4 credits • 6 weeks

* Registration Now Open *

*Note: Summer 2021 workshops will be conducted in person,with remote access, unless otherwise noted*

We're so glad for your interest in creative writing at NYU this summer. NYU has announced that all summer programs and courses will be offered remotely, and though we regret not being able to meet you in person, we’re pleased that we’ll be able to move forward on schedule with your 4-credit workshop in an online platform, and to offer you an inspiring experience with our talented and expert faculty, as well as other talented young writers. Course dates will remain the same, and our class meetings will take place as scheduled. As planned, this workshop will offer an exciting exploration of aspects of literary genre, with in-class writing, take-home reading and writing assignments, and substantive discussions of craft. Students will receive feedback from their instructor and their fellow writers in a remote roundtable setting, and should be prepared to offer their classmates responses to their work. Three-hour class sessions will allow for personalized attention and an immersive experience, and while we expect classes to be smaller, this can allow your professors to offer ample time each week for one-on-one meetings to discuss your work.

NYU students will earn 4 credits toward the Creative Writing Minor, and all our students can look forward to feedback on their work, along with substantive interactions with faculty and fellow students to experience a sense of literary community during this otherwise unsettling time.

Join us this summer and grow your skills in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction! The Creating Writing Program offers introductory and intermediate writing workshops throughout the summer. Please direct all inquiries to creative.writing@nyu.edu. 
Our summer writing workshops are open to NYU and visiting students, and are held in various locations on NYU's Greenwich Village campus. NYU students may register for the summer term via Albert starting in Spring 2021. Visiting students should refer to the Summer in NYC website for registration information and instructions. High school students should consult the NYU Precollege website to learn more about our precollege offerings. 

SUMMER 2021 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
Summer Session I: May 24 - July 3, 2021
Summer Session II: July 6 - August 15, 2021

*Interested in taking a Creative Writing Workshop in Summer 2021? Fill out this form for news and updates. Follow the NYU Creative Writing Program on Facebook and Twitter!*

2021 COURSE OFFERINGS

CRWRI-UA 815 Creative Writing: Introduction to Fiction and Poetry (Multiple Sections)
No prerequisite. 4 points.
The popular introductory workshop offers an exciting introduction to the basic elements of poetry and fiction—with in-class writing, take-home reading and writing assignments, and substantive discussions of craft. The course is structured as a workshop, which means that students will receive feedback from their instructor and their fellow writers in a roundtable setting, and should be prepared to offer their classmates responses to their work. 

* Summer '21: Workshops are in-person with remote accessibility unless otherwise noted *

INTERMEDIATE COURSES

Intermediate courses offer an opportunity to continue the pursuit of writing at the intermediate level. Integrate in-depth craft discussions and extensive outside reading to deepen students' understanding of their chosen genre and broaden their knowledge of the evolution of literary forms and techniques. Note on Prerequisites: Typical prerequisite for all Intermediate workshops is CRWRI-UA 815: Intro to Prose & Poetry; please write to creative.writing@nyu.edu regarding prerequisite waivers. 

 * Intermediate Workshops are offered in Session II (July 6-Aug 15, 2021) * 

CRWRI-UA 816 001 Intermediate Fiction Workshop [Online] 

Tues/Thurs 4:00-7:10PM
Instructor: Emily X.R. Pan
Course Description
Oscar Wilde said: “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” Controversial words, to be sure, but at the heart of this is the idea that a story should have that special fire that sparks anew every time we return to it. What is the magic that brings a sentence to life, or makes a passage ache in our bones? How do we create the alchemy of pages that demand to be turned and characters we can’t bear to leave? In this class we will examine and reverse engineer the elements that resonate with us in published works of fiction. We’ll talk about structure, fleshing out characters, world-building, stylistic decisions, and anything else that shapes the vehicle to deliver the strongest story. Equally important will be the actual workshopping: Students are encouraged to arrive at the beginning of the course with projects in mind, and may submit fiction of any genre in the form of short stories or novel chapters. The purpose of these workshops is not only to produce new work and practice implementing things from our craft conversations, but also to sharpen our editorial instincts. In constructively critiquing the work of others we become stronger writers ourselves. (This class is focused on narrative prose, but experimentation within that form is welcome.) Finally, we will talk about building a disciplined writing practice, as well as the business end: working towards publication, and the process of finding a literary agent.

CRWRI-UA 825 Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Workshop [Online] 
Mon/Wed 4-7:10PM
Instructor: Sharon Mesmer
Course Description
Out of the Box: Experiments in Creative Nonfiction. This workshop offers students an overview of the genre to spark their own creative inspiration, using a wide array of texts that include elements of memoir, poetry, reportage, research/documentation, second person narration, diary/journal, and elegy. We’ll discuss how older work (like Sei Shonagon's diary The Pillow Book, begun 990 ACE), has informed the growth and expansion of this genre; Mahmoud Darwish’s A River Dies of Thirst (poetry, journal, and reportage), Kiese Laymon’s Heavy and Oriana Fallaci’s A Man (memoir, second person narration), and Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (memoir, research/ documentation), will be among the texts used as models for assignments. We’ll meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to workshop everyone’s weekly 3-5 page piece, which will then be expanded into a longer final project that reflects students’ personal experiences, interests, and inspirations.

CRWRI-UA 817 001 Intermediate Poetry Workshop [In-Person with Remote Accessibility] 
Tues/Thurs 4:00-7:10PM
Instructor: Alex Dimitrov
Course Description
The page is a space of transformation and invention. We will begin our class by taking Jack Spicer’s “Poetry as Magic” workshop questionnaire (which he employed in the Bay area in the 1950s) and learn about our ethics as poets while diving into the unconscious. How does one write about the self by looking at the world and away from the self? Is the imagination the most personal yet unknowable thing we have? In what ways do identity and personal history fit within our human narrative? By looking at poets writing today and those of the New York School, San Francisco Renaissance, the Confessionals, and the Language School, we will discuss how repetition, pacing, and drastic leaps may be used as incantatory and revelatory writing devices which create meaning by offering mystery. We will experiment and create as much out of chance as out of order. Class will be structured around discussing your poems, generative exercises, and further discussions regarding craft, poetics and historical texts.