Students currently enrolled in Washington University’s writing program offered words of praise for the faculty, the course material and the philosophy behind the program.

Undergraduates in writing workshops present their writing and receive feedback and criticism from their peers and instructors. These courses, also offered through the University College for credit, cover material from drama to short stories. 

“My experience with the creative writing program at Wash. U. has been really positive,” senior Kari Lombard, a writing minor, said.

“I’ve had fantastic fiction writing instructors—professors and grad students—who have inspired me to experiment.”

But as writing courses place great emphasis on the workshop process, Lombard said she sometimes finds some fault with the workshop-centered discussions. In workshops, the instructor and students typically discuss the writer’s piece without vocal interaction with the composer of the piece.

“I wish they [the workshops] involved more interaction with the writer. I think most effective way to grow as a writer is to dialogue with others about your writing,” Lombard said.

Lombard, however, said that on the whole she highly values her experience in the program, especially in the course Introduction to Playwriting.

“Unexpectedly… [playwriting]stretched my creativity, restructured the way I define a narrative and changed my writing process for the better,” she said.

Amy Bailey, a graduate student in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in writing program, praised the University’s support for fiction writers.

“In Wash. U.’s fiction program, everyone who is admitted is offered the same funding. When word of a contest, new publication or fellowship comes along, our teachers encourage everyone to submit work,” Bailey said. “Most importantly, in our workshop, each story is treated with the same amount of respect.”

According to Bailey, the writing program also encourages significant freedom in terms of the content and style of writing among undergraduate and graduate students.

“The culture inoculates itself against the notion that there’s a single ideal of style or content we should all strive to achieve. The diversity of voices here, and the care with which that diversity is safeguarded—both in the admissions and workshop processes—is one of the most exciting aspects of our program,” Bailey said.

The University also offers a Master’s degree in literature and history, an MFA in writing and a Ph.D. in English and American literature.

Professors Kellie Wells, Kathryn Davis and Marshall Klimasewiski lead MFA workshops, in which first- and second-year MFA students participate during all four semesters of the program. These MFA students teach undergraduate writers for most writing courses, with some of them teaching the mandatory freshman course Writing 1.

Writing 1, however, remains a course separate from the material of the courses in the English department and the Writing program.

“Whether or not students need Writing 1, the English department is not involved in the design of the content and the syllabus of that course. It’s college-wide, serves students of all disciplines and is no longer a literature-based course,” Chair of the English Department Vincent Sherry said.

Sophomore Alex Mancall said she enjoyed having a graduate student teach her Writing 1 section.

“She was young enough to relate to me, but also had the expertise to tell me how to improve,” Mancall said.