Contemporary literary culture is a conversation and you’re invited to the table! This course is for writers and readers alike who are interested in contemporary writing and literary salon style conversation. The assigned reading for this course includes books featured in the Creative Writing Program’s acclaimed public events series, which coincides with our class meeting time. We have the opportunity to attend events featuring the books we read and join a conversation with the authors, alert to the ways their work might deepen and expand our own writing or creative practice. Along with five featured books that we select to read over the course of the semester, we also read shorter selections of new work featured in literary journals, media platforms, performance spaces, and where-ever we find it. As a part of our dialogue, we consider context, content, and craft, as well as how writers are responding to and intervening in important cultural and political conversations. Students write short weekly pieces based on prompts we design based on ideas from the authors we are reading. These submissions can be either creative or critical pieces. Students choose a favorite piece to revise and expand. The course fulfills a literature seminar requirement for Creative Writing majors and is open to all undergraduate students. Come join the most inspiring and collaborative book club in NYC.