Spring 2026 Course Atlas

Poetry & the Practice of Attention

Christle     Wednesday  1:00-3:45

NO APPLICATION REQUIRED

In this first-year seminar, we will focus on what writing and reading poetry can teach us about attention. We will progress through several themes, including memory, presence, description, distraction, and control/freedom. Students will have weekly notebook writing assignments/exercises derived from assigned readings and will also compose 5 complete poems. Feedback on those compositions from peers and the professor will be provided in workshop discussions, and students will use these comments to revise poems for an end-of-semester portfolio. Attendance at Creative Writing events is required, as is attendance at all class meetings. Absolutely no use of AI is permitted for any element of the course.

Pre-requisite: None

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

Sections:

ENGCW 271W-1     Duong     Monday 2:30-5:15

ENGCW 271W-2     Duong     Tuesday 2:30-5:15

This introductory course is a space for students to form their own poetry writing community based on thoughtful readership, discussion, and collaboration. Over the course of the semester, students will closely read and analyze a wide range of poems in order to develop the skills necessary for generating and workshopping original work. They will be expected to maintain their own dedicated reading and writing practices, which will involve bringing in new poems for workshop on a weekly basis. Each student will also give a presentation on an assigned poet, devise collaborative writing prompts with their fellow students, and create final poetry portfolios consisting of revised poems accompanied by an artist’s statement. Assigned readings will include works by 19th and 20th century poets such as Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Elizabeth Bishop, Lucille Clifton, and Amiri Baraka, as well as contemporary poets such as Donika Kelly, Solmaz Sharif, Mary Ruefle, Diane Seuss, and Ocean Vuong.

Texts:

Information Desk by Robyn Schiff     

American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes    

Reenactments by Hai-Dang Phan    

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith    

The Essential Poet's Glossary by Edward Hirsch   

Grading: 

Attendance and Participation: 30%

Poem Submissions: 20%

Written Feedback for Peers: 10%

Writing Exercises, Reading Responses, and Presentations: 10%

Final Portfolio 30%

Pre-requisite: none

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

Sections:

ENGCW 272W-1     Yanique          MW 10:00-11:45

ENGCW 272W-2     Skibell             Wednesday 2:30-5:15

Yanique's section:

PLEASE NOTE: Students will need to purchase Blue Books and writing instruments to use in class. Devices will not be permitted.

Making People: Empathy and Expertise   

This is an introductory course on the art of fiction writing. We will focus on elements of craft such as character development, narrative control, dialogue, scene development, setting, structure, openings and endings. We will engage with fiction writing as always about creating human beings with histories, bodies, and social realities; as always about creating a world anew for an audience; and as always a form of communication with an ongoing humanity—be it dead writers, current beloveds, future anonymous readers or one’s own self. Students will come to understand the fiction workshop as a place to face fears, biases and the limitations of the imagination all via practice and hard work. Students will come to see fiction as a place to communicate as writers and critics. Students come to see fiction writing and critical reading as a place to engage bravely and vulnerably with grief, joy and the full range of human emotions between. 

Texts:

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi   

Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat   

Handouts assigned by the professor

Grading:

Students will be assessed on four elements of the course, as listed below. Each aspect of the class will be weighed equally at 25%. Students must perform with excellence on all elements of the course to receive an A-. Excellence is defined by the professor. Students performing very well will receive a grade on the B to B+ scale.  Students performing well will receive a grade on the C+ to B- scale. Students performing mediocrely will receive a grade on the D to C scale. Students performing inadequately will be asked to leave the class or they will receive an F grade. The A grade is reserved for students who exceed the professor’s expectations.

Skibell's section:

Our course will serve as a workshop into the form and structure of fiction writing for the beginning student. We will be working in a round-table workshop format. We will learn by doing. Topics covered will include:  

1) scene work; 2) POV; 3) plot vs. narrative; 4) beginning near the end; 5) characterization;  6) dramatic action, etc.  

Writing: Each student will write three short stories for the workshop. The first will be 7-9 pages in length; the second 8-12. As a final project, each student will write a 3- to 5-page story for the final class.  

Workshop: We will read and discuss each other’s stories. Through the process of speaking intelligently and generously about other people’s work, one hones one’s own narrative and dramatic sense. Each class member’s work will be discussed twice. Everyone is expected to participate in the roundtable discussions generously and openly.  

Reading each other’s work: One of the greatest benefits of the workshop is getting feedback from one’s peers. I encourage you all to be generous with one another on this score. Make honest and full-hearted and generous comments on the one another’s manuscripts, and be prepared to throw yourself into the class discussions. Each of you will get back what you give to your peers in this regard. 

Grading: I don’t feel it’s right to grade young writers on the quality of their work. Evaluating creative work is subjective at best. And so our class will work on a 100-point grading system. Attendance at our 13 classes is worth 2 points each for a total of 26% of your grade. (Miss a class, lose two points. Arrive 30 minutes late, lose 1/6 of a point, etc.) Your 28 peer responses (turned in on time to an email address to be provided on the syllabus) are worth 1 point each for a total of 28% of your grade. These will be time-stamped and strictly counted. Each story is 10 points each, and your proof of attendance at two Creative Writing Reading Series events or other literary events is worth 2.5 points each. This totals 89 points, which equals a B.  

The other 11% of your grade is my subjective evaluation of your performance, in class and on paper. This means, in essence, that by doing 100% of the work, you are guaranteed a B. My evaluation of the final 11% will consider: manifest effort, progress made from beginning to end, attitude to the class and the work, and other such intangibles as level of engagement, intellectual inquiry, curiosity, generosity, pro-activity, consistency, a positive attitude, as well as a Bell Curve comparison to your peers. Some students take ownership of a workshop, others seem less involved. If you want an A, make sure you take ownership of the class and that you compare favorably to the most involved students.

Texts: none

Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop

Writing sample: 10-15 pages of fiction (double-spaced), genre writing accepted

Sections:

ENGCW 370RW-1     Tolin       Tuesday 2:30-5:15

ENGCW 370RW-2     Tolin       Wednesday 2:30-5:15

Accepted students are required to attend the first class session; waitlisted students are not.

Inventing Time in Short Fiction

This course expands craft concepts introduced in introductory creative writing coursework with a special focus on the narrative possibilities of time. How might we maintain a short story’s necessary “intensity of focus” within a timeframe that spans centuries? How might a short story that takes place over the course of an hour give every detail heightened significance?

In addition to exploring the narrative pressures of different timeframes, we will look at stories that break linearity, gesturing toward the future and even using elements like time travel to negotiate the constraints of the short story form. Selections from contemporary short fiction authors like Venita Blackburn, Sean Vestal, Mariah Rigg, Jonathan Escoffery, Brenda Peynado, Steven Millhauser, Ted Chiang, and Sofia Samatar will be included in our studies.

Required texts or materials to be purchased:

All published texts will be provided as hard copies or digital PDFs. You will be responsible for printing your peers’ workshop stories.

Assessment:

Creative Writing (65%):

• Workshop Story #1, roughly 7-25 pages (15%)
• Workshop Story #2, roughly 12-30 pages (15%)
• Final Portfolio (30%)
• Prompts (5%)

Participation (25%):

• Peer Critiques (15%)
• Literary Citizenship (10%)

Presentation on a Published Story (10%)

Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop, no pre-req for non-majors

Writing sample: 3-4 poems on separate pages

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

Sections:

ENGCW 371RW-1       Ciano             Monday 2:30-5:15

ENGCW 371RW-2       Ciano             Tuesday 2:30-5:15

Section 1: FORMS

In this intermediate course, you will find a community of poets serious about their craft, hoping to deepen their engagement with the art of poetry. Through the shared sense of trust and endeavor provided by the workshop community, we will closely read the work of published poets and that of our peers as we draft new poems ourselves. To structure our in-class discussions and the weekly creation of new work, we will look closely at prosody and the resurgence of traditional forms in the work of contemporary American poets. As we try out various forms ourselves, we will situate our own poetic experiments in a centuries-long conversation extending to our present moment.

Texts:

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes    

I Do Everything I’m Told by Megan Fernandes    

Couplets: A Love Story by Maggie Millner   

Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss   

Rhyme’s Reason: A Guide to English Verse by John Hollander   

PDFs of other texts will be available on Canvas and provided in class.

Grading: 

Assignments for this course include one new poem each week, in-class exercises, feedback on your peers’ work, and the memorization and recitation of one poem from our class readings over the course of the semester. With my feedback, and the feedback of your classmates over the course of the semester, you will put together a portfolio of revised work as your final assignment, accompanied by an artist’s statement.

All students are required to attend the Creative Writing Program’s two readings this semester.

30% Attendance & Preparation

30% Weekly Poems

10% Recitation & attendance at program events

30% Final Portfolio (Revised poems and an artist’s statement) 

Section 2: ARCHIVES

In this intermediate course, you will find a community of poets serious about their craft, hoping to deepen their engagement with the art of poetry. Through the shared sense of trust and endeavor provided by the workshop community, we will closely read the work of published poets and that of our peers as we draft new poems ourselves. To structure our in-class discussions and the weekly creation of new work, we will look to poets whose work engages—both literally and metaphorically—with a sense of archive. The archival papers of each poet we read this semester are housed in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library here at Emory University. Beyond engaging with the works of the assigned poets, we will also visit their papers to look at drafts and ephemera to deepen a sense of the life of a poet. 

Texts:

Thrall by Natasha Trethewey   

Too Bright to See / Alma by Linda Gregg    

Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 by Lucille Clifton   

Chronic by D.A. Powell    

Jelly Roll: A Blues by Kevin Young  

PDFs of other texts will be available on Canvas and provided in class.

Grading:

Assignments for this course include one new poem each week, in-class exercises, feedback on your peers’ work, and the memorization and recitation of one poem from our class readings over the course of the semester. With my feedback, and the feedback of your classmates over the course of the semester, you will put together a portfolio of revised work as your final assignment, accompanied by an artist’s statement.

All students are required to attend the Creative Writing Program’s two readings this semester.

30% Attendance & Preparation

30% Weekly Poems

10% Recitation & attendance at program events

30% Final Portfolio (Revised poems and an artist’s statement) 

Skibell         Monday       2:30-5:15

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

Pre-requisite: A or A- in Intermediate Fiction

Writing sample: 10-15 pages of fiction (double-spaced) 

Our course will serve as a workshop into the form and structure of fiction writing for the advanced student. We will be working in a round-table workshop format. We will learn by doing. Topics covered will include:

1) scene work; 2) POV; 3) plot vs. narrative; 4) beginning near the end; 5) characterization; 6) dramatic action, etc.

Copying Costs: Each author will be responsible for printing out a copy of the work discussed each week in class. All work must be double-spaced, legibly printed, page-numbered consecutively with the title and author’s name on the first page.

We will be doing some in-class writing. Bring the tools for this: pens, paper, etc.

Writing: Each student will write three short stories for the workshop. The first will be 8-10 pages in length; the second 9-13. As a final project, each student will write a 3- to 5-page story for the final class.

Typically, short stories concentrate on a small plot and a small cast of characters. 

Workshop: In workshop, we will read and discuss each other’s scenes. Through the process of speaking intelligently and generously about other people’s work, one hones one’s own narrative and dramatic sense. Each class member’s work will be discussed two times. Everyone is expected to participate in the roundtable discussions generously and openly.

Reading each other’s work: One of the greatest benefits of the workshop is getting feedback from one’s peers. I encourage you all to be generous with one another on this score. Make honest and full-hearted and generous comments on one another’s manuscripts, and be prepared to throw yourself into the class discussions. Each of you will get back what you give to your peers in this regard.

ALSO: Email me a copy of each of your 1- to 2-page responses at an email address to be provided on the syllabus. You MUST email me a copy of the response BEFORE the workshop, and please email the author in question AFTER the workshop.

Texts: none

Christle         Thursday       1:00-3:45

Students are not required to attend the first class to enroll in this workshop.  

Pre-requisite: A or A- in Intermediate Poetry

Writing sample required: 3-4 poems on separate pages  

This course is intended for students with a serious commitment to poetry, and a strong belief in their ability to learn among a community of people whose work will both overlap with and differ from their own. Students will strive for excellence and excitement in the regular composition and revision of new poems, as well as an ever-broadening sense of the possibilities of our art. In addition to posting poems for workshop, students will provide context for their creative work, sharing influential texts and ideas, in order to deepen the class’s collective ability to understand where their poems are coming from, and where they might be headed. Readings will include full-length poetry collections and essays on craft. Each student will be responsible for guiding discussion of one book (with a partner), and attendance at all Creative Writing Reading Series events is required.

Required Texts (subject to adjustment): 

Feeld by Jos Charles       

Bluff by Danez Smith       

Asphodel, That Greeny Flower & Other Love Poems by William Carlos Williams     

Glass, Irony & God by Anne Carson     

After Lorca by Jack Spicer     

Assessment:

Writing (40%)

15% Weekly poems 

15% Portfolio of revised poems 

10% Where you’re headed essay 

Reading (30%)

15% Comments/annotations on classmates’ poems 

7.5% Book introduction 

7.5% Pre-discussion responses to assigned readings

Participation (30%)

5% Memorization and recitation of a poem

15% Active engagement in discussions and other in-class activities 

5% Two individual conferences

5% Creative Writing Reading Series attendance 

Learning Outcomes:

In this course you will

• Deepen your understanding and practice of the choices poets make as they craft their work.
• Describe and analyze the effects of those choices in the poems of your classmates, published authors, and yourself.
• Gather contextual information and materials to enrich your reading of full-length poetry collections.
• Make your reading a generative source for your own work.
• Sustain regular habits of composing and revising new poems.
• Begin (or continue) to develop your sense of how your work might participate in poetry’s many conversations.
• Write beyond what you already know, growing stronger and more flexible in your creative work.
• Find new corners of your imagination.

Belflower/Pharel        Tuesday    2:30-5:30

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop. 

Pre-requisite: A or A- in Intermediate Playwriting

Writing sample: 10 pages of a play

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

This is an intensive workshop in which you will conceptualize, generate, and workshop long one-act or full-length plays (minimum 60 pages).

This is NOT a place to expand or revise an already-existing script. We are collectively starting at the beginning (a very good place to start). Adaptations are not allowed; riffs might be (let’s talk about it).

The assumption is that you already know how to write a play by gaining entry into this course. Our goal this semester is to push that knowledge further and expand the scope of your work.

I hope this class gives you:

• the ability to define and refine your own, specific creative process that you can return to independently/outside of an academic environment
• the opportunity to practice your creative time-management skills
• the ability to confidently discuss your own work-in-progress and intentions without qualifying or apologizing
• the opportunity to practice giving and receiving feedback that comes from a place of celebration and curiosity, tactics over taste, and meets each play where it is

NOTE: This class is three hours long. It starts at 2:30. Be prepared to start with empty bladders, full water bottles, devices powered up, paper and pen ready. Class ends at 5:30, not 5:15. We will take one 10-minute break in the middle of every class period. Please plan accordingly.

REQUIRED MATERIALS, READING, & EVENTS

Bring to each class: computer/tablet, notebook, writing utensils.

You will be allowed to use computers or tablets for sharing/reading pages in-class ONLY.

You are expected to take notes longhand, and put devices away when we’re not sharing pages (unless you have accommodations that require a device for note-taking — talk to me!).

This means: no typing, no idle scrolling. If you abuse this policy, you will no longer use a device and instead be responsible for your own printing for the remainder of the semester.

I will print hard copies for myself; if you also prefer analogue, please let me know and I’ll work you into my printing schedule.

Texts: 

You will read and respond to plays throughout the semester. PDFs will be provided.

You will attend the following events:  

• Creative Writing Reading Series  
• Lenaia Student Playwriting Festival
• Brave New Works Festival
• 2 Theater Emory productions  
• at least 1 of 2 local professional productions (discounted tickets, approx. $20, will be made available through code TBD)

Assessment: This class will be graded on a 500-point scale. Refer to the syllabus.

Sections:

ENGCW 376RW-1 Nonfiction Magazine and Long-form Writing

Klibanoff       Tuesday       2:30-5:15

ENGCW 376RW-2 Creative Nonfiction: Memoir

Kornick        Thursday        2:30-5:15

Klibanoff's section:

Both accepted and waitlisted students are required to attend the first class. 

Pre-requisite: none; NOT open to first-year students

Writing sample: 6-10 pages of nonfiction or journalistic writing OR explain in a 3-page essay what motivates you to seek a course that emphasizes nonfiction/journalism

This workshop is focused on long-form, nonfiction magazine and feature writing – reading it, reporting it, writing it, and doing so in ways and by means that separate the exceptional from the pedestrian. This is nonfiction. Be prepared to be a reporter, to meet people face-to-face, to ask questions, to see and hear things with your own eyes and ears. My goal is to get your work published. We’ll have visiting experts on hand as we discuss where great ideas come from, how to be strategic in your reporting, the art of the interview, and crafting stories, then stories within stories. We're looking mostly at print, but we will see beyond the dead tree media at the growing opportunities for magazine-style writing and long-form narratives online. Ultimately, the goal of the course is for you to become a considerably wiser and more effective nonfiction storyteller, for which the basis is sound reporting. Students should budget to purchase the textbook and for photocopying.

Text:

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction, Jack Hart (2nd edition)

Assessment:

This course in magazine and feature writing requires students to report, report and report (which means interviewing people, conducting research, observing people, situations) and to write complete stories in a narrative, journalistic style that meets high standards for clarity, accuracy, storytelling and ethics. Students will be assessed primarily on their engagement in effective, ethical reporting (gathering of information) for magazine and feature stories, and on the overall development of their reporting skills; on the development of their narrative writing as they seek the ultimate goal: to produce publishable work; on class participation, and on the quality of their responses to assignments.

Extracurricular activities:

Students are required to attend on-campus readings and colloquia sponsored by the Creative Writing Program outside of class time.

Kornick's section:

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop, no pre-req for non-majors

Writing sample: 3-5 pages of nonfiction, fiction, or poetry

This class broadly considers the idea of memoir—writing the self—and how we shape personal stories into nonfiction that resonates with readers. Through weekly exercises, we’ll explore strategies to turn the self into a character, select the compelling details, and find structure for memories. By reading a range of personal essays and memoir excerpts, alongside craft essays on nonfiction, we’ll find models for telling one’s own story. We’ll experiment with narrative, lyric, and rhetorical approaches to personal nonfiction, and even consider the possibilities of autobiographical fiction. Along the way, we’ll navigate the problems that arise in memoir writing—from elusive details to embarrassment—and find sustaining ways to draw from our lived experiences in our writing.  

Texts:

The Contemporary American Essay by Phillip Lopate   

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick    

Grading:

1. Participation & Preparedness (25%): The quality (not frequency) of verbal communication, engagement and preparedness in craft discussions of readings and workshop, attendance (mandatory), and written feedback to one another factor into this grade.

2. Workshop Submissions (30%): Each student will bring in two fully developed submissions (10-15 double-spaced pages) for workshop this semester. These pieces can be stand-alone personal essays or chapters of a longer memoir project. 

Workshop submission evaluation is based on (1) meeting page and prompt requirements, (2) how well the work engages with the elements of creative nonfiction we’ve discussed in class, and (3) whether students’ own craft as a writer is developing based on feedback.

3. Weekly Exercises (25%): On weeks students aren’t being workshopped, they will write a short piece of creative nonfiction (2-3 double-spaced pages) in response to a prompt inspired by that week’s reading. Weekly exercises should be early drafts and experiments; they will be evaluated based on engagement with the prompt.

4. Final Portfolio Revisions (15%): At the end of the semester, students will significantly revise one workshop submissions and two exercises based on instructor feedback, that of workshop, and the student’s own sense of how the work should evolve.

5. Final Portfolio Craft Statement and Process/Publishing Note (5%): Alongside the revisions, students will also turn in a 1-2 page, single-spaced reflective statement about where they are in their writing. At the end of this creative statement, students will also include a brief note (one paragraph) about the revision process, and what avenues (literary journals, agents, and/or popular outlets) students envision as a fit for the work, considering content, length, and audience.

All students are required to attend the Creative Writing Program’s two readings this semester.

NOTE: The other section of Screenwriting and Advanced Screenwriting taught by Professor Conway is offered through The Department of Film & Media and does not require an application -- you may register for those classes as normal. Do not include these classes on your application. Both of Conway's classes count as a workshop for Creative Writing majors.

Screenwriting: Writing the Short Film

Students must attend the second class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

ENGCW 378RW-1/FILM 378RW-2           Kras         Tuesday             2:30-5:15

ENGCW 378RW-2/FILM 378RW-3           Kras         Wednesday       2:30-5:15

Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop or FILM 101/270

Writing sample: 2-5 pages in any genre, preferably dramatic writing

This course introduces students to dramatic writing for short motion pictures. The topics covered include visual writing, plot, story structure, character, and dialogue. Emphasis is placed on telling a story in cinematic terms. In addition to completing several writing assignments, students are expected to develop, pitch, outline, and write a short screenplay.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• employ standard screenplay format
• identify elements of scene craft, character development, and narrative structure
• demonstrate expanded visual writing skills
• apply a workflow process to their creative writing
• produce original writing projects on a deadline
• revise their writing based on feedback from the instructor and their peers
• evaluate the work of their peers and formulate helpful feedback

Texts:

• The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer’s Guide to the Craft and Elements of a Screenplay by David Howard and Edward Mabley      
• The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style – Third Edition by Christopher Riley       
• Standard screenwriting software of your choice (you may use a free demo version). Examples: Final Draft, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Fade In, etc.
• Film viewing at home: The Wizard of Oz
• The instructor will assign additional readings and films to view. Some films may be viewed in class, while others may be recommended for viewing at home.

Assessment:

• Weekly In-class Participation, Group Work, Attendance Timeliness         45
• Writing Assignment 1 - Visuals, World, & Tone         5
• Writing Assignment 2 - Plot                                          5
• Writing Assignment 3 - Character                               5
• Writing Assignment 4 - Dialogue                                 5
• Attendance at 2 Creative Writing Reading Series Events      5                         
• In-class Pitch for Short Script                                        5
• Step Outline for Short Script                                         5    
• Short Script Draft 1                                                         5
• FINAL DRAFT of Short Script                                        15

 Total                                                                                        100 Points

I do not believe it is appropriate to give a qualitative grade on creative writing. If you turn in your complete work on time and follow directions, you will receive full credit. If not, you will receive a zero for that assignment.

ENGCW 389-1/FILM 385-2 Special Topics: Journalism in the Movies

Klibanoff        Wednesday      2:30-5:15

Students must attend the first class to be enrolled in this workshop.   

Pre-requisite: none; this class is NOT open to first-year students

Writing sample: 2 non-scientific papers that exhibit deep research (10-20 pages total)

If journalism has historically been considered a pure and ethically-driven form of nonfiction; if, pardon the cliché, it is the first rough draft of history; if its principle motivator in this nation’s history has been the pursuit of truth, justice and the American way (you did know Superman/Clark Kent was a newspaper reporter, right?); and if it is the most zealous guardian of not just any amendment to the U.S. Constitution but the First Amendment, then why is the profession of journalism historically misrepresented as crude and corrupt when Hollywood tries to tell its story?

Or is the profession’s purity just an old former newspaperman’s misguided fantasy that confuses vice and virtue in a vocation that consumed him and his conscience for more than 35 years? Newsrooms have long been filled with quiet creative geniuses and loudmouth miscreants, the brilliant and the boorish, the talented and the tawdry, and yet there are few if any professions as tethered to, and as cognizant of, a code of ethics. What does that get you? Good fodder for screenwriters and filmmakers of feature films and documentaries at home and abroad. We’ll dive into this history and have some lively assignments and discussions. 

Text:

The films represent the primary text in the course, and there will be additional handouts as well.

Assessment: 

Students will be expected to analytically view and take notes on every film; to attend all classes, to read all the handouts, to respond originally, conscientiously and comprehensively to all written assignments, and to participate actively in discussions. Students will be exposed to ethical standards in journalism and asked to write about the films in the context of those standards. There will be rotating assignments that involve research into the historical context for the films and how they were received and reviewed when they were released.

Extracurricular activities:

Students are required to attend on-campus readings and colloquia sponsored by the Creative Writing Program outside of class time.

ENGCW 389W-1 Special Topics: Inside/Outside: Writing and Reading Archival Poetics and Eco-poetics

Yanique       MW   11:30-12:45

Students must attend the first class to remain enrolled in this workshop.

Pre-requisite: none 

Writing sample: Choose one of three options: up to 2 pages of poetry; up to 1 page of essay writing; or up to 2 pages of both poetry and essay

In this course we will go inside, into artifacts and archives, to write poetry that arises from what other humans create and leave behind. We will also go out into nature to write poetry that comes out of the natural world. We will consider grass and rain as works of art worthy of poetic response.  We will consider human “stuff” as materiality worthy of poetic examination. We will experiment with poetic forms, as they may be relevant or inspirational. 

Texts:

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, Camille Dungy, ed.    

Wild Kingdom, Vijay Seshadri     

Kingdom Animalia, Aracelis Girmay    

Information Desk, Robyn Schiff  

Look, Solmaz Sharif        

Bellocq’s Ophelia, Natasha Tretheway     

Assessment:

Students will be assessed on four elements of the course: written comments/marginalia comments to fellows students, writing exercises, class participation, and poems, revisions (details will be on the syllabus). Each aspect of the class will be weighed equally at 25%. Students must perform with excellence on all elements of the course to receive an A. Excellence is defined by the professor.  Students performing very well will receive a grade on the B to B+ scale. Students performing well will receive a grade on the C+ to B- scale. Students performing mediocrely will receive a grade on the D to C scale. Students performing inadequately will be asked to leave the class or they will receive an F grade.

You may miss one class without excuse or consequence. Missing two classes will result in one half-reduction of your overall grade. Missing three classes will result in the one full reduction of your overall grade. Missing more than three classes will earn you an F, and removal from the class. If you have accommodations that makes this difficult for you, please speak to the professor before problems arise. 

No assignments are accepted late or by email unless clearly stated in the syllabus. Late assignments will be graded as a zero unless previous arrangement is agreed upon between student and professor. 

ENGCW 389W-2/FILM 385W-1 Special Topics: Adaptation for TV and Film

Kras            Thursday       2:30-5:15

Both accepted and officially waitlisted students must attend the second class to be enrolled in this workshop.   

Pre-requisite: any 200-level workshop or FILM 101/270

Writing sample: 2-5 pages in any genre, preferably dramatic writing

This advanced course will explore the process of adapting existing material into a feature screenplay or teleplay. Students will choose material from the public domain (or their own original short stories/novels/etc.) to adapt. They will formulate a logline, short pitch, treatment, and first act of a feature screenplay (or two acts of a teleplay). Students will also be exposed to the process by which media rights to existing material can be obtained, should they wish to pursue intellectual property in the future.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Analyze a piece of source material and its adapted screenplay to identify the unique techniques and choices implemented in the adaptation.
• Demonstrate the ability to navigate the public domain for access to material.
• Pitch to an audience.
• Write a treatment or format.
• Create a unique, well-structured, character-driven screen adaptation of existing source material.
• Revise work based on feedback.
• Evaluate the work of their peers and formulate helpful feedback.

Texts:  

• Standard screenwriting software of your choice (you may use a free demo version). Examples: Final Draft, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Fade In, etc.
• The student will also have a choice of sources to use for some projects. These must be obtained/purchased independently.
• See syllabus for required reading links/PDFs that will be provided.

Assessment:

• Weekly Class Participation, Class Exercises & Group Work      42 points
• Attendance at Creative Writing Reading Series                            3
• Historical Person Adaptation In-class Pitch                                 10
• Non-text IP Adaptation Project                                                      10
• Public Domain/Own Rights Text 3-5 minute In-class Pitch with Mini Pitch Deck      10
• Public Domain/Own Rights Text Treatment or Format              10
• Public Domain/Own Rights Text Script Pages (25-30)                15

Total                                                                                                             100 points                                                                                                                                                            

I do not believe it is appropriate to give a qualitative grade on creative writing. If you turn in your complete work on time and follow directions, you will receive full credit. If not, you will receive a zero for that assignment.