Creative Writing Career Pathways

Grinnellians absorb and instill inspiration through the written word.

Creative writing provides an outlet to cultivate a passion for bringing words to life through storytelling, news reporting, poetry, long-form creative nonfiction, and endless other possibilities. It is an essential part of our renowned liberal arts foundation, as the skill of writing is essential to the clear articulation of sophisticated ideas. That’s why creative writing isn’t its own major at Grinnell: we believe it is helpful and rewarding to everyone. Students with a penchant for creative writing will be in good company among other scholars, authors, and wordsmiths. English Department courses, Writers@Grinnell events, author lectures, workshops, and publications such as the Grinnell Review give creative writers the space to hone their craft, which can send them on rewarding career journeys.

Popular Majors for Students Interested in Creative Writing

Creative writing at Grinnell can be its own rewarding career pathway. It can also strengthen any student’s educational journey. The Grinnell community is ripe with readers hungry to expand their knowledge and perspectives. Coursework within chosen majors draws from an interdisciplinary curriculum developing writers who compose persuasive, meaningful work. Read more about complementary majors for students with creative writing interests.

English

English majors are critical thinkers. They read closely and crave context, which feeds their curiosity to find answers to big questions. Through study of a wide range of literary traditions and cultures, English majors focus in on theory and interpretation, which can help fuel creative writing endeavors. Beyond writing, English majors are well prepared for study and careers in journalism, law, publishing, media, or education, just to name a few.

Learn more about the English major

Biological Chemistry

Writing can give all students an outlet for creativity and expression. It can be a logical entry point to nonfiction for students in the social sciences and to science fiction writing for anyone with that interest. Creative writing is frequently an area of interest to students majoring in the sciences, with biological chemistry a common pairing.

Learn more about Biological Chemistry at Grinnell

History

Society knows history because someone wrote about it. History majors go beyond the study of historical content to more deeply address the complex questions of why and how the course of human events has shaped civilizations. Creative writers benefit from the study of history through the skill of analysis, discernment of sources and the pursuit of knowledge.

Learn more about history at Grinnell

Possible Interdisciplinary Concentrations for Students Interested in Creative Writing

Grinnell’s interdisciplinary concentrations offer excellent opportunities for students interested in creative writing. A concentration is taken in addition to your major and allows students to explore an area of study across several related fields. Here are a few of the concentrations that students interested in creative writing can consider.

Film and Media Studies

A concentration in film and media studies at Grinnell dives into the digital age of the 21st century. Creative writers will capture nuanced impacts of an ever-expanding volume of platforms and content on a society saturated in multi-modal media consumption.

Learn more about the Film and Media Studies concentration

Linguistics

Writers build on a foundation of words and language. The study of language helps writers identify, describe, and analyze functions and meanings of words, both on their own and in combination. Linguistics helps writers better connect with readers by understanding how the human mind absorbs and processes words and thoughts.

Learn more about the Linguistics concentration

Group of students in Prague on a Global Learning Program trip

Area Studies

Creative Writing is an inherently interdisciplinary field. Studying the history, language, music, and food of African, East Asian, European, Middle Eastern, and/or Latin American cultures can inform the questions you ask and the themes you approach. They can also help you read and write critically as you introduce bigger ideas into your writing.

Learn more about area studies at Grinnell

Explore all our majors and concentrations

Bruna Dantas Lobato

Dantas Lobato’s The Words That Remain won the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature, and her novel Blue Light Hours is being published in eight countries. Her fiction has appeared in such outlets as The New Yorker, and her essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times and elsewhere.

View Bruna's profile

Hai-Dang Phan

Phan is a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Creative Writing, a prestigious federal grant awarded to select American authors. His poems have been published in The New Yorker, Poetry, and elsewhere. His writing has been honored with the Frederick Bock Prize from Poetry magazine and the Emerging Writers Award from New England Review.

View Hai-Dang's profile

Ralph Savarese

Savarese has been on the faculty at Grinnell for 25 years. He is the author of seven books and the co-editor of four collections. A poet, nonfiction writer, scholar, and activist, he teaches American literature, creative writing, disability studies, and neurohumanities at the college. Outside of Grinnell, he offers workshops in the arts to people with significant disabilities.

View Ralph's profile

Lucy Schiller

Schiller is a contributing writer at the Columbia Journalism Review, and her work has appeared in Harper's Magazine, the Oxford American, the Cleveland Review of Books, Off Assignment, the Paris Review Daily, Essay Daily, West Branch, DIAGRAM, Popula, Speculative Nonfiction, the Iowa Review, Literary Hub, The New Yorker, and elsewhere.

View Lucy's profile

Paula V. Smith

Smith’s recent publications include “Refashioning Diary Studies: The Tradition of Black Women’s Diaries” in a/b: Autobiography Studies and “Day Today: Circadian Rhythms and the Sense of Unending in Poetic Diaries by Gertrude Stein and Harryette Mullen” in the Journal of Modern Literature.

View Paula's profile

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Career Exploration Experiences

Grinnell’s vibrant community of creative thinkers and doers fosters an environment that cultivates those interested in a career path in the creative writing realm. Known for its championing of individuality and expression, Grinnell offers a variety of platforms for writers to share their talent among peers, scholars, and visiting literati.

The Writers@Grinnell event series brings prominent writers to campus who not only offer diverse perspectives, but also connections and mentorship. Grinnell’s student-led journal of art and literature, the Grinnell Review, publishes every semester and sponsors off-campus trips to fiction and poetry readings. Grinnell’s student-run news outlet, The Scarlet and Black, offers invaluable opportunities to produce purposeful writing.

Internships and Other Opportunities

Your adviser at the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS) can help you find internships, externships, summer experiences, job shadows, mentoring, and other opportunities for real-life job experience in the creative writing space.

Visit the CLS website for more information.

Networking with Alumni and Recruiters

Grinnell alumni in careers aligned with creative writing are passionate advocates and sounding boards for students who wish to explore similar career paths. These alumni are eager to share their wisdom and words of encouragement relative to the rewards and realities of the field.

Advisers at the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS), in addition to connections students make through creative pursuits, can also help open doors to recruiters who specialize in creative writing-adjacent fields.

CLS looks forward to supporting you as you forge important alliances on the journey to design your career.

Funding for Career-Building Experiences in Creative Writing

The Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS) is equipped to help identify financial support for internships, transportation, and related costs of professional immersion experiences in the creative writing space.

Additionally, the English department sponsors several writing contests and awards every year, in addition to a fellowship that funds works in progress.

LeAnne Howe gestures as she leads a writers workshop for Grinnell students and faculty

Sharing the Gift of Storytelling

Celebrated author, poet, and University of Georgia professor LeAnne Howe visited the Grinnell College campus in early April. She presented a Scholars’ Convocation and led a writers’ workshop.

The HSSC in summer, with tall grass in the foreground

Dantas Lobato Wins National Book Award for Translation

Assistant Professor Bruna Dantas Lobato has won the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature for her translation of The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel.

David Harrison Recognized with Scholarly Edition in Translation Award

David Harrison recognized with Scholarly Edition in Translation Award from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender

Resources for Students Interested in Creative Writing Careers

Arts, Media, and Communications Career Community: This CLS Career Community offers direction, connections, and support to students and recent alumni pursuing Creative Writing as either a primary pathway or as a complement to other professional goals.

Writers@Grinnell, Student Publications, and Distinguished Author Events: It’s not unusual to find Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award winners headlining the English Department’s Writers@Grinnell series, which brings us creative writers of all mediums and viewpoints. Our annual Distinguished Author series features a robust agenda of readings and workshops, allowing the Grinnell community to engage with the nation’s most prominent writers.

The student-led Grinnell Review publishes a journal for creative writing content and hosts formal readings each semester.

Annual writing contests and awards: Every year, the English Department sponsors competitions and funds writing projects, workshops, and conference attendance fees. This allows students to showcase their creative writing at Grinnell.

Harris English Fellowship: A gift to the English Department from Mark Harris ’82 supports student research, creative experiences, experiential learning, and community-engaged projects.

Creative Writing Career Pathways

Explore a Career in Creative Writing