Write in small, serious workshops. Learn from award-winning writers. Graduate with a strong voice and adaptable skills.
At UVic, writing is taught the way writers actually work. You’ll learn in intimate workshops of 15 students or fewer, guided by nationally and internationally renowned professors who provide close mentorship and rigorous feedback as you develop your craft.
The BA offers a flexible writing-focused degree that emphasizes workshops in major genres while leaving more room for electives and interdisciplinary study across the humanities and social sciences.
The BFA provides a more professionally oriented studio education, with a stronger emphasis on sustained creative practice, production-based courses and Fine Arts context that prepares students to work as practising writers and artists.
These areas of focus let you shape your degree around the kinds of writing you care about most, so you can build depth in one genre or combine multiple forms to match your creative interests and future goals.
- Creative non-fiction
- Fiction
- Playwriting
- Poetry
- Screenwriting
Opportunities
- Opportunities to participate in readings and events hosted by The Writing Students’ Union
- Opportunities to get involved with UVIC’s student newspaper, The Martlet
- Opportunities for playwrights to see their work staged through the Student Alternative Theatre Company (SATCo)
- Opportunities to get involved with UVIC’s student-run literary magazine, This Side of West
- Opportunity to minor in Journalism & Publishing and participate in paid work experience through the Humanities, Fine Arts and Professional Writing Co-op program.
Funding
- UVIC offers a variety of awards, prizes, and scholarships, including those specific to students in the Creative Writing program
Admissions
High School Students:
Required courses:
- Grade 11
- Approved English 11
- Three courses from:
- Foundations of Math 11 or Pre‑calculus 11
- Approved science 11
- Approved language 11
- Approved fine arts 11
- Approved social studies 11/12
- Grade 12
- English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12 (minimum 73%)
- Two approved academic 12 courses
- One additional approved academic 12 or approved fine arts 12
See all approved high school courses for BC and Yukon.
Estimated admission average: Minimum 80% (based on the required grade 12 courses)
Transfer Students:
Minimum required average:
- 3.50 on the UVic 9‑point scale, on the most recent 12 UVic units/24 credits
To be considered for Advanced Standing (upper-year entry), submit a cover letter and portfolio. This will enable you to register for second-year workshops.
Estimated Tuition per year (Two Terms of Study): $6,544
For more information: https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/programs/undergraduate-programs/pages/writing.php