CW 111 — Genealogy of the Spirit: Autofiction Workshop
Quarter: Summer
Instructor(s): Wancy Young Cho
Date(s): Jun 22—Aug 24
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Mondays
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—8:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $1000
Refund Deadline: Jun 24
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 18
Status: Registration opens May 18, 8:30 am (PT)
The writer Bruno Schulz described his autofiction as a “genealogy of the spirit.” Autofiction draws on lived experience but reshapes it using the craft of fiction, carrying the emotional truth of a life rather than adhering to pure facts or literal chronology. The story is not that Tom broke up with you at a café on Third Avenue in Marshalltown, Iowa, on Tuesday at 3:47. It’s the heartbreak (or freedom) that moment releases on the page.
In this workshop, we will study work by Schulz, Sandra Cisneros, Denis Johnson, and others, examining how each transforms lived experience into art. Class will begin with a generative prompt and writing time, followed by close discussion of the readings. Students will submit a story or chapter of up to 5,000 words for peer and instructor feedback, with optional conferences. This course will help you mine your lived experience for material, then reshape it freely in the service of story.
In this workshop, we will study work by Schulz, Sandra Cisneros, Denis Johnson, and others, examining how each transforms lived experience into art. Class will begin with a generative prompt and writing time, followed by close discussion of the readings. Students will submit a story or chapter of up to 5,000 words for peer and instructor feedback, with optional conferences. This course will help you mine your lived experience for material, then reshape it freely in the service of story.
WANCY YOUNG CHO
Author
Wancy Young Cho is a Pushcart Prize finalist for short fiction, the recipient of a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award for traditional fiction, a Written Image Screenwriting Prize winner for feature-length screenwriting, and a Jack Straw Writing Fellow. His work has appeared in New Orleans Review, NBC’s THINK, The Stranger, Salon, and elsewhere. He leads writing workshops at the University of Chicago Graham School Writer’s Studio, Hugo House, and Blue Stoop. He received an MFA in creative writing from Columbia.Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.