Write every day.
At Pratt, you’ll be writing from day one in a supportive, joyful, transformative environment that puts your writing practice at the heart of your studies.
Our extraordinary faculty will partner with you and mentor you, helping you to explore, refine, reimagine, and own your talents.
Beyond your deep dive into poetry, fiction, or nonfiction each semester, you’ll have the chance to take specialized classes in songwriting, journalism, ecopoetics, sci-fi, stand-up comedy, children’s book writing, and more.
Your senior thesis will be the expression of your voice, your questions, and your creative ambition. This book-length project can take the shape of a novel, memoir, screenplay, or graphic novel, or a collection of poems, short stories, or experimental essays (or a mix of forms and images).
Students in the Writing program have their own dedicated 24/7 writing spaces with desks, cozy furniture, computers, free printing, art supplies, and a library of faculty, student, and alumni publications.
Write at an art school.
Expand your creativity by exploring other mediums—painting, fashion, animation, and more.
Collaborate with student artists, filmmakers, and designers and find inspiration from faculty across campus.
Explore Pratt’s rich array of minors, including Art of the Book, Black Studies, Photography, Social Justice, Teaching Writing in NYC, and many others.
Write in Brooklyn. And Berlin!
Brooklyn’s literary scenes are endlessly fascinating. The borough is home to diverse literary communities and experimental, alternative publishing houses and non-profits, some of them led by our visionary faculty. (For one example, check out the *Belladonna Collaborative.)
No matter who you are or what you write, you’ll find your people in Brooklyn, and we’ll help you do that through courses like Community as Classroom.
If you’re interested in study abroad, spend a semester studying in our Pratt Berlin program.
Write your future.
Connect with publishers, agents, and literary professionals through our specially-tailored Writing Lives pathway and our course Writer as Worker.
Prepare for an authentic and sustainable working and writing life through our internship program.
Passionate about social justice? Pursue a self-designed community-engagement project via our innovative Fieldwork class.
Meet renowned writers and learn from their experiences through our events series.
After graduation, we help you to stay connected with us and with other amazing graduates.
The Experience
Socially engaged and deeply personalized, our tight-knit writing community values a plurality of voices and approaches to writing, both on and off the page. You’ll gather with your peers twice a week for intensive studios, where feedback sessions, generative writing, inspiring reading, and collaborative thinking take place. First-year foundational courses span critical thinking, research, world literature, the elements of writing, and immersion in New York City. After your first year, dive into specialized writing electives, classes in art and design, liberal arts study, transdisciplinary minors, and opportunities to edit student publications like The Prattler and Ubiquitous. A small student-to-faculty ratio on the Brooklyn campus fosters an intimate sense of community, as do on-campus readings, our 24/7 student writing spaces, and departmental social events.
Writing in NYC
Taken in the first year, our “Community as Classroom” course will immerse you in literary series, institutions, and activities across the city, supporting your discovery of emerging artistic scenes and galvanizing literary heritage.
Career & Professional Development
We help our students build authentic, creative, and sustainable writing and working lives. Our third year course “Writer as Worker” provides concrete skills and guidance to discern, acquire, and plan for internships while in the program and meaningful employment after. Weekly visits with guest authors, agents, editors, journalists, teachers, filmmakers, and communications experts help you make informed choices about the work/life experiences you’d like to explore. You’ll gain practical survival skills for how to successfully apply for jobs, grants, fellowships, and grad school so that you can build a future that inspires you.
Internship & Fieldwork
Our dedicated internship coordinator will help you identify, apply for, and make the most of NYC internship opportunities. Our students regularly intern at publishing houses, literary agencies, film and tv studios, podcast networks, newspapers and magazines, arts organizations, and community nonprofits, gaining invaluable skills and mentors along the way. Fieldwork is a unique course offering for students who want to gain experience “in the field” that a more traditional internship can’t support: it’s an opportunity for a student to design a community-engagement project or artistic activity they otherwise couldn’t accomplish. Our credit-bearing internship and fieldwork seminars ensure your project becomes an educational opportunity through which you can discern the material realities of the writing life.
Events & Visiting Writers
Our Writer at Large program, the annual Michael Mahoney Memorial Reading, the MFA’s Writing Activisms series, and other events bring renowned writers to campus for readings, workshops, and manuscript consultations. Beyond these events, department faculty regularly invite writers to spend time with their classes. Recent guests include Ottessa Moshfegh, Ross Gay, Simone White, Layli Long Soldier, Alexander Chee, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Michelle Tea, Asiya Wadud, Chloë Bass, Sarah Thankam Mathews, and Eugene Lim.
Our Faculty
Writing’s faculty are distinguished writers, artists, and editors who are deeply committed to nurturing the potential of each student. Bringing different views, methods, and perspectives they provide a rigorous and singular educational experience. See all Writing faculty and administrators.
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Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
Assistant Professor
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Laura Henriksen
Adjunct Associate Professor
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Christian Hawkey
Professor
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Laura Elrick
Associate Professor
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Dianca Potts
Visiting Assistant Professor
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Christopher Perez
Visiting Professor
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Anna Moschovakis
Adjunct Associate Professor – CCE
Our Alumni
Where They Work
- Carly Tagen-Dye, Editorial Assistant, People Magazine
- Anika Jade Levy, Founding Editor, Forever Magazine
- Alexa Trembly and Emory Harkins, Twenty Stories Bookstore
- Ryan Carson, Founder, NO OD NY
- Erin Perez, Poetry Teacher, Saint Ann’s School
MFA Programs Recently Attended by BFA Writing Alumni
- Brown University MFA Literary Arts Program
- Columbia University MFA Writing Program
- University of Wyoming MFA Creative Writing Program
- The New School MFA Creative Writing Program
Recent Alumni Publications
- Adrian Shirk, Heaven Is a Place on Earth (Counterpoint, 2022)
- Laura Henriksen, Laura’s Desires (Nightboat Books, 2024)
- Phoebe Robinson, Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes (Tiny Reparations Books, 2021)
- Brandi Spering, This I Can Tell You (Perennial Press, 2021)
- Kate Gavino, A Career in Books (Plume, 2022)
Success Stories
Ready for More?
| HERE’S HOW TO APPLY | PORTFOLIO HELP | OUR CAMPUS & BEYOND |
|---|---|---|
| Join us at Pratt. Learn more about admissions requirements, plan your visit, talk to a counselor, and start your application. Take the next step. | Building your portfolio can be daunting. We’ll answer your questions and help you feel confident about the portfolio you submit with your application. Start building your portfolio, now. | You’ll find yourself at home at Pratt. Learn more about our residence halls, student organizations, athletics, gallery exhibitions, events, the amazing City of New York and our Brooklyn neighborhood communities. Check us out. |
