Advanced Fiction: Reading and Writing Short Novels

Ian MacEwan once said that very few novels earn their length. In this course we will read short works by Roberto Bolaño, Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison, Renata Adler, Justin Torres, and Denis Johnson to explore the power of short novels and take a close look at prose, style, and economic character development. We will examine the constraints of space, and the freedom to experiment with form. Students will generate and workshop the beginnings of their own novellas, and class discussion will be based on our reading and creative work. 3 hrs. sem. (ENAM/CRWR 0170, ENAM/CRWR 0175, or ENAM/CRWR 0185) (Formerly ENAM 0370) (This course is not a college writing course) 3 hrs. sem.