, Performance

Include a digital video of one or more solo performances of contrasting styles (modern, improvisation, hip hop, contemporary, ballet) and/or of your choreography (no more than five minutes total). Please do not submit group work unless you have a prominently featured solo or you are the choreographer. Art Supplements for dance should be accompanied by a personal statement related to your interest in the arts, and how you would like to integrate dance into your studies at Princeton (no more than 250 words). Please contact the Dance program office during business hours at (609) 258-3017 for more information or questions about the program.

Categories: Classical Instrument, Classical Voice, Composition, Electronic Music, Jazz, Piano

The Princeton musical community is rich in many kinds of music. This includes non-Western classical and popular music of many types. The Department of Music, however, can provide evaluations only of the performance genres for which formal instruction is offered. For further information or questions about the program, please direct emails to Greg Smith at [email protected] . 

Please attach a résumé as one of your media uploads that details your music training and accomplishments. You may send submissions in the form of digital audio or video files. Additionally please refer to the "Acceptable Formats" section above. 

Classical Instrument (except piano) — Include a 10- to 15-minute submission of advanced solo work that shows contrasting examples of expression and technique. Do not submit orchestral or ensemble work unless you have a prominently featured solo.

Classical Voice — Whether you prefer solo repertoire, small group or large choral settings, Princeton offers countless learning and performing opportunities, and we are eager to hear you sing. Your supplement submission should contain at least two songs, totaling no more than 10 minutes, that best demonstrate your level of technical and musical accomplishment. At least one submission should be from western classical art song or operatic repertoire, and at least one submission should be in a language other than English. You may additionally submit small ensemble work if this is an area of interest.

Composition — Include a submission of one to three works that demonstrate your interests and abilities in composition. The Department of Music has a broad definition of composition, one that includes concert music, improvisational music, un-notated music, and while they don’t have the expertise to fully evaluate non-Western compositional traditions, these are also welcome. Submissions can consist of PDF scores or recordings; recordings or MIDI mock-ups of scored works are welcome if you have them but not required.

Electronic Music — Include a submission of a work that shows your skill in electronic music composition.

Jazz Composition and Arranging  — Include a 10- to 15-minute submission showcasing arrangements of existing material and/or original compositions for ensembles of any size.

Jazz Instrument or Voice   — Include a 10 to 15-minute submission featuring contrasting solo work as an improviser with live or virtual accompaniment of your choosing. Standard jazz material is encouraged, but original material is welcome. Please do not submit large ensemble (e.g., big band) work unless you are prominently featured. Please do not submit performances of solo transcriptions.

Piano — Please submit solo recordings that demonstrate your current level of technical and musical accomplishment. We recommend that you include works of contrasting styles. 10 - 15 minutes of music is plenty, but you may submit more if you wish. 

Theater / Music Theater

Categories: Performance, Writing, Design, Directing

We invite you to introduce yourself as a theater-maker with a short personal statement (no more than 250 words) that engages the question: “Why does making theater matter?” In addition to this statement, you are also welcome to submit short videos, writing samples or portfolio images to demonstrate your prior theater making experience (in acting, singing, writing, designing, producing and/or directing). Video submissions should be no more than five minutes in total length; should begin with a clear introduction of yourself and your role co-creating the project shown; and, when possible, should provide a multi-faceted view of the kind of theatre you make (i.e. contrasting samples, songs or monologues). Writing samples should be no more than 30 pages long. When compiling your supplement, we encourage you to focus on giving us a clear sense of you as an artist and to worry less about things like video production values. Further information or questions about the program may be directed by email to: [email protected] .

Visual Arts

Categories: Film, Digital Video and Animation, Graphic Design, Interdisciplinary (including Sound), Painting and Drawing, Photography, Sculpture

We encourage applicants to include works that reflect experimentation and imagination rather than stylistic consistency. We also encourage including exploratory and/or preparatory works (such as sketchbook pages) that convey how you think visually.

Whether you are self-taught or have taken art classes makes no difference; please represent the breadth, depth and complexity of your efforts. Test your digital materials to make sure they are viewable in their entirety before submitting them.

If your portfolio includes work from more than one category, choose the category that is your predominant one. If you are intentionally working in more than one category, submit under interdisciplinary. 

Graphic Design, Interdisciplinary, Painting and Drawing, Photography   — Your portfolio may include 10-20 images of your most recent work in any medium or across media. For painting and drawing submissions, please include some examples that involve drawing from observation if possible.

For interdisciplinary, you may include video in your portfolio as well, using the same submission requirements as film, digital video and animation (see below).

Film, Digital Video and Animation —  Submit up to a maximum of 10 minutes total of video, either from a single work or clips/excerpts from multiple works. Submit only as link(s) to YouTube or Vimeo (without any password protection). Files on Google Drive will not be reviewed. Include a Word document listing the title(s), running time, short description, your role in the production and the category: narrative, documentary, animation, experimental or interdisciplinary.

Arts Programs

The School of Architecture, Princeton’s center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory, offers an undergraduate major and advanced degrees at both the master’s and doctoral levels.

The Program in Creative Writing offers Princeton undergraduates the opportunity to craft original work under the guidance of some of today’s most respected practicing writers including Michael Dickman, Aleksandar Hemon, A.M. Homes, Christina Lazaridi, Yiyun Li, Paul Muldoon, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Susan Wheeler.

The Program in Dance welcomes all students to engage and experiment with dance. At the core of the program is the belief that dance fosters an integration of mind and body that allows for a greater connection to ourselves and our communities. The program provides a depth, diversity, and flexibility of offerings that nurture beginners and challenge pre-professionals. While pursuing a liberal arts education, students have the opportunity to undertake demanding courses with professional choreographers, dancers, interdisciplinary artists, and scholars.

As a Music Major, you can engage in independent work in musicology or composition while diving into the intersection of making, studying, and writing about music. Whether our concentrators ultimately choose to make music, to research and write about it, or do both, they are encouraged to develop independent work that moves across traditional disciplinary or methodological boundaries.

Theater/Music Theater

The purpose of the Program in Theater is to engage Princeton students of all kinds in the making of theater with significant artists, faculty members and each other, through studio classes, and through our theater season. The Program in Music Theater brings together students, faculty, staff and guest artists in the creation, study, and performance of music theater.

The Program in Visual Arts introduces students to the studio arts in the context of a liberal arts education. Offering courses in painting, drawing, graphic design, photography/digital photography, film/video, and sculpture, the program provides enrolled students extensive contact with an accomplished faculty as well as access to technical, analog, and digital labs including darkrooms, ceramics facilities, welding and mold-making areas, a letterpress studio, film editing bays, and a renovated theater for 35 mm and 16 mm film projections.

Optional Arts Supplement FAQs