Creative Writing
Creative Writing at ETSU
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 Rita Dove, Natasha Threthewey, Jeff VanderMeer, 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.
Beginning in Fall 2025, undergraduate students will be able to major or minor in creative writing at ETSU. The new degree path is listed in the catalog as English Major, B.A. (Creative Writing Concentration). Check out the official catalog listing here.
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 Mary B. Martin School of the Arts.
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.
News and Events:
April 22-24, ETSU Celebrates Creative Writing
All daytime events of the festival will take place in the Reece Museum.
Tuesday, April 22
7:00 PM: Join us for a special Lit Fest kickoff event as we launch the new novel,
Streets of Nashville, from our colleague Dr. Michael Cody.
Hosted by Atlas Books at The Generalist. Reading and Q & A, with book signing to follow.
Wednesday, April 23
10:30-11:20: Welcome and Introductions, Student Winners of The Mockingbird Awards with editors Erika Perez Cortazar and Briana Presley
11:30-12:20: New Writing from ETSU, featuring Amy Wright and Megan Krupa
LUNCH BREAK
1:40-3:00: Poetry Writing, with Gaylord Brewer
3:10-4:30: Fiction Writing, with Carter Sickels
Thursday, April 24
10:15-11:45: Public Reading and Q&A with Carter Sickels, Erika Howsare, and Gaylord Brewer
LUNCH BREAK
1:20-2:40: Nonfiction Writing, with Erika Howsare
3:00- 4:00: Conversation with Helena María Viramontes, Felipe Fiuza, and Jesse Graves
7:00 PM: 11th Annual Jack Higgs Memorial Reading featuring keynote speaker Helena
María Viramontes. Public Reading and Audience Q&A. East Tennessee Room, Culp 272.
The Jack Higgs Memorial Reading will be in the East Tennessee Room, Culp 272.
Find more about writing events at ETSU here at the The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative website.
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.