The Creative Writing Program at UBC: About Us

The Creative Writing Program at UBC is the oldest and most distinguished literary arts unit in Canadian academia and enjoys an ascendant international reputation. 

We provide a uniquely comprehensive opportunity for writers to develop their craft within the studio environment, offering BFA and MFA degrees with study in ten genres, including hands-on experience in editing, publishing, and teaching.  The MFA degree is also offered by distance education and Booming Ground provides a one-to-one focus for those seeking a non-credit concentration.

The members of the UBC Creative Writing faculty are all professional writers who work intimately with their students in low-enrollment workshops. Awards won by our faculty include the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Peabody Award, and the Sulzberger Award for Innovative Film from the Berlin Film Festival, and many major Canadian literary awards.  

Our alumni publish and produce internationally and include:  Hart Hansen, creator of the Fox series BONES;  Maureen Medved, novelist and screenwriter, THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS; Steven Galloway, novelist, THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO; Jack Hodgins, George McWhirter, Wayson Choy, Kevin Patterson, Nancy Lee, Eden Robinson, Lee Henderson, Kevin Chong, Jen Sookfong Lee, and many Governor-General Literary Award  and Chalmers Award winners and nominees such as Stephanie Bolster and Elizabeth Bachinsky.

Unlike most other writing programs, we require our students to work in three or more distinct genres. We have always believed that this literary cross-pollination is vital for the education and development of a writer; it is not uncommon for a student to enter as a playwright and to graduate as a novelist, as did Madeleine Thien – winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancouver Book Award.

 

History

Until the mid 1960s, most writers were self-taught, slowly learning their craft alone until they could catch the eye of a sympathetic editor or mentor.  In 1946, UBC took a radical step forward in literary education when Earle Birney, then of the English Department, requested one course for the writer “naked in academe.”  Birney was one of Canada’s finest writers, winning two Governor General Literary Awards in Poetry and publishing more than twenty books.  He established the Department of Creative Writing in 1965—the first university writing program in Canada.  Even then the program was years ahead of its time, presenting a learner-centered interdisciplinary experience. 

Creative Writing merged with the Department of Theatre and Film in 1995 and initiated its Joint MFAs in Stage Play and in Screenwriting.  With the launch of our Optional-Residency MFA Program in 2005, we broke new ground in Canada, making it possible for students across the country and around the world to take part in our renowned MFA program without having to leave home, families, and careers.

In 2008, the Creative Writing Program became an independent interdisciplinary program.  We expanded our popular introductory lecture courses to 2nd year students and welcomed students to new courses such as Graphic Novel, New Media, and Teaching Creative Writing, an initiative offered in conjunction with the Learning Exchange and serving a diverse community.  We, of course, continue to offer a robust curriculum of traditional courses including fiction, poetry, writing for children, stage play, screenplay, television writing, editing and publishing a magazine (including PRISM international), non-fiction, lyric and libretto, and an Introduction to Creative Writing with an Aboriginal Focus.    

 

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