CREATIVE WRITING DEPARTMENT

CREATIVE WRITING DEPARTMENT

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS SPRING 2010

http://www.sfsu.edu/online/clssch.htm

UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES:

301.01 Fundamentals of Creative Writing Tues 4:10-6:55 p.m. Evy Pine

301.02 Fundamentals of Creative Writing Thurs 12:35-3:20 p.m. Chris Peddler

Prerequisite: English 114, or equivalent. Priority enrollment given to English emphasis in Creative Writing and emphasis in Education majors. Instruction and extensive practice in writing poetry, fiction, and plays, with selected readings of exemplary stories, poems, and plays. NOTE: CW 301, Fundamentals of Creative Writing, with a grade of "C" or above, is the prerequisite for all the undergraduate writing workshops (CW 600, 602, 603, 604, 605, 609, 699). Enrollment in undergraduate writing workshops is limited to undergraduate majors in English, Creative Writing. Non-majors may sometimes be admitted with consent of instructor.)

302.01 Fundamentals of Creative Reading Tues 7-9:45 p.m. Rose Haynes

We will study a wide variety of texts (poems, short stories, plays, a novel and a work of creative non fiction) in order to explore the role of the reader as participant in the writer’s work. We will investigate the writer’s artistry, voice, use of language and how they use elements of craft in making their work come alive for the reader. Students will also do a wide variety of writing exercises in order explore their own individual creative voices.

302.02 Fundamentals of Creative Reading Wed 12:10-2:55 p.m. Steve Dickison

This course will emphasize developing methods and habits of reading, by focusing on exemplary writings in poetry, narrative prose, and drama (with possible forays into its extension cinema). A course in basic elements: time, space, sound, rhythm, silence, texture, color, movement, shape, weight, etc. Poetry (as poesis = making) is intrinsic to all modes of written art, whether narrative prose with its modes of telling, or drama that incorporates action, “the play.” Students will get exposed to writings historical and contemporary, come to cultivate a habit of active reading and interpretation, build one’s desire for reading, and learn ways to talk and write about another’s writing (key to reading one’s own). Writing assignments will be in response to the assigned readings. NOTE: CW 302, Fundamentals of Creative Reading, is the prerequisite for all upper division English literature courses for English, emphasis in Creative Writing majors.

510.01 Nature Poetry Mon 12:10-2:55 p.m. Camille Dungy

Prequisite: CW 301 or CW 101 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment limited to creative writing majors; non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Whether it’s loved or reviled, cherished or practically dismissed, the natural world is central to all of this course’s texts. Through close readings and creative assignments, we’ll access tools that might prove useful for your own work. Investigating their approaches to form, language, narrative, and poetic strategies, you’ll learn about how and why poets incorporate landscape, animals, or other manifestations of the natural world. Through discussion, close readings, critical papers, and creative assignments, we’ll access tools that might prove useful for your own work. Course texts will include Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, The Wild Iris, The Orchard, and Bird Watching in Wartime.

510.02 Rhythms of Poetry Tues 3:35-6:20 p.m. Dan Langton

Prerequisite: CW 301 or CW 101 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment limited to creative writing majors. Rhythm comes to us from ancient Greek, where it meant flow, as in the flow of a river. Today it means the study of the effects of ordered movement attained through the techniques of prosody. The course is a series of lectures and presentations, with exercises and examples as appropriate submitted by students. We will begin with the basics, the notations, systems, jargon and shorthand used to discuss the materials and vocabulary of poetry. Then to become award of the major forms of Oriental and Occidental poetry. These are some of the lectures given in previous sessions of the course: The Language of Poetry; Symbol and Symbolism; Myth and Archetype; Theories of Poetry; On Imagination and Perception; The Classic and the Romantic; Surrealism and Pragmatism; A History of Concepts; The Ethics of Literature.

510.03 The Short-Short Story/Prose Poem Wed 4:10-6:55 p.m. Barbara Tomash

Prerequisite: CW 301 or CW 101 with a grade of C or better and CW 511 or consent of instructor.Enrollment limited to creative writing majors The prose poem and the short short story are kindred genres. Utilizing techniques of compression, heightened language, and intensity of image and idea, they create in our imaginations surprising, beautiful, inexplicable, odd, funny, and sometimes indelible experiences. In this course we will inquire into the nature of the essential. What happens when storytelling and the “languaging” of experiences are pared down to the bone? How do we convey the compactness, the speed, the multiplicity of our everyday perceptions, and of our dreams? What are these flashes and sudden transformations that delight and haunt us, and how do we capture them on the page? We will read a wide variety of short short stories and prose poem by international and American writers including C.D. Wright, Grace Paley, Francine Prose, Charles Simic, Jamaica Kincaid, Amy Gerstler, Maxine Chernoff, Peter Orner and many others. We’ll make a close study of the elements of craft that make these works formally alive and expressive. With weekly exercises based on our readings we will have the opportunity to practice writing short short stories and prose poems of our own. In small group format we will discuss our new writings with the intention of helping the writer further clarify, intensify, and realize his or her creative response to the assignment.

511.01 Craft of Poetry Tues 12:35-3:20 p.m. Paul Hoover

Prerequisite: CW 301 or CW 101 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment limited to creative writing majors. This course focuses on basic craft elements of poetry: diction, imagery, rhythm, voice, form, and the vocabulary of the genre. It also investigates the historical and cultural influences that give us our current assumptions about poetry. Lectures are supplemented by discussion of student and professional poems. Course satisfies the GWAR/CWEP requirement.

512.01 Craft of Fiction Thurs 12:35-3:20 p.m. Matthew C. Davison

Prerequisite: CW 301 or CW 101 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. Using Janet Burroway's WRITING FICTION as a guiding text along with a contemporary anthology, we explore craft elements of fiction: plot, dialogue, character, point of view, place, etc. Focus is on published writing and exercises. Some student work is discussed. Course satisfies the GWAR/CWEP requirement.

512.02 Craft of Fiction Wed 7-9:45 p.m. Donna de la Perrière

Prerequisite: CW 301 or CW 101 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. Basic craft elements of fiction: plot, dialogue, character, point of view, and place. Discussion of student and professional writing. Course satisfies the GWAR/CWEP requirement.

513.01 Craft of Playwriting Mon 4:10-6:55 p.m. Anne Galjour

Prerequisite: CW 301 or 101 with a grade of C or better Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. This course is the study of the principles used in the craft of dramatic writing. Will focus on action, character, conflict, crisis, climax, structure, scene, setting, plot, story, subtext, with an emphasis on the art of writing good dialogue.We will look at the origins of play writing through the study of OEDIPUS by Sophocles, to the birth of modern theatre as expressed through Chekhov’s UNCLE VANYA, all the way to modern master works by August Wilson, Nilo Cruz, David Mamet, and Caryl Churchill. Students will write critical essays in response to these playwrights? use of language, strategies in craft elements, themes, individual voice, and sources of inspiration for their works. In short we will discover for ourselves why these works continue to get produced to this day. Students will learn proper page formatting for playwriting. They will write scenes and short plays generated from in class and take home writing assignments throughout the entire semester. Course satisfies the GWAR/CWEP requirement.

520.01 Writers on Writing Mon 7-9:45p.m. Maxine Chernoff

Prerequisite: ENG 214 or equivalent. Faculty and visiting writers representing a range of styles and subjects read from their works and discuss their creative process with students. Open to all students. Students who have completed C W 820 may not take C W 520 for credit. Paired with CW 820. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

550.01 Poetry Center Workshop Thurs 3:35-6:20 p.m. Steve Dickison

Prerequisite: ENG 114 and CW 301, or consent of instructor. This course is constructed around the Poetry Center reading series, with its curriculum based on the work of poets and writers invited to read in the series. Emphasis will be on writing by poets, with some appearances by writers working in other modes. We’ll be reading then hearing and seeing a range of excellent contemporary poets and writers.Writing assignments will be in response to the assigned readings. Paired with CW 850. Note: this course can be used to fulfill 3 units of the creative process requirement. Students who have completed CW 550 may not later take CW 850 for credit.

600.01 Journal Writing Tues 7-9:45 p.m. Frances Phillips

Prerequisites: CW 301 and 511, 512, or 513. Enrollment limited to CW majors. Writing course which teaches how to use the journal as a writer's notebook, both as a tool for discipline and for experimentation. The journal form as literary form will also be used to create texts of poetry, playwriting and prose. Students will make the step from a personal journal to a writer’s daily workbook and process of experimenting. Students will be encouraged to use the journal form in creating texts of poetry, or prose, or playwriting or mixed forms. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

601.01 Work in Progress Thurs 4:10-6:55 p.m. Barbara Tomash

Often writers do their work under the intense pressures of earning a living and in a society that has little sympathy with the long, time consuming, and deeply eccentric creative process.Yet it is precisely the stimulation and challenges of this rich process that can sustain us as writers over the years.This course will focus on the creative process as it extends past the initial burst of inspiration into “the long haul” as illuminated in process essays and creative pieces by poets, playwrights, and fiction writers, and through writing practice and class discussion.Work in Progress is an advanced process course that offers graduating senior creative writing students the opportunity to embark on a extended writing project of their own design.Our emphasis and focus will be on the critical (and exciting) first exploratory phase. We will study and try out a wide variety of creative practices that writers can use to keep their projects alive, open, and dynamic over the long haul. These practices will also enhance the work of deepening, extending, and revising our projects.

601.02 Work in Progress Tues 7-9:45 p.m. Truong Tran

Prerequisite: Senior standing in Creative Writing major. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. Capstone course for seniors. One focus of this course is revision. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

603.01 Short Story Writing Thurs 7-9:45 p.m. Alice LaPlante

603.02 Short Story Writing Mon 7-9:45 p.m. Camille Roy (M. ADAMS in online class schedule)

Prerequisites: CW 301 and CW 512, or consent of instructor. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. Short Story Writing explores the story form--via reading, writing and investigating the work of classmates. Students respond to weekly readings, write stories and actively participate in class discussions. Course texts will range in style, form and tradition. May be repeated for a total of 6 units.

604.01 Poetry Writing Mon 12:10-2:55 p.m. Toni Mirosevich

Prerequisites: CW 301 and CW 511 or consent of instructor. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. The aim of this poetry writing workshop is to foster your growth as a working poet. Class meetings will be spent engaging in the development of the poetic craft. It will also be a time devoted to experimentation as we enter re-enter your work and that of your classmates. We will examine the effectiveness of voice, form and the word as it relates to the page. The workshop will hone your craft as both writer and reader, poet and editor through the process of discussions and feedback. Through a series of process oriented exercises, the workshop will enable you to generate new works. A final project consisting of 5-7 page paper exploring your development of craft and poetics is required of every student enrolled in the course.

605.01 Writing and Performing Monologues Wed 4:10-6:55 p.m. Brian Thorstenson

Prerequisite: CW 301 and CW 513, or consent of instructor. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing and Theatre Arts majors. Studying a variety of definitions and models of monologues, we will consider modes of composition and transmission as well as performance techniques. We will explore the connection between the page and the stage. We will practice a variety of vocal, physical and writing exercises designed help the student relax so that characters and their stories can come emerge. Students will develop their own pieces and to apply these techniques and methods to their own projects. (Also offered as TH A 605. May not be repeated under alternate prefix.)

609.02 - 7 Directed Writing: B.A. Times By Arrangement

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor required! Enrollment priority is given to undergraduate Creative Writing majors. In this course you work on your writing, one-on-one with the instructor, at times to be arranged between the two of you. The Creative Writing Office class schedule handouts list which instructors teach which genres (fiction, poetry, or playwriting). The semester before you plan to enroll in Directed Writing, submit a writing sample in the instructor’s mailbox, with a cover letter with your full name, address, phone number and e-mail address. When the instructor is off campus, the Creative Writing Office will mail your writing sample and coverletter to her or him, for you. May be taken for three semesters of credit.

640.01 TRANSFER Literary Magazine Tues 4:10-6:55 p.m. Nona Caspers

Prerequisites: CW 301 and either CW 403, 404, 405 or consent of instructor. "The important thing to do is to commit to writing as much as possible . . . Make a commitment to an independent magazine or publication . . . We're all connected to this large community and we all need to take an active part in it. If writers can make those kinds of commitments, they'll feel connected" (Jewelle Gomez). Join the staff of Transfer, the literary magazine of the Creative Writing Department. The course is designed to give you a working taste of what it takes to put out a literary magazine, including analysis and discussion of short-listed submissions, proofreading, solicitation and distribution. The course will also ask you to think about the world of literary magazines and your own beliefs in literature. Come prepared to analyze and discuss text and investigate your own literary aesthetics. This is a process course (not a lab) and can be used to fulfill 3 units of the Creative Process requirement. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

675.01 Community Projects in Literature Tues 4:10-6:55 p.m. Peter Orner

Prerequisites: CW 101 or 301 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors. Non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Take this course if you want to do an internship. Students are placed in work positions in community literary organizations such as Intersection for the Arts, City Arts and Lectures, Mercury House, and other centers so that they acquire practical knowledge of writing in the larger social context. May be repeated once for up to 6 units of credit. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

685 Undergraduate Projects in Teaching Creative Writing Times By Arrangement

Prerequisites: Advanced undergraduate standing, grade of B+ or better in the course in which the student will be an aide, and approval of the department Chair. Students are placed with a creative writing faculty member in a supervised practicum/internship experience, in which they explore the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching creative writing. This is the course to sign up for if you want to be an instructional aid, (I.A.) in a specific undergraduate class for 3 units of credit. Email the Creative Writing Department the first two weeks of the semester in which you wish to be enrolled in Projects Teaching Creative Writing. Please include all of the following information in your email: your first and last name, your enrollment status (major; undergraduate or graduate), the instructor’s name and class. You will receive an email response with the schedule and permit numbers to use to enroll in this class. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

699 Independent Study

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and a 3.0 GPA. Upper division students may enroll for special work under the supervision of a member of the Creative Writing department. This course may be taken for one, two, or three units. Enrollment is by petition, and a copy of your SFSU transcript. Petition For Individual Study forms are available in the Creative Writing department office, and must be signed by the instructor you will be working with, an advisor, and the department chair. (You will not be able to enroll in this course before the semester starts, through either online or Touch-tone Registration; the schedule numbers are unpublished. The Creative Writing Office will give you the schedule and permit numbers to use based on who your teacher is and the number of units you plan to enroll in.)

GRADUATE CLASSES:

Note: Preference in graduate courses will be given to students admitted to either the M.A. or the M.F.A. programs in Creative Writing. Preference in M.F.A. level courses will be given to students admitted to the M.F.A. program. Priority in M.A. and M.F.A. writing workshops will be given to students admitted in the genre of the course; other CW graduate students may enroll in these courses only with the permission of the instructor.

785 Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Creative Writing Times By Arrangement

Prerequisite: classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Consent of Instructor; Grade of B or better in the course or its equivalent in which the student will be an aide. This course is an application of previously acquired knowledge through assisting instruction and learning pedagogical strategies--in other words, you will be a graduate instructional aid (GIA) in the course for 3 units of credit. Email the Creative Writing Department the first two weeks of the semester in which you wish to be enrolled in Projects Teaching Creative Writing. Please include all of the following information in your email: your first and last name, your enrollment status (major and graduate program), the instructor’s name and class, the number of times you have enrolled in CW 785. You will receive an email response with the schedule and permit numbers to use to enroll in this class. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

803.01 Advanced Short Story Writing Tues 7-9:45 p.m. Peter Orner

Prerequisite: classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. An advanced fiction writing course taught in a workshop setting, with an emphasis on craft. Feedback will offer inspiration toward creative work as we build our critical skills and abilities, in the process looking for those areas that beg further exploration.

804.01 Advanced Poetry Writing Tues 4:10-6:55 p.m. Paul Hoover

Prequisites: classified graduate status in creative writing. Writing poetry with emphasis on analysis of student work and growth of critical abilities. Each class will also include discussion of professional craft models to be provided by the instructor. Writing assignments may be made on occasion. This course may be repeated for a total of 9 units.

808.01 Novel Writing Thurs 4:10-6:55 p.m. Dodie Bellamy

Prerequisite: classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. This class is a workshop geared towards those who are already in the process of working on a novel, though those just beginning novels are also welcome. Twice during the semester students will present for class discussion up to 25 pages of their novels in progress. Students will also do several short writing exercises, using the characters and situations from their own novels. These exercises are presented as an opportunity for students to experiment and to explore specific aspects of craft, such as dialogue, point of view, description. Additional reading assignments will be minimal.

809.02 - 7 Directed Writing for Graduate Students Times By Arrangement

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in Creative Writing and consent of instructor required! Enrollment priority is given to graduate students in the M.A. English, Creative Writing and M.F.A. Creative Writing programs. In this course you work on your writing, one-on-one with the instructor, at times to be arranged between the two of you. The semester before you plan to enroll in Directed Writing, submit a writing sample in the instructor’s mailbox, with a cover letter with your full name, address, phone number and e-mail address. When the instructor is off campus, the Creative Writing Office will mail your writing sample and coverletter to her or him, for you. May be taken for three semesters of credit.

810.02 Centering on Language Wed 4:10-6:55 p.m. Stacy Doris

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. This seminar explores notions of Conceptualist Poetics. We will begin with reading Notes on Conceptualisms (Place and Fitterman) and then look to some of the material it references, both theoretical works (essays by de Mann, Craig Owens, Adorno, Foster, Benjamin and/or others) and books of poetry (Christian Bok, Laynie Browne, Rob Fitterman, Kim Rosenfield, Dan Farrell, Nada Gordon and/or others). Students will make presentations and conduct their own sustained forays into Conceptualist creative writing.

810.03 Prose Writers in the Archives: Queer Poets and Writers in the Archives Mon 12:10-2:55 p.m. Bob Gluck

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. Queer Poets and Writers in the Archives. In this delightful course we will put our feet up and watch the amazing tapes held in the American Poetry Archives and perhaps other archives as well. We will go back to the fifties, with Frank O’Hara and Robert Duncan, and Jack Spicer, explore Lesbian Feminism with Judy Grahn and Monique Wittig, the Beats with Ginsberg and Burroughs, and so much else: Dennis Cooper, Eileen Myles, Nicole Brassard, Langston Hughes, to name a few. Perhaps we will augment these tapes with films—say, of plays by Joe Orton and Teneesee Williams. Since we are watching readings, I want to pay attention to the form itself, with an ongoing discussion about reading styles. You will be responsible for a presentation on one of the writers, and some ongoing critical work. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

810.04 Visons of Childhood Tues 7-9:45 p.m. Camille Dungy

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. Childhoods: We all had one, and most of us have opinions about our own and about other people’s too. In this multi-genre course we will read several texts that view childhood from the perspectives of children, parents, peers, admirers, and passersby. Through our reading and creative responses, we’ll explore voice, point of view, tone, subject, and choice of genre, as you discover how to best capture childhood on the page. Course reading will include: Tender Hooks, Beth Anne Fennelly; The Pink Institution, Selah Saterstrom; “My Russian Education,” Vladimir Nabokov; Magic City, Yusef Komunyakaa; Leaving Atlanta, Tayari Jones; and more. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

820.01 Writers on Writing Mon 7-9:45 p.m. Maxine Chernoff

Prerequisites: graduate status or consent of instructor. Faculty and visiting writers representing a range of styles and subjects read from their works and discuss their creative process with students. Open to all students. Creative and/or critical projects required. Paired with C W 520. Students who have completed C W 520 may not take C W 820 for credit. CROSS GENRE COURSE. Open to both M.A. and M.F.A. Creative Writing students.

825.01 Playwright’s Theatre Workshop Mon 4:10-6:55 p.m. Brian Thorstenson

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in M.A. or M.F.A. Creative Writing programs or consent of instructor. In this workshop course we’ll engage with the process of moving a play from “the page to the stage.” Working with actors and directors from the Bay Area theater community we will produce staged readings of three full-length plays and a collection of shorter works. All readings will be presented at Teatro de la Esperanza. Through a collaborative rehearsal period, playwrights will interact with their play in motion, gaining information for further entry into the work. A series of generative and analytic exercises will be assigned through the course of the semester. A final production journal will include rehearsal notes, play synopsis, image equations, and formatted script. Open to both M.A. and M.F.A. Creative Writing students.

840.01 Fourteen Hills Literary Magazine Thurs 7-9:45 p.m. Matthew Davison

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Through assigned reading on different aspects of American literary magazines, students will get an insider's view of the life of the magazine editor, and the particular challenges the job of editor entails. In addition, students will learn how to read and discuss work for the magazine (as differs from discussing work in a workshop), and learn the very marketable skills of double-proofing, copyediting, and proofreading. The students will then apply on a practical level the skills they have learned to the production of Fourteen Hills, taking part in discussions of material to be published,

editing the text of the magazine, and constituting the on-campus sales force. It is hoped that by the end of the semester the students of the class will have gained a new understanding--as people applying for jobs in the field of publishing, as writers submitting their work to magazine editors, and as appreciative (and informed) readers of the literary magazine. CROSS GENRE COURSE. Open to both M.A. and M.F.A. Creative Writing students.

850.01 Poetry Center Workshop Thurs 3:35-6:20 p.m. Steve Dickison

Prerequisite: Graduate standing, or consent of instructor. This course is constructed around the Poetry Center reading series, with its curriculum based on the work of poets and writers invited to read in the series. Emphasis will be on writing by poets, with some appearances by writers working in other modes. We’ll be reading then hearing and seeing a range of excellent contemporary poets and writers, Writing assignments will be in response to the assigned readings. Paired with CW 550. Note: this course can be used to fulfill 3 units of the creative process requirement. Students who have completed CW 550 may not later take CW 850 for credit.

853.01 M.F.A. Workshop in Fiction Tues 7-9:45 p.m. Bob Gluck

"...As a writer of the imagination, I was attracted to how fiction can explore what you don't encounter on the surface of life." Nadine Gordimer

In this MFA fiction course we will investigate text and each other's works-in-progress with the intent of stirring the imagination and absorbing elements of craft. The bulk of the class we will devote to what I’m calling the process workshop, a format designed to give writers a place to collaborate in their lonely practice and for us to all shore up our reading skills. We will use an investigative approach to discussing works in progress with the aim of helping the writer connect her/his own interior richness and with the craft of fiction. We will as a group strive to articulate the consciousness of the material, the ideas being explored, the tensions taking shape on the page and help each other identify elements that could be further explored by the writer. We will offer developmental exercises and experiments, our goal being to stir up our writing imaginations in concrete ways so that we can gain new perceptions around the work. Come prepared (or at least willing) to help your fellow students move to the next place, move to your own next place, and learn from published and in-progress text. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

853.02 M.F.A. Workshop in Fiction Wed 4:10-6:55 p.m. Nona Caspers

Prerequisites: classified graduate status in the M.F.A. Creative Writing program. Students are expected to concentrate on revision of fiction, on bringing work to a finished, publishable state. Emphasizes the short story. May be repeated for a total of 18 units. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

854.01 M.F.A. Workshop in Poetry Mon 4:10-6:55 p.m. Camille Dungy

Prerequisite: classified graduate status in the M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Students are expected to concentrate on revision of poetry, on bringing work to a finished, publishable state. May be repeated for a total of 18 units. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

855.01 M.F.A. Workshop in Playwriting MonWed 4:10-6:55 p.m. Michelle Carter

Prerequisite: classified graduate status in the M.F.A. in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. In this playwriting course for graduate students, we'll generate new work and use craft and process triggers to explore work already under construction. We'll set out to tighten the circle of mystery around the thing that is theater, with the intention of deepening our engagement in the craft and process of playwriting. The focus of the class will be less upon evaluating the successes and failures of plays you've already written than upon potential long-term benefits of our work together: i.e., our growth and development as playwrights. Our methods will be diverse and will be adapted to target the needs of the group's particular members. May be repeated for a total of 18 units. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only. N.B.: This course will meet twice a week for fifteen sessions, rather than once a week for fifteen weeks. The final course meeting will take place on March 17.

CW 859.01 Practicum in Teaching Mon 4:10-6:55 p.m. Toni Mirosevich

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. This course will provide pedagogical grounding for pragmatic classroom teaching work and provide graduate students with a structured forum to discuss their work with undergraduates under the supervision of an experienced teacher and in collaboration with other graduate students and the CW 850 instructor. Students will learn new pedagogical practices and strategies for dealing with key issues that arise in teaching undergraduate creative writing students. In scheduled practicum meetings students will share experiences, discuss strategies, share materials being used in class by their mentors, discuss selected readings, and meet with guest teachers who will present useful teaching perspectives. In addition to group meetings one-on-one mentoring conferences will occur between student and instructor. CROSS GENRE COURSE. Open to both M.A. and M.F.A. Creative Writing students. Note: To be eligible for enrollment in CW 859 Practicum in Teaching students are required to secure a GIA placement in an undergraduate CW course for spring semester 2010.

860.01 Teaching Creative Writing Mon/Wed 12:10-2:55 p.m. Michelle Carter

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. This course introduces advanced graduate students to the art and practice of teaching creative writing. Creative Writing 301 will serve as our prototype. We’ll be reading essays and interviews, discussing aspects of creative writing pedagogy and performing a variety of rigorous teaching activities. We’ll discuss giving useful feedback for student writers (through the process of assessing undergraduate portfolios); designing effective writing assignments; use of texts and craft models; strategies for leading discussions of literary works and student works-in-progress. Students will also prepare and execute mini-lectures on a range of craft and process topics, and develop a detailed syllabus for an introductory creative writing course. CROSS GENRE COURSE. Open to both M.A. and M.F.A. Creative Writing students. N.B.: This course will meet twice a week for fifteen sessions, rather than once a week for fifteen weeks. The final course meeting will take place on March 17.

875.01 Community Projects in Literature Tues 4:10-6:55 p.m. Peter Orner

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. Take this course if you want to do an internship. Students are placed in work positions in community literary organizations such as Intersection for the Arts, City Arts and Lectures, Mercury House, and other centers so that they acquire practical knowledge of writing in the larger social context. May be taken for 6 units of credit. CROSS GENRE COURSE. Open to both M.A. and M.F.A. Creative Writing students.

880.01 Writing Public Context: The Art of Listening/Oral History Thurs 12:35-3:20 p.m. Peter Orner

Prerequisite: classified graduate status in M.F.A. in Creative Writing. "To develop a voice, one must develop an ear." Anna Deavere Smith. Good listening is essential to the creation of good writing. In this class, we will focus on how to develop a better a ear by reading fiction and non-fiction writers as well as playwrights, including Eudora Welty, Joseph Mitchell, James Alan McPherson, Studs Terkel, Susan Lori-Parks, Tom Stoppard, and Anna Deavere Smith. We will also study the art of oral history, and zero in on the interview, background research, and editing. Each student will conduct their own oral history interview and present an edited version to class. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

880.02 Creative Non-Fiction Tues 4:10-6:55 p.m. Toni Mirosevich

Prerequisite: classified creative writing graduate status in the M.F.A. program or consent of the instructor. In this M.F.A. creative process course we will read and discuss contemporary writers who--through various creative processes of discovery and development--explore the world of fictionalized nonfiction. We will focus on autobiographical work, the true or semi-true story that “…shuttles between the world of fact and possibility” (Mimi Schwartz). We will experiment with stretching the truth, examining the role of research in writing creative nonfiction, and explore finding a balance between the use of objective facts and subjective takes. Texts and sources we will draw from include; The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 3, AutoBioDiversity: True Stories from Zyzzyva, Talk Stories and A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, Austerlitz and Campo Santo by W.G. Sebald, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, selected works by Michael Ondaatje, Michael Chabon, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa and others. The course is limited to 11, with preference given to MFA candidates. During the course of the semester students will lead discussions on selected texts and give collaborative oral presentations on various aspects of the genre. Throughout the course there will be generative exercises to stimulate new work. This is not a workshop. While students will share new works the focus of this course will be on development and discovery not on the revision and editing of new or existing drafts. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

881.01 Open Work: The Long Poem Thurs 12:35-3:20 p.m. Paul Hoover

Prerequisite: classified graduate status in M.F.A. Creative Writing program. This MFA craft and process course involves the study of a variety of formal strategies in the creation of long poems including epic narratives such as Derek Walcott's Omeros, serial poems like Jack Spicer’s The Holy Grail, and the practice of dailiness in Lyn Hejinian's The Cell. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

881.02 Translate and Transpose Wed 7-9:45 p.m. Stacy Doris

Prerequisite: classified graduate status in M.F.A. This course is a translation seminar with some twists. Students will develop and present translation or transposition projects and create a workshop setting for them to be reflected upon in class. In the process, the meaning of “translation” will be examined and stretched, ranging from literal translation to more innovative approaches, including translating in to and from a single language (i.e. English to English) or translating from one medium to another (i.e. writing to music). MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

882.01 Contemporary American Playwrights Wed 7-9:45 p.m. Anne Galjour

Prerequisite: classified graduate status in M.F.A. The reading and analysis of contemporary American plays from post-World II to the present.Works include plays written by Tennessee Williams, August Wilson, Claire Chaffee, Philip Kan Gotanda, Octavio Solis, Adam Bock (Canadian), and Peter Nachtrieb. We will study how these writers are engaged with the notion of "America" from a cultural and class perspective in order to begin a dialogue with our contemporary colleagues. Then there will be writing prompts and generative exercises that explore style, voice, theme and writing strategies to assist students in their own playwriting. Veteran local playwrights will visit the class to discuss the creation of their work and offer strategies for getting produced. MFA class; MA students permitted enrollment on a space available basis only.

893 Written M.A. Creative Project (3 units)

This is not a course as such, it is the 3 units you sign up for when you are working on your thesis, which may be a collection of short stories, a group of poems, a novel or a play. Prerequisite: advancement to M.A. candidacy in English: Creative Writing. Your Graduate Approved Program (GAP) must be on file in the Graduate Division Office the semester before registration, along with a Culminating Experience Proposal form signed by the first and second readers you select to work with you on your thesis. Registration is with a Permit and a schedule Number you get from your first reader, which you use to add online or via touchtone, during the first two weeks of the semester or by Add Form, signed by your first reader, which form you submit to the Registrar’s. You must add this course or your will not receive credit for your thesis.

893 Written M.F.A. Creative Work (6 units)

M.F.A. students get 6 units for working on their thesis, which is expected to be a book length collection of short stories, or poems, or a novel or play of publishable quality. Prerequisite: advancement to M.F.A. candidacy in Creative Writing. Your Graduate Approved Program (GAP) must be on file in the Graduate Division Office the semester before registration, along with a Culminating Experience Proposal form signed by the first and second readers you select to work with you on your thesis. Registration is with a Permit and a schedule Number you get from your first reader, which you use to add online or via touchtone, during the first two weeks of the semester or by Add Form, signed by your first reader, which form you submit to the Registrar’s. You must add this course or your will not receive credit for your thesis.

899 Special Study

Prerequisite: consent of instructor and a 3.25 GPA. A special study is planned, developed and completed under the direction of a faculty member. The course may be taken for one, two or three units. Enrollment is by petition–the form is available in the Creative Writing department office– and must be signed by the instructor you will be working with, an adviser, and the department chair. You also must turn in an Add form, signed by the instructor, and an unofficial copy of your SFSU transcript with the petition. (You will not be able to enroll in this course through Touch-tone Registration because the schedule numbers are unpublished. The Creative Writing Office will give you the schedule number to use on your Add form, based on who your teacher is and the number of units you want.)