Hollins
has earned a national reputation for its undergraduate and graduate
programs in English and creative writing. U.S. News & World
Report ranked Hollins' graduate program in creative writing in the top 20 in the nation. The program has been described as "pound for pound, the most productive writing program in America." Hundreds of its graduates have published books.
Opportunities abound for English majors to practice
their craft. Undergraduate writers publish poetry and fiction in
the student periodical, The Album, or the student literary
journal, Cargoes. The creative writing program even has its
own anthology, Elvis in Oz, to which undergraduate writers contributed. In addition to writing classes, the English department offers a full complement of courses, including Eighteenth-Century Literature, Modern British and American Poetry, Modern Novel, Contemporary Poetry, United States Literature, Film as Narrative Art, and courses on Chaucer and Shakespeare. The
relationship between students and faculty is a special one. Students
are more like colleagues than pupils. "We are all students and teachers
alike," says longtime English professor Richard Dillard. One
former student described it this way: "We were encouraged to
be endlessly curious rather than circumscribed in our approach to
literature. It seems clear to me now that we were being taught an
approach to life, an approach that invites, perhaps even invokes,
mystery and delight." Another student put it like this: "The Hollins environment is especially conducive to learning and creativity. The academic experience downplays competitiveness and stresses the benefits of discussion, interaction, and support from both professors and fellow students."
PHOTO (right): Want to write poetry and fiction? Then who better to take classes from than prolific poet and fiction writer Jeanne Larsen, professor of English. A graduate of Hollins' M.A. program in creative writing, Larsen wows students with insightful and compassionate readings of their work.
Hollins
has earned a national reputation for its undergraduate and graduate
programs in English and creative writing. U.S. News & World
Report ranked Hollins' graduate program in creative writing in the top 20 in the nation. The program has been described as "pound for pound, the most productive writing program in America." Hundreds of its graduates have published books.
The
relationship between students and faculty is a special one. Students
are more like colleagues than pupils. "We are all students and teachers
alike," says longtime English professor Richard Dillard. One
former student described it this way: "We were encouraged to
be endlessly curious rather than circumscribed in our approach to
literature. It seems clear to me now that we were being taught an
approach to life, an approach that invites, perhaps even invokes,
mystery and delight."