English and Creative Writing Programme

The B.A. in English and Creative Writing combines scholarly training in literature with exposure to the practice of writing in the various literary genres – poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. It seeks to produce a rich and full literary experience where critical thinking and creative writing complement each other. Students in this major will emerge as writers and thinkers through an intellectual approach to literary texts and traditions from various historical periods and global spaces alongside rigorous practice in writing in one or more literary genres of one’s choosing. Coursework will constitute of English courses focusing on literary history and theory, forms of literature, a selection of literature electives; as well as a multi-genre introductory course in creative writing, courses on the craft of writing, and genre-specific workshops where a community of student-writers come together to read and respond to each other’s work. The B.A. in English and Creative Writing also entails writing a thesis in the genre of one’s choice – poetry, fiction, or non-fiction with a brief critical introduction.

Curriculum Structure and Credit Requirements

To graduate with a B.A. in an interdisciplinary major, you will need to have a total of 116 credits, considering your foundation courses,  introduction to critical thinking course and 2 co-curriculars (please note that taking more than 2 co-curriculars will not be counted as a part of the required 116 credits) and other courses that you might take outside of english and creative writing. 

 

For the interdisciplinary major in English and creative writing, you will need to take 16 courses in total for English and creative writing: 5 Creative writing courses and 11 English courses. Beyond this, you are free to explore more English courses or creative writing courses and courses from other departments to work towards the 116 credits.

 

Please find below, the list of compulsory courses  for the interdisciplinary major in English and creative writing :

 

5 Creative Writing courses:

100 level -Introduction to creative writing (This is the gateway course that is a prerequisite for subsequent creative writing courses)

200 level- Craft of Writing

300 level- Writing Workshop (Fiction/Non-fiction/Poetry, etc.)

300 level- Writing Workshop 

Publishing Workshop (this course is to be taken in the semester before you graduate with the interdisciplinary major)

 

11 English Courses:

1000 level- Forms of Literature (spring)

1000 level- Introduction to Literary Theory(monsoon)

2000 level- Early British Literature (monsoon)

2000 level- Age of Empire (spring)

3000 level- Postcolonial Literature (monsoon)

2000/1000 level electives - 3

3000 level electives - 3

Descriptions of the Compulsory Courses:

English

1.Forms of literature

This course will introduce English majors to the most important genres in English literature. These will range from the classical genres of poetry, prose and drama to the more recent developments in literary theory and new media. Students will receive an overview of the most important developments in genre over the last 2000 years, starting with Aristotle and culminating in hypertext.

 

2.Introduction to Literary Theory

An intensive immersion in literary method, this course will complement the class on literary genre. Looking at how texts ask questions, and the assumptions that go into any discussion of life and literature, we will also examine what the most important of these questions have been over the last hundred years, and how theorists like Freud, Derrida, and Spivak, among others, have addressed them.
 

3. Early British Literature (900-1660)

Plotting the development of the literature of the British Isles over the centuries, this course will begin with the anonymous text of Beowulf. Moving across important texts and movements through medieval and Renaissance literature to John Milton’s Paradise Lost, this course will immerse students in the early history of British literature.

 

4. Age of Empire (1660-1947)

Starting with the consolidation of the East India Company in the 17th century, this course will examine the wide variety of pamphlets, travel narratives, poems, novels, and prose fictions that pivot on the idea of empire and travel, from Aphra Behn’s Oronooko to E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India. Moving across countries and centuries, this course will study literary and social formations that continue to affect us to this day.

 

5. Postcolonial Literatures

Expanding the canvas of literature to post-colonial productions of novels, poems and drama, this course will study Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone literatures from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. From magical realism to existential drama, students will cover rich traditions of literature that have been written in response to the conditions of colonialism and post-colonialism.

Creative Writing

1.Introduction to Creative Writing

In this course, students will experiment with two creative genres—poetry and fiction—as a means of developing different imaginative approaches to experience. The emphasis will be on generating a lot of raw material, and advancing a chunk of this work toward completion. Each craft lecture will be tied to a set of readings that will be discussed in class. At the end of the course, students will learn how to look at literature from the point of view of a practitioner and apply writing techniques to a variety of rhetorical situations. Anyone who wants to earn this minor or take creative writing courses, must successfully complete this course. There are no prerequisites for this course.

 

2. Craft of Writing

This course will introduce students to specific genres of writing: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Exercises in the technique of writing, such as rhythm, metre, point of view, voice, narrative, pacing, will be combined with discussion of student writing and texts selected by the instructor. Students who have taken “Introduction to Creative Writing” can take this course.

 

3. Writing Workshop (2)

This workshop is like a laboratory for working writers. The focus of course will be on generating and polishing new work. We will write in each class, share new work with peers and help each other to develop early drafts with honest, critical feedback. Students should complete “Introduction to Creative Writing” before enrolling in this course.

 

4. Publishing Seminar

This course is to be taken by students in the semester before they graduate. This is a workshop where they work on editing their drafts as a community and understand what goes into publishing a work.

ASP

In your ASP year, you can do an advanced capstone thesis in creative writing under an advisor. 

 

You could also do an advanced English major and write the compulsory thesis which can either be academic or creative with a critical introduction.For the advanced thesis in English, you are required to complete a total of 24 credits, and only 4000 level english graduate-level courses will count towards this. You will have to take 2 4000 level graduate pro-seminars (one in monsoon and the other in spring semester), and 2 4000 level English electives compulsorily. For the remaining 8 credits, you can either choose to do a teaching practicum, one in each semester (4 credits each) or take 2 more 4000 level English electives, or one teaching practicum and one 4000 level elective.

TAship Policy

The English department (TA in 4th year, which will give academic credits for the completion of the 24 credits required to finish the ASP in English).

For the Creative writing department, you can apply to be a TA in your third and fourth years, creative writing TAs get additional credits.