Center for the Literary Arts
The Cornell College Center for the Literary Arts celebrates the study, teaching, and creation of writing that explores human experience, communicates insight, embodies inspiration, and transmits value. To that end, it fosters the cultivation of imaginative writing and communication across disciplines.
The Center for the Literary Arts is part of the reason Cornell College has earned national distinction as a top Creative Writing program, named an Editor's Choice Best B.A. program by CreativeWritingEDU.
Van Etten-Lacey House
The center is housed in the Van Etten-Lacey House, a charming building with a long tradition of creative activity, and it supports a variety of programs: courses; workshops, write-ins, and other literary programming; the Visiting Writer Series readings; student publications; the book arts; and a library. The VEL, as we affectionately call it, becomes a second campus home for literary-minded students.
Student Organizations
The Van Etten-Lacey House is also home to our two student organizations, the Student Literary Arts Board (SLAB), which organizes literary activities on campus, and the literary and arts journal Open Field.