Write It! The Keys to Creative Writing

(EGL 317 W)

There is an anecdote the poet Richard Hugo describes in his book, The Triggering Town, about the golfer Arnold Palmer. Asked about his luck as a golfer, Palmer replies that the more he practices the luckier he seems to be. The same is true for writers. This is a course for beginning writers to practice different forms and genres in a supportive environment. Together we will read and discuss great works of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, looking specifically at what we can learn as writers ourselves. Students will try new forms and exercises that will help develop their ability to write and think creatively. They will then have the opportunity to share their work with their peers in a workshop-style format. We will spend about a third of our time on short fiction, another third on poetry, and a final third on creative nonfiction. By the end of the course, every student will have completed and revised a short portfolio of their best work.

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Joshua Rivkin, Former Stegner Fellow

Joshua Rivkin’s work has appeared in American Letters & Commentary, The Southern Review, The Crab Orchard Review, The Mid-American Review, The Missouri Review Online, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Verse Daily, AGNI online, and elsewhere. He received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Houston and has received fellowships and awards from the Inprint-Brown Foundation and the Poetry Society of America, as well as a travel fellowship to the Krakow Writer’s Seminar.