Writing Institute

Creative Writing at Oswego State University

For over forty years undergraduate student writers have been receiving degrees in creative writing from Oswego.  The poet Lewis Turco established creative writing at Oswego in 1963 and since then the program has grown to encompass 150 majors and minors, five full-time faculty writers, and a host of visiting and adjunct writers.  Students in the program may concentrate in poetry, fiction, playwriting, screenwriting, and a variety of nonfiction forms.  Oswego State now has one of the premiere degree-granting undergraduate creative writing programs in the country.

How the Writing Institute began

In 2003 the Creative Writing faculty got together in a retreat at the extension Oswego State runs in Phoenix, NY and, among other initiatives, we decided we’d like to start a summer Writing Institute for writers who had already graduated from college.  It seems fitting that this new program all began in a place named Phoenix—a mythic bird that suggests renewal, rebirth.  While we were at the Phoenix retreat we found we wanted to re-imagine ourselves in some profound ways—to take what was valuable about our past program and build on it, change it, move it forward into this new century.

Valuing a Community of Writers

Our aim was to build on what were clearly our strengths.   One thing we discovered is that all of us valued community, the community of writers we’d built up over the years—students and faculty all working together in service of our writing, writers of all levels working together in a supportive environment.   Given that, it was clear that we wanted to expand the community, on campus and off-campus.


After that, it was a short step into the notion of a summer institute.  Creative writing is a solitary activity—day after day, sitting in a room, thinking your own thoughts.  It’s an act of communication that can begin to seem like an act of separation.  Our students at Oswego State know the tremendous luxury of having access to a community of other artists, and we wanted to bring that to writers elsewhere, writers we might not reach since we’re primarily an undergraduate program.  That’s when we decided to make our target audience post-baccalaureate.

Broadening a Communtiy of Writers

Participants in the Writing Institute need to have a baccalaureate degree already.  Of course, we hope to see some of our former students return for the program, and we’re excited about working with any writers who simply want to spend an intensive period of time on their own work, but we’re also encouraging high school teachers of English.  Some of the sessions at the Writing Institute will be geared toward teaching creative writing; we’d like to work with high school teachers on strategies they can take back to their classrooms—back to their own writing communities.  Once these teachers have experienced the Writing Institute, we’re confident they’ll guide some of their best high school students toward Oswego State. Whatever your writing background is, the Institute promises to invigorate and renew your work, and we will welcome you with enthusiasm into this community.

 A Day at the Writing Institute

Every morning for two hours there are going to be intensive creative writing workshops on the participants’ work—their poetry, fiction, nonfiction.  They’ll be coming into the Institute with their best work ready to be critiqued.  In the afternoons we’ll be doing a series of idea-generating workshops, which will focus on the writing the participants have in-progress, or ideas they’re toying with in the early stages.  Also in the afternoon we’ll have lectures, panel discussions, talks on a variety of issues, from the publication market to strategies for teaching creative writing in the classroom to adapting fiction/nonfiction into film.  Each evening there will be a reading by a published author, with book signings and social gatherings.  On the last night, the participants themselves will have a reading from the work they’ve been honing over the course of the week—this will be open to the public.

All of the creative writing faculty at Oswego State participate in the program, as well as writers from elsewhere.  Students participate in small workshops, one-on-one tutorials and talks specifically designed for writers of different genres.

All of the creative writing faculty at Oswego State participate in the program, as well as visiting writers.  Students participate in small workshops, one-on-one tutorials and talks specifically designed for writers of different genres.

Past Writing Institute Participants Comment on the Program

"The Institute was able to kickstart the desire to continue my writing and explore its possibilities."

"This opportunity re-energized my commitment to writing.  It was a wonderful experience."

"At every workshop I learned something that helped my writing now and will help me avoid some mistakes in the future."

"Individual attention from the staff and their willingness to invest extra time in the students is really extraordinary."

"The instructors did a tremendous job of creating an environment where we felt safe and confortable sharing our work."

"The small groups were very effective in showing the subtle (and not so subtle) differences in genres and how to explore each one."