The curriculum allows the student to develop writing skills, provides an introduction to the possibilities of contemporary literature and offers a perspective on the place of literature among the liberal arts. Criticism by practicing writers and talented peers encourages the student’s growth as both creator and reader of literature. Application required.
Section C07 (Erika L. Sánchez) will focus on Young Adult Literature and Social Justice
There has been a recent boom in novels that address pressing social issues through the perspective of young people. How do authors use coming-of-age stories to tackle issues of race, class, sexuality, gender? This class will consider why the lens of teen protagonists is so powerful in engaging in discourse regarding inequality and resistance. Students will read YA novels by authors such as Daniel José Older, Nic Stone, and Elizabeth Acevedo, and submit manuscripts that explore what it means to be a young person in contemporary American culture.
Tuesdays, 1:30-3:50 PM
Section C05 (Mark Doten) will focus on Queer Form
This workshop combines fiction writing and weekly discussion of student work with a craft-based study focusing on LGBTQ literature. We will read works by writers including Carmen Maria Machado, John Keene, Garth Greenwell, Eileen Myles, and Charlie Jane Anders, examining how they make use of voice, setting, character, plot, and point of view—and how they “queer” conventional approaches to the story and novel, creating forms that can serve as toolkits, provocations, models, and grist for your own fictions.
Tuesdays, 7:30 – 9:20 PM
