Creative Nonfiction
September-October 2022. Slides available here.
In this faculty seminar, we will explore the multi-faceted genre of creative nonfiction, with a focus on developing writing projects for WR 120 and WR 15X courses. After an introductory discussion of the genre’s history and its flexibility, we will read and discuss specific sub-genres, including the personal essay, memoir, and literary journalism. We will consider how these sub-genres can incorporate source material, research, and how they can draw upon traditional, academic rhetorical modes, such as argument and analysis. We will also feature guest speakers, current practitioners of the genre within the CAS Writing Program who will share their expertise, present sample assignments, and participate in Q&A sessions. Instructors can expect to come away from this seminar with assignments in hand and professional models to help teach them.
Session 1, 9/22: Creative Nonfiction--Personal, Political, Polemical
In this session, we will review a brief of the history of the genre and explore its range and flexibility through a discussion of model essays. We will also consider how the genre can accommodate both WR 120 and WR 15X courses in the humanities and in the natural and social sciences, and its connection to the new program portfolio being piloted this year.
- Bascom, Tim. “Picturing the Personal Essay: A Visual Guide.” Accessed 14 September 2022.
- Dillard, Annie. “Living Like Weasels.” Literary Cavalcade, vol. 50, issue 6, pp. 20-22. ProQuest.
- hooks, bell. “Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed 14 September 2022.
- Ortiz Cofer, Judith. “Silent Dancing.” Atwan, Robert, ed. Convergences, edited by Robert Atwan. Bedford/ St. Martin’s, Boston, 2005.
- Sanders, Scott Russell. “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” Earth Works: Selected Essays. Indiana University Press, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central.
- Steinberg, Michael. “Teaching Composition, Writing Creative Nonfiction: A Personal Narrative.” Writing on the Edge, vol. 18, no. 1, Fall 2007, pp. 34-40. JSTOR.
Session 2, 9/29: The Personal Essay
In this session we will take a closer look at the personal essay as a form of social and ethical engagement. We will hear from fellow teacher in our program Melanie Smith, whose writing courses address research ethics and environmental issues in public health. She will present one of her creative nonfiction assignments, take us through sample student work, and participate in a Q&A session about her own writing and her teaching of creative nonfiction.
Session 3, 10/6: The Memoir
This session will focus on the memoir, drawing distinctions between this genre and the personal essay. Our guest speaker will be fellow Writing Program teacher and Guggenheim Fellow, Billy Giraldi. Author of the memoir The Hero’s Body, Billy will discuss his course The Memoir, which he teaches as a WR 120 and a WR 151, and he will address such questions as how he evaluates student creative writing and how he handles student disclosures of concerning or troubling personal information.
- Gates, Henry Louis. “In the Kitchen.” The Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reader. Edited by Abby Wolf. Basic Civitas, 2012, pp. 19-25.
- Giraldi, William. “Splendid Visions.” Orion Magazine, February 2013. Accessed 14 September 2022.
- Gutkind, Lee. “The 5 Rs of Creative Nonfiction.” Creative Nonfiction. Accessed 14 September 2022.
- Jacobs, Eliot. “Re(Place) Your Typical Writing Assignment: An Argument for Place-Based Writing.” The English Journal, vol. 100, no. 3, 2011, pp. 49-54. JSTOR.
Session 4, 10/13: Literary Journalism
In this session, we will focus on defining literary journalism and its utility for our courses. We’ll examine some primary examples to familiarize ourselves with the genre’s range of styles and topics, review pedagogical essays that discuss how and why to implement the genre, and brainstorm new ways to incorporate literary journalistic practices into our syllabi. In particular, we will spend time generating a couple of scaffolding assignments that are portable to all classes, not just as alternative genre projects. Finally, we’ll have time at the end to review all the topics we’ve discussed throughout the seminar.
- Boo, Katherine. Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Random House, 2012.
- Gopal, Anand. No Good Men Among the Living. Metropolitan Books, 2014. [text provided to registered participants]
- “How to Recognize and Write Literary Journalism.” MasterClass Articles. MasterClass, September 2021. Accessed 14 September 2022.
- Marnane, Ryan. “From Print to 360-Degree Immersive: On Introducing Literary Journalism across Media.” Literary Journalism Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, 2019, pp. 136-157.
- “Mission Statement.” International Association for Literary Journalism Studies. Accessed 14 September 2022.
- Neely, Jeffrey C., et al. “The Write Stuff: Opportunities and Obstacles in the Classroom.” Literary Journalism Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, 2018, pp. 141-159.
