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EN906 Fiction Workshop 2

EN906 Warwick Fiction Workshop 2

Convenor: Maureen Freely
Module tutor: Gonzalo C. Garcia – G.Ceron-Garcia@warwick.ac.uk

Spring Term, Weeks 1-10 Wednesday, 13:00-16:00 in G.08 Millburn House.

This module leads on from ‘Warwick Fiction Workshop I’, which is a prerequisite.
The main aim is to enable students to develop advanced writing skills in fiction and to produce a body of work of this kind. Students will continue to develop critical insights into contemporary literature and the processes of literary production.

SYLLABUS
The module will operate along the same lines as Fiction Workshop I, though the focus will be long fiction. Those who wish to continue writing shorter fiction are free to do so.
NB: Students who wish their work to be workshopped early in the term should arrange to distribute hard copies of their stories/extracts BEFORE the Christmas break.

Weeks 1-10
Weekly 3-hour workshop, divided into three units. (Writing by one student is the focus of each unit, on a rotating basis. So the current work of three students is discussed each week, and each student is the focus of two to three workshops in the course of the term).

It's important that you all bring hard copies of what you want to workshop!

CLASS READING:
If you see (Opening) or (Short Story) or (Short Extract) next to the title, that means I'll provide those. When we look at longer work, however, this isn't possible. The reading will focus on a specific skillset you can then apply to your own writing.

We will mostly focus in your writing during class, which is why we are going to be covering one obligatory novel every two weeks (half on each week). This is so we have the ability to read longer works, and to be able to talk about them for more than just a little bit at the end of one class. Of course, I'd encourage you to be reading more and to bring examples of other works you might find useful in expressing some of the points we'll be discussing in class.

Week 1:
- (Opening) Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway.
- (Opening) George Orwell, 1984.
- (Short Extract) Stephen King, On Writing.
Week 2:
- (Short Story) George Saunders, Pastoralia.
- (Short Extract) Scarlett Thomas, Monkeys with Typewriters
Week 3-4:
Ali Smith, The Accidental
Week 5-6:
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Week 7-8:
Pajtim Statovci, My Cat Yugoslavia
Week 9-10:
Iosi Havilio, Petite Fleur

BACKGROUND READING

Novels 
Achebe, Chinua, Things Fall Apart, 2001
Ballard, JG, Supercannes, 2000
Baldwin, James, Giovanni’s Room, 1990 
Barnes, Julian, Arthur and George, 2006 
Coe, Jonathan, The House of Sleep, 1998
Danticat, Edwige, The Dew Breaker, 2004
Delillo, Don, White Noise, 1985
Greene, Graham, The Quiet American, 1955
Ishiguro, Kazuo, An Artist of the Flying World, 1999
McEwan, Ian, On Chesil Beach, 2007
Mitchell, David, Cloud Atlas, 2005
Morrison, Toni, Beloved, 1997
Sinclair, Ian, Downriver, 1991
Vargas Llosa, Mario, The Feast of the Goat, 2003.
McGahern, John, Amongst Women, 1990
Moore, Brian, Lies of Silence, 1992 
Kennedy, A.L., Day, 2007
Michaels, Ann, Fugitive Pieces, 1998
Coetzee, JM, Disgrace, 1999
Roth, Philip, American Pastoral, 1998
Mistry, Rohinton, A Fine Balance, 1997
Pamuk, Orhan, The Black Book, 2006
Gordimer, Nadine, The Pickup, 2002
Smiley, Jane A Thousand Acres, 1992
Books about fiction

See list for Fiction Workshop I

ASSESSMENT
The submission must consist of the following:

FICTION PORTFOLIO
A piece of fiction of no more than 8,000 words, preferably part of a planned longer work. (Students who have decided to concentrate on shorter work may submit several pieces adding up to 8,000 words, but should consult with the tutor before they do so.)

plus:
A commentary of about 2,000 words on the aims and processes involved in the fiction, including (where appropriate) its place in the longer work, and its position within the wider literary landscape.