Creative Writing Program
As Jodi Picoult says, "You can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page." Take a creative writing class this semester!
Grossmont College offers Southern California’s largest and best community college Creative Writing Program, with top-notch classes, nurturing workshops, and talented instructors to challenge you to sculpt your voice into the next wave of cutting edge literature. We offer courses tailored to different writing skill levels, writing and editing experience, and writing genres. You can also earn a Certificate in Creative Writing with your English degree. Our courses fall into several categories: general creative writing classes, workshop sequences, and production and editing classes. Being enrolled in a Grossmont College Creative Writing class provides you with exclusive opportunities to meet nationally and internationally renowned authors, participate in readings and literary events, publish your work, and even edit a literary journal.
Visit "About Our Program" to see our full catalog of workshops and courses.
Fall Readings Series
The Creative Writing Program's annual Fall Reading Series presents a season of events celebrating literature, showcasing award-winning authors, and honoring the inspiration to write. All events free of charge and held on Grossmont College campus in Griffin Gate, located at the outside southwest outside corner of the Student Center (Building 60), across from the bookstore.
Click the 2026 FRS banner below, or go to grossmont.edu/frs, to visit the official webpage of the 2026 Fall Readings Series for author and event details, bios, media clips, interviews, book reviews, and other useful learning resources.
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Wed., October 7 2:00 - 3:20PM fiction/essay writer California-born Gurba is the author of Poppy State: A Labyrinth of Plants and a Story of Beginnings, and the true-crime memoir, Mean.
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Mon., October 19 2:00 - 3:20PM novelist Hokeah is the author of the Calling for a Blanket Dance, winner of the prestigious PEN / Hemingway Award and the Native Writer Award.
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Thu., November 12 2:00 - 3:20PM poet and editor Falconer is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and the author of the Thom Gunn Award-winning collection, Rara Avis.
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Mon., December 7 6:00 - 7:30PM student reading The popular semesterly event returns, showcasing performative readings of student writing from this current semester’s workshops.
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The Creative Writing Workshops for Fall 2026
ENGL 126: INTRO TO CREATIVE WRITING
section 3045 (Online), 3 cr., with Julie Cardenas
section 3064, TTH 11:00AM-12:20PM, 3 cr., with Daniela Sow
ENGL 130-133: SHORT FICTION WRITING I-IV
sections 3066-3069, MW 2:00-3:20PM, 3 cr., with Enrique Cervantes
ENGL 134-137: CREATIVE NONFICTION WRITING I-IV
sections 0744-0747 (Online), 3 cr., with Rich Farrell
ENGL 140-143: POETRY WRITING I-IV
sections 3074-3077, TTH 2:00-3:20PM, 3 cr., with Adam Deutsch
ENGL 145-148: ACORN REVIEW: EDITING AND PRODUCTION I-IV
sections 9138-9141 (Online), 3 cr., with Julie Cardenas
About Registering...
The single most important show of support you can give the Grossmont College Creative Writing Program is to fill our classes and keep our workshops thriving. Whether it’s weeks before the semester starts or weeks before it ends, less than robust enrollment can cause what is potentially the most important and inspiring class you might ever take to be put in the cross-hairs for cancellation. Safeguard these courses and your chances to work with some of the best creative writing instructors in San Diego. Invite a friend and hold your seats by registering early.
Our Mission
The mission of the Grossmont College Creative Writing Program is to serve and engage students, faculty, and the community actively through a rich variety of readings and other literary events, and to cultivate a diverse literary community that celebrates and promotes writing for the vital role it holds in our culture.
We also host the The Literary Arts Festival, conducted annually at the end of April's "National Poetry Month," a week-long calendar of events celebrating authors and the transformative power of creative writing in all its diverse forms. Each year, the Creative Writing Program hosts award-winning writers as one-of-a-kind, free-of-charge opportunities to experience literature beyond the page. All the details for 2022 will be available on this site!
Please consider donating to the Creative Writing Fund of The Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges to help the Creative Writing Program promote literary arts through continued sponsorship of opportunities and events like the Literary Arts Festival. Visit "Foundation Giving" right now to securely make a tax deductible charitable contribution. Your support helps us open up worlds of creativity to our students and community. Thank you!
