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The NYCWP is offering two literature workshops this Fall 2021: “Redefining Memory” and “Subverting Genre.” Read about the programs below, and be sure to look out for similar programming in the future!
Redefining Memory
Writers are often told, “write what you know,” but that doesn’t mean memoir is not a deeply imaginative process. In this reading and discussion group, we will examine one text per month and discuss the ways in which experimental writers are bending the boundaries of memory and redefining what “autobiography” constitutes. We will experiment with different forms, modalities and narrative structures as participants repackage their own experiences into unique ways of telling their story. A second semester of this workshop will be offered in the spring with a different book list.
- October 16: In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado
- November 13: Dictee, by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
- December 11: Jane: A Murder by Maggie Nelson
- January 15: The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom
When: Saturdays, 10am – 12pm
Where: Online, Zoom
Cost: $125
Subverting Genre
It is often the writer who dwells on the future that shows us the darkness of our own age. In this seminar we will be surveying multiple facets of genre fiction to discover what is possible outside the confines of “traditional” literature. Our goal will be to observe both the strengths and the weaknesses of each novel we explore to better understand what can be learned, borrowed, or adapted to our own work. Special care will be given to the prejudices or problematic aspects that may or may not exist within each novel with an aim of learning to subvert such tropes. While it is beyond the bounds of this course to be all-encompassing, the booklist has been designed to give solid introductions to Afro-futurism, historical speculative fiction, Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and 1960’s American science fiction.
- October 9: Clay’s Ark, by Octavia Butler
- November 6: Ledfeather, by Stephen Graham Jones
- December 4: The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle
- January 8: VALIS, by Philip K. Dick
When: Saturdays, 10am – 12pm
Where: Online, Zoom
Cost: $125
Contact: jane.higgins@lehman.cuny.edu
Both workshops provide CTLE credit.
