Writing 4999E - Creative Writing Thesis

2025-26 Academic Year

Writing 4999E is individual instruction in the writing of a substantial piece of creative work, including the preparation of materials and the creation of a bibliography of additional readings if applicable. Students who wish to take this course must apply to the Undergraduate Program Director/Writing Studies, Department of English and Writing Studies. This course is restricted to students in fourth year of an Honours English Program.

It is the responsibility of students who wish to take Writing 4999E to decide on and define their thesis project and to find a professor who is willing to undertake the supervision of it, and then to obtain Special Permission from the Undergraduate Program Director/Writing Studies to register for the course. The thesis supervisor should inform the Undergraduate Program Director, in writing, of his or her consent to supervise the thesis and of the subject agreed upon.

Writing 4999E is equivalent in weight and value to other honours courses. Students should define a creative writing project that is roughly equivalent (in work required) to a 12,500-word academic research essay. Individual supervisors may require additional readings in appropriate genres.

Students and supervisors will work within the following schedule:

    1. They will meet at least once during September to discuss plans for the coming year. At this meeting,they schedule a minimum of two meetings in each of October, November, January, February and March during which they will discuss the student’s progress.
    2. Students will submit a detailed proposal (15% of the final mark) for the final project (and abibliography if applicable) no later than October 31st.
    3. Students will submit a full first draft (15% of the final mark) of the project no later than the end of the second week of classes in January.
    4. Students will submit a penultimate full draft no later than the end of the second full week of classes in March.
    5. Students will submit the final draft on or before the last day of classes, Winter term.


The supervising professor will be responsible for finding a second reader no later than March 31st (one of the readers must be a full-time member of the department.) Together they will assign a grade to the final draft: that grade will constitute 70% of the final grade for the course. That final grade (15% for each of the proposal and full first draft; 70% for the final draft) will be given to the Undergraduate Program Director/Writing Studies within one week after the end of classes.

At the end of the year, students are expected to deliver a short presentation about and reading from their project during Honours Thesis Day. This will provide the department with an opportunity to celebrate the work of these undergraduate students. As for any other course, a grade of INC (Incomplete) must be approved by the Dean’s Office, for a specific reason supported by documentation.

AGREEMENT/CONSENT TO SUPERVISION FORM (Fillable PDF) PDF download