The Creative Writing major (formerly known as the Rhetoric major) at the University of Illinois is one of the oldest of its kind in the country. Now in its sixth decade, the major combines small workshops (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) and a variety of literature courses. The result is a strong but flexible program of study that develops students' analytical and creative skills and prepares them for work or graduate study in any number of fields.

Over the years, the program has produced many successful writers, but it is in the give-and-take of the workshop, in the nurturance of all of the writers who take part, that success is measured.