As an initial creative prompt and means of ongoing inspiration, we will take up an ekphrastic approach to fiction and other genres. Students will respond to visual materials (photos, reproductions of artworks, etc.) with narratives that engage the imagery. The approach will allow us to explore both technical and aesthetic questions surrounding literary and visual representation. The use of painting/photographic materials will serve as a predicate for and be integrated with students’ writing.

This course will ask students to engage texts across a range of genres and forms. Selected course materials may include the work of Barbara Kruger, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, ASCO, Gloria Anzaldúa, Glenn Ligon, Paul Chan, Claudia Rankine, Fred Moten, Valeria Luiselli, and Maggie Nelson. Students will experiment with hybridizing poetry, fiction, narrative nonfiction, literary review, political analysis, printmaking, photography, and/or new media. Prerequisites: Intro of any genre for Writing concentrators, none for non-concentrators.