ENGL 209 - Advanced Creative Writing: Narrative

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2018/19 a&b: Constructing Fiction. In this class you hone your skills as fiction writers, reinforcing the basic elements—sustained, authentic voice, point of view, vibrant characters, setting, and plot—necessary to create vivid narrative. You are free to explore a wide range of styles—from writing prose that “feels” close to memoir/non-fiction, to writing in more traditional short story modes. Students are expected to draft stories, participate in a workshop, and revise with care. We form a cohesive, comfortable, deeply respectful, coherent, useful classroom environment in which we critique new work in a constructive, supportive manner. Weekly exercise and readings are assigned.  Readings may include:  Samuel Beckett, Ben Lerner, Anton Chekhov, Grace Paley, ZZ Packer, Lorrie Moore, Langston Hughes, James Joyce, Isaac Babel, Gish Jen, Katherine Mansfield, George Saunders, Alice Munro, Mary Gaitskill, Lucia Berlin, Lydia Davis, Danielle Evans, Gayle Jones, Julio Cortazar, Haruki Murakami, Flannery O’Connor, John Edgar Wideman, Franz Kafka, to name a few. David Means.

Special permission. Writing samples are due before preregistration. Check with the English Office for the exact date of the deadline.

One 2-hour period and individual conferences with the instructor.