Borderline Writing: A Writing/Lit Workshop

New ideas for writing often emerge at the borderline between genres. In this class we are going to read some exciting contemporary-modern writing and look closely at what happens when a writer is able to maintain our interest in a story while at the same time moving away from an emphasis on time toward the space of the page and/or the moment. Participants will read four novel-like poems (or poetic stories) where the author experiments with combining line and sentence and/or image and story. One week we will read a book and respond with some journal writing and discussion; in addition, participants will work together to invent a list of potential writing situations stemming from our reading and discussion. The following week will be a writing workshop and you will bring copies of your writing for the class to read, respond to, and critique. Critical and biographical essays will also be provided.

The books for the class will be:
Anne Carson. Autobiography of Red. New York: Random House Vintage, 1998.
Marguerite Duras. The Lover. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
Alice Notley. The Descent of Alette. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Michael Ondaatje. Coming Through Slaughter. New York: Penguin, 1976.

People: