ArtW 159: Introduction to Creative Writing

J. C. Todd

Spring 2009 

TTh 10-11:30 am

 

This course is designed in particular for Bryn Mawr/Haverford freshmen who wish to experiment with composing several kinds of creative writing: short fiction, drama, and poetry. Priority will be given to interested freshmen; any additional spaces will be made available to upperclassmen with little or no prior experience in creative writing. This course is writing-intensive, which means that students will write or revise work every week; roughly four weeks each will be devoted to short fiction, drama, and poetry. There will be regular individual conferences for students with the instructor to discuss their progress and interests.

Half of each week's class time will be spent discussing student work, and half will be spent discussing syllabus readings. The focus of this course will be both on craft (the tools necessary to successful creative writing: voice, perspective, plot, character, setting, etc.) and on content (what it is in any literary work of art that we admire, and that makes us want to write something like it ourselves, if we are writers). Students in this class are expected to become, not only creative writers  but also close readers of literature and more capable critics of their own and each other's work. The term grade is therefore determined partly by written work and partly by participation during class discussions of syllabus reading and student work.

Syllabus readings will include (for fiction) classic and contemporary works from a Blackboard reserve list (for drama) Aristotle's Poetics and selected scenes from plays ranging from Shakespeare to Harold Pinter; and (for poetry) selections from The Norton Anthology of Poetry and other poems.

ART W 159 is intended to provide students with a basis on which to decide which kind of creative writing they wish to pursue at either the intermediate (200) or advanced (300) level, within the Bryn Mawr Creative Writing Program. 

Enrollment limited to 15 students.

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ArtW 240: Literary Translation Workshop New

Karl Kirchwey

Spring 2009

TTh 2:30-4:00 pm

The purpose of this course will be twofold. First, it will endeavor  to provide creative writers and other interested students a perspective on their own language (English) and its resources and cultural history by means of considering the problems that arise in translating from a foreign language into English (and, perhaps, when translating from English into that foreign language). This will be best accomplished, not so much by considering translation theory as by considering parallel translations of certain enduring literary texts (e.g. the Bible, Homer, Dante, the Cold Mountain Poet, etc.) and a range of essays about the practice of literary translation.

The second purpose of this course will be to make students more skillful translators, ideally by giving them practice in translating from one or more foreign languages into English (this may include a foreign language the student knows well and one the student does not know at all) in a variety of genres (poetry, fiction, nonfiction or drama) and in works of varying length.

The course will therefore alternate classes of discussing syllabus reading (essays on literary translation; parallel translations of existing literary texts) with workshop critiques of the students’ own translations. Working  literary  translators (e.g. Jamie Gambrell, Richard Howard,  Edmund Keeley, Rika Lesser,  Charles Martin, Rosanna Warren, Eliot Weinberger) will also be invited to visit the class.

The first text for this course will be an anthology of parallel texts of existing literary translations, to be assembled by the instructor. Additional texts will probably include, e.g.  Robert Bly, The Eight Stages of Translation, Reuben Brower, On Translation and Mirror on Mirror: Translation, Imitation, Parody, Douglas Hofstadter, Le Ton beau de Marot, George Steiner, After Babel, and Rosanna Warren, The Art of Translation: Voices from the Field.

This course will begin with short translation exercises in one or more genres (poetry, fiction, drama) and move on to longer and more ambitious translations from whatever foreign language(s) the student wishes to use. Students with a foreign language may work from that language into English; students without a foreign language may also participate in this course by using literal and existing parallel translations to guide their own. Students will be asked to consider translation as a spectrum ranging from literal (word-for-word) renderings all the way to what Dryden called “imitation” and even adaptation and reimagining. The course may also require students to write short critical responses to the essays they are reading.

 

Enrollment limited to 15 students.

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ArtW 260: Writing Short Fiction I

Daniel Torday

Fall 2008

M 7-10:00 pm

 

This course will provide an introduction to fiction writing by focusing on the skills, process and craft techniques necessary to the generation and revision of literary fiction. Each week we will discuss both student work and published work in class, considering aspects of the craft of writing fiction—character, point of view, physical description, narrative logic—from a writerly perspective. Students will explore the material and styles that most interest them, gain awareness of the demands close readers will make on their work, and hone their writing in the interest of crafting clearer, more ambitious, more controlled stories.

Students will turn in writing exercises each week, and will have completed a number of stories by semester’s end. One substantial revision also will be required, as well as a final portfolio demonstrating students’ work and progress from the semester. Students will meet with the instructor regularly in individual conferences. Readings will include stories by Anton Chekhov, Mary Gaitskill, Barry Hannah, Denis Johnson, James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, Grace Paley and Philip Roth, among many others. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

Enrollment limited to 15 students.

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ArtW 261: Writing Poetry I

Warren Liu

Fall 2008

TTh 2:30 —4:00 pm

“The form of a poem,” writes Robert Hass, “exists in the relation between its music and its seeing,” and is not “the number or kind of restrictions, conscious or unconscious, many or few, with which a piece of writing begins.” This course will begin with the premise, then, that there is such a thing as form without form, and will explore what it might mean to write out of such a condition. To do so, we’ll look closely at a number of post-1950s American poets whose work attempts to define, or redefine, how poetic form works. More importantly, students will be asked to consistently engage with their own productions of poetic form, and to think seriously about the multiple ways in which form shapes, structures, and interrogates content.

 

Enrollment limited to fifteen students

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ArtW 264: News and Feature Writing

Tom Ferrick, Jr.

Fall 2008

W 7-10 pm

 

In this class, you will learn how to develop, report, write, edit and revise a variety of news stories.  We will begin with the basics of reporting and writing the news, then advance to longer-form stories, including personality profiles, news features and trend stories.  We will end with a discussion of point-of-view journalism, where you will get an opportunity write columns, criticism and reported essays.

We will focus heavily on work published in The Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times, as well as pieces written by other well-established magazine and newspaper writers. We also will have several working journalists as guest speakers to explain their craft.

To get the most out of this course, you must be willing to participate in class discussion. You must also be comfortable showing your work to your classmates, and you must be open to not only giving, but also receiving, constructive criticism in class. The teacher will also offer each student detailed written critiques of each assignment.  You should expect to do frequent revisions.

Required Texts: Writing for Journalists by Wynford Hicks and The Associated Press Style Book (2007 Edition).

There will be a writing assignment nearly every week. As the final project of the semester, you will be asked to report and write a 2,000-word news feature. The rough drafts and revised versions of these papers will comprise your portfolio, which you will submit in lieu of a final exam.

Enrollment limited to fifteen students

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ArtW 265: Creative Nonfiction

Dan Today

Spring 2009

TTh  1--2:30pm

What is Creative Nonfiction—and what distinguishes it from its prose siblings, Fiction and Journalism? This course will provide an introduction to Creative Nonfiction writing by focusing on the skills, process and craft techniques necessary to the generation and revision of literary nonfiction. Each week we will discuss both student work and published work in class, considering aspects of the craft of writing Creative Nonfiction—point of view, physical description, narrative logic, the transposition of empirical experience to the written word—from a writerly perspective. We will look closely at the great practitioners of this often wily and elusive genre—from EB White to Joseph Mitchell, George Orwell to David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers to David Sedaris—in the interest of understanding not just how their work has developed, but how it can help us in creating nonfiction work of our own.

Students will turn in writing exercises each week, and will have completed a number of pieces of Creative Nonfiction by semester’s end. One substantial revision also will be required, as well as a final portfolio demonstrating students’ work and progress from the semester. Students will meet with the instructor regularly in individual conferences.

Enrollment limited to fifteen students

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ArtW 266: Screenwriting

Nancy Doyne

Fall 2008

M 1--4:00 pm

An introduction to the art and craft of screenwriting, with particular focus on the adaptation – the translation of literary work into film. A range of possible literary works will be discussed, including novels, short stories, graphic novels, and works of non-fiction. As students work on their own adaptations, we will link questions of storytelling - the significance of narrative, dramatic structure, character and theme - to the film medium and explore what makes film and writing for film unique.

The lectures will explore the basic characteristics and mechanics of storytelling. Through reading works of prose and screening the films adapted from them, we will come to better understand the tools and dictates of film writing.

Students will choose a work of literature – a novel, a short story, a work of non-fiction, a graphic novel - that they will adapt for the screen. In the course of the semester, we will analyze the work as students proceed towards a refined outline for a feature-length screenplay and a completed first act.

Enrollment is limited to 15 students.

 

Enrollment limited to fifteen students

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ArtW 269: Writing for Children

Catherine Murdock et al.

Spring 2009

W 1--4:00 pm

This class explores the vast and intoxicating world of children’s literature. Teaching in tandem, six well known children’s authors will examine the specific requirements of such genres as picture books and young adult novels, the creation of compelling characters and voice, the roles of illustration and page composition in story narration, and the ever-evolving fairy tale. In-class discussion and peer review augment students’ own writing and their analysis of an abundance of published work.

Readings include renowned author-illustrators Maurice Sendak, Leo Lionni, Robert McClosky, James Marshall, and the seminal cartoonist Winsor McCay; chapter books Speak and Because of Winn-Dixie; and the YA classic I Capture the Castle. More significantly, students will have the unique opportunity to dissect such notable works as The Three Pigs and Flotsam, Defining Dulcie, Dairy Queen and Princess Ben, The Trial and Pieces of Georgia, and My Life as a Girl with their authors. In addition to weekly writing exercises and reader responses, students will write and illustrate (stick figures sufficient) a fairy tale, and for a final project write either a picture book or up to 6000 words of a chapter book.

List of guest lecturers:

Paul Acampora has previously taught children’s literature at Moravian College; he is the author of the YA novel Defining Dulcie.

Jen Bryant  When not teaching children’s literature at West Chester University, Jen Bryant writes poetry, picture books and biographies, often in combination: The Trial employs poetry to chronicle the Lindbergh trial, as does Ringside: 1925 for the Scopes trial. 

Elizabeth Mosier ’84 has previously taught Writing for Children at Bryn Mawr. She is the author of My Life as a Girl, a novel about a Bryn Mawr College freshman.

Catherine Murdock ’88, a one-time instructor in the Growth and Structure of Cities program, is the author of Dairy Queen, The Off Season and Princess Ben.

Alexander Stadler graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in printmaking. In addition to his Beverly Billingsly and Julian Rodriguez series, he has illustrated others’ picture books and designed wallpaper, fabric and bedding.

Also a RISD grad with a BFA in illustration, author-illustrator David Wiesner has thrice won the acclaimed Caldecott Medal for Tuesday, The Three Pigs and Flotsam, and Caldecott Honors for Free Fall (his first authored book) and Sector 7

Enrollment limited to fifteen students

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ArtW 360: Writing Short Fiction II

Daniel Torday

Spring 2009

M 7--10 pm

This course is designed for experienced, committed writers who are seeking to improve their craft as writers of short fiction and who are prepared to tackle longer, sustained narratives. Students will read and write extensively, strengthening their skills as writers, and as critics with writerly proclivities. In addition to writing, and reading from the short fiction of Saul Bellow, Aimee Bender, Lydia Davis, Philip Roth, JD Salinger, and David Foster Wallace, among many others, students will read essays by and interviews with various writers, in an effort better to understand the craft and process of writing. Students will examine how these writers have worked within and against short fiction’s confines—crafting realist stories, employing metafictional techniques, writing short-shorts—and how they have approached longer narratives as well. And, of course, students will work concurrently to improve their own creative efforts, while focusing overtly and painstakingly on the fine art of revision. Each week students will be expected to read and discuss several stories, interviews and essays, to write an average of five pages of original fiction, and to read and comment in depth on classmates’ work. In addition to their weekly writing, students will be expected to write one longer story that incorporates demonstrated library—or primary—research. Throughout the semester students will offer their writing for group discussion, and regularly will engage in private conference with the professor.

Enrollment is limited to 15 students. All students wishing to be considered for this course should submit a writing sample (6-10 pages of prose fiction) to Daniel Torday in the Bryn Mawr College Creative Writing Program (English House) by the last day of classes in the fall semester, 2008.  

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ArtW 362: Playwriting II

Amy Herzog

Fall 2008
Tu 1-4 pm

This course challenges students of playwriting to further develop their unique voices and improve their technical skills in writing for the stage. It is designed for students who have completed a college-level playwriting course or have significant relevant experience.

Through weekly reading assignments, students will be exposed to influential modern and contemporary playwrights.  We will examine how great playwrights captivate a live audience through their mastery of character, story and structure. The temptation when reading these acclaimed plays may be to hold them at a distance as perfect works of art; however, we will endeavor to approach the plays as though they were written by someone in the class, with emphasis on the solutions, successful or unsuccessful, that the writers found for the inevitable problems that arise when writing a play. Students will complete bi-weekly playwriting assignments of ten-to-twelve pages and, ultimately, a one-act play of thirty-to-forty pages.  In-class workshops will allow playwrights to hear their work out loud and to receive feedback from their peers.  The course will emphasize rewriting as essential to crafting a successful work for the stage.

Readings include plays by Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, Wendy Wasserstein and August Wilson.   

Enrollment is limited to 10 students.

 

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ArtW 382: Poetry Master Class

Karl Kirchwey

Guest Lecturers: Cornelius Eady, Marilyn Hacker, Mary Jo Salter, Gerald Stern

Spring 2009

W 1--4:00 pm

Course Description

This course is intended for students of poetry in the Tri-Co community who have completed ART W 261 (Writing Poetry I) or ART W 231 (Poetry as Performance) and/or ART W 361 (Writing Poetry II), or who can demonstrate equivalent expertise on the basis of a writing sample.

Each of four nationally-recognized poets will teach three weeks of this master class; Professor Karl Kirchwey, Associate Professor of the Arts and Director of the Creative Writing Program at Bryn Mawr College, will teach two classes in which students are introduced to the work of the poets teaching the master class. Each master poet will devise a three-week syllabus of readings and writing assignments for his/her section of the course. Each student in the course will have work discussed, both in class and in individual conferences, by each of the four visiting master class poets.

This course is writing intensive; students should expect to write or revise their work every week. Like other Bryn Mawr College Creative Writing Program courses, this course also emphasizes the importance of in-class discussion, both of syllabus reading and of student work, in creating a community of sympathetic but objective critics. Punctual completion of all writing assignments and of all syllabus reading is the minimum requirement of this course, to the extent that writing assignments will arise from discussions of the syllabus reading. There will be no final exam in this course; students will be graded on the basis of their participation in class and of a portfolio of the work completed during the semester.

Cornelius Eady is the author of eight volumes of poetry, including Hardheaded Weather: New and Selected Poems and Brutal Imagination, which was a National Book Award finalist. He is Associate Professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Notre Dame.

Marilyn Hacker is the author of thirteen books of poetry, including Essays on Departure: New and Selected Poems, Desesperanto: Poems 1999-2002, Squares and Courtyards and First Cities: Collected Early Poems, 1960-1979. She lives in Paris and New York, and teaches at the City College of New York.

Mary Jo Salter is the author of six books of poetry, including A Phone Call to the Future: New and Selected Poems and Open Shutters. She is Professor in the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University, and taught for many years at Mount Holyoke College.

Gerald Stern is the author of sixteen books of poems, including Everything is Burning, American Sonnets and Last Blue. He taught for many years at the Writers’ Workshop of the University of Iowa, and has also taught at Columbia, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, and elsewhere.

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