CRW5130-0003 – Spring 2027 – 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 concepts of the anthology of images and the grammar of seeing. 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 patterns in workshop pieces and assigned readings that may include the short stories of Dantiel Moniz, Joshua Ferris, Daniel Alarcón, Laura Van Den Berg, Uwem Akpan, Rion Amilcar Scott, Amina Gautier, and Joy Castro. We will read one novel, The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead. Each writer will workshop two submissions, short stories, or novel sections. Before their workshop session, the writer can provide five questions for the respondents to consider. This approach allows the writer to add their voice to the discussion. Graduate students outside of the Creative Writing Program will need the instructor’s permission to enroll in the workshop.