Taught by

Dawn Barron

writing, Native and Indigenous studies

This course explores elements of creative writing across genres and provides students with a myriad of writing "tools" and prompts for their writing practice. Designed for the emerging, as well as advanced, writer, we will focus on the theme of Identity & Imagination in crafting our creative works--poetry, fiction, fairy tales, braided essays, and hybrid forms. Students will identify and expand their unique voice and writing style through the process of draft, workshop, edit, and revision practices.

Writer Natalie Goldberg states in her seminal work, Writing Down the Bones, "Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones of our minds come nitrogen, heat, and stories." Our lived experience and identities (fluid in both memory and place) provide the scaffolding for creative writing. Writing is the vehicle for stories and a way to make sense of self, and the world.

Whether you are writing an essay about immigration issues, a poem about the ocean, or a speculative novel set 200 years in the future, you want to use compelling language, brilliant metaphors, excellent grammar, and a structure that engages your reader-- this is what we will be learning and doing. Students will keep a writing journal to record observations and ideas in addition to weekly writing prompts and assignments, class seminars, peer workshops, and a collaborative writing project. There is no required textbook(s). Readings will be uploaded to the Canvas site for students to access. 

Native Pathways students register using CRN 20492

All other students register using CRN 20493

This offering will prepare you for careers and advanced study in:

creative writing

Credits per quarter
Variable Credit Options Available

Variable Credit Options:

An 8-credit option is available for NPP students. Please contact Dawn Barron (barrond@evergreen.edu) for signature. 

Fields of study: 

• literature
• writing

Class Standing: Freshman–Senior
Class Size: 25

Scheduled for: Evening

Located in: Native Pathways - Olympia