Instructor: Beckerman
WF 2:00PM – 3:20 PM
Life experience is the raw material for the writer of fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry, and writers are continually observing and examining their own lives and the lives of others. Writers also engage in personal and creative ways with contemporary conflicts and concerns, such as politics or war, and with other disciplines, such as anthropology, history, journalism, medicine, and psychology. How does a writer develop creative material from real life? How do we write about other people in our lives? How do we tell family stories? What do writers owe their subjects? In this class, students will consider the potential for creative forms to capture difficult social and emotional issues and the ethical and aesthetic concerns that come up when we write about our own lives and the lives of others. The assignments will include creative work that explores contemporary events, history, and/or students’ own lives.