*2026 Spring *NEW* The Writer's Brain
CLASS NUMBER:
770-01
INSTRUCTOR:
TIME:
Tuesdays, 6:30-9 PM
LOCATION:
GLS House, Room 0101, 2114 Campus Drive
DESCRIPTION:
What does the writer know that the reader doesn’t? And what does the writer know about the reader? Reading like a reader involves analyzing, comparing, raising questions, invoking meaning, reacting, etc. Reading like a writer changes the investigation of a text into the art of perception. What can we see in each sentence or paragraph or word? And how does what we see reveal the writer’s role as a sleight-of-hand puppeteer who conducts a story’s unique “logic” into its most satisfying conclusion?
In this course, we will strengthen our perception of what is on the page in aim to harness the writers’ brain in our own writing. We will investigate a range of craft essays, author interviews, fiction, and creative nonfiction to unpack precisely how writers’ choices in language, content, and form affect the readers’ experience. Practicing slow reading of texts will reveal how the writer exceedingly accounts for their reader even as the reader remains largely unaware of the writers’ moves. Anne Garréta, Carmen Maria Machado, Rachel Cusk, Harold Brodkey, Amy Hempel, Mary Robison, Miranda July, Jeffrey Eugenides and Eudora Welty are some of the likely authors we will read.
This course requires active class participation, weekly reading and writing prompts, one class workshop (fiction or nonfiction), and a creative final portfolio plus reflection.
In this course, we will strengthen our perception of what is on the page in aim to harness the writers’ brain in our own writing. We will investigate a range of craft essays, author interviews, fiction, and creative nonfiction to unpack precisely how writers’ choices in language, content, and form affect the readers’ experience. Practicing slow reading of texts will reveal how the writer exceedingly accounts for their reader even as the reader remains largely unaware of the writers’ moves. Anne Garréta, Carmen Maria Machado, Rachel Cusk, Harold Brodkey, Amy Hempel, Mary Robison, Miranda July, Jeffrey Eugenides and Eudora Welty are some of the likely authors we will read.
This course requires active class participation, weekly reading and writing prompts, one class workshop (fiction or nonfiction), and a creative final portfolio plus reflection.
Spring 2026, Arts, English, Literature