English Ph.D. with a concentration in Creative Writing

Program Overview

Program Type

Major

Format

On Campus

Estimated Time to Complete

3-4 years

Credit Hours

54 (with master's) or 72 (with bachelor's)

Program Description

The UNT English graduate program is designed for students who wish to build a professional career as creative writers, educators, or academics. With distinguished scholars in every major period of American and British literature and nationally renowned writers in every genre, the English Department supports a broad range of graduate research and creative work.

Why Earn an English Creative Writing Ph.D.?

The Ph.D. program is designed to give you a broad, solid foundation in the academic profession, while at the same time preparing you to conduct original, in-depth research or to compose original works of literature. You'll benefit from the guidance of a nationally recognized faculty with a strong record of publication in prestigious journals.

Marketable Skills

• Reason rigorously, subtly and independently
• Analyze minutely sources and narratives
• Identify and address interpretative complexity
• Develop and contribute new knowledge
• Convey knowledge in self-designed courses

English Ph.D. with a concentration in Creative Writing Highlights

• In a 2020 report by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education , the UNT English Department ranked No. 10 out of all R1 institutions in doctoral degrees earned by minority students, and No. 19 in the number of Latinx Ph.D. graduates.
• The creative writing faculty features nationally and internationally recognized writers whose books have been published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Harper Collins; and Oxford University Press, among others.

What Can You Do With an English Creative Writing Ph.D.?

Many recent Ph.D. graduates have gone on to tenure-track positions at other institutions all over the country, including Texas Women's University (Texas), Radford University (Virginia), St. Catherine University (Minnesota), Valparaiso University (Indiana), SUNY-Potsdam (New York) and Brigham Young University (Utah).

English Ph.D. with a concentration in Creative Writing Courses You Could Take

Form and Theory

• Poetry (3 hrs)
  • Rhetorical criticism of poetry to show how poems achieve identification with the audience; emphasis on student mastery of critical analysis.
• Prose (3 hrs)
  • Rhetorical criticism of prose fiction to show how short stories and novels achieve effect.

Creative Writing

• Poetry (3 hrs)
  • Study of the principles of poetic composition in traditional forms as well as free verse. Format includes lecture and workshop.
• Prose Fiction (3 hrs)
  • Study of the principles of prose fiction as exemplified in published and unpublished works. Emphasis on writing for specific subgenres and methods of preparation and submission of work. Workshop format is employed.

Other Courses

• Studies in Shakespeare (3 hrs)
  • Intensive study of selected plays and a consideration of some of the literary problems connected with Shakespeare’s life and work.
• Survey of Critical Theory (3 hrs)
  • Survey of major theoretical schools with special attention to those influential in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The English Creative Writing Ph.D. program at the University of North Texas is designed for students who aspire to build a professional career as creative writers, educators, or academics. The program aims to provide a broad, solid foundation in the academic profession while preparing students to conduct original, in-depth research or compose original works of literature. The program emphasizes the guidance of nationally recognized faculty with a strong record of publication in prestigious journals like PMLA, Philological Quarterly, The Paris Review, and Granta. The program fosters graduate student success and helps them achieve their educational and career goals.

Teaching:

The program features a nationally and internationally recognized faculty whose books have been published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Harper Collins; and Oxford University Press, among others. Their work also appears in publications such as The Paris Review, The Yale Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New York Times, Image, Ploughshares, Denver Quarterly, TriQuarterly, The Threepenny Review, Best American Poetry, and Best American Spiritual Writing. Students work closely with award-winning faculty members whose works have been published in flagship journals in their fields and subfields (PMLA, College English, and Speculum), while also leading literary journals, including The Paris Review, Best American Poetry, and Best American Spiritual Writing.

Other:

The UNT English Department ranked No. 10 out of all R1 institutions in doctoral degrees earned by minority students and No. 19 in the number of Latinx Ph.D. graduates in a 2020 report by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. UNT is among a select group of universities — and the only in the North Texas region — offering a creative writing concentration at the doctoral level.