Reading As Writers, Part II (1850)
Six Thursdays: April 19, 26, May 10, 17, 24, 31, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
During this six-week course—a continuation of the inaugural Winter 2018 session, into which you can jump nonetheless—we will combine close reading of works by acknowledged “writer’s writers” with short, in-class writing workshop exercises. By reading masterworks of Marilynne Robinson and Andre Dubus during this session, and parsing their approach to the crafting of sentences, character, dialogue, point of view, and setting, we will pursue our love of literature and writing in an immersive, supportive and relaxed environment.
Please note: Rhonda taught Part I of her Reading As Writers series in our Winter 2018 season of classes, wherein she covered Ali Smith and Mohsin Hamid. You do not need to have taken part I to sign up for part II.
Selected Stories, Andre Dubus
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
Reading Schedule for READING AS WRITERS:
Weeks 1, 2, and 3: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, discussed in roughly equal thirds (Please read the full novel by start of course)
Weeks 4 and 5: "A Father's Story" by Andre Dubus, and others TBA
Week 6: Review of both texts, and discussion of The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (if back in print, as expected, at that time)
Recommended Further Reading: (List To Be Expanded and Modified during Course):
The Moviegoer, Walker Percy (*out of print until May 2018)
The Good Soldier, Ford Maddox Ford
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf (Character and Point of View)
Beloved, Toni Morrison (Theme, Character, and Plot)
The Sellout, Paul Beatty (Irony, Tone, and Character)
My Struggle, Karl Ove Knausgaard
The White Album, Joan Didion
Play It As It Lays, Joan Didion
Rhonda Shary was an adjunct professor of English in New York for over ten years, teaching writing and literature courses at SUNY New Paltz, Marymount College of Fordham University, and New York Institute of Technology. Her poetry, fiction, and essays appear in P&P’s District Lines III and V; 100-Word Story; Water Writes: An Anthology in Honor of the Hudson River Quadricentennial; A Slant of Light: Women Writers of the Hudson River Valley; and The Shawangunk Review, among others. After moving to D.C. in 2014, she joined the staff at Politics and Prose Bookstore, where she is now an editor for OPUS Publishing and an instructor in the literature and writing classes.
REFUND POLICY: Please note that we can issue class refunds up until seven (7) days before the first class session.
