The Center for the Literary Arts is a transformational hub for creative writing and translation, as well as different forms of literary arts and creative practice across Washington University and the St. Louis community.
As an initiative of the Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan, the Center explores all the ways in which literary art and creative practice can change the world around us. We seek to unite communities within and beyond academia by reimagining vital literary art-making for the 21st century locally and globally.
Within our university community, we will support and enhance the connections between creative practice and scholarly research across academic disciplines. We will partner with cultural institutions in St. Louis and beyond on programming and initiatives that re-imagine literature as a vehicle for creative expression and social change.
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At the Creative Practice Workshop, four WashU scholars elevate each other's writing
What happens when you put a professor of music, the chair of WashU's performing arts department, a Hebrew translator, and a punk rock scholar of literature in the same room to collaborate? The Center for the Literary Arts’ Creative Practice Workshop has conducted this scholastic chemistry experiment throughout the Fall 2024 semester.
WashU students contribute to a video archive of human happiness, supported by a Teaching Innovation Award
With support from a Center for the Literary Arts Teaching Innovation Award, Deirdre Maitre and undergraduate research assistant Sophie Yoshino have spent the summer and fall cataloguing documentary-style glimpses into student well-being, preparing for the launch of an archival website and live exhibits down the road.
A Signature Initiative
The Center for the Literary Arts is a signature initiative of the Arts & Sciences strategic plan.
Learn more about the plan