English, Ph.D., Creative Writing Concentration
College of Arts & Sciences
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English, Ph.D., Creative Writing Concentration
The Ph.D. program in English, Concentration in Creative Writing, is one of the top 15 in the U.S., as ranked by Poets & Writers. The program offers graduate students the opportunity to work closely with our award-winning faculty while living and writing in Atlanta, an international city with a vibrant literary culture.
Our students publish—recently with Random House, Algonquin Books, St Martin’s, Alice James Books, Bloomsbury, Anhinga Press and Louisiana State University Press—and win important prizes and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from The Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Georgia Author of the Year Award.
Our faculty include David Bottoms, Beth Gylys, John Holman, Sheri Joseph and Josh Russell. Visiting writers & editors enrich the program by giving readings and leading workshops and Q&As.
Students may qualify for teaching assistantships, editorial assistantships and fellowships.
For fiction writers:
- 12 hours of ENGL 8030 Fiction Writing
- ENGL 8160 Form and Theory of Literary Craft in Fiction (3)
- ENGL 8202 Contemporary Fiction Craft (3)
- Three hours of courses in or strongly related to area of primary specialty
- ENGL 8160 Form and Theory of Literary Craft in Poetry (3)
- Six hours of courses in or strongly related to area of secondary specialty
- Three hours of language study, unless satisfied at M.A. level
- Three hours of literary theory/critical methodology/cultural studies, unless satisfied at M.A. level
For poets:
- Twelve hours of ENGL 8020 Poetry Writing
- ENGL 8160 Form and Theory of Literary Craft in Poetry (3)
- ENGL 8201 Contemporary Poetry (3)
- ENGL 8203 20th-Century American and British Poetry Craft I (3)
- ENGL 8160 Form and Theory of Literary Craft in Fiction (3)
- Three hours of courses in or strongly related to area of primary specialty
- Six hours of courses in or strongly related to area of secondary specialty
- Three hours of language study, unless satisfied at M.A. level
- Three hours of literary theory/ critical methodology/cultural studies, unless satisfied at M.A. level
For course requirements, see the graduate catalog.
From 2003 to 2017, the Department of English has tracked employment data on 129 graduates of our Ph.D. program:
77% have faculty and/or administrative appointments at a 2- or 4-year college or university
9% are employed in private business or industry
6% are secondary or middle school teachers
5% have postdoctoral fellowships
1% are self-employed or work for the government or a nonprofit organization