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2012-13 Write Courses

WRITE 294 INTRODUCTION TO WRITING POETRY
Instructor:  C. Stewart
Write 294 is an introductory course in writing poetry. It is conducted as a seminar, or more specifically, a workshop, and uses as a basis for study and class discussion models of excellent writing, and the students' own work. Students will be expected to hand in examples of their own work to be critiqued, as well as a set exercise in a different poetic form, every week.  Write 294 is not a composition course. It is concerned with the basic practical problems of imaginative writing: style, technique, the role of the literary artist, the critical bases of published literary effort. Students will be expected to read widely and to write a great deal; they will be encouraged to keep a ‘writing’ journal. They should have been writing for some time, although such writing need not have been published; and they should have achieved good academic averages. Class size is limited. A portfolio of work (around 10 typed single-spaced pages)—and the approval of the instructor, are required before registration. You cannot register online. Please submit portfolios with full legal name, student number, address, phone number, and e-mail address to Mary Marshall Durrell (Humanities Centre 3-10) by May 31. Students will be informed of their status shortly thereafter. Space permitting, students who apply by August 25 may also be considered. Further details about portfolios and registration are available from Mary Marshall Durrell.  Please note that 6 credits of Junior English, or 3 credits of Junior English or WRS 101 and consent of the instructor are required. Students will provide photocopies of their work every week for all members of the workshop.
TEXTS:
Consult the course link in Bear Tracks or the search function on the University Bookstore website.

WRITE 295 INTRODUCTION TO WRITING FICTION
Instructor:  T. Wharton
Write 295 is an introductory workshop course in the writing of short prose fiction. Students will engage in intensive writing practice and also develop their skill in critical thinking and discussion about the craft of fiction. Each week the class will discuss students’ own written work as well as the craft and techniques of fiction-writing, with reference to works by published authors. There will be additional in-class writing exercises from time to time. Each student will submit three stories (workshop drafts) during the course of the term; one of these stories will then be revised as a final draft, along with a short essay on one of the published stories we will be studying. There is no required text for this course, other than your own writing. The published stories we will read and discuss will either be handed out or posted on the course Moodle site. From time to time the instructor may post or hand out additional material that will be required reading. There is no final examination in this course. Acceptance into the course requires the submission of a portfolio of writing by May 31. Submissions should be between 10 to 15 double-spaced pages. One story or several shorter pieces may be submitted, but they should be fiction, not essays or other non-fiction prose, and should not be fragments or excerpts of longer works. Portfolios should be submitted to Mary Marshall in Humanities 3-10. Please include your student ID and contact information with your submission. The instructor will contact successful applicants during the summer. Students cannot register online and must receive permission to register from the instructor.  Please note that 6 credits of Junior English, or 3 credits of Junior English or WRS 101 and consent of the instructor are required.

WRITE 298 INTRODUCTION TO WRITING NONFICTION
Various Instructors
Write 298 is an introductory class in writing nonfiction prose.  Though emphases in different sections vary, students can expect to write and to read a wide range of literary nonfiction, from informal writing to more formal academic essays.  Sub-genres may include a selection from the following:  travel writing, reviews, memoirs, research articles, nature writing, collage, argumentative essays, journals, nonfiction narrative, meditations, or other experimental genres.  Students will try out a range of techniques and strategies (from invention to research to revision) valuable to nonfiction writers.  A minimum of six essays of varying length will be assigned.  Throughout the year students will write at least 12,000 words.  There are no examinations in this course.
TEXTS:
Consult the course link in Bear Tracks or the search function on the University Bookstore website.

WRITE 392  INTERMEDIATE CREATIVE WRITING: POETRY
Instructor:  C. Stewart
This course is a continuation of 294 and is suited for students with some experience in creative writing. In this class, we will consider how we might observe words from a distance and become better acquainted with their limits, textures, and sounds. We will conduct various formal experiments, choosing how, when and why we might follow or break the rules. We will also have various assigned readings in poetry and poetics that speak to the specific writing issues and challenges that we encounter. As we create a collection of work, we will also be spending class time creating our own “books.” These may be virtual or material. To facilitate this process we will go to the Special Collections to look at the collection of art books and chapbooks. We will also peruse poetry collections on sites such as the UBUWEB in preparation for publishing our own work. The class will also attend various poetry and prose readings throughout the year.

WRITE 395 INTERMEDIATE CREATIVE WRITING: FICTION
Instructor:  T. Wharton
Write 395 is the intermediate prose fiction workshop, the main objective of which is to help students develop as writers, both in terms of craft and as articulate, critical thinkers about fiction and the writing process. Each week the class will discuss students’ written work as well as the craft and techniques of fiction, with reference to stories by published authors. There will be additional in-class writing exercises. Students will give two oral performance readings of their own work, as well as a presentation on a published story of their choosing. Over the course of the year students will hand in four stories for class discussion (workshop drafts). At the end of each term each student will also hand in one revised (final) draft to the instructor alone, along with a brief (250 word) summary of the workshopping and revising process. There is no required text for this course, other than your own writing. The published stories we will read and discuss will either be handed out or posted on the course Moodle site. From time to time the instructor may post or hand out additional material that will be required reading. There is no final examination in this course. Prerequisite for admission: a grade of B+ or higher in Write 295, or acceptance based on a portfolio submitted no later than May 31. Please contact the instructor, Tom Wharton, for details on portfolio submission: twharton@ualberta.ca Please note that as most of the students in Write 395 will be graduates of Write 295, there will be limited space for those applying by portfolio.  Students cannot register online and must receive permission to register from the instructor.

WRITE 398 INTERMEDIATE NONFICTION
Instructor:  J. Williamson 
TEXTS:
Consult the course link in Bear Tracks or the search function on the University Bookstore website.

WRITE 399 Projects in Genre
Instructor:  C. Stewart
The word for utopia comes from the Greek: οὐ ("not") and τόπος ("place") and means "no place". Whereas, the English homophone eutopia, derived from the Greek εὖ ("good" or "well") andτόπος ("place"), means "good place". In this class we will consider how might we write a possible good place. Since the world of experimental creative writing and research is concerned with social change, challenging the status quo, and giving expression to ways of life and thinking that have been overlooked or even suppressed by normative forms of expression, perhaps poetic expression has the capacity, as Russian Formalist Victor Shklovsky argues, to make the reader more attentive to the world in creative non-habituated ways. If we are given the opportunity to learn creative forms of research and inquiry and the creative forms of expression, can we develop a more intimate understanding of language? What happens when we use particular creative forms to create pleasurable relationships with language? Might formal language play allow those who have been silenced the opportunity to speak? Might methods of experimentation in creative writing help those who have been disenfranchised find other ways of learning, thinking and expression?  How might such a practice allow us to understand the limits and power of language to both constrain life and to constitute new worlds of possibility? In this class we will consider these questions and put into practice experimental forms of writing.
 
Please note: this class will have Community Service Learning component.  Community Service-Learning (CSL) integrates community-based activities with classroom learning. For this class, the bulk of our time will be spent at the Boyle Learning Centre downtown where we will be working with adult learners from the Centre. The first and last two weeks of the class will be held at the University without the adult learners so that we can first prepare for the Boyle class and then discuss our experiences. At Boyle, you will be working with the adult learners on their creative projects, and you will be working on your own projects. Like any poetry workshop, this term will entail the regular production of creative work, peer review, group publications, public readings, and the study of poetry and poetics.

WRITE 498 ADVANCED CREATIVE WRITING: NONFICTION
Instructor:  C. Wiesenthal
This course is a workshop-based nonfiction writing class and seminar. Although students will be encouraged to develop their facility with nonfiction forms and genres of particular interest to them, an emphasis will be placed on writing that is politically and culturally engaged, writing that reports and reflects on the wider world – perhaps challenging or even hoping to change that world. Students will have the opportunity to research and develop stories in conjunction with an intensive study of established and new practitioners of the craft, both canonical and contemporary. At least a third of the course syllabus will be determined by members of the workshop collective. Students will be expected to read and edit each other’s written drafts in a spirit of collegial mentorship, and will be encouraged to experiment with all aspects of technique, including close observation, creative perspective, reportage, documentation, narrative structure, characterization and revision. Depending on workshop size, students can normally expect to research, draft and workshop at least two of their own stories. In addition, students will be asked to complete various informal writing exercises and to prepare a brief oral presentation analyzing the craft and technique of one of the assigned course readings.
TEXTS:
Consult the course link in Bear Tracks or the search function on the University Bookstore website.