ohio state creative writing minor

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Ohio State University

Ohio, united states.

OSU's MFA program is unparalleled in its commitment to the success of its students, and the enthusiastic mutual support of both current students and alumni is legion. Everyone in the OSU creative writing family celebrates each new success as if it were his or her own.

We are a flourishing community of writers committed to the art and craft of writing. The six in-residence faculty teach at all levels of the curriculum; MFA students teach introductory and intermediate undergraduate creative writing courses as well as other English courses.

We offer workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction for undergraduate and graduate students. The MFA program, launched in 1992, is a three-year, fully funded program of study. Our graduate students teach two classes a year--one in autumn and one in spring--and also have the opportunity to work as editors of OSU's prize-winning, nationally distributed literary magazine, The Journal. The undergraduate creative writing concentration in the major, which is by selective admission to students already enrolled at Ohio State, offers advanced workshops and special topics seminars taught by the MFA faculty.

Course offerings, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, are varied and numerous. Special topics graduate workshops have been offered in such areas as the long poem, free verse, characterization, translation, and humor writing, to name just a few. Undergraduate special topics and honors seminars have focused on literary journalism, place in fiction, the art of revision, the writing of fairy tales, screenwriting and story engineering, queer narratives, and song lyrics and writing for musical theater. Opportunities abound for experimentation. Our graduate program includes coursework specifically designed for "crossing over"--poetry workshops, for example, for MFA fiction writers or essayists with little experience writing poems--and "forms" classes in prosody, the novel, memoir, novellas (etc.). Many students also elect to study playwriting as an elective, with an auxiliary faculty member from Theatre, and screenwriting workshops are regularly offered from our full-time faculty screenwriter, who holds a joint appointment in English and Film Studies. Many MFA students choose to pursue the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in the Fine Arts (GISFA), which allows them to take graduate courses in other arts disciplines. Indeed, Ohio State's size and breadth offers our students the chance to explore many disciplines that enrich their study and practice of creative writing.

Contact Information

164 Annie and John Glenn Avenue 421 Denney Hall, Creative Writing Program Columbus Ohio, United States 43210-1370 Phone: 614-247-9670 Email: [email protected] Fax: 614-292-7816 https://english.osu.edu/graduate/mfa

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

Undergraduate program director.

The minor in Creative Writing requires the completion of four courses, at least half of them upper-division workshops. Coursework must be completed in two genres. A maximum of 10 transfer credit hours is allowed.

Bachelor of Arts in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing +

This degree is under construction. Currently, students with a serious interest in creative writing may pursue a minor (see above) and may of course take additional classes at the advanced level, including a course in literary publishing (which is open to MFA students as well as upper-division undergraduates, by permission of the instructor). All advanced workshops are by permission only, and are taught by the MFA faculty. (We expect the BA in English, Creative Writing track, to be in place by 2014-2015 or 2015-2016.)

Bachelor of Arts in English with a Minor in Business and Professional Writing +

Bachelor of arts in any field, with a minor in creative writing +, master of fine arts in creative writing (degrees in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction) +, graduate program director.

The aim of Ohio State's MFA program is to help its students develop to the fullest their talents and abilities as writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, with the expectation of eventual publication. (Coursework is available in other genres as well.) The program is both rigorous (demanding, challenging) and highly supportive, with a small and tightly knit student body that maintains its own organization, the Writers' Guild, and sponsors readings as well as an annual gala, Epilog, to celebrate the newly minted MFAs. Recent visiting faculty have included Eula Biss, Rebecca Makkai, Brenda Hillman, and Terrance Hayes. MFA students teach in summer program for teenage writers, the Young Writers Workshop, and work as Editors on The Journal, OSU's prize-winning, nationally distributed literary magazine. All students are fully funded for three years fully funded for three years in a program that is well known for its sense of community and a faculty that is as committed to teaching as to their own writing.

The current stipend for MFAs with teaching appointments (one course each semester) is roughly $15,500 for the nine-month academic year (along with the stipend comes a fee authorization, which means you do not have to pay tuition, the current value of which is $11,704 for Ohio residents and $29,016 for non-residents). Fellows (who do not teach during their first year in the program) are granted a $20,000 stipend for the twelve-month academic year (fellows teach during their second and third years). All MFA students also receive access to student health insurance. (For more information, see the Frequently Asked Questions page for current students in our program: http://english.osu.edu/creative-writing/mfa-program/frequently-asked-questions.)

Kathy Fagan

Kathy Fagan is the author of five books of poems: Sycamore (Milkweed Editions, 2017); The Raft, a National Poetry Series Award Winner; MOVING & ST RAGE, winner of the 1998 Vassar Miller Prize for Poetry; The Charm (2002), and LIP (2009). Her poems have been widely anthologized and her work has appeared in such publications as Poetry, The Paris Review, FIELD, The Kenyon Review, Slate, Ploughshares, The New Republic, and Blackbird. She is the recipient of fellowships from the NEA, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, The Frost Place, and the Ohio Arts Council. Director of Creative Writing, she continues to serve as Advisor to The Journal, for which she and Michelle Herman were awarded the 2004 Ohioana Award for Editorial Excellence. Fagan is also Series Editor for The OSU Press/The Journal Wheeler Poetry Prize.

http://www.kathyfagan.net/

Marcus Jackson

Marcus Jackson has published poems in the American Poetry Review, The New Yorker, the Harvard Review, and the Writers’ Almanac with Garrison Keillor, among many other venues. He is the author of Neighborhood Register, from CavanKerry Press, and his second book, Pardon My Heart, is due out soon. He has been a poetry fellow at Cave Canem and a Ruth Lilly Fellowship finalist. As an African-American poet from Toledo, Ohio, he is committed to giving voice, he has said, to places and people who have not previously been given voice in American poetry. His poems are the American Rust Belt, poverty, the beauties and difficulties within multi-racial families, the value of vernacular, and the unexpected resonances of common objects. The poet Cornelius Eady describes Jackson’s work as “lyrically knit[ting] together time, memory, human desires and obligations and invit[ing] the kind reader to dance along to his bright measures, which sometimes resemble the life of a young poet, deeply enmeshed in the world, and sometimes reflect like a mirror.” Carl Phillips says of Jackson: “Like Langston Hughes, Jackson uses the clearest language to celebrate the complexity and durability of the human will.” Jackson received his MFA in poetry from NYU and has has taught there, as well as at Rutgers, John Jay College, the University of Iowa, Middle Tennessee State, Capital University, and The Frost Place in New Hampshire.

http://www.poetmarcusjackson.com

Lee Martin is the author of the novels The Bright Forever, a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction; River of Heaven; Quakertown; Break the Skin; and Late One Night. He has also published three memoirs: From Our House, Turning Bones, and Such a Life. His first book was the short story collection The Least You Need To Know, and a new collection, The Mutual UFO Network, is forthcoming in spring 2018. His craft book, Telling Stories: The Craft of Narrative and the Writing Life, will be released in October 2017. He is the co-editor of Passing the Word: Writers on Their Mentors. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in such places as Harper's, Ms., Creative Nonfiction, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Glimmer Train, The Best American Mystery Stories and The Best American Essays. He is the winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. He was the winner of the 2006 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching from Ohio State.

http://leemartinauthor.com/

Elissa Washuta

Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and a writer of personal essays and memoir. She is the author of two books, Starvation Mode and My Body Is a Book of Rules, named a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. With Theresa Warburton, she is co-editor of the anthology Exquisite Vessel: Shapes of Native Nonfiction, forthcoming from University of Washington Press. Her work has appeared in Salon, The Chronicle of Higher Education, BuzzFeed, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships and awards from Artist Trust, 4Culture, Potlatch Fund, and Hugo House.

http://washuta.net/

A native of Mississippi, Nick White is the author of the novel How to Survive a Summer (Blue Rider, 2017). His short fiction has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Guernica, The Hopkins Review, Indiana Review, The Literary Review, and elsewhere.

http://www.thenickwhite.com/

Angus Fletcher (affiliated faculty)

Angus Fletcher is the Black List and Nicholl award-winning screenwriter of MIDDLE EARTH (produced by Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, directed by Michel Apted), WEE FREE MEN (produced by Allison Thomas and Gary Ross, based on the novel by Terry Pratchett), and VARIABLE MAN (produced by Isa Dick and Electric Shepherd, based on the novella by Philip K. Dick). He earned his PhD from Yale and has published articles on dramatic ethics and practice in Critical Inquiry, New Literary History, The Journal of the History of Philosophy, and a dozen other academic journals. His book Evolving Hamlet appeared on Palgrave in 2011, and his research and writing has been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanties, the National Science Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. Prior to coming to Ohio State, he taught at USC, Stanford, and Teach for America.

Publications & Presses +

The Journal

The Ohio State University Press

Visiting Writers Program +

Recent visitors include Jamel Brinkley, Natalie Diaz, Tarfia Faizullah, Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, Garth Greenwell, Yona Harvey, Daisy Hernández, Ilya Kaminsky, Alice McDermott, LaTanya McQueen, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Carl Phillips, Lia Purpura, Nicole Sealey, Danez Smith, Laura van den Berg, and Liza Wieland. We also regularly host our own alumni when their books are published. Recent alumni include Donald Pollock, Claire Vaye Watkins, Natalie Shapero, Doug Watson, Michael Kardos, Christopher Coake, Gabriel Urza, Kyle Minor, and Will Allison (for more information, see https://english.osu.edu/graduate/mfa).

Reading Series +

Visiting Writers Series ( https://english.osu.edu/graduate/mfa )

Native Craft ( https://english.osu.edu/graduate/mfa )

Student-Faculty Readings ( https://english.osu.edu/graduate/mfa )

Mother Tongue ( https://english.osu.edu/graduate/mfa )

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English Majors & Minors

Coursework requirements.

Students enrolled at Ohio State will complete the English major with a minimum of 39 credit hours in the major (13 courses). Of these 39 hours, 18 - 21 hours will be taken in the student’s chosen concentration. At Ohio State Marion, students can choose from the following concentrations:

All students must complete three survey courses in literature and literary history, as well as one diversity in English studies course.

Complete listing of course requirements in each area of concentration

Students should consult with the English advisor, Shellie Shirk , when planning their schedules. To schedule an appointment, call (740) 725-6334.

Additional Requirements for Honors Students

English majors who are members of the Arts and Sciences honors program will complete the English major program as outlined above; however, at least 3 of these 13 courses must be 3000-level English honors seminars. For information on Ohio State Marion’s honors program , contact Honors Director, John Maharry .

English Minors including Professional Writing and Creative Writing

Academic minors can enhance professional employment opportunities and provide students with an additional area of focus. Most minors at The Ohio State University require 12-18 credit hours. Students completing majors other than English at Ohio State Marion have the opportunity to earn a minor in English, creative writing and/or professional writing. Student completing the English major at Ohio State Marion have the opportunity to earn a minor in creative writing and/or professional writing. See requirements for each minor below:

Career preparation

The English department offers a course focused on career planning for English majors. During this course, students meet with alumni, examine the value of attending graduate or professional school, organize internship and job searches, and prepare job application and interview materials.

Why Majoring in the Humanities Can Be a Great Career Move

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Coursework gives you knowledge. Internships give you confidence for a job. Writing ability gives you skills to follow your dream. Let us help you succeed.

English major Karlos Smith (’16) & his internship mentors from the Midland Theater & FamFest

The Minor in Professional Writing  gives you practical experience in the kinds of 21st century writing used by businesses, non-profits, government and social service agencies.  With just five classes–including a GEC and a personalized high-level internship–the minor can be added to any degree plan.

Our partnerships with local workplaces are the key to the success of our program.  Click here for the list of internship sites of our first three classes of interns.

Students in English 4150 write grant proposals for real community organizations, with the winning proposal netting the local organization a small grant. Here Communication major Mikala Grubaugh (’15) presents a check to The Works. Mikala went on to intern at The Works.

Check out these pages to give your major –any major–an edge, and give yourself t he confidence and respect that comes from strong skills a nd re al-world experience. Minors add valuable work experience to their resume and writing portfolio by completing projects for clients both in teams and individually in community writing internships.

A minor in professional writing prepares majors in any field with the specific skills to handle what’s needed in today’s work world. Why minor in professional writing? Click here  for some reasons.

Workplace Partners

English major James Eblin (’14) interned in the Office of Marketing and Public Relations and then went on to paid employment with the office when his internship ended.

Our program relies on the contributions of our workplace partners, and we take pride in the trust that they invest in our students. Visit these pages if you would like to learn more about hosting an intern .

We have students from a variety of majors and backgrounds that we assign to internship sites based on the skills they can offer.  Click here for the list of internship sites of our first six classes of interns.

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• Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

English Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

The Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing at The Ohio State University is designed to help graduate students develop to the fullest their talents and abilities as writers of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Creative writing classes are conducted as workshops or tutorials, and there are numerous opportunities for related study both within and beyond the Department of English.

All students are fully funded for three years in a program that is well known for its sense of community and a faculty that is as committed to teaching as to their own writing.  Approximately 36 graduate students are taught by tenure track, visiting, and affiliated (Film Studies) faculty, who also teach in the undergraduate program. Graduate student TAs teach introductory and intermediate special topics undergraduate creative writing courses, undergraduate literary publishing, as well as first-year and second-year writing (required courses for all OSU undergraduates). TAs teach two classes a year, one in autumn and one in spring. In addition, they have the opportunity to work as editors of OSU's prize-winning, nationally distributed literary magazine, The Journal, and to serve on the editorial staff of our two annual book prizes, one in poetry and one in prose.

Course offerings are varied and numerous. Special topics graduate workshops (in the long poem, in characterization, in literary translation, in humor writing, and so on) ensure that, in addition to "regular" workshops, opportunities abound for experimentation. Our graduate program includes coursework designed for "crossing over," such as, poetry workshops for MFA fiction writers or essayists with little experience writing poems; and "forms" classes in prosody, the novel, the memoir, novellas, for example. 

Screenwriting for MFAs is offered regularly, and many students also elect to study playwriting or writing for performance as an elective. Some MFAs choose to pursue the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in the Fine Arts (GISFA), which allows them to take graduate courses in other arts disciplines. Indeed, Ohio State's size and breadth offer our students the chance to explore many disciplines that enrich their study and practice of creative writing.

If you have a disability and experience difficulty accessing this content, please contact [email protected] .

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Minor in Creative Writing

Enhance your major.

ODU's Creative Writing minor offers courses in a wide range of genres, encouraging experimentation with new practices as well as exploration of traditional genres of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and other modes of non-academic writing.

Available to students majoring in any field at ODU, this program is very flexible and could pair well with a variety of majors, including Public Relations and Marketing (a natural fit), Sport Management (sports writing is big business), and even Biology, Biopsychology, and other medical-related majors (given a recent emphasis on “medical humanities” careers at many larger institutions).

View course descriptions  for pre- and co-requisites.

Up to 3 credits may come from the following literature courses:

• ENG 260 Novels, ENG 261 Short Stories, ENG 262 Poetry, ENG 263 Drama

Up to 3 credits may come from the following Public Relations courses:

• PRS 265 Business Writing and Presentations, PRS 329 Power-packed Writing for PR and Marketing Communications, PRS 340 Internet Strategies

For questions or additional information about creative writing at ODU, contact Professor Jeremy Glazier at [email protected].

Take the Next Step

For more information about adding this minor to your education plan, please contact the Office of Advising & Student Success.

Arts & Letters Division

Fields of study.

• Art History  (minor)
• Arts Education
• Graphic Design
• Music  (minor)
• Theatre  (minor)
• Integrated Language Arts Education
• Professional Writing  (minor)
• Spanish  (minor)
• Additional languages: American Sign Language, French, Italian, Latin
• Applied Ethics  (minor)
• Pre-Law Program
• Classics  (minor)
• Cross-Disciplinary Studies

Expand Your Education

• Art & Architecture
• Business & Politics
• History & Culture
• Languages & Literature

Enrollment in the creative writing major is dependent upon an ACT score of 22 or higher in reading, or consent of the creative writing staff. To continue on into the 3000- and 4000-level workshop classes, successful completion of a portfolio and interview are required. A creative writing major must produce a senior thesis and give a senior reading of the thesis work.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the baccalaureate degree, students in creative writing are expected to:

• Use writing effectively-including current modes and evolving techniques and technologies-to explore subject matter and to communicate;
• Develop understanding of subject matter in relation to larger historical and/or cultural contexts, including multicultural contexts;
• Make connections between theory and practice. Students apply theory to understand texts, solve problems, and teach effectively. Students generalize from experiences with texts, communication situations, and teaching situations;
• Develop skills of creative and/or critical thinking.

(24 Credits)

The minor in Creative Writing teaches students to engage with the world both critically and creatively. The 2000-level courses provide a foundation of craft in both poetry and fiction. At the upper division, students can choose to specialize in either fiction or poetry, or can continue in both genres. Courses in the study of modern and contemporary fiction and poetry provide an intellectual, cultural, and artistic background in the literature of these influential periods. The studio workshops at all levels emphasize experiential learning: invention, drafting, peer-critiquing, and close editing with publication in mind.

Required Courses

• ENG 99 - Creative Writing Common Time must complete 2 semesters
• ENG 2050 - Craft of Poetry and
• ENG 2060 - Craft of Fiction
• ENG 2040 - Imaginative Writing
• ENG 2090 - Creative Writing Workshop
• ENG 3120 - Poetry Workshop
• ENG 3130 - Fiction Workshop
• ENG 4120 - Poet’s Workshop
• ENG 4130 - Fiction Writer’s Workshop
• ENG 4140 - Creative Nonfiction
• ENG 4250 - Graphic Novel Workshop
• ENG 4350 - Special Topics in Creative Writing
• ENG 3200 - Modern Poetry
• ENG 3230 - Modern Fiction
• ENG 3300 - Contemporary Poetry
• ENG 3330 - Contemporary Fiction
• ENG 3450 - Literature for Adolescents

University Catalog 2023-2024

Creative writing - minor.

About This Program

The Creative Writing minor encourages the development of creative work in a variety of literary modes and genres. Students gain practice in editing, peer critique and revision within small workshop classes and seminars.

Contact Information

• Program Coordinator:  Ryan Hediger, Ph.D. | [email protected] | 330-672-1741 Sheri McMahon | [email protected] | 330-672-2676
• Ashtabula Campus
• East Liverpool Campus
• Geauga Campus
• Kent Campus
• Salem Campus
• Stark Campus
• Trumbull Campus
• Tuscarawas Campus
• Twingsburg Academic Center

Program Delivery

• Twinsburg Academic Center

Admission Requirements

Admission to a minor is open to students declared in a bachelor’s degree, the A.A.B. or A.A.S. degree or the A.T.S. degree (not Individualized Program major). Students declared only in the A.A. or A.S. degree or the A.T.S. degree in Individualized Program may not declare a minor. Students may not pursue a minor and a major in the same discipline.

Program Requirements

Graduation requirements, minor requirements.

The course not selected ( ENG 30067 or ENG 30069 ) may be taken to fulfill a writing elective.

Students may apply to the chair of the Department of English for permission to use special topics courses and other appropriate courses not listed in the curriculum to satisfy the cognate requirements. In addition, students in the College of the Arts may request that specific courses in art, art history, music and theater be accepted as meeting the cognate area requirements. Students in the College of Communication and Information may request that specific courses in communication studies and journalism and mass communication be accepted as meeting the cognate area requirements.

Though offered for variable credit, students pursuing the minor should take 3 credit hours of ENG 42092 .

• Students who wish to complete a longer project or prepare a portfolio for graduate school or for a job application may request to be enrolled in ENG 40099 for two additional credit hours of individualized work.
• Minimum 6 credit hours in the minor must be upper-division coursework (30000 and 40000 level).
• Minimum 6 credit hours in the minor must be outside of the course requirements for any major or other minor the student is pursuing.
• Minimum 50 percent of the total credit hours for the minor must be taken at Kent State (in residence).

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Demonstrate specialized knowledge and skills in creative writing.
• Articulate the similarities and differences among the genres of creative writing, such as poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and drama.
• Produce creative writing with attention to appropriate genre conventions, format and citation guidelines, stylistic expectations and grammatical rules.
• Participate in creative writing workshops.
• Revise and refine written work in light of critiques.

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• Program Coordinator:  Ryan Hediger, Ph.D. | [email protected] | 330-672-1741 Sheri McMahon | [email protected] | 330-672-2676
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More About the Creative Writing Minor

The Creative Writing Minor is intended to provide academic recognition to students who have demonstrated their ability in writing. The Minor helps to establish eligibility for graduate programs in writing or it provides evidence of training that may be offered to prospective employers.

Students from any college or discipline can enroll in one of the two options for the Writing Minor: this being one of them - the Creative Writing Minor. (The other option is the Professional and Technical Writing Minor.) Classes can be taken on any campus over the course of several semesters. No coursework in this program may be taken pass-fail.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Demonstrate specialized knowledge and skills in creative writing.
• Articulate the similarities and differences among the genres of creative writing, such as poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and drama.
• Produce creative writing with attention to appropriate genre conventions, format and citation guidelines, stylistic expectations and grammatical rules.
• Participate in creative writing workshops.
• Revise and refine written work in light of critiques.

Admission Requirements

Admission to a minor is open to students declared in a bachelor’s degree, the A.A.B. or A.A.S. degree or the A.T.S. degree (not Individualized Program major). Students declared only in the A.A. or A.S. degree or the A.T.S. degree in Individualized Program may not declare a minor. Students may not pursue a minor and a major in the same discipline.

Program Requirements

Graduation requirements, minor requirements.

The course not selected ( ENG 30067 or ENG 30069 ) may be taken to fulfill a writing elective.

Students may apply to the chair of the Department of English for permission to use special topics courses and other appropriate courses not listed in the curriculum to satisfy the cognate requirements. In addition, students in the College of the Arts may request that specific courses in art, art history, music and theater be accepted as meeting the cognate area requirements. Students in the College of Communication and Information may request that specific courses in communication studies and journalism and mass communication be accepted as meeting the cognate area requirements.

Though offered for variable credit, students pursuing the minor should take 3 credit hours of ENG 42092 .

• Students who wish to complete a longer project or prepare a portfolio for graduate school or for a job application may request to be enrolled in ENG 40099 for two additional credit hours of individualized work.
• Minimum 6 credit hours in the minor must be upper-division coursework (30000 and 40000 level).
• Minimum 6 credit hours in the minor must be outside of the course requirements for any major or other minor the student is pursuing.
• Minimum 50 percent of the total credit hours for the minor must be taken at Kent State (in residence).
• Twinsburg Academic Center

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Graduating Creative Writing Student Writes Thesis on Shakespeare, Directs Play

Lydia Babcock has taken a long journey to find her way at UToledo.

From musical theater to creative writing, Babcock has directed multiple musicals and plays, and will be graduating with her bachelor of arts degree in English on Saturday, May 4.

CELEBRATING SUCCESS: UToledo recognizes the Class of 2024 with a series of stories featuring students receiving their degrees at spring commencement .

Babcock began her first year of college at Mary Baldwin University with a major in theater arts, during which she continued to apply for other theater programs. This led her to SUNY Geneseo in New York; however, when her scholarships fell through, she was forced to withdraw.

During her second semester, she attended Bowling Green State University, but did not feel it to be a good fit there.

Babcock, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Ohio, decided The University of Toledo was her best and most cost-effective option.

“When I transferred, I was really concerned about graduating on time especially with so many musical theater credits at a school that doesn’t have that as a program,” Babcock said. “I consider my greatest success at UToledo to be that I am going to be able to graduate at the time that I initially planned despite so many difficulties.”

Beginning her sophomore year at UToledo, Babcock decided that she needed a break from musical theater.

“I was reevaluating a lot about my future and my goals by looking at experiences from my past. I’ve been writing little stories and songs for as long as I can remember, and then became more seriously interested in poetry, specifically when I was in high school. Because of my previously very intense focus on musical theater performance, I hadn’t considered poetry or songwriting as more than a hobby until I got to UT and took a creative writing class.”

From musical theater to creative writing, Babcock has directed multiple musicals and plays, and will be graduating with her bachelor of arts degree in English on May 4.

This class was with Tim Geiger, a professor of English.

“I hadn’t taken any sort of creative writing class since high school, and taking his course reminded me why I love reading and writing poetry so much,” Babcock said. “So, it definitely had a lot to do with being able to work with Tim. He was the first person who encouraged me to consider going to graduate school for poetry, and that’s what I’m working towards doing now. “

Geiger said he has been impressed with Babcock as a writer, even from the beginning.

“Lydia is a go-getter. She arrived at UToledo already a strong writer, and in each of my classes she enrolls in she makes exponential improvements,” he said. “Partly, because she is a good reader, and partly it’s because she has clear grasp on what makes great writing, but mostly it’s simply that she dedicates herself to her craft. She has an innate understanding of the power of metaphor, and a natural lyricism to her writing style. It is clear she loves to shape, experiment with and play with language in all its forms.”

Babcock’s honors thesis focused on a subject that combined her passion for creative writing and theater: Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale.” Her paper discussed the prevalence of witchcraft in the play during a time when witchcraft was a significantly more controversial topic.

A friend of Babcock’s from Oberlin College then offered her an opportunity to delve deeper into the play by co-directing a performance of it.

Lydia Babock in a production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” which she also co-directed.

“He told me that he wanted to put on one of Shakespeare’s plays as his winter term project, and he asked me if I would co-direct with him,” Babcock said. “I jumped at the offer and proposed that we direct ‘The Winter’s Tale’   since I was working on a thesis about it, and therefore, knew all of the ins and outs of the play already.”

Babcock has since directed multiple plays and musicals both in and outside of UToledo. Currently, she is working on a student-written musical called “The Haunting of Spoon River,” which will premiere at the end of this month.

This summer, she will be directing an area production of “The Sound of Music.”

“My current plan for after I graduate in May is to take a gap year to save money and focus on graduate program applications,” Babcock said. “I’d like to get a master of fine arts in poetry and also some sort of professional certification in book arts. Because of this, I don’t have any solidified plans yet, but there are a lot of goals that I am working toward.”

Despite many obstacles, Babcock said that she believes everything had worked out for the best to get her to UToledo.

“I feel like I’ve found a family in the English department here,” she said. “I feel like I’ve found friends that will be in my life hopefully for the rest of my life. I have also been so inspired by the work and enthusiasm of the professors that I’ve taken classes with over the past couple years. There are a lot of great people here that I have so much gratitude for.”