1 Creative Writing: The Boundaries of Form in Fiction and Poetry Instructor: Sarah Dowling Meeting times: TH 1:00-4:10 pm Location:

XXX Contact: sarahmd@sas.upenn.edu Office hours: During the hour(s) before class, I can be found in FBH 327. I am also available for individual meetings by appointment. Description: This workshop-style course will serve as an introduction to writing short fiction and poetry, with special attention paid to the ways writers can blur the lines between the two genres. Students will craft their own original pieces in this community-based classroom, where we will read and comment on each others work as well as on outside readings and the work of visiting writers. We will focus first on some of the main strategies used in fiction, such as characterization, dialogue, imagery, and language, before moving on to the forms of poetry, including sound, rhythm, syntax, and repetition. In addition to regular weekly workshops of student work, we will be using in-class exercises and experiments to push the boundaries of our own writing, exploring such hybrid forms as the prose poem and sudden fiction that question the lines we draw between verse and prose. Course requirements include thoughtful and committed class participation, regular writing assignments, and a final portfolio of fiction and poetry. Assignments: Daily: For each class meeting you will be asked to prepare specific creative exercises and to post these to Blackboard. We will also complete creative exercises together in class. These exercises are detailed in the reading packet for each meeting, and the reading packets are available on Blackboard. Workshops: You will periodically be asked to submit specific, revised pieces of writing for workshop by the group. You will receive a detailed workshop schedule shortly. Final portfolio: At the end of the semester you will submit a final portfolio containing a 5-page work of fiction, 2-3 of your best poems, and a 3-5-page multigenre text. These 3 works ought to be amalgamations of or developments from exercises completed in or for class. Your grade will be based on the extent and quality of the revisions that you have made to the exercises. Required texts: Most texts for this course will be made available through Blackboard. In addition, the following books are required, and are available for purchase at the Penn Book Center, located at 34th and Walnut St.: Rene Gladman, The Activist Bhanu Kapil, Humanimal: A Project for Future Children Frank OHara, Lunch Poems Jean Toomer, Cane

2 Grading: Participation: 15% Works in progress (exercises and work for workshop): 35% Final portfolio: 50% Reading schedule: Unit 1: Fiction 3 July: Topics: Character, voice Readings: Zora Neale Hurston, Spunk (1925) and Story in Harlem Slang (1942) 5 July: Topics: Point of view, dialogue Readings: Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Wolfpack (2010), and the news sources on which it is based 10 July: Topics: Plot, making photo-texts Readings: Raymond Carver, Neighbors (1971); W.G. Sebald, Dr. Henry Selwyn (1992; trans. 1996) 12 July: Topic: The Boundaries of Form: stream of consciousness Readings: Virginia Woolf, The Mark on the Wall (1921) Unit 2: Poetry 17 July: Topic: the lyric poem Readings: Sappho, H.D., Jennifer Scappettone Meet in the lobby of the Penn Museum 19 July: Topic: the sonnet Readings: William Shakespeare, Ted Berrigan, Bernadette Mayer, Jen Bervin, Gregory Betts 20 July: individual conferences 24 July: Topic: the list poem Readings: Gertrude Stein, Wallace Stevens, Lyn Hejinian 26 July: Topic: The Boundaries of Form: poetry in the world Readings: Frank OHara, Lunch Poems (1964) Meet at the ICA Unit 3: Multigenre texts 31 July: Topic: Incorporating musical forms Reading: Jean Toomer, Cane (1923) 2 August: Topic: Incorporating research Reading: Bhanu Kapil, Humanimal: A Project for Future Children (2009) 3 August: individual conferences

7 August: Special session with Jason Zuzga, nonfiction editor of Fence magazine Topic: Publishing nonfiction Readings: TBA 9 August: Topic: Incorporating the non-literary Reading: Rene Gladman, The Activist (2003)