Creative Writing Minor
We're pleased to offer students rigorous and diverse coursework in fiction and poetry, as well as a variety of electives in drama, creative nonfiction and screenwriting. Over the years we've been proud to host many great writers on campus, including Joy Harjo, Charles Wright, Tayari Jones, Ron Rash, Fred Chappell, James Dickey, Cris Mazza, Li-Young Lee, Robert Bausch and many others. Each spring ETSU sponsors a creative writing festival, ETSU Celebrates Creative Writing, which features workshops and readings from writers around the country.
We have several scholarship opportunities available.
- Out-of-state creative writing students should check out our Creative Arts Scholarship.
- ETSU offers Fine & Performing Arts Scholarships for creative writers through the Honors College.
The Department of Literature and Language sponsors:
- ETSU Creative Writing Society
- The Mockingbird, our student-run literary journal
- Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature, an international journal featuring writing on the intersection of sport and literature.
The minor is open to students majoring in any discipline. We will update this space regularly with news on events and opportunities in creative writing here at ETSU and across the region.
Feel free to contact the Director of the Creative Writing Minor, Dr. Mark Baumgartner, if you have any questions.
On November 14th, 2013, poets from across East Tennessee gathered at the Carroll Reece Museum, ETSU, to celebrate the release of The Southern Poetry Anthology Volume VI: Tennessee.
News and Events:
ETSU Celebrates Creative Writing Festival, April 2023
This year's creative writing festival is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 13, 2023. Our keynote speaker this year is novelist Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish, Extraordinary Adventures, and This Isn't Going to End Well. We will also have readings and craft presentations by Adrienne Su (poetry), Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (fiction), and Austin Bunn (screenwriting). Check out the page for THE BERT C. BACH WRITTEN WORD INITIATIVE for more info.
ETSU Spring Literary Festival, April 2023
(All events will take place in the Reece Museum.)
Wednesday, April 12
10:30-11:20: Welcome and Introductions, Student Winners of The Mockingbird Awards
with editor Tanner Linkous
11:30-12:20: New Writing from ETSU, with Rachel Bates and Joshua Martin
LUNCH BREAK
1:40-3:00: Poetry Writing, with Adrienne Su
3:30-4:30: Higgs Reader Presentation, Daniel Wallace conversation with Jesse Graves and Scott Honeycutt
7:00 PM: 9th Annual Jack Higgs Memorial Reading, Daniel Wallace, Public Reading and Audience Q&A
Thursday, April 13
10:30-11:45: Public Reading and Q&A with Austin Bunn, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle,
and Adrienne Su
LUNCH BREAK
1:20-2:40: Fiction Writing, with Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
3:00- 4:20: Screenwriting, with Austin Bunn