HENA03639U Engelsk - Frit emne: Rearranging Wor(l)ds: A Creative Writing Course

Course description:
From a word to a word to a world… If you are an aspiring writer, you have already experienced the astounding vigour of verbal creations. If you are new to writing creatively, you will soon discover how such word-crafting gives birth to texts and offers insights into their genesis. In this course you will experiment with fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and literary translation. You will explore these genres by writing as well as reading: to understand strategies employed by other writers and to examine your own practices. You will produce new texts, redraft them, expand your range, discuss your own verbal choices and those of your peers. You will perform short in-class activities; you will also work on take-home assignments – they will contribute to your portfolio and help you decide which genre you want to pursue. Your final texts will be accompanied by short reflective essays which should demonstrate your critical awareness of both the genres and your verbal world.

IMPORTANT: Please note that only 20 participants are allowed. First registered, first served.

Aims:
to experiment with writing in four genres: flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry and translation; to produce work week by week; to focus on a connection between good writing and good reading; to further your expertise in literary criticism and text analysis; to develop effective practices of peer reviewing and self-editing; to reflect on your own writing, both in English and in your home language; to improve your writing skills in English; to expand your knowledge of Creative Writing as an academic discipline.

Learning Methods:
weekly workshop discussions; four online presentations; one individual presentation in class;  independent reading and writing; assembling a portfolio which documents your progress throughout the course.

Outcomes:
By the end of the course you will have: drafted at least eight texts in a variety of forms; built the habits of writing; expanded your repertoire of writing techniques and strategies; been able to select best work for submission; increased your awareness of chosen genres and authors writing within them; become a more informed and nuanced reader; learnt how to incorporate the lessons of reading into your own work; gained experience in giving and taking constructive criticism in workshop discussions; received tutorial advice.

Assessment:
The grade ‘pass/fail’ is awarded on the basis of a complete portfolio, active contribution to the workshops (both in class and online) and systematic writing, which meets all the deadlines.

Successful completion of the course requires:

• 80% attendance (only 3 workshops may be omitted),
• weekly drafting and refining of texts,
• one extended presentation of your text in class,
• four online presentations (one of each genre) via Absalon,
• regular commenting on your peers’ work via Absalon,
• reflecting on your own writing by keeping a logbook of changes,
• weekly readings from the course book (one chapter per week) followed by writing a response passage (max. 100-150 words),
• submission of your portfolio.

 Your portfolio should contain:

• 4 main texts (up to 600 words; one from each genre) with all their drafts,
• 4 one-page (max. 300 words) reflective essays (one per each main text) which should discuss your poetics and drafting process, also referring to your logbook,
• 10 response passages based on the 10 course book chapters.

 
Course book:
Morley, David. 2007. The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing. Cambridge UP.