Creative Writing York University

Overview

Overview

When you commit your stories to paper you enter the realm of creative writing. Your portfolio of writing may take many forms — novels, short stories, plays and screenplays, comic books, interactive stories, hypertext documents to name a few — and involve elements that are fictional or imaginative.

As you advance, you'll be encouraged to explore specialized study in one or two genres such as fiction, poetry and playwriting.

Highlights of the Creative Writing BA program at York University:

• You can also gain practical experience through our links with TV Ontario and York's literary journal, Existere, and the online poetry journal, Studio.
• Learn more about writing by attending the "Creative Writing Series," which provides an opportunity for you to meet and hear contemporary Canadian writers read or perform their own prose or poetry. Instructors have included W.O. Mitchell, Bill Bissett, Anne Michaels and Rachel Wyatt.
• Graduates of the program include Nino Ricci, Governor General's Award for Fiction, Eliza Clark, shortlisted for the Giller Prize, Selvadurai Shyam, winner of the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award, Jason Sherman, winner of the Governor General's Award for Drama and the Chalmer's Award for Drama, and poets such as Lorna Lush and Michael Redhill.
• BP Nichol Award – annual award given to an exceptional undergraduate student writer for his or her achievement in creative writing. BP Nichol was a winner of the Governor-General's Award, Fellow of Calumet College and professor emeritus of York's Creative Writing Program.

Possible Career Paths

• editor
• novelist
• poet
• screenwriter

Many of our alumni have gone on to very successful writing careers and include novelists and poets such as Sonnet L’Abbe, Lorna Lush and Jason Guriel. Our graduates also pursue careers as journalists, editors, translators, teachers and advertising writers.