The Creative Writing Department is the only such autonomous department in the U.C. system. It is a growing and dynamic program made up entirely of established writers and poets. It offers a B.A. degree in Creative Writing, as well as a minor. Creative Writing courses at UCR are designed for all students in the language arts, and they emphasize developing each student's skills and talents.
Every writer needs to develop a critical sense to augment creative ability.
For this reason, the Creative Writing Department offers two types of courses. Workshop courses are seminars that focus on writing and on the discussion of student work. Reading courses for writers focus on aspects of literature presented from a writer's point of view. Frequently they employ writing in imitation as one of several approaches to understanding the craft of writing. Upper division workshop courses are offered at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels in poetry and fiction.