| Course Title: Topics in Creative Writing: 'Four Memoirs: Writing Through Radical Self-Inquiry' |
| Start Date: 01/23/2023 End Date: 05/08/2023 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2023 |
| Description: In this class, we will read four full-length memoirs, each representing radically different structures and styles. Students will write four short memoirs mirroring the forms of these books. These "memoirs" will run between 2,000-2,500 words, and they will represent the pillars of the final grade. Memoir projects will receive instructor feedback, and will also be shared in smaller "care groups" to offer and receive feedback. Mary Oliver once wrote that "attention is the beginning of devotion." Together, we will nurture our attention to the world, and, therefore, devote ourselves to bettering it. We will nurture our sensitivities, our wonder, our awe, and identify not only who we are through rigorous self-inquiry, but what conversations we are participating in when we write, what literary traditions we perpetuate, and, perhaps most importantly, what traditions we break. Sample texts (full-length and excerpted) include Carmen Maria Machado, Alexander Chee, Barry Jenkins, Jaquira Díaz, Michelle Zauner, Saeed Jones, Natasha Trethewey, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, Cyrus Simonoff, Yuko Tsushima, and others. |
| Distribution(s): NO - Meets No Distrib. Rqmt , WI - Writing-Intensive , TP - Topics Course |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| T Kira Madden | tmadden@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 01/23/2023 - 05/08/2023 | Seminar | Tuesday | 01:30PM - 04:20PM | SHTK - Shattuck Hall | 318 | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| Prereq: ENGL-201. | Take previously | Required |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Closed | Capacity: 15 | Enrollment: 15 | Available: 0 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| Title: Sticker (Object Lessons) Author: Hoke, Henry Copyright: 2022 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 1501367226 Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic |
Required | 14.95 |
| Title: In the Dream House: a Memoir Author: Machado, Carmen Maria Copyright: 2020 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 1644450380 Publisher: Graywolf Press |
Required | 12.39 |
| Title: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: a Memoir Author: Shapland, Jenn Copyright: 2021 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 1951142292 Publisher: Tin House Books |
Required | 10.96 |
| Title: Good Talk: a Memoir in Conversations Author: Jacob, Mira Copyright: 2020 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 0399589066 Publisher: One World |
Required | 13.99 |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is the complete book list for this class. |
| Instructor's comments about the book list: Sticker, Henry Hoke In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado Good Talk, Mira Jacob My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, Jenn Shapland |