Along with a handful of other writing programs nationwide, Brown provides a home for writers who are envisioning new paths in fiction, poetry, digital language arts, and mixed media.
Literary Arts
Literary Arts
For fifty years, Literary Arts at Brown University has been a creative and intellectual center for a diverse and innovative literary community.
Literary Arts
For fifty years, Literary Arts at Brown University has been a creative and intellectual center for a diverse and innovative literary community.
Course Information
During pre-registration, students may register for courses depending on certain factors—some are open based on class year, others are based on declared concentration.
After pre-registration, instructor permission is needed. No one will receive permission until lotteries are held -- in Fall 2026 on Wednesday, 9 Sept.
FYS courses: LITR 100A, 100B, 610 & 710 will be open for registration until 3 pm on Tuesday, 8 Sept.
After pre-registration, instructor permission is needed. No one will receive permission until lotteries are held -- in Fall 2026 on Wednesday, 9 Sept.
FYS courses: LITR 100A, 100B, 610 & 710 will be open for registration until 3 pm on Tuesday, 8 Sept.
Literary Arts offers a mixture of workshops, seminars and hybrid workshop/seminar courses each semester, many of which are special topics (and are subject to change from one semester to the next).
Academics
Undergraduate
The Department in Literary Arts offers courses in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, digital & cross-disciplinary writing, and translation, as well as seminar courses in reading and writing about literature.
Graduate
Graduate students in Brown's Literary Arts MFA program may choose to focus in one of three tracks – Fiction, Poetry, or Digital/Cross Disciplinary Writing.
Recent News
New York Times
Shahrnush Parsipur 1946-2026
Shahrnush Parsipur, author of the novel, Women Without Men, died at the age of 80 on 3 July 2026. Born in Iran, Parsipur gained recognition for her fiction but in doing so attracted the scrutiny of the Iranian authorities, leading to four brutal periods of incarceration both during the shah's reign and post-revolution Iran. Parsipur lived in exile in the U.S. from 1994 on and was Brown's 2003-2004 International Writers Project fellow; during her time in residence at Brown, the Literary Arts department brought to campus the artist Shirin Neshat, with whom Parsipur would collaborate on a film adaptation of Parsipur's famous novel.
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Whiting Foundation
2026 Whiting Award In Poetry for Alison C. Rollins, MFA '23
Alison C. Rollins, who graduated from Brown's MFA program in 2023, has been selected as 2026 recipient of the Whiting Award in Poetry. Congratulations, Alison!
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