creative writing classes charleston sc

Program Requirements

Credit Hours: 36

Core Workshops (12 credit hours)

Students will choose creative nonfiction, fiction or poetry as their primary genre and complete four core workshops in the primary genre.

• ENGL 561 MFA Workshop in Creative Nonfiction (3)
• ENGL 564 MFA Workshop in Poetry (3)
• ENGL 565 MFA Workshop in Fiction (3)

Select an Emphasis Area

Complete an Emphasis in either Studio or Arts and Cultural Management.

Studio Emphasis

Creative writing electives (6 credit hours).

Complete 6 additional credit hours from the following:

• ENGL 561 MFA Workshop in Creative Nonfiction (3) *
• ENGL 564 MFA Workshop in Poetry (3) *
• ENGL 565 MFA Workshop in Fiction (3) *
• ENGL 566 Elements of Craft and Form in Poetry (3)
• ENGL 567 Elements of Craft and Form in Fiction (3)
• ENGL 568 Reading for Writers (3)
• ENGL 569 Special Topics in Creative Writing (3)
• ENGL 702 Internship (1-3)
• ENGL 706 Publishing Practicum (3)

*A secondary genre workshop may be used to satisfy this requirement.

Complete 12 credit hours from the following Literature electives

• ENGL 501 Chaucer (3)
• ENGL 502 Shakespeare (3)
• ENGL 503 English Drama to 1642 (3)
• ENGL 504 Poetry and Prose of English Renaissance (3)
• ENGL 505 Milton (3)
• ENGL 506 Restoration and Eighteenth Century Drama (3)
• ENGL 507 Survey of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature (3)
• ENGL 509 Romantic Literature (3)
• ENGL 510 Victorian Literature (3)
• ENGL 511 Introduction to Graduate English Studies (3)
• ENGL 512 Southern Literature (3)
• ENGL 517 Special Topics in Literature (3)
• ENGL 520 A Survey of World Literature I (3)
• ENGL 521 A Survey of World Literature II (3)
• ENGL 522 Colonial and Revolutionary American Literature (3)
• ENGL 523 Nineteenth-Century American Literature I - Romanticism (3)
• ENGL 524 Nineteenth-Century American Literature II - Realism (3)
• ENGL 525 Eighteenth-Century British Novel (3)
• ENGL 526 Victorian Novel (3)
• ENGL 527 British Fiction 1900 to 1945 (3)
• ENGL 528 American Fiction 1900 to 1945 (3)
• ENGL 529 American Fiction Since 1945 (3)
• ENGL 531 British Poetry 1900 to Present (3)
• ENGL 532 American Poetry 1900 to Present (3)
• ENGL 533 British Drama 1900 to Present (3)
• ENGL 534 American Drama 1900 to Present (3)
• ENGL 535 African American Literature (3)
• ENGL 537 Contemporary British Literature (3)
• ENGL 550 Special Topics in Composition or Language (3)
• ENGL 552 Adolescent Literature (3)
• ENGL 553 Modern English Grammar (3)
• ENGL 554 History of the English Language (3)
• ENGL 555 Literary Criticism (3)
• ENGL 556 Theory and Practice of Teaching Composition (3)
• ENGL 558 Technical and Professional Writing (3)
• ENGL 559 History and Theory of Rhetoric (3)
• ENGL 560 Film Studies (3)
• ENGL 562 Workshop in Advanced Composition (3)
• ENGL 573 Special Topics in African American Literature (3)
• ENGL 574 Special Topics in British Literature Before 1800 (3)
• ENGL 575 Special Topics in British Literature After 1800 (3)
• ENGL 576 Special Topics in American Literature (3)
• ENGL 577 Proseminar in Major Literary Themes (3)
• ENGL 578 Proseminar in Major Literary Genres (3)
• ENGL 587 Proseminar in Major Authors (3)
• ENGL 588 Proseminar in Cultural Studies (3)
• ENGL 700 Seminar (3)
• ENGL 703 Seminar in British Literature Before 1800 (3)
• ENGL 704 Seminar in British Literature After 1800 (3)
• ENGL 705 Seminar in American Literature (3)

Thesis (6 credit hours)

• ENGL 708 MFA Thesis (3)

Arts and Cultural Management Emphasis

Required courses.

• ARCM 570 Leading Arts and Cultural Organizations (3)
• ARCM 571 Arts Education, Community Engagement, and Advocacy (3)
• ARCM 572 Data Management and Cloud-Based Technologies (3)
• ARCM 573 The Patron-Based Arts Organization (3)
• ARCM 574 Managing Arts and Cultural Resources (3)

Creative Writing elective (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 additional credit hours from the following:

Transfer Credit Policy

No program specific guidelines. Please refer to the Graduate School’s transfer credit policy   .

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College of Charleston

South carolina, united states.

The MFA Creative Writing Program at the College of Charleston, a two-year residential program, offers advanced degree training in creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry writing and features separate curriculum emphases: Studio and Arts & Cultural Management. The MFA workshops are the backbone of the program, taught by a highly distinguished, award-winning writing faculty. Students learn the history and traditions associated with literature, learn theoretical and formal approaches to the craft of writing, and receive intensive peer and faculty feedback as they compose and revise their thesis—a full-length manuscript.

Application deadline: January 15

Contact Information

66 George Street Department of English Charleston South Carolina, United States 29424-0001 Phone: 843-953-5665 Email: [email protected] http://english.cofc.edu/graduate-programs/master-fine-arts-creative-writing/index.php

Bachelor of Arts in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing +

Undergraduate program director.

Founded in 1770, the College of Charleston is a public liberal arts college that offers a BA in English with a Concentration or Minor in Creative Writing.

With a three-course sequence in poetry and fiction (beginning, intermediate, advanced), the Undergraduate Creative Writing Program also offers courses in creative nonfiction, flash fiction, writing the novel, literary publishing and editing, reading for writers, and special topics courses in creative writing. Students can enroll in an independent study or the Bachelor's Essay of their design to complete a creative project.

Master of Fine Arts in Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction +

Graduate program director, gary jackson.

Born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, Gary Jackson is the author of the poetry collections origin story (University of New Mexico Press, 2021) and Missing You, Metropolis (Graywolf Press, 2010), which received the 2009 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. He’s also the co-editor of The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry (Blair Publishing, 2021). His poems have appeared in numerous journals including The Sun, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Copper Nickel. The recipient of Cave Canem and Bread Loaf fellowships, he’s also been published in Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology and was featured in the 2013 New American Poetry Series by the Poetry Society of America. He’s an associate professor in English and creative writing at the College of Charleston where he’s currently the Director of Undergraduate Creative Writing and teaches in the MFA program and serves as the associate poetry editor at Crazyhorse.

Bret Lott is the bestselling author of fourteen books, most recently the nonfiction collection Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian (Crossway 2013) and the novel Dead Low Tide (Random House 2012). Other books include the story collection The Difference Between Women and Men, the nonfiction book Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer’s Life, and the novels Jewel, an Oprah Book Club pick, and A Song I Knew by Heart. His work has appeared in, among other places, The Yale Review, The New York Times, The Georgia Review, Vanity Fair Online and in dozens of anthologies.

Born in Los Angeles, he received his BA in English from Cal State Long Beach in 1981, and his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1984, where he studied under James Baldwin. From 1986 to 2004 he was writer-in-residence and professor of English at The College of Charleston, leaving to take the position of editor and director of the journal The Southern Review at Louisiana State University. Three years later, in the fall of 2007, he returned to The College of Charleston and the job he most loves: teaching.

His honors include being named Fulbright Senior American Scholar and writer-in-residence to Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, speaking on Flannery O’Connor at The White House, and having served as a member of the National Council on the Arts from 2006 to 2012.

Malinda McCollum

Malinda McCollum is the author of The Surprising Place, winner of the Juniper Prize for Fiction. Her stories have appeared in The Paris Review –– which awarded her the Plimpton Prize –– McSweeney’s, ZYZZYVA, Epoch, and elsewhere. Her stories have also been anthologized in The Paris Review Book of People with Problems and The Worst Years of Your Life: Stories for the Geeked-Out, Angst-Ridden, Lust-Addled, Deeply Misunderstood Adolescent in All of Us.

McCollum has been the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and a Stegner fellowship at Stanford University. She’s a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has taught at the University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins University, and Stanford University. She is an Assistant Professor and an editor at Crazyhorse.

https://malindamccollum.com

Emily Rosko

Emily Rosko's newest poetry collection is Weather Inventions (University of Akron Press, 2018). She is the author of two previous award-winning poetry collections: Prop Rockery, winner of the 2011 Akron Poetry Prize, and Raw Goods Inventory, winner of the 2005 Iowa Poetry Prize. Raw Goods Inventory also received the 2007 Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers from Shenandoah. Her other honors include: the Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University, a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from Poetry magazine, and a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri and a M.F.A. from Cornell University. Her poems have been included in a variety of literary journals, such as Antioch Review, AGNI, The Beloit Poetry Journal, The Denver Quarterly, New American Writing, Pleiades, and West Branch. Her pedagogical essays on poetic craft have been anthologized in Poets on Teaching: A Sourcebook and The Working Poet II. She is the editor of A Broken Thing: Poets on the Line (University of Iowa Press 2011) and is poetry editor for Crazyhorse.

https://www.erosko.com

Anthony Varallo

Anthony Varallo is the author of a novel, The Lines (University of Iowa Press), as well as four short story collections: This Day in History, winner of the John Simmons Short Fiction Award; Out Loud, winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize; Think of Me and I’ll Know (Northwestern University Press/TriQuarterly Books); and Everyone Was There, winner of the Elixir Press Fiction Award. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker “Daily Shouts,” One Story, The Sun, STORY, Gulf Coast, New England Review, Harvard Review, AGNI, and elsewhere. He earned his MFA from the University of Iowa/Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has received an NEA Fellowship in Literature. Currently he is a professor of English at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, where he teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing and serves as the fiction editor of Crazyhorse.

Jonathan Bohr Heinen

Jonathan Bohr Heinen began working on literary magazines as an assistant for Cimarron Review. He has since served as managing editor for Blue Mesa Review, senior managing editor for Iron Horse Literary Review, associate fiction editor for Q Avenue Press, and has worked as a publishing consultant for the Lighthouse Writers’ Workshop’s Lit Fest and the Tomales Bay Workshops Writers Conference. Currently, he is the managing editor for Crazyhorse at the College of Charleston. His writing has appeared in The Florida Review, Arroyo, Cimarron Review, The Boiler, among others, and has received special mention in the Pushcart Prize anthology. Beyond his writing and editing, he is a staff member at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference.

Publications & Presses +

Visiting writers program +.

Beth Bachmann, Hadara Bar-Nadav, Charles Baxter, Mary Biddinger, Venita Blackburn, Stephanie Burt, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Jennifer Chang, Oliver de la Paz, Tarfia Faizullah, Sarah Gorham, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Patricia Hampl, Adam Johnson, T. Geronimo Johnson, Donika Kelly, Rebecca Lee, Dana Levin, Rebecca Makkai, Kamilah Aisha Moon, Emily Nemens, Julie Orringer, Christine Schutt, Kevin Simmonds, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Natasha Trethewey.

Reading Series +

Dorothea Benton Frank Writing Series ( https://english.cofc.edu/graduate-programs/master-fine-arts-creative-writing/How%20to%20Apply%20%20/index.php )

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Department of English

Welcome to the Department of English at the College of Charleston!

The study of English is fundamental to a liberal arts and sciences education. English faculty teach students to read perceptively and critically; to understand the historical, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions of language and literature; and to write with clarity and precision. We offer courses in composition, creative writing, film, literature, and rhetoric. 

English majors benefit from small class sizes, individual attention from instructors, and unique opportunities for independent research, internships, and study abroad. Majors pursue concentrations in Literature and Film , Creative Writing , or Writing, Rhetoric, and Publication . Those who wish to teach at the secondary level can pursue a combined major in English and Secondary Education .

Our faculty possess expertise in a wide range of specializations within English studies and publish widely with top academic and literary presses and in leading journals.

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South Carolina Resources for Writers

Here you’ll find a collection of resources for writers in South Carolina, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you’re looking for writing groups near you, writing workshops near you, creative writing classes near you, or simply a place to hang out with writers or submit your work, these are some South Carolina writing organizations you might want to check out:

WriteByNight

For more than a decade, WriteByNight has helped writers in South Carolina and beyond achieve their literary goals. And we want you to be next! Claim your free consultation  to learn about WBN’s customizable  one-on-one writers’ services , including:

Book Coaching :  If you’re writing a book and want some help along the way.

Manuscript Critique : If you’ve written a book and want a beta read, critique, or writing workshop.

Editing/Proofreading : If you’ve written a book and want someone to polish it for you.

Publication Assistance : If you’ve written a book and want help finding an agent or publisher.

ACFW Upstate South Carolina

A Greenville-area chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers, meets the second Saturday of every month at Cross Roads Baptist in Greer.

A networking and writing group for Columbia-area writers that meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. COLA III is a chapter of the South Carolina Writers Association.

Columbia Writers Alliance

A nonprofit that offers writing workshops, critique groups and membership.

Hub City Writers Project

Has published more than 400 writers in 60 books, renovated two historic downtown Spartanburg buildings, and given away more than $15,000 in scholarships to emerging writers. Provides creative writing workshops and instruction to hundreds in the Carolinas and beyond.

Piccolo Spoleto Festival

A two-week arts festival in Charleston that offers literary aspects like poetry readings.

Poetry Society of South Carolina

The oldest organization of its kind in America, they hold free readings and lectures, and offer seminars, writing workshops, writers’ groups and prizes that include cash awards and publication.

SlamCharlotte

A nationally-recognized poetry slam whose team has won several U.S. titles.

South Carolina Book Festival

A three-day festival of panels, readings and signings that brings in over 6,000 visitors annually.

South Carolina Review

For nearly fifty years, SCR has published fiction, poetry, interviews, unpublished letters and manuscripts, essays and reviews from well-known and aspiring scholars and writers.

South Carolina Writers Association

A literary arts organization serving both new and established writers. Membership offers a supportive environment in which to become a better writer.

South 85 Journal

This online mag, founded in 2012 by the Converse College Low-Residency MFA Program, publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews and artwork on a semi-annual basis.

Swamp Pink (formerly Crazyhorse)

For over fifty years, this magazine has published some of the best new fiction, poetry and nonfiction.

Help us add to this list, South Carolinians! Do you know of writing groups near you, writing workshops near you, creative writing classes near you, or a South Carolina literary journal we should be aware of? Let us know here

It’s so easy to get caught up in the everyday urgency of work and family. But with the help from the writing staff at WriteByNight, I’m finally creating my book, a journey I value as deeply personal and important. Leslie Tourish Dripping Springs, Texas

Client Credits

WBN has helped writers publish with:

Simon & Schuster Little, Brown & Co. St. Martin’s Press Amazon Slate Threepenny Review Huffington Post

WriteByNight, LLC 235 West End Avenue, 6H New York, New York 10023

646.374.8174 [email protected]

2024-2025 Academic Bulletin

Creative writing minor.

The creative writing minor provides students advanced training in specific genres of writing, such as poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Courses include creative writing classes and upper-level English classes, for a well-rounded introduction to the field of creative writing. This minor is especially beneficial to students with primary studies in theater and dance, media arts, marketing, public relations and journalism, among other fields.    

Minor Requirements (18 Hours)

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Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

Find a home for your poems, stories, essays, and reviews by researching the publications vetted by our editorial staff. In the Literary Magazines database you’ll find editorial policies, submission guidelines, contact information—everything you need to know before submitting your work to the publications that share your vision for your work.

Whether you’re pursuing the publication of your first book or your fifth, use the Small Presses database to research potential publishers, including submission guidelines, tips from the editors, contact information, and more.

Research more than one hundred agents who represent poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, plus details about the kinds of books they’re interested in representing, their clients, and the best way to contact them.

Every week a new publishing professional shares advice, anecdotes, insights, and new ways of thinking about writing and the business of books.

Find publishers ready to read your work now with our Open Reading Periods page, a continually updated resource listing all the literary magazines and small presses currently open for submissions.

Since our founding in 1970, Poets & Writers has served as an information clearinghouse of all matters related to writing. While the range of inquiries has been broad, common themes have emerged over time. Our Top Topics for Writers addresses the most popular and pressing issues, including literary agents, copyright, MFA programs, and self-publishing.

Our series of subject-based handbooks (PDF format; $4.99 each) provide information and advice from authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers. Now available: The Poets & Writers Guide to Publicity and Promotion, The Poets & Writers Guide to the Book Deal, The Poets & Writers Guide to Literary Agents, The Poets & Writers Guide to MFA Programs, and The Poets & Writers Guide to Writing Contests.

Find a home for your work by consulting our searchable databases of writing contests, literary magazines, small presses, literary agents, and more.

Poets & Writers lists readings, workshops, and other literary events held in cities across the country. Whether you are an author on book tour or the curator of a reading series, the Literary Events Calendar can help you find your audience.

Get the Word Out is a new publicity incubator for debut fiction writers and poets.

Research newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications that consistently publish book reviews using the Review Outlets database, which includes information about publishing schedules, submission guidelines, fees, and more.

Well over ten thousand poets and writers maintain listings in this essential resource for writers interested in connecting with their peers, as well as editors, agents, and reading series coordinators looking for authors. Apply today to join the growing community of writers who stay in touch and informed using the Poets & Writers Directory.

Let the world know about your work by posting your events on our literary events calendar, apply to be included in our directory of writers, and more.

Find a writers group to join or create your own with Poets & Writers Groups. Everything you need to connect, communicate, and collaborate with other poets and writers—all in one place.

Find information about more than two hundred full- and low-residency programs in creative writing in our MFA Programs database, which includes details about deadlines, funding, class size, core faculty, and more. Also included is information about more than fifty MA and PhD programs.

Whether you are looking to meet up with fellow writers, agents, and editors, or trying to find the perfect environment to fuel your writing practice, the Conferences & Residencies is the essential resource for information about well over three hundred writing conferences, writers residencies, and literary festivals around the world.

Discover historical sites, independent bookstores, literary archives, writing centers, and writers spaces in cities across the country using the Literary Places database—the best starting point for any literary journey, whether it’s for research or inspiration.

Search for jobs in education, publishing, the arts, and more within our free, frequently updated job listings for writers and poets.

Establish new connections and enjoy the company of your peers using our searchable databases of MFA programs and writers retreats, apply to be included in our directory of writers, and more.

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Each year the Readings & Workshops program provides support to hundreds of writers participating in literary readings and conducting writing workshops. Learn more about this program, our special events, projects, and supporters, and how to contact us.

The Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award introduces emerging writers to the New York City literary community, providing them with a network for professional advancement.

Find information about how Poets & Writers provides support to hundreds of writers participating in literary readings and conducting writing workshops.

Bring the literary world to your door—at half the newsstand price. Available in print and digital editions, Poets & Writers Magazine is a must-have for writers who are serious about their craft.

View the contents and read select essays, articles, interviews, and profiles from the current issue of the award-winning Poets & Writers Magazine .

Read essays, articles, interviews, profiles, and other select content from Poets & Writers Magazine as well as Online Exclusives.

View the covers and contents of every issue of Poets & Writers Magazine , from the current edition all the way back to the first black-and-white issue in 1987.

Every day the editors of Poets & Writers Magazine scan the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know.

In our weekly series of craft essays, some of the best and brightest minds in contemporary literature explore their craft in compact form, articulating their thoughts about creative obsessions and curiosities in a working notebook of lessons about the art of writing.

The Time Is Now offers weekly writing prompts in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction to help you stay committed to your writing practice throughout the year. Sign up to get The Time Is Now, as well as a weekly book recommendation for guidance and inspiration, delivered to your inbox.

Every week a new author shares books, art, music, writing prompts, films—anything and everything—that has inspired and shaped the creative process.

Listen to original audio recordings of authors featured in Poets & Writers Magazine . Browse the archive of more than 400 author readings.

Ads in Poets & Writers Magazine and on pw.org are the best ways to reach a readership of serious poets and literary prose writers. Our audience trusts our editorial content and looks to it, and to relevant advertising, for information and guidance.

Start, renew, or give a subscription to Poets & Writers Magazine ; change your address; check your account; pay your bill; report a missed issue; contact us.

Peruse paid listings of writing contests, conferences, workshops, editing services, calls for submissions, and more.

Poets & Writers is pleased to provide free subscriptions to Poets & Writers Magazine to award-winning young writers and to high school creative writing teachers for use in their classrooms.

Read select articles from the award-winning magazine and consult the most comprehensive listing of literary grants and awards, deadlines, and prizewinners available in print.

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College of Charleston

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MFA Program

Poetry: Gary Jackson, Emily Rosko Fiction: Bret Lott, Malinda McCollum, Anthony Varallo

The program offers partial funding through graduate assistantships, graduate awards, and the Woodfin and James Banks fellowships.

Students also have the opportunity to earn an Arts & Cultural Management Graduate Certificate credential alongside the MFA degree. The Arts & Cultural Management curriculum offers training in entrepreneurial skills that support a public/nonprofit mission of the arts.

MEAN GIRLS JR. TICKETS GOING FAST - GET YOURS NOW !  |   SOBTC DROP-IN , JOIN US APRIL 25!

SOBTC Programs & Classes

Magical theatre academy, new in 2024 - sobtc's new theatre class  .

A "magical", Immersive theatre training experience for youth (ages 9-17) interested in delving deeper into the world of theatre and who want to put in the time and effort required to excel. The core program will offer scene study, monologue/character development, singing, and introduce creative writing exercises to encourage storytelling and scriptwriting. Students will also be featured in open to the public showcases which will demonstrate increased skill levels. 

Voice Lessons

With mary gould.

Available for adult and youth students, voice lessons are taught by South of Broadway Theatre Company (SOBTC) Producer, Mary Gould, who offers high-powered classes based on New York and European training. 

Youth Musical Theater Program

SOBTC seeks to provide long-term sustainable education value to the Charleston tri-county community. Through our Youth Musical Theater Program, local kids and teens have a safe and exciting place to be a part of something bigger. Some of our past shows include Beauty and the Beast Jr, The Addams Family Youth@Part, Aladdin Jr, Lion King Jr, Legally Blonde Jr, and Willy Wonka Jr, just to name a few. Our adorable and talented cast members have a blast, and family and friends love seeing their stars shine in the spotlight! Find out about our latest Auditions here. 

Summer Camps

Our summer camps aim to build an understanding of every aspect of theater, from writing the script to the production process to the performance. Our camp season is currently closed, but check back here when making next summer's plans!

Power on imagination

The mission of Engaging Creative Minds is to spark creativity and curiosity in all learners through innovative and experiential learning.

ECM is a nationally recognized award-winning South Carolina nonprofit committed to helping school-day educators and out-of-school-time programs succeed by leveraging the arts, cultural organizations, and STEM professionals working in partnerships with teachers, principals, and superintendents during the school day, summer, and after school.

• Summer Camp

ECM’s Summer STEAM Institute (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) is a 6-week camp for rising K-8th graders designed to prevent summer learning loss and provide on-site professional development for teachers.

ECM Coaches work with ECM Instructors and teachers to bring Engaged Learning Experiences (ELEs) into K-8th grade classrooms.

Afterschool

ECM hosts a variety of afterschool programs for K-12 using arts integration, STEAM, and entrepreneurship as a springboard for learning state standards and a hook for engagement, attendance and building positive relationships.

Entrepreneurship

In the fall of 2021, ECM created a K-12 pipeline by merging with YEScarolina, a nonprofit that has supported thousands of South Carolina 9-12 students to build business plans and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit.

Professional Development

ECM empowers and supports teachers in school, after school, and during the summer through its various arts integration and entrepreneurship programs. ECM’s model of “teacher as learner” promotes hands-on experiential learning for all educators and artists.

School Grants

20% of net proceeds from ECM’s annual fundraiser, The Charleston Half Marathon, are awarded to schools and districts each year to support arts integration projects.

Some of these programs are supported by Arts Grow SC, which is funded by the South Carolina Arts Commission and the South Carolina Department of Education through American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds.

Providing educational support and resources

We hire and train local artists, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) professionals, and cultural organizations, called ECM Instructors, to work with teachers in grades K-12 to enhance student learning via arts integrated learning using innovation, ingenuity, and creativity. Our goal is for every student to achieve academically, stay engaged in school and succeed in life while their teachers develop engaging teaching strategies like arts integration and entrepreneurship that foster communication, critical thinking, self-awareness, and future planning. 

Increased student engagement

Increased reach year over year, students served, engaging results.

Our evidence-based K-12 system is directly aligned with the new ARP education recovery funds and increases attendance, engagement, and school morale.

Teachers and students agree

Teachers consistently give ECM high marks regarding the impact of our in-school Engaged Learning Experiences (ELEs) on student learning.

Testimonials

What I love most about ECM is the joy, the spark, the HOPE that you have provided for our students. School can be fun again, and each child has something to add to our group!

I learned so much from teaching the summer camp at ECM! I have set up a “maker space table ” in my classroom for early finishers, and I have used many of the challenges to get the students to think outside the box.

Our little sponge! She loves learning and never ceases to amaze us and make us incredibly proud! Abby spent a few weeks this summer at @engagingcreativeminds STEAM CAMP and I have to say it was the ABSOLUTE BEST thing we could have done! She was learning, creating, being challenged, but most of all she was having a BLAST. We are beyond lucky to be her parents, never change Abs. We love you!

Engaging Creative minds came to Sanders-Clyde near the end of the year. It was so wonderful to see how “Engaged” the children were. Learning cannot take place until children are ready to learn. ECM allowed the children to learn in their most natural state: movement, play, drawing. It helped them socially-emotionally which over time would lead to minds ready to learn. It is imperative for all children to have integrated arts in their learning especially when they have faced hardships. They have to find a way to express themselves and have some feelings of control. There is no better way than through art. I have the utmost respect for this program. Please continue the awesome work!

The 4th grade residency this week was fabulous!! The kids loved it and so did the teachers. They had excellent things to say about the artist. Thanks for letting us be a part of your fantastic organization!!

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Our 2024 summer camp registration is now open.

Creative Writing

Young writers learn the value of craft and sound writing techniques from experienced, published authors..

Developed by professional writers, the Creative Writing program is intensive and highly challenging to ensure talent development and productivity. During their two years in the Creative Writing program, students create short stories, poems, personal essays, and movie scripts.

The program attracts talented young writers in South Carolina by offering a creative, supportive atmosphere and a course of study supervised by practicing, published writers. 

Creative Nonfiction  |  Fiction  |  Poetry  |  Screenwriting  

Creative Writing students spend their time in small, collaborative sessions where they are constantly reading, writing, editing, and critiquing works under the guidance of practicing writers/mentors. Several times during the school year, students have the opportunity to meet with nationally-known, visiting writers.

Creative writers give two public readings a year and submit their work to a variety of state, regional and national competitions for additional critique, publication, and awards.

Guest artists in the Creative Writing department have included an Oscar winner, a Tony winner, a National Book Award winner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and U.S. Poet Laureates. 

Student Achievements

• 13 students have received $10,000 Portfolio Awards in the national Scholastic Writing Competition.
• 9 writers have been named U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, an annual honor bestowed on only 20 high school seniors nationally.
• In the past decade, 32 Governor’s School writers were recognized as YoungArts National Finalists.
• Governor’s School students have received prestigious scholarships including YoungArts Lin Arison Excellence in Writing Award and the Thomas Wolfe Scholarship from UNC.

Dear Young Artist: A Letter from a Govie Creative Writer

Award-Winning Student Works

• "Six Feet Under Silence," by Camryn Hambrick, American Voices Medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (2020)
• "For XYZ Institution" , by Tyler Kellog, Gold Medal Portfolio Award, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (2021)
• "A Daydream for Sofia, " by Cristina Sanchez, Silver Medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (2021)  

Apply for Creative Writing 

Questions about the Creative Writing program? Email: [email protected] Call: 864.546.0197