"Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."

—Kurt Vonnegut (A.M. 1971)

The Program in Creative Writing is part of the Department of English Language & Literature at the University of Chicago. Students at Chicago pursue creative writing within the larger context of academic study. While the purpose of the program is, above all, to give students a rigorous background in the fundamentals of creative work by providing them with the opportunity to study with established poets and prose writers, it differs from creative writing programs at other universities in seeing itself as an integral part of the university’s intellectual life, and most particularly in providing opportunities for interdisciplinary work. The Program offers an undergraduate Major in Creative Writing, a joint minor in English and Creative Writing that includes a creative portfolio, and a formal Option through the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities.