Creative Writing Courses – Fall 2010

English 100-01, 02 - Academic Writing Strategies - Roger Farr
These sections of English 100 are required for those in the first-year of the Creative Writing Program. Our main concern will be to experiment with the “artistic proofs” of classical rhetoric: ethos (credibility), logos (reason), and pathos (feeling). This we will do by working with a range of persuasive modes and genres, including the manifesto, the personal essay, and the research essay. MLA style and documentation will be taught. Grammar and other mechanical issues will be tackled individually and in revising workshops. From time to time we will also pause to consider those other, more philosophical issues with which writers in universities often struggle, issues such as language and power, rules and rule-breaking, time and space (i.e. “deadlines”), photocopiers, Translink, and, of course, gratuitous use of gerundive modifying phrases. By December, you will have accumulated a generous portfolio of writing of which you will feel proud, and which may or may not impress your family and friends.

Required Texts:
• Hacker, Diana. The Canadian Writer’s Reference Guide. Any edition.
• Pakasaar, Helga, and Jenny Penberthy, eds., “Moodyville,” spec. iss. of The Capilano Review. 3.8 (2009).
• Other readings available in-class and/or on-line.


English 190-01 - Creative Writing I - Reg Johanson
This course introduces students to fiction and poetry through reading and writing in both forms. Students learn to become critical of their own work and that of others. Students write a variety of assignments intended to open up the horizon of their writing to innovation and experimentation. Students also attend the Open Text reading series. English 190 is a required course for the Associate of Arts Degree in Creative Writing. Students who take this course may also be interested in Academic Writing Strategies- Creative Writing Seminar, also a required course for the Degree program students.

Required Text:
• Jerome Stern, ed. Microfictions. (1996)


English 190-02 - Creative Writing I - Kim Minkus
In this course we will experiment with writing forms in order to push and extend our relationship with language. There will be in-class writing experiments, impromptu story generating, readings, performances and discussions. We will look at a variety of genres with a focus on the experimental including young adult fiction, fiction, poetry and criticism. Reading is a must for this course. The best writers are the best readers. Be prepared to do both. A variety of workshop methods will also be employed so that we can, as a group, engage effectively with each other’s writing.


English 191-01 - Creative Writing II - Crystal Hurdle
When is a poem really a story? When should you leave a draft alone? Through in-class writing, weekly homework assignments, and personal projects, you will write up a storm in a number of genres. You’ll be introduced to professional writers, from Lorna Crozier to bp Nichol, from Thomas King to Gabriel Garcia Márquez, to visiting writers at the Open Text and Kinder Text Reading Series, as well as to the work of your colleagues, in aid of developing your style, articulating your voice.

Required Texts:
• Gary Geddes, ed. 20th-Century Poetry & Poetics
• Gary Geddes, ed. The Art of Short Fiction
• And assorted recommended texts to kick-start your imagination


English 225-01 - Directed Internship – English - Roger Farr
Open to students who are formally registered in Creative Writing, CultureNet or the English Concentration, ENGLISH 225 provides 75 hours of directed study experience in the “creative industries” – especially those fields associated with the production, promotion, delivery and/or study of print and literary culture. Students put existing critical, editorial, and writing skills into practice while interning with local publishers, magazines, journals, cultural organizations, and media outlets. Limited to 10 students per term. Information about the application procedure is available on the English Department website, or by contacting the instructor.

Required Texts:
• Readings available from the instructor.


English 291-01 - Creative Writing: Narrative Fiction - Roger Farr
English 291 is an intensive course in the writing of narrative prose and scripts. We begin with a series of experiments revolving around the so-called “elements of fiction”: dialogue, character, plot, setting, style, etc. We then reconsider these elements in the light of a number of contemporary practices, including appropriation, ekphrasis, minimalism, and "docu-fiction". In all cases, risk will be encouraged, possibly at the expense of greatness. Several guest writers will join us to talk about their work. We will also attend some readings and performances, including a festival of “neo-benshi” (google it), which will draw on work produced in our class. By December, you will have accumulated a generous portfolio of writing of which you will feel proud, and which may or may not impress your family and friends.

Required Texts:
• Brown, Andy. I Can See You Being Invisible. Montreal, DC, 2003.
• Burnham, Clint. Smoke Show. Vancouver: Arsenal, 2007.
• Turner, Michael. 8 x 10. Toronto: Doubleday, 2009.
• West Coast Line. Special issue on fiction.
• Other material available from the instructor.


~