2023-24 Fall and Winter Creative Writing Courses
Fall 2023
WRITE 294 A1: Introduction to Writing Poetry
WRITE 294 X01: Introduction to Writing Poetry
E. Harris
Poetry is inexhaustible. In the words of a recently departed American poet: “I want to put everything into the poetry.”
Poetry has been called “the secret names of things” and, an encounter “for the mind and the body.” It has also been said that: “Poetry does nothing.” In this course, students will delve widely and wildly into this (no)thing that poetry is: language. Do not be afraid of poetry! (Or, be very afraid, but not because you think you cannot read or write it – you can – rather, it deserves our respect, because it has magic powers and can build and destroy worlds).
We will read widely, write often, and we will explore principles and practices such as: reading with slow attentiveness, what is poetic form and why use it?, and how to discuss and “critique” poetry. (How can we support fellow writers to make the work even more engaging?)
We will explore poetries of “the self,” often termed “lyric poetry,” and we will also explore many other voices and forms including poetries aimed at social critique. We will discuss the ethical implications of “influence” and “appropriation.” We will ponder: what is different about the language of poetry – and, does it need to be different from daily speech?
You do not need to be a “poet” to take this course, although we will write A LOT.
We will explore traditional forms (so, some “old fashioned”) poems however, we will focus on contemporary writing, from re-takes on old forms as a form of social critique, to “outside the box” contemporary practices such as the chapbook (and a range of other forms such as performance poetics and digital poetries).
All texts will be supplied by the Instructor. Student input (thematic interests, skill-building goals) will be considered in developing the final reading list which will comprise the work of culturally and aesthetically diverse creators. Attendance and meaningful engagement are the heartbeat of this course.
Students will be invited to create and edit work that truly means something to you; together we will work patiently on how to make it even more effective in terms of what it (the work, not just the author) is trying to do or be.
Please note: students may bring current work which is not the result of/related to class writing exercises and assignments for their Workshop critique, if preferred. Workshop is designed to assist you with what you care about.
WRITE 295 A1: Introduction to Writing Fiction
W. Agorde
Write 295 is an intensive half-course seminar/workshop on writing short prose fiction. The main objective of this course is to help students grow as writers, both in developing the craft and as critical thinkers about fiction and the writing process. In the seminar portion of the classes, we will look at examples of short fiction and other texts relevant to the writing process. We will discuss elements of fiction writing such as tension, structure, character development, point of view, beginnings and endings, pacing and atmosphere, revising and editing, etc. In the workshop portion of the classes, we will discuss the writing students will continuously generate, draft, and revise as part of this course. Participation in all workshop sessions is compulsory.
WRITE 295 A2: Introduction to Writing Fiction
C. Kerr
WRITE 297 A1: Introduction to Writing NonFiction
Chowdhury
WRITE 297 X01: Introduction to Writing NonFiction
C. Novak
WRITE 392 A1: Intermediate Poetry
E. Harris
Out of poverty,
To begin again.
Charles Simic, “White”
Now that you have completed “Introduction to Poetry” (WRITE 294), we now proceed, albeit, curiouser and curiouser. Once again, in this course, students will delve widely and wildly into this thing that poetry is: language.
This course resembles WRITE 294 in that we will read widely, write often, and we will explore principles and practices such as: meticulous close embodied reading, what is poetic form and why use it/what can it do?, and how to discuss and critique poetry with even greater depth and vision.
Poetry is a transgressor, a catburglar, a carnival(esque), a rule-maker and breaker, and so we will look at its many shapes - some of these will overlap with fiction and creative non-fiction. Our notions of what poetry is/is not may be challenged, and will hopefully be enlarged.
We will read “poetry” from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, identity positions, and traditions.
In this course, we will build on the lexicon created in the Introductory course, now entering (falling) deeper into attention to prosody (and metre), elements of form (such as enjambment, prose poetry, found poetry, erasure). Students will now get even more practice trying out forms such as the sonnet; we will study sonnets created centuries ago, as well as recent queer and de-colonial interventions/ re-inventions within the sonnet tradition (Terrance Hayes, Sonnet L’Abbe, possibly Billly Rae Belcourt if I can find a suite of sonnets he read recently). We will also study the long-ish poem and poem suites.
During the semester, each student will be presented with writing assignments, prompts, and the task of creating Process Statements for certain poems/experiments and processes. Each student will experience one intensive Workshop of their writing.
Please note: students may bring current work which is not the result of/related to class writing exercises and assignments for your Workshop critique, if preferred. Workshop is designed to assist you in what you care about.
While the Instructor will provide most texts (poems, technical and theoretical essays including works in translation), we will carefully encounter one extraordinarily inventive and important full- length book of contemporary poetry together: Whereas, by Layli Long Soldier (2017).
Students’ interests, in terms of themes, politics and skill-building dreams will be invited, and applied to the development of the finalized reading list.
WRITE 393 A1: Intermediate Fiction
C. Kerr
WRITE 397 A1: Intermediate NonFiction
M. Morris
WRITE 399 A1: Projects in Genre
Creative Writing for Video Games
W. Defehr
WRITE 399 A2: Projects in Genre
Screenwriting
K. Williams
Winter 2024
WRITE 294 B1: Introduction to Writing Poetry
E. Harris
Poetry is inexhaustible. In the words of a recently departed American poet:
“I want to put everything into the poetry.”
Poetry has been called “the secret names of things” and, an encounter “for the mind and the body.” It has also been said that: “Poetry does nothing.” In this course, students will delve widely and wildly into this (no)thing that poetry is: language. Do not be afraid of poetry! (Or, be very afraid, but not because you think you cannot read or write it – you can – rather, it deserves our respect, because it has magic powers and can build and destroy worlds).
We will read widely, write often, and we will explore principles and practices such as: reading with slow attentiveness, what is poetic form and why use it?, and how to discuss and “critique” poetry. (How can we support fellow writers to make the work even more engaging?)
We will explore poetries of “the self,” often termed “lyric poetry,” and we will also explore many other voices and forms including poetries aimed at social critique. We will discuss the ethical implications of “influence” and “appropriation.” We will ponder: what is different about the language of poetry – and, does it need to be different from daily speech?
You do not need to be a “poet” to take this course, although we will write A LOT.
We will explore traditional forms (so, some “old fashioned”) poems however, we will focus on contemporary writing, from re-takes on old forms as a form of social critique, to “outside the box” contemporary practices such as the chapbook (and a range of other forms such as performance poetics and digital poetries).
All texts will be supplied by the Instructor. Student input (thematic interests, skill-building goals) will be considered in developing the final reading list which will comprise the work of culturally and aesthetically diverse creators. Attendance and meaningful engagement are the heartbeat of this course.
Students will be invited to create and edit work that truly means something to you; together we will work patiently on how to make it even more effective in terms of what it (the work, not just the author) is trying to do or be.
Please note: students may bring current work which is not the result of/related to class writing exercises and assignments for their Workshop critique, if preferred. Workshop is designed to assist you with what you care about.
WRITE 295 B1: Introduction to Writing Fiction
G. Bechtel
WRITE 295 B2: Introduction to Writing Fiction
G. Bechtel
WRITE 295 B3: Introduction to Writing Fiction
C. Kerr
WRITE 297 B1: Introduction to (Creative) Non-Fiction Workshop
E. Harris
“The Experience of Truth”
(a term borrowed from non-fiction writer Joan Didion)
Humans are strangely and marvellously “narrative” creatures. Creative non-fiction (What is it?) is an expansive and flexible genre; beautifully, it can enable us to add a touch of “the personal” to investigative writing, while also questioning what makes some voices (or ways of “telling” and “knowing”) more “official” or legible than others.
In this course, we will explore a wide and wild range of creative non-fiction forms including: journalism, the personal essay/the “lyric” essay, autobiography and memoir, the braided/hermit crab essay, micro-fiction, speculative non-fiction, and the “critical fabulation” of Saidiya Hartman. We will also explore hybrid texts that purposefully blur/refuse/re-imagine the boundaries between and among these genres. We will ask, but not commit to “solve” why it is that hearing someone say “It is a true story” is often so important to us.
By exploring the work of diverse established writers and fellow students, we will work on refining skills for our lifetimes in writing: how to tell an interesting story?, analysis of content and form, patient study of techniques and how these work as general (though never universal) strategies to elicit empathy and to ideally, communicate.
All writers welcome! Many of the skills we develop will be equally applicable for writers of fiction, poetry, and academic scholarship.
Writers can bring in works of your choice for Workshop since it is designed to help you grow within your own interests and at your own pace.
WRITE 297 B2: Introduction to Writing NonFiction
L. Robertson
WRITE 399 B2: Projects in Genre
Writing Speculative Fiction
T. Wharton
Unlock your imagination and explore the possibilities of alternate worlds, futuristic visions, and fantastical creatures in this hands-on workshop course on writing short works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. We will look at examples of great speculative fiction in the work of published authors including Franz Kafka, T.H. White, H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Ursula Le Guin, Nalo Hopkinson, Amal El-Mohtar, and Ken Liu. Each week we will discuss students’ written work as well as the ever-evolving craft of making the impossible possible for readers. Students will write and workshop several short stories in their chosen genre, with the ultimate goal of putting together a publishable anthology of class writing.
Course texts: Supplied by the instructor
WRITE 494 B1: Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry
E. Harris
“Everything wrote…” - Marguerite Duras
“Writing is the Beast.” - Anonymous
Now that you have explored the principles of poetics and “the Workshop” in Intro. (WRITE 294) and Intermediate Poetry (WRITE 392), you are invited to join us in building this intensive and creative classroom Laboratory (Workshop).
In this course, we will all be going further and deeper. We will build on elements (form, technique, lexicon) introduced in earlier courses in poetry. We will continue to try out forms and free verse, as well as exploring “out of the box” forms such as the chapbook, erasure, research-creation, writing with constraints, digital and performance poetics, and genre-bending creations. To keep challenging the purpose and boundaries of genre and form, we will study the astonishing book-length (poem?) Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse by Canadian poet-scholar-translator Anne Carson.
It is bewilderingly, magnificently, uncategorizable.
Students’ interests, in terms of themes, politics and skill-building dreams will be invited, and applied to the development of the diverse (culturally, aesthetically), finalized reading list.
This course will focus on your writing, through careful attention to your work and the work of others. Please note: students may bring current work which is not the result of/related to class writing exercises and assignments for your Workshop critique, if preferred. Workshop is designed to assist you in what you care about.
Final Portfolio can be an assemblage and may include digital/performance work – to be discussed with the Instructor. The Final Portfolio may also comprise the foundation for a manuscript, chapbook or application for graduate programs.
WRITE 495 B1: Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
C. Kerr
WRITE 49 B1: Advanced Creative Writing: NonFiction
M. Morris
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