4000-level Creative Writing Workshops
WORKSHOP PLACEMENT PROCESS
There are many kinds of writers, and they are all welcome in the Creative Writing (CW) workshops. Here at Ohio State, the CW faculty specialize in mentoring literary writers of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, some of whom may later pursue a graduate degree in Creative Writing (an MFA).
Any student is eligible to declare the CW specialization, and any student who has taken or is currently enrolled in a 2000-level CW workshop is eligible to submit a portfolio for placement into a 4000-level workshop. Placement into workshops is determined primarily by need and past workshop enrollments (i.e., whether a workshop is needed for a student to graduate, if a student has already had the opportunity to take multiple 4000-level workshops, etc.)
Those interested in being placed into a 4000-level CW workshop for autumn 2026 should complete this form here with the required information and a writing sample.
Please contact both Professor Marcus Jackson (jackson.2577@osu.edu), Director of Creative Writing, and Elizabeth Falter, Undergraduate Studies Program Manager (falter.44@osu.edu), with any questions about the submission process.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Submission Instructions
All workshop preferences and portolios are submitted via an online webform. You must submit the following information:
- Preferred Name
- Ohio State email address
- 9-digit Student ID number (the shorter of the two numbers on your BuckID)
- Which 4000-level workshops you are interested in (you may select multiple workshops)
- If you select multiple workshops, the form will ask you how many you would ideally like to take (up to 2) and your ranked choices of workshops
- One document (Word or pdf) – titled “[Your Last Name], [Your First Name] CW Sample” – that contains the following:
- A list of creative writing courses taken and the instructors for those courses.
- Writing sample(s) of your best creative writing in each genre of the workshops for which you would like to be considered. In other words, if you are interested in both fiction and poetry, you should submit samples of both fiction and poetry.
Here are the requirements for your writing sample:
- Length: maximum of 10 pages per genre
- If you submit multiple writing samples, each one must be no longer than 10 pages.
- Suggested minimum is 3-5 pages (for poetry, 3-5 poems)
- Document Format: 12-point Times New Roman font with 1" margins. Fiction and creative non-fiction submissions are double-spaced. Poetry submissions are single-spaced (and/or may play with spacing).
- The writing sample should be preceded by a brief (1-2 sentence) description of the writing sample. For multiple samples, each one should be preceded by a brief description.
- Be sure that your name is on the document.
You are strongly encouraged to submit work that has been workshopped and revised. You might ask your instructors from 2000- and 3000-level workshops which sample(s) of your work are best to submit.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Please submit your portfolio as a Word document or PDF.
- Title your document “[Your Last Name], [Your First Name] [Genre] CW Sample” (For instance: “Buckeye, Brutus Poetry CW Sample”).
- At the top of your submission, include a list of all the creative writing courses you’ve taken and your instructor for each course.
- Then, include your writing sample(s) of your best creative writing in the genre for which you are submitting.
- If you have indicated that you are interested in multiple workshops, please submit a portfolio for each genre that you are interested in.
- You do not need to submit multiple portfolios, but we strongly encourage you to include work from each genre that you are submitting for in your portfolio.
- Placement into workshops is determined primarily by need and past workshop enrollments. This means that we take into account how close you are to graduation, how many workshops you’ve already taken, how many workshops you need to complete your major or minor, etc.
- Yes, absolutely! You may or may not be placed into a workshop, depending on how many students need a workshop to complete their major, but you are more than welcome to submit.
- Yes, absolutely! You may or may not be placed into a workshop, depending on how many students in the Creative Writing major specialization or Creative Writing minor also submit portfolios, but you are more than welcome to submit.
- You are eligible to submit for a 4000-level workshop if you have taken or are currently enrolled in a 2000-level Creative Writing workshop (2265, 2266, 2267, 2268).
- For autumn 2026 workshops, you’ll receive an email approximately one week after submitting the form letting you know if you’ve been placed into a workshop, and if so, which one you’ve been placed into.
- If you are a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, English advisor Rachael Speck will enroll you in the workshop you’ve been placed into. If you are a student in another college, Rachael or Elizabeth Falter will contact your advisor so that they can enroll you in your assigned workshop.