Program Description
Vermont State University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program offers students the opportunity to work with award-winning professors who share their passion for the well-turned phrase, the blinding insight, and the masterful plot twist. The program teaches the crafts of prose and poetry through literature courses and writing workshops. Small classes and individualized instruction support students in finding their voice and fine-tune their craft. Students learn from visiting poets and writers and they contribute to a thriving literary community on campus-open mic nights, chapbook publishing, and the serious and deep study of the discipline. The internationally known Vermont Studio Center presents a regular reading series for the many residents and visiting writers hosted there every year. In short, VTSU’s BFA in Creative Writing program is a literary and lively place for young writers to develop.
Opportunities are available to study and write in a variety of genres, to study literature rigorously and with much focus. By graduation, students will have completed a nearly book-length manuscript in their genre of choice, working alongside a dedicated faculty mentor.
Students graduate with a strong writing portfolio and solid publishing experience. Through internships with the nationally recognized Green Mountains Review literary journal and work on the undergraduate student literary journal, Pamplemousse, as well as Basement Medicine, the student-produced community newspaper and web site, program students gain real-world publishing skills and experience. From building and maintaining websites, to publishing a literary print journal and an award-winning newspaper, students gain valuable experience in all areas of the field.
The BFA in Creative Writing at VTSU prepares students for a career in teaching, publishing, editing, or any number of other paths. Students choose to continue their studies in graduate school or perhaps become a life-long reader and writer who explores other avenues. Regardless of future plans, graduates of the program will be well-prepared to think creatively, write wonderfully, and read deeply.
Program Outcomes
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Produce poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction and become proficient readers and interpreters of imaginative literature.
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Identify the major genres of literature, to recognize the features of each genre and to explore and evaluate different approaches to literary criticism and interpretation.
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Analyze and explicate literary texts so that they can identify themes and ideas as well as recognize how formal literary devices affect meaning.
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Conduct inquiry by researching, synthesizing, and documenting the voice(s) and ideas of others to produce engaging, insightful, and persuasive texts.
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