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Writing at Saint Martin's is seen as critical to the quest for truth and improvement of the human condition. Whether writing poetry, policy, or a blog or business report, the ability to write clearly in a number of styles prepares students for the range of writing requirements that their spiritual lives and careers will inevitably demand.

Program highlights

  • What to expect at Saint Martin's

    The minor gives students a well-rounded education in creative, academic and professional and journalistic writing. At the same time, it allows students to specialize and develop an area of expertise. ch.

    As an integral part of Saint Martin's vibrant Department of English, the writing program provides students with:

    • Courses in the following three tracks: journalism, professional and academic writing, and creative writing
    • Access to and interaction with a highly engaged faculty
    • On-going opportunities for world travel
    • Participation in the yearly Washington state Les Bailey Writers Series
    • Professional experience through Saint Martin's student publication, The Belltower
    • Membership in Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honor society
    • Membership in the Saint Martin's University English Majors Facebook page
    • Opportunities for internships with local businesses, the arts and the Washington State Legislature
    • Opportunities for field trips and ethnographic observations of the Washington State Legislature
    • Creative writing retreats at the Saint Martin's Abbey's Lambert Lodge, a beautiful, restorative retreat center on Eld Inlet in the Puget Sound
    • Close relations with the Olympia Poetry Network’s monthly poetry readings and the Olympia Song Writer’s circle, both held at downtown Olympia's Traditions café

    The writing minor welcomes and is applicable to all majors. Informed by the Benedictine philosophy of education, the writing minor offers students an enriching unique and practical academic experience that meets the needs of the whole person and assists students in writing eloquently for various purposes, audiences and contexts. 

  • Career paths

    The Writing minor helps students develop the key communication, critical and creative thinking and research skills necessary to prepare them for entry to academic, professional and career-oriented fields that are writing intensive. Strong writing skills are an asset in any number of professions, including:

    • Creative writing
    • Journalism
    • Science and medical industries
    • Technology
    • Publishing
    • Rhetoric and writing
    • Education
    • Law
    • Government
    • Human rights nonprofit groups

    For a complete list of professional applications, visit "What Can I Do With Major?". For additional information about how Saint Martin’s can help you find the career for you, visit our Career Center.

Hear it from a Saint

“The writing minor has provided me the opportunity to expand and strengthen my writing skills to support my political science major and my legal studies minor; by working on genres not used in research settings, I have been able to expand my approach to writing research and report based papers. I have also been able to use the skills gained in the classes required by the writing minor to apply for and be accepted into internships that stress strong writing skills.”​
Kennedy Birley '20
Political Science

Who to Contact

Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis, Ph.D.

Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis, Ph.D.

Director, Writing Minor
Director, Writing Center
Associate Professor, English,
College of Arts & Sciences
360-438-4533

Requirements

  • Three semester hours of literature
  • Nine semester hours (three semester hours from each category) in creative writing, professional and academic writing and journalism
  • Six upper-division semester hours; any two courses from the three categories (creative writing, academic/professional writing, and journalism)
  • Writing courses (18 semester hours)
    • Three or more semester hours of literature
    • Nine semester hours; one course from each of three categories below (of which 3 semester hours must be lower division)
    • Six upper-division semester hours; any two courses from the three categories below

Writing course categories

  • Creative writing
    • WRT 292 Creative writing
    • WRT 405 Advanced creative writing
    • THR 302 Play writing
    • THR 402 Play writing II
  • Journalism
    • WRT 299 Introduction to journalism
    • WRT 302 Advanced journalism
    • WRT 303 Digital journalism

Saint stories

Faculty

Jeff Birkenstein, Ph.D.

"There is no hiding in my classes. Students are in the middle of it. Students not only read great texts, but they create knowledge. They write and discover new things about themselves, about their topics. There are many reasons to attend a smaller school, and this is chief among them."

Jeff Birkenstein, Ph.D.
Professor, English
 College of Arts & Sciences