Creative Writing Major Portfolio Requirements

Creative Writing Requirements

1. Video Introduction: Tell us about who you are as an artist. Record a short (2-5 minutes) video introduction, including information about your artistic journey, such as the kinds of classes or lessons you have taken, your artistic accomplishments, any awards you have won, groups you have participated in, artistic experiences that have been particularly meaningful, and anything else you would like for us to know about you as an artist.
2. Portfolio: Your portfolio should include no fewer than five and no more than seven samples of original work written or revised during the last year. Your portfolio should be no longer than 4,000 words or 20 pages. 
   • The samples must represent at least two of the following genres: 
     • Poetry
     • Fiction 
     • Personal essay/memoir
     • Screenwriting
     • Playwriting
     • Hybrid genre
   • Work should be typed, in a standard format and font, double-spaced for prose, single-spaced for poetry—unless deviations are deliberate and integral to the text. PDF file preferred. 
   • If submitting a spoken word sample, it can be uploaded as standard audio or video file along with your written work.

Portfolio Guidance

Your writing portfolio should reflect your interests and abilities. It is okay to include work that is still in progress. If we need to see more, we will contact you. We look forward to reading your work!

• You may also include select submissions in other mediums that showcase your interdisciplinary interests.
• Applicants who submit genre fiction (science fiction, fantasy, etc.) are encouraged to also submit a sample of more realistic fiction. 
• We are less interested in academic writing, such as book analyses turned in for English classes. Include such work only if you think it shows us an important aspect of you as a writer, and avoid counting it toward your five required pieces.

How to Submit Your Materials

Please submit your writing portfolio online. Our application process provides further instructions on how to upload your files.

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