Four Mondays: Nov. 19, Dec. 3, 10, 17 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 p.m. *SOLD OUT*
Note date changes: skipping Nov. 26 and adding Dec 17.
A first encounter with something – whether it’s an exotic locale or the terrain of serious illness – causes us sit up and take notice in a way we don’t often do when living our habitual lives. Such places and experiences can make powerful raw material for both fiction and nonfiction. In this class, students will be given assigned readings and will workshop pieces of their own in either genre that have grown out of singular encounters with unfamiliar places and life experiences. We will define “strange places” broadly. Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight would be as welcome in this class as James Baldwin’s “Equal in Paris.”
Required reading
Gretel Ehrlich – The Solace of Open Spaces
Geoff Dyer – Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It
***We will also read some individual essays and stories that will be distributed electronically.
Molly McCloskey is the author of four works of fiction and a memoir. Her most recent novel, Straying, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. She has taught writing at George Washington University, University of Maryland, Boston University, Trinity College Dublin, and elsewhere. After living for two decades in Ireland, she now resides in Washington, DC.
REFUND POLICY: Please note that we can issue class refunds up until seven (7) days before the first class session.