The Naslund-Mann School Welcomes Spalding’s BFA in Creative Writing and BA in Professional Writing Programs

In a move that aligns all of Spalding’s creative writing programs for the first time, the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Creative Writing has joined its graduate-level sister programs under the umbrella of the Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing.

The July 1 move builds on existing ties between the BFA in Creative Writing and Spalding’s nationally recognized low-residency MFA in Writing, giving undergraduate students a front-row seat to the literary world. Week-long MFA residencies each spring and fall bring distinguished visiting writers to campus, where BFA students can participate in some residency activities such as meeting visiting authors, and attending lectures by nationally acclaimed MFA faculty members including Kentucky Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell, best-selling novelists Silas House and Angela Jackson-Brown, and Salon.com chief content officer Erin Keane. In the process, undergraduates meet MFA graduates from across the country and see firsthand what a top-ranked graduate program in writing has to offer.

“Writing is, in large part, a solitary effort, and the undergraduate creative and professional writing programs at Spalding provide a much needed space where emerging writers can be part of a community as they hone their craft and engage with other writers along a similar journey,” says Charles Maynard, Director of Undergraduate Creative and Professional Writing Programs. Maynard earned his MFA in Writing from Spalding.

BFA students in their final year can earn graduate credits in the Spalding MFA program. After completing the bachelor’s degree, they can continue their studies in Spalding’s low-residency MFA or Master of Arts in Writing or step into a career where writing, communication, storytelling, publishing, problem solving, and critical thinking are in high demand.

Joining the BFA, Spalding’s Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing has also moved to the Naslund-Mann School. Setting this degree apart from other professional writing programs, the BA in Professional Writing includes serious study of creative writing, where students develop imaginative approaches to writing and thinking. Understanding principles of story structure, narrative arc, character development and the like makes writers better storytellers, whether they’re writing grants, scripting films, working in marketing, or doing journalism.

The BA in Professional Writing program offers tracks in business and technical writing. Both tracks include 18 credit hours of creative writing, and both allow students to study with outstanding faculty members of the MFA in Writing, School of Business, and School of Liberal Arts. The BA in Professional Writing prepares graduates for careers in business, marketing, communications, advertising, library science, ghostwriting, speechwriting, grant-writing, proposal development, teaching, journalism, publishing, writing for television, and writing for the web, to name a few.

“Our undergraduate writing programs are valuable for career-minded students because they provide limitless possibilities after graduation. There's no end to the businesses, for-profit and nonprofit alike, that will welcome the expert writing, editing, collaborative, and critical thinking skills of our writing graduates,” says Kathleen Driskell, Chair of the Naslund-Mann School and current Poet Laureate of Kentucky.