Think about it: the signature genre of our literary moment just might be a casually experimental work that combines essayistic and poetic impulses, no matter how that work might otherwise be slotted for the convenience of a cultural schema (as ""poetry,"" ""fiction,"" or ""nonfiction""). In this seminar we track this convergence of lyric, fiction, and essay across some exemplary modern achievements in literature, film, and visual art. Our potential subjects could include prose writers (for instance, ranging across Annie Ernaux, Lucy Sante, Kathy Acker, Teju Cole, Michael Ondaatje, James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, Ralph Lemon, Durga Chew-Bose, Larissa Pham, Octavia E. Butler, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Sam Stephenson, Maggie Nelson, Camonghne Felix, Bernadette Mayer, Dorothea Lasky, and John Keene); poets (for instance, ranging across Robin Coste Lewis, Solmaz Sharif, Tina Chang, Claudia Rankine, Lisa Robertson, Camille T. Dungy, Kathryn Cowles, J. Mae Barizo, Matthew Rice, Shane McCrae, Jericho Brown, Fred Moten, James Merrill, Frank Bidart, Tyehimba Jess, Louise Glück, Susan Howe, Lyn Hejinian, Louise Glück, Paisley Rekdal, and also John Keene); visual artists (for instance, ranging across Sophie Calle, Weegee, Lorna Simpson, Joe Brainard, Moyra Davey, Amy Sillman, Larry Sultan & Mike Mandel, Nan Goldin, Wendy Red Star, Glenn Ligon, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Deana Lawson, Manny Farber, Ed Ruscha, Mike Kelley, Raymond Pettibon, Dayanita Singh, Adrian Piper, and musician/artist Lonnie Holley); and film-makers (for instance, ranging across Arthur Jafa, Dziga Vertov, Germaine Duracell, Marie Mencken, Chris Marker, Maya Deren, Chantal Akerman, Agnes Varda, Barbara Loden, Thom Anderson, Raoul Peck, Barbara Hammer, Todd Haynes, and Guy Maddin). These lists of course only hint at the possibilities — and by September’s seminar we will focus on a concise syllabus from their multiple arts and literary genres. There will be short weekly writing assignments, and each student will compile over the course of the semester a sort of annotated rival syllabus of analogous, complementary, and parallel work by writers and artists other than those we are studying. There will be a final creative project of a student’s own devising that will be presented to the seminar during the final sessions. Our intention is not only to look closely at these important writers and artists, but also to discover techniques and strategies we can then pursue in our own writing, whether prose or poetry.

The Graduate Writing Program includes intensive Creative Writing practicum seminars on contemporary and traditional literary topics, which are investigated from the specialized perspective of active writers. In contrast to the familiar literature seminar, there is sustained emphasis on close reading in the context of the writer’s process—techniques, strategies, research, and methods—along with issues of literary and cultural history and theory. Topics vary each semester, but all Reading and Practice seminars are conducted by accomplished writers working at the forefronts of culture. Classes meet once a week for two-and-one-half hour sessions, conveniently scheduled during the early evenings. Reading and Practice Seminars are open to graduate students across the university, dependent upon availability.

The Graduate Writing Program includes intensive Creative Writing practicum seminars on contemporary and traditional literary topics, which are investigated from the specialized perspective of active writers. In contrast to the familiar literature seminar, there is sustained emphasis on close reading in the context of the writer’s process—techniques, strategies, research, and methods—along with issues of literary and cultural history and theory. Topics vary each semester, but all Reading and Practice seminars are conducted by accomplished writers working at the forefronts of culture. Classes meet once a week for two-and-one-half hour sessions, conveniently scheduled during the early evenings. Reading and Practice Seminars are open to graduate students across the university, dependent upon availability.

The Graduate Writing Program includes intensive Creative Writing practicum seminars on contemporary and traditional literary topics, which are investigated from the specialized perspective of active writers. In contrast to the familiar literature seminar, there is sustained emphasis on close reading in the context of the writer’s process—techniques, strategies, research, and methods—along with issues of literary and cultural history and theory. Topics vary each semester, but all Reading and Practice seminars are conducted by accomplished writers working at the forefronts of culture. Classes meet once a week for two-and-one-half hour sessions, conveniently scheduled during the early evenings. Reading and Practice Seminars are open to graduate students across the university, dependent upon availability.

The Graduate Writing Program includes intensive Creative Writing practicum seminars on contemporary and traditional literary topics, which are investigated from the specialized perspective of active writers. In contrast to the familiar literature seminar, there is sustained emphasis on close reading in the context of the writer’s process—techniques, strategies, research, and methods—along with issues of literary and cultural history and theory. Topics vary each semester, but all Reading and Practice seminars are conducted by accomplished writers working at the forefronts of culture. Classes meet once a week for two-and-one-half hour sessions, conveniently scheduled during the early evenings. Reading and Practice Seminars are open to graduate students across the university, dependent upon availability.