Special Topics in Creative Writing: Saying the Unsayable
Professor: Jodi Monster
Meetings: Monday 5:30-8:20pm
Saying the Unsayable: When Writers Won’t Stay Silent
What do we do when we have something important to say? Something that’s urgent and upsetting and violates taboos? In this class, we will read stories by writers who have tackled hard subjects like gender, race, and class, and we will look at how they’ve channeled their dissent into fiction. For the purposes of developing our own art, we will also attempt to break fiction down to its most basic component parts: character, problem and setting. Students will analyze assigned readings with an eye toward understanding how each of these components has been crafted, and how they work together to create an immersive world on the page. In small groups, students will be expected to lead two (2) 20-25 minute classroom discussions on the assigned readings. In addition, this class will expand upon the traditional workshop format in an effort to provide students with necessary practice discussing their own creative work. Students will submit stories for workshop at least twice. When it is their turn, students will read at least one page of the story they’ve submitted aloud to the class, and they will also be expected to respond to questions about their work from fellow students.