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Creative Writing: Introduction to Prose & Poetry

CRWRI-UA 815-006

Monday & Wednesday: 1:30PM-4:40PM

Summer Session II: July 3- August 15

Instructor: Esther Hoffman

Email: eh2821@nyu.edu

“To read a book well, one should read it as if one were writing it. Begin not by sitting on the bench

among the judges but by standing in the dock with the criminal. Be his fellow worker, become his

accomplice. Even, if you wish merely to read books, begin by writing them”— Virginia Woolf “How

Should One Read a Book”

Writing is a kind of revenge against circumstances too: Bad luck, loss, pain. If you make something out of

it, then you’ve no longer been bested by these events” — Louise Gluck

“Think... of the world you carry within you.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke

I hope this course will make you feel many evocative things, but most of all, an urge to write with

honesty and joy. I strongly believe that each of us have something innately important to say, and we

each have our own unique way of saying it. I celebrate that.

I would like this space to be a place of engagement as we read and revel in the oddness and thrills of the

works presented below and a place where you will be motivated to join this odd and thrilling endeavor

by creating your own works that will contribute to our understanding of ourselves and the world around

READINGS & WORKSHOPS:

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You are responsible to bring with you either a poem or prose work to workshop each Monday,

depending on the genre explored on Wednesday. Preferably, poems should not be more than 6 pages

long. Prose should be a minimum of 2 and up to 10 pages long. Please print copies for the whole class,

including me.

course. We will explore each of the readings, analyze craft and have space to discuss all the feels that

the readings give you (or doesn’t). I want you to be comfortable expressing your thoughts freely, I want

this magic of writing and attempt to achieve our own through careful reading and discussion.

2. Final Portfolio: At the end of the semester, you will gather all your revised works throughout the

semester into a portfolio that will be due on the last day of class.

3. Class Reading Assignments & Participation: Reading the assigned works and participating in class

discussions are essential to the success in both exploring the craft of poetry and prose and

becoming a better writer. I expect full class participation and readings of assigned works.

GRADING:

You are permitted 1 unexcused absence. Please send me an email if you’re going to miss class or be late.

Unexplained and continuous lateness will be marked as an absence with a reduction of your letter

Laptops are welcome in the classroom. Please keep your phone on silent.

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instructor’s attention. Please send an email putting this work in context before submitting work,

especially for workshop, that may be interpreted as such. If you do feel you need someone to talk to at

any point in the semester, please feel safe to reach out to me and I can guide you to the NYU Wellness

Center.

Academic accommodations are available to any student with a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility,

Voice/TTY Fax: 212-995-4114

Web site: http://www.nyu.edu/csd

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Writing prompt “snippets of your day”

So, the point of my keeping a notebook has never been, nor is it now, to have an accurate factual record of what I

have been doing or thinking. That would be a different impulse entirely, an instinct for reality which I sometimes

envy but do not possess. At no point have I ever been able successfully to keep a diary; my approach to daily life

Poems on Poetics

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“The One’s Who Walk Away from Omelas” Ursula LeGuin

“The Jewbird” Bernard Malamud

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Ghazal: “Hip Hop Ghazal” Patricia Smith https://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/hip-hop-ghazal/

Abecedarian: “Abecedarian: On Purchasing and Receiving Genetic Information From Two Commercial

DNA Companies” Sun Yung Shin

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Dialogue

and comments on the work of your peers, which will be due for the next workshop, Monday, August 5 .

The Intimate Voice

“The Gate” Marie Howe https://poets.org/poem/gate-0

“Home After Three Month Away” Robert Lowell (confessional poet) https://poets.org/poem/home-

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The Modern Voice though Time

“Meditations in an Emergency” Frank Ohara https://poets.org/poem/meditations-emergency

14. Bring enough copies of your poems, one for you to read from in class, the other to hand out to your

fellow poets. We will each read our poem and share feedback with each other.

Wednesday, August 7: : Craft of Fiction:

On Violence

Writers on Writing

(Commentary on the “purposed tensions” between Content and Form/Style)

“On Style” Susan Sontag http://www.coldbacon.com/writing/sontag-onstyle.html

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“Lady Lazarus” Sylvia Plath https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49000/lady-lazarus

“Song” Brigit Pegeen Kelly https://poets.org/poem/song

Vignettes/ The Prose Poem

Excerpts from “Bluet” Maggie Nelson https://thecheapestuniversity.org/wp-

Wednesday, August 14: Presentation of Workshop Portfolio

In this class we will present our accumulated and revised work from throughout the semester. You are

welcome to share new work of either poetry or prose that you would like to have workshopped by your

fellow writers.

Final Portfolio is due.