CRW 5130 Spring 2023 Howard

In this workshop, we will study the combinations of image and pattern required in our fiction. We will consider notes on visual storytelling, including Susan Sontag’s “anthology of images” and “grammar of seeing” concepts. Toni Morrison’s process of moving from “picture to meaning to text” will also be a guide. Other lessons in photography will come from Teju Cole, Eudora Welty, Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Our primary craft text will be Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode. The book classifies prose structure using forms derived from nature—waves, cycles, colors, explosions, etc. We will consider those examples as we read students’ short stories and novel chapters. We will also look for patterns in the assigned readings, including work by Deesha Philyaw, Joshua Ferris, Daniel Alarcón, Laura Van Den Berg, Uwem Akpan, Rion Amilcar Scott, Paul Yoon, Amina Gautier, and Dantiel Moniz. We’ll read two novels, Paul Harding’s Tinkers and Edwidge Danticat’s Claire and the Sea Light. Each writer will workshop two pieces—short stories or novel excerpts. If time permits, each writer will lead a craft talk or close reading of an author of their choosing.