Soaring demand for creative writing courses

Whatever the reason, colleges across the United States are seeing a boom in demand for courses on creative writing.

The number of schools offering bachelor’s degrees in creative writing has risen from three in 1975 to 733 today, according to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, an industry group based at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

At least, I hope they’re aware, said David Galef, director of the creative writing program at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Instructors say some students see their focus on writing as a way to understand themselves, make use of a liberal education and enrich their lives.

The number of offerings in creative writing has roughly doubled over the last five years at Yale, where the creative writing director, Richard Deming, suspects the interest can be credited, at least partly, to social media.

“This act of expressing one’s voice in a public way — some people feel that they want to add craft, they want to hone those skills,” he said.