Sometimes called “the intimate epic,” The novella is one of the richest and most rewarding of literary forms, providing both the concentrated focus of the short story and the broad scope of the novel. This course explores important short novels or novellas both classic and modern, with authors ranging from Brazil to Dublin, Korea, Russia, Austria, Chile and upstate New York. These stories will feature a variety of situations and people, including, a penniless princess, a monstrous insect, and a post office girl as well as fugitives, heroes, villains, nature gods, a superstar, an Irish ghost, a vegetarian and the “extremely online.” We will discuss novellas within their historical, political, social and literary contexts as well as their growing relevance for the 21st Century. Readings: Ivan Turgenev, First Love; James Joyce, The Dead; Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis; Stefan Zweig, The Post-Office Girl; Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star; Toni Morrison, A Mercy; Han Kang, The Vegetarian; Patricia Lockwood, No One is Talking About This.