Applicants for admission to the writing program must submit a portfolio when applying for admission. Portfolio submission will automatically put you in the running for one of our creative writing scholarships.

The portfolio can be a short story, a personal essay, a selection of poems, a script, a novel excerpt, a 4-6-panel comic, a recorded feature of performance writing (a link to an online platform alongside a transcript), or a combination of these. Portfolios should be 10 to 12 double-spaced pages and include a 150-word cover letter telling us what inspires your writing.

We're trying to get a sense of what you can do as a creative writer.
We'll be asking:

• Can this applicant make scene or poetic moment come to life on the page, with vivid detail?
• Do they have a powerful and original voice?
• Can they create believable and interesting characters and/or poetic personas?
• Can they reflect deeply?
• Can they use language skillfully? Keep a story moving?
• Does their stage persona demonstrate range of emotion, cadence, volume, and tension?

Please send us your creative writing and cover letter in a single file, in either .docx or .pdf format. Title the file with your last name: Smith Portfolio.docx or Smith Portfolio.pdf.

For full consideration for admission and our creative writing scholarship, email your portfolio by Feb. 15 to the Writers Institute. WritersInstitute@susqu.edu

After the Feb. 15th deadline late portfolios will be accepted until the program is filled.