CRWR 24035/44035 Advanced Nonfiction Workshop: The Book-Length Essay
What topics, ideas, or narratives merit a book-length exploration? In this advanced nonfiction workshop, we will explore the capacity of the book-length essay, the subjects that can sustain and justify such lengthy works, and the structures professional writers have employed to maintain the project’s integrity even as it expands across one hundred or more pages. Each week, we will read short, book-length essays, on topics ranging from the nature of beauty to the Salvadoran Civil War, analyzing the conventions of these manuscripts, the commonalities in their subject matter, and the tactics each writer uses to maintain and organize their project. Students will propose and write weekly on a topic of their choosing, and workshops will consist of collating and arranging sections of a potential book-length project using this written material. A final paper will lay out both a plan for completing a longer project as well as an analysis of the structures and conventions the writer has used or plans to use in their piece.
During pre-registration, this course is open only to declared Creative Writing Majors and declared Minors in English and Creative Writing, as well as graduate students. During add/drop the course will be instructor consent and open to all students in the College. Please contact the instructor to be added to the waitlist for the option to enroll during add/drop. Attendance on the first day is mandatory.