ENGL 5542 Topics in Creative Nonfiction: Experiments in Narrative

This advanced, cross-genre workshop is designed to push the boundaries both of the imagination and of traditional literary categories. Drawing inspiration from hybrid-experimentalists including Ryszard Kapuciski, Natasha Trethewey, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Italo Calvino, Robert Coover, Simon Schama, and Eula Biss, among others, participants will pursue projects that question the supposed hard lines between fiction/non-fiction, poetry/prose, journalism/personal narrative, and even text/image. Coursework will occasionally take us outside of the classroom--to a robotics lab, an automobile museum, and a stop on the historic Underground Railroad. Assignments will include individual and collaborative exercises as well as extended independent projects developed in consultation with the instructor. Previous workshop experience helpful. Formerly titled: ACNF: Experiments in Narrative