UCLA Extension Writers' Program is a unit within UCLA Extension, the not-for-profit and self-supporting community outreach arm of the University of California, Los Angeles. Located in the Westwood Village area of the city, the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program offers approximately 400 annual open-enrollment screenwriting and creative writing courses for all levels of writers. Courses are available online, on the UCLA campus, in downtown Los Angeles, and in Woodland Hills. All courses are approved by the UCLA Academic Senate. The Writers’ Program also offers several services and programs of interest to aspiring writers.
History
The Regents of the University of California established University Extension in 1891. A permanent Extension office was opened in Los Angeles in 1917. Extension moved to the UCLA campus in 1948, and subsequently to its present location at Gayley and LeConte in 1971. The UCLA Extension Writers’ Program was established in 1966.
Dr. Linda Venis served as the Director of the Writers' Program from August 1986 until June 2016, when she retired. In October 2016, Charles Jensen was hired to head up the Program.
Courses
The Writers’ Program offers approximately 400 annual onsite and online courses including beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level courses in fiction, memoir, personal essay, poetry, playwriting, editing, publishing, writing for young readers, feature film writing, and television writing. Courses are taught by a roster of more than 200 published or produced writing professionals. Daytime, evening, and weekend courses are available. The Writers’ Program also offers Master Classes in Novel Writing, Writing the Young Adult Novel, Feature Film Writing, and Television Writing, plus a four-day intensive Writers Studio and a five-day Writing Retreat at Lake Arrowhead.
Notable Instructors
Writers' Program instructors are professional writers and respected teachers. Some of the Program's notable instructors have included:
- Barbara Abercrombie, nonfiction
- Jon Bernstein, screenwriting
- Francesca Lia Block, fiction and writing for young readers
- Antonia Crane, nonfiction
- Alyx Dellamonica, fiction
- Robert Eversz, fiction
- Richard Hatem, screenwriting
- Lynn Hightower, fiction
- Rachel Kann, poetry
- Shawna Kenney, nonfiction
- Norman Kolpas, nonfiction
- Caroline Leavitt, fiction
- Ben Loory, fiction
- Suzanne Lummis, poetry
- Paul Mandelbaum, fiction
- Lou Mathews, fiction
- Nancy Nigrosh, screenwriting
- Mark Sarvas, fiction
- Colette Sartor, fiction
- Erika Schickel, nonfiction
- Jule Selbo, screenwriting
- Michael Weiss, screenwriting
- Brittany and Brianna Winner, screenwriting and fiction
- Paul Witcover, fiction
Services
Students may choose from five certificate programs (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Feature Film Writing, Television Writing and Film and TV Comprehensive) for a structured course of study, as well as four specializations for a focused approach to a specific topic. The Writers’ Program also offers script and manuscript consultations, mentorships, and annual literary and screenwriting competitions. The James Kirkwood Literary Prize was established in 1991 in memory of James Kirkwood to honor the literary achievements of new generations of fiction writers. The UCLA Extension Screenplay Competition replaced the Diane Thomas Screenwriting Award in 2006.
In 2014, the Writers' Program established the Allegra Johnson Prize, a merit-based award with a prize of $5,000. The award will be given to a promising novelist or memoirist in alternating years, providing both formal recognition of their talent and financial resources to support them as they complete their manuscripts.
Events
The Writers’ Program hosts an annual Publication Party where instructors read aloud from their recently published fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Refreshments are available and authors sell and sign copies of their work. In addition, the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program partners with, or has a presence at, various literary and film-oriented events throughout the year.
Scholarships
The Phyllis Gebauer Scholarship in Writing seeks to acknowledge and foster the talent of promising writers from diverse backgrounds and cultures who might otherwise not have the opportunity to study their craft in a supportive educational environment. Up to six scholars are named annually, and each of the recipients is given the opportunity to enroll in three full-length Writers' Program courses during a one-year period. This scholarship replaces the Community Access Scholarship Program which was created in 1991.
The Claire Carmichael Scholarship in Novel Writing was created in 2015 to acknowledge promising novelists and to provide an opportunity for them to study their craft and work on their novels-in-progress in a supportive educational environment. Up to 6 scholars are named annually based on the strength of their writing, and each scholar selects 3 full-length Writers’ Program courses to be taken during a 1-year period.
Books
In 2013, Gotham Books published two books that were edited by then-Writers' Program Director Linda Venis and written by Writers' Program instructors, all of whom are working professionals with hundreds of writing and producing credits to their names. The books are Cut to the Chase: Writing Feature Films with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program and Inside the Room: Writing Television with the Pros at UCLA Extension Writers' Program.
Student Success Stories
Thousands of UCLA Extension Writers’ Program students have gone on to have their work published or produced. Below is a small sample of some of their achievements. Many more success stories can be found on the Writers' Program website at writers.uclaextension.edu.
- Allison Abner, Narcos; Hawaii Five-O; Without a Trace; The West Wing
- Stuart Beattie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; Australia; Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; 30 Days of Night; Collateral
- Karen E. Bender, author of Refund: Stories
- Michelle Bitting, author of poetry collections Notes to the Beloved; Good Friday Kiss; Blue Laws
- Octavia E. Butler, science fiction author and winner of Hugo and Nebula awards and a MacArthur Fellowship
- Hillary Carlip, author of Queen of the Oddballs; Girl Power: Young Women Speak Out
- Tucker Cawley, Parks and Recreation, Everybody Loves Raymond
- Pauline W. Chen, author of Final Exam
- Zoanne Clack, Grey’s Anatomy
- Bryan Cogman, Game of Thrones
- Lindy DeKoven, author of Primetime Princess
- Natasha Deón, author of Grace
- Eric Jerome Dickey, Resurrecting Midnight;
- Doug Ellin, Entourage;
- Lee Eisenberg, Hello Ladies: The Movie; The Office; Bad Teacher; Year One
- Maria Amparo Escandón, author of Esperanza's Box of Saints; screenwriter of Santitos
- Janet Fitch, White Oleander (Oprah Pick)
- James Franco, author of Palo Alto: Stories
- Christina GarcÃa, author of Dreaming in Cuban
- Jim Gavin, author of Middle Men: Short Stories; The Golden Age of Chrome and Nicotine: A Novel
- Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland; Living Dead Girl; Burn Notice
- Al Gough and Miles Millar, screenwriters of Spider-man 2; Shanghai Noon; Smallville; Lethal Weapon 4
- Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone series
- Reyna Grande, author of Across a Hundred Mountains; Dancing with Butterflies; The Distance Between Us
- Drew Z. Greenberg, screenwriter/producer, Dexter; Smallville; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; The O.C.
- Alice Greenway, White Ghost Girls (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction)[8]
- Gavin Hood, Tsotsi (Academy Award winner, Best Foreign Film)
- Tara Ison, author of Stories; A Child Out of Alcatraz
- James Kirkwood, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning playwright, A Chorus Line
- Harley Jane Kozak, author of Dating Dead Men; Dating Is Murder; Dead Ex; A Date You Can't Refuse
- Chad Kultgen, author of The Average American Male; The Lie; Men, Women, and Children
- Laila Lalami, author of The Moor's Account (Pulitzer Prize finalist)
- Shanna Mahin, author of Oh! You Pretty Things
- Rob Reid, author of Year Zero
- Melissa Rosenberg, adaptation of Twilight, Dexter; Boston Public, Jessica Jones
- Randi Mayem Singer, Mrs. Doubtfire
- J. Ryan Stradal, author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest
- Earl W. Wallace, Witness (Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay)
- Joseph Wambaugh, The Onion Field
- Kevin Williamson, Scream, Dawson’s Creek
- Iris Yamashita, Letters from Iwo Jima (Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay)
References
Sources
1UCLA Extension Approvals Guide, p. 8
External links
- UCLA Extension: http://www.uclaextension.edu
- UCLA Academic Senate: http://www.senate.ucla.edu
- The Regents of the University of California: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents
- UCLA Extension Writers’ Program: http://www.uclaextension.edu/writers
- 826LA: http://www.826LA.org
- PEN Center USA: http://www.penusa.org
- International Black Writers and Artists: http://www.ibwala.com
- Los Angeles Times Book Prizes: http://www.latimes.com/extras/bookprizes