NVL 53 W — The Speculative and the Fantastic: Novel Workshop
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Nova Ren Suma
Date(s): Sep 24—Dec 3
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
Class Meeting Time: 12:30—1:30 pm (PT)
Please Note: Class will meet on Thursdays, September 24 - December 3, 12:30 - 1:30 pm (PT). Note: No class Thursday, October 15. That week class will meet on Tuesday, October 13 instead. No class the week of November 23.
Tuition: $1040
Refund Deadline: Sep 26
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 18
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 12:30—1:30 pm (PT)
Date(s): Sep 24—Dec 3
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $1040
Refund Deadline: Sep 26
Instructor(s): Nova Ren Suma
Enrollment Limit: 18
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: Class will meet on Thursdays, September 24 - December 3, 12:30 - 1:30 pm (PT). Note: No class Thursday, October 15. That week class will meet on Tuesday, October 13 instead. No class the week of November 23.
These days, readers are craving fantasy, horror, and dystopian novels not just to escape but to confront and illuminate the deepest questions of our time. This course invites you to indulge your imagination and write a speculative novel of your own. Assignments will include exercises and experiments in world-building, mood and atmosphere, nighttime logic, and the suspension of disbelief, as well as writing a novel opening (up to 5,000 words) to be workshopped in small peer cohorts. Excerpts for models of inspiration may include work from authors such as Charlie Jane Anders, Marie-Helene Bertino, Tananarive Due, Mariana Enríquez, Kazuo Ishiguro, Laila Lalami, Victor LaValle, and Madeline Miller. Writers in all speculative genres are welcome, as are those writing for adult, YA, or crossover audiences. Come with a project in mind—new or in progress—and a readiness to take bold, creative leaps.
NOVA REN SUMA
Author
Nova Ren Suma is the author of the New York Times best-selling ghost story The Walls Around Us and A Room Away from the Wolves—both Edgar Award finalists—among other acclaimed YA novels. Her newest novel, Wake the Wild Creatures, is a coming-of-age survival story with a touch of the fantastical. She received an MFA in fiction from Columbia and has taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Textbooks for this course:
See syllabus for details., Please read one book from the list.