Welcome

Get involved in Lafayette’s lively literary culture! An accomplished group of published writers in the English department offers courses in creative writing, screenwriting, advanced creative writing in fiction and in poetry, environmental writing, creative nonfiction, and new media. Students can take independent studies and honors thesis courses in which they write collections of imaginative work, including novellas, short stories, screenplays, poetry, plays, creative nonfiction, and hybrid forms. Most courses offered through the English department are writing-intensive, and a concentration in writing allows students to gain broad exposure and practice in a variety of writing genres.

Opportunities for students to find their creative-writing voices are plentiful outside the classroom. A room dedicated to imaginative writing, where students can meet, read, and write, is located in the basement of Hogg Hall.  The Marquis Literary Society publishes the student literary magazine, The Marquis. WORDS (Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students) organizes open mics for spoken word performances as well as other events.  Several Fringe Fridays each year at the Williams Center for the Arts give students another venue for sharing their writing with the campus community.  Students also can compete in annual writing competitions, edit student literary publications, attend readings and meet writers visiting campus, and give public readings of their own work to enthusiastic audiences.