Writing as Experimental & Ecological Practice: Eco-literature, Fiction & Cross-Genre Workshop

This sophomore to senior cross-genre & fiction focused intermediate program is part of the Literary Arts & Studies path and cross-pollinates with interdisciplinary approaches to the environment and the climate on and beyond campus. It is appropriate for students interested in creative writing, literature and literary studies, the environmental humanities, ecological psychology and ecological arts. The program offers participants lively and rigorous support for generating new writing, and/or developing existing writing projects; practicing craft in community; analyzing contemporary literary, philosophical, and environmental texts; and developing tools and techniques with which to critique and revise our own works-in-progress. We'll read as writers, studying and learning from the interplay of structure, lineage, genre, ethics, politics, and aesthetics in powerful, effective texts, with a focus on the idea of writing as experiment. Our readings will expose us to a wide range of approaches to literary form.

This program is inquiry-driven and text-focused. We will practice creative and critical writing, discussion, and thinking about complex works of literature, ecological philosophy and psychology, and art. Students will leave understanding how to recognize a range of literary forms and artistic techniques including parable, allegory, prefiguration, parody, elision, and ruse. Students will explore character building, the rhetoric of fiction, and cross-genre sensibilities and aesthetics. Students will improve their reading comprehension and their analytical and creative writing abilities. As part of our inquiry, we will read eco-psychology and eco-literature, including works that grapple with climate change, as well as environmental philosophy. Students will become better versed in contemporary issues at the intersections of ethics, literary aesthetics and interpretation, and ecological psychology from environmental-humanist and eco-arts perspectives. In spring quarter, we will develop advanced projects, based on drafts generated in prior quarters, through intensive workshop, and deepen our writing lives in community. 

No art form exists in isolation. We'll cultivate our fluency and sharpen our theoretical vision by intersecting with pertinent forums on campus, including lectures and events centered in climate studies, eco-psychology, and environmental ethics where possible, and The Art Lecture Series. Our participation in the Art Lecture Series will increase our understanding of the vital symbiotic interconnections between cultural theory, literature, and the visual arts (of special interest for those who use visual imagery in their creative writing). Come prepared to read anywhere from 100-300 pages a week; write intensively and rigorously; collaborate respectfully; experiment playfully; and think cross-disciplinarily, holistically, and connectively.