CNF 95 — Nonfiction Workshop: Bravery and the Blank Page
Quarter: Winter
Day(s): Mondays
Course Format: Live Online (About Formats)
Duration: 6 weeks
Date(s): Feb 5—Mar 18
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Refund Deadline: Feb 7
Unit: 1
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Tuition: $365
Instructor(s): Rose Whitmore
Limit: 125
Class Recording Available: Yes
Status: Open
Winter
Date(s)
Feb 5—Mar 18
6 weeks
Refund Date
Feb 7
1 Unit
Fees
$365
Grade Restriction
No letter grade
Instructor(s):
Rose Whitmore
Limit
125
Recording
Yes
Open
Many of us have a powerful story to tell but are afraid to tell it. We may worry about making readers uncomfortable or feel uneasy as we try to capture difficult characters based on real people, wanting to be accurate but also kind. When writing personal nonfiction, bravery is essential. But how do we tap into that bravery and begin to lay our lives bare on the page?
In this course, we’ll explore ways to create clarity in hard scenes, write about people from our lives in a balanced way, and say the things we’ve been holding back. We will read groundbreaking essays that confront hard truths about the world we live in from celebrated writers such as Jerald Walker, Eula Biss, and Cheryl Strayed. Weekly writing prompts will help you generate possibilities and write with conviction. These short writing exercises will become the starting point of a longer essay or book chapter. Throughout the course, you will share your work with other students in small-group workshops and will be able to select one short piece (up to 2,000 words) at the end of the course for instructor feedback.
In this course, we’ll explore ways to create clarity in hard scenes, write about people from our lives in a balanced way, and say the things we’ve been holding back. We will read groundbreaking essays that confront hard truths about the world we live in from celebrated writers such as Jerald Walker, Eula Biss, and Cheryl Strayed. Weekly writing prompts will help you generate possibilities and write with conviction. These short writing exercises will become the starting point of a longer essay or book chapter. Throughout the course, you will share your work with other students in small-group workshops and will be able to select one short piece (up to 2,000 words) at the end of the course for instructor feedback.
This course is appropriate for writers of all levels. Because of the high enrollment capacity, students will not receive instructor feedback on weekly writing assignments. Some fee-based online readings may be assigned; more details will be provided prior to the first class.
ROSE WHITMORE
Author; Former Jones Lecturer and Former Stegner Fellow, Stanford
Rose Whitmore’s writing has appeared in The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, The Sun, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She was the recipient of the James Jones First Novel Fellowship and has received residencies and fellowships from the Hemingway House in Ketchum, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and Hedgebrook. She has taught creative writing at the University of New Hampshire and Stanford, where she was the recipient of the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.