Community Engagement

Community Engagement Community Engagement

Thank you for your interest in creative writing at UNC Wilmington. We are pleased to offer a few options for community members of all ages to explore writing as a craft.

Please also see our Events Calendar.

Enroll as a Non-degree Student

Audit a Course

Take an OLLI class

UNCW offers students the opportunity to enroll in classes for credit as non-degree seeking students.

Search for Courses

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You can enroll and attend a class without receiving academic credit, however you will have to pay regular tuition and fees for audited classes. Senior citizens age 65 and older can enroll to audit courses tuition-free on a space-available basis.

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If you’re 50 and over check out the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute for course offerings. New classes offered each semester.

Two presenters sitting in chairs talking on stage

Join us for Writers Week

Writers Week is an annual symposium bringing nationally acclaimed writers (of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry) and a distinguished keynote speaker — in addition to publishers, literary agents, and editors — to our UNCW campus.

Check it out

Girl using phone, headphones and laptop.

Young Writer's Workshop This annual five-day conference brings up to 35 high school students from across North Carolina together at UNCW to study the craft of writing. Camp participants study with published, working writers-faculty members and students in the M.F.A. Program. Learn More

Student writing in notebook while holding their phone

Writers In Action M.F.A. students create their own classroom curricula tailored to the needs of students ages 7-18. They work in tandem with community members to create a rooted, solidified cultural community that empowers students to channel their voices into art, and their art into action. Learn More

Students in a theater taking notes on laptops

Write Wilmington For nine weeks each semester, free Friday morning writing sessions are led by a faculty member or graduate student who delivers prompts and guidelines. Everyone writes together—the goal is to push imaginations, exercise creative muscles, and generate drafts for later polishing. Get Involved

Options for Creative Writing

Option #1: Enroll as a Non-Degree Student

Enroll as a non-degree UNCW student and earn college credit.

Instructions and form
UNCW tuition and fees schedule
See course schedule – ‘Search for Courses’

Option #2: Audit a Course

Audit a course at UNCW

For information regarding audit fees, contact Sissy Hendricks in the Cashier’s Office at 910.962-3147.

Option #3: OLLI Workshops

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute workshops

View the online schedule, posted at the start of each semester.

Option #4: Writers Week!

The Department of Creative Writing at UNCW is proud to present Writers Week, an annual symposium bringing nationally acclaimed writers (of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry) and a distinguished keynote speaker—in addition to publishers, literary agents, and editors—to our UNCW campus.

Option #5: Write Wilmington!

Write Wilmington is a free, online writing initiative that was founded during the Pandemic by Associate Professor Sayantani Dasgupta. Its goal is to push our imaginations, exercise our creative muscles, and carve out time and space for writing in community with one another. Join us in the creative weeks ahead, with sessions led by faculty and alum from UNCW’s Department of Creative Writing.

Special Option for Youth

Special Option for Senior Citizens