January 6, 2026

Writing Opportunities @ Cal

Clubs & Orgs

By Milana Berhe
6 MINUTE READ
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Writing as a hobby in an academic setting

There are many spaces, resources, communities, and opportunities for writers of all forms here at UC Berkeley. It can be difficult, overwhelming, and burnout-inducing to channel a creative passion into coursework or clubs, but it can also be fun, community-creating, and eye-opening. I’ve written for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been taking college-level writing courses since high school. I’m familiar with the imposter syndrome in writing classes, the discomfort that arises from sharing your work with strangers — or even people you know — and everything else that comes with building a support system for you and your craft. From clubs and community to coursework and getting published, this article shares how I’ve kept my writing craft going and highlights programs that make me excited to be a part of the writing community here.

Writing-related clubs

The Blue Heart Initiative is a program that many clubs choose to be a part of that opens them up to anyone on campus, regardless of major, level of interest and availability, with no application needed! You can easily tell if a club is taking part in the Blue Heart Initiative if they have a blue heart next to their name on CalLink. Here are a couple clubs I encountered when I searched up “writing”:

I’ve been an editor for The Berkeley Poetry Review (BPR) since the fall of my freshman year. I was a part of a similar publication in high school, so it was nice to have this continuity in my life. For every weekly meeting, we read and rate about 30–40 poems, and discuss the ones that have the most discourse and highest ratings. The club is on the more selective side, and we only have about 20 active editors at a time, which means recruitment doesn’t happen every semester. Follow the club on Instagram (@BerkeleyPoetryReview) for the most up-to-date information.

A club photo of BPR from Spring 2025. I’m on the bottom right!

Berkeley Fiction Review (BFR) is another popular publication our campus offers and part of the Blue Hart Initiative. Since I don’t have a personal experience with this club, I pulled from former UC Berkeley Life writer Melissa Mora-Gonzales’ piece on Job Prep Advice from a Cal Grad: “BFR was one of my first ways of exploring the publication industry during my sophomore year. I read a lot of short stories and learned fundamentals of the publishing and media industries, got to write a few of my own articles for their blog, and heard from alumni of the magazine who were working in the publishing industry themselves after having graduated.”  

Another popular option for poets is Live Poets Society. This club is very active on their Instagram (@livepoetsatberkeley) and hosts open mics almost every week. This is a great way to get more comfortable with performing for an audience in a familiar environment.  

Creative writing minor

I’m currently pursuing a creative writing minor, which consists of taking three pre-approved upper-division writing courses and two pre-approved upper-division literature courses. I enjoy the variety these courses offer, and truly feel like I’ve changed as a writer — even if only very slightly — in every class I’ve taken. 

So far, I’ve taken three of the five required courses: two creative writing classes (Introduction to Playwriting (THEATER 139A) with Phillip Khan Gotanda and Spoken Word: Oral Tradition & Transformation from Poetry to Hip Hop, Standup & Beyond (AFRICAM 164) with Aya de Leon), and one literature class (Introduction to Comparative Literature (COMLIT 110) with Beth Piatote). 

I had to apply into THEATER 139A by emailing the professor a portfolio. I found the details in the course catalog after cross referencing classes that counted toward the minor with the list of classes being offered that semester. I enrolled in the class with an enrollment code that was given to me once I was accepted into the class—I was the only first-year! I was familiar with playwriting before taking the first course, so I had fun playing with different aspects of my style. The class culminated in a showcase of our final plays, where I got to read for my classmates and saw my own work performed by them as well. My spoken word class focuses a lot on using our voices for civic activism, which has given me the opportunity to get involved in politics in ways I hadn’t before. Lastly, my comparative literature class is focused on the intersection of text and textiles, and I’ve had lots of fun exploring this niche subject!

Here are some photo highlights from these classes:

My classmates reading my final scene during our playwriting showcase.

I attended a No Kings Protest in Davis as part of my civic engagement project for my poetry class.

A potholder I partially hand-sewed and partially machine-sewed as a way to get hands-on quilting experience as we read pieces on quilting in my comparative literature class.

Organizations and opportunities on and off campus

The Lunch Poems series is a monthly gathering in Morrison Library (inside of Doe Library) where members of the Berkeley community listen to a poet perform their work. Exact dates and upcoming poets can be found on their website. Past readings are posted to YouTube. 

Open mics occur on and off campus and are a great way to hear other writers share their work and connect with them. Posters for these events can typically be found on bulletin boards outside of professor and lecturer offices, on Upper Sproul Plaza, in the windows of local businesses, and online with a quick search.

If you’re interested in a large network of professional writers, The Daily Californian is a great organization to try to get involved with! As the website states, “This publication is not an official publication of the University of California but is published by an independent corporation using the name ‘The Daily Californian’ pursuant to a license granted by the Regents of the University of California.” So while this publication is student and alumni-run, it is not officially affiliated with the university. There are many departments, like Opinion, Sports, Art and Entertainment, Weekender and Lifestyle, which is my department! I write one article to be posted online roughly every two weeks, attend weekly department meetings, and attend an editorial session every other week for each article I write. That being said, all departments function differently and have different time commitments, and you can typically find more information on these variations during recruitment at the beginning of each semester.

Jobs and internships

Writing-related jobs are not hard to find through work-study! As a matter of fact, writing this very blog post is part of my role as a Student Assistant Writer for Student Affairs Communications. While not every role is recruiting on a regular basis, some on-campus organizations need writers almost every semester. For example, the Student Learning Center has sent emails about recruitment of tutors for their Writing Program every semester that I’ve been at Cal. Another example is the BearTalk Blog run through Visitor Services.

One final resource that I think is a good, realistic source for finding spaces for writers at Cal is, once again, Melissa’s post on Job Prep Advice from a Cal Grad, but specifically the section where she details her “Campus Resume.” Melissa also worked as a Writer and Editor for Student Affairs Communications, spent time in the Business Careers in Entertainment Club (BCEC), copyedited for the Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, served as Treasurer of the English Undergraduate Association, and completed an internship for Art of Writing.

Publishing your work on campus

As a writer, a big part of the process for many is getting published, which is an exciting journey, and one that can often come with many bumps in the road. A big piece of advice I’ve heard since high school is to just keep submitting. If you’re having trouble being published, it’s never a reflection of your intellect or talent. It’s much more likely that your style or content didn’t fit the publication. If you’re looking for a starting point, we have a wide variety of places to submit to here on campus! Here are some ideas:

Signing off

Cal has so much to offer all writers — from world-class teachers, to the flourishing local writing community, to stepping stones in the publication process. I think one of the most important parts of a writing journey is to experiment, throw things at the wall to see what sticks. A few of these things have stuck for me, and I hope you’ll soon find some things that stick for you.

Milana Berhe, Class of 2028, is majoring in astrophysics and political science and minoring in creative writing. Cover photo by Jami Smith.

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