The Nonfiction Writing Program is home to the University of Iowa’s Creative Writing Craft Courses, which have been singled out by CollegeMagazine.com for making the University of Iowa the best place to study undergraduate creative writing.

In these courses you’ll learn how to describe people, places, objects, and ideas in clear and concise language, while exploring how to organize information, imagine different points of view, and reflect upon and judge your own writing.

All of our courses are open to everyone.

CNW:1620
Introduction to Creative Nonfiction*
(an introduction to personal writing)

CNW:2680
The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction
(a survey of different forms of nonfiction writing)

CNW:2700
The Art and Craft of Personal Writing
(writing about memories, ideas, & experiences in the service of great stories)

CNW:2710
The Art and Craft of Writing about Food
(writing about food to evoke memories, moods, places & events)

CNW:2720
The Art and Craft of Writing about Culture
(writing about film, tv, concerts, theater, magazines, etc)

CNW:2730
The Art and Craft of Writing about Science  
(writing about complex scientific ideas in compelling stories)

CNW:2740
The Art and Craft of Writing about the Environment
(writing about both natural and artificial environments)

CNW:2760
The Art and Craft: Writing for Social Change
(writing about social, political, and cultural issues in ways that matter)

CNW:2770  
The Art and Craft of Writing for New Media
(writing podcasts, video games, Twitter feeds, and Tumblr narratives)

CNW:2780
The Art and Craft of Writing about Sports
(creating vivid scenes, descriptions, and stories about athletic events)

CNW:2790
The Art and Craft of Humor Writing
(using humor to explore the uncomfortable, the complex, the unknown & familiar)

CNW:2800
The Art and Craft of Writing Across Genres
(using fiction, comedy, lists, letters, poems, graphics and other forms)

CNW:2810
The Art and Craft of Writing with Emotion
(writing with all your senses)

CNW:2820
The Art and Craft of the Literary Essay
(exploring reviews, memoirs, profiles, travelogues, journalism, and cultural criticism)

CNW:2830
The Art and Craft of Immersion Journalism
(how to investigate and write about a large subject outside of yourself)

CNW:3640
The Art and Craft of Writing about Business
(preparing for the “real world” of business)

CNW:2900
The Essay Prize
(help judge and select the winner of a national literary prize)

CNW:3600
Issues in Creative Nonfiction
(explore and discuss a single topic in creative nonfiction)

CNW:3630
Advanced Nonfiction
(an advanced creative writing workshop)

CNW:3633
Personal Writing
(a workshop devoted to explorations of memoir)

CNW:3660
Multimedia Writing
(a multidisciplinary course mixing media production with creative writing)

CNW:3661
Film and Writing
(how to convert texts into film, conduct interviews, and shoot and edit digital video)

CNW:3662
Graphic Writing
(writing and producing the graphic novel)

CNW:3664
Radio and Writing
(produce voiceovers, record interviews, mix music, edit sound and create spoken texts to make radio art)

CNW:4631
Undergraduate Essay Workshop
(an intensive writing workshop taught at the pace of a graduate course)

Individual course descriptions are available on MyUI under the initials “CNW.”

* Introduction to Creative Nonfiction Creative Writing Studio Workshop (CNW:1620) satisfies General Education requirements.

All other Art & Craft courses with the CNW designation may be taken as an elective, applied towards the English major, or towards the English Department's Undergraduate Creative Writing Track. 

To receive updates about future Art & Craft course offerings, special events in The Nonfiction Writing Program, summer internships in creative writing, and the annual Saturday Afternoon Creative Writing Master Classes, send an email to Cherie Hansen-Rieskamp and ask to be placed on the Art & Craft listserv.