NON-FICTION WORKSHOP

Writing Crisis: Crafting the Literature of Turbulent Times

Roberto Lovato

Living in times marked by relentless and intersecting crises, the serious writer must ask, “Where is the literature that responds to this astonishing moment?” Our goal for this workshop is to answer the question by crafting our own, by writing crisis. This introduction to the art of writing the prose of crisis—memoir, journalism, different genres of fiction and science fiction—(and poetry if there’s interest) will begin by looking at the crisis in literature that has created the vacuum that we will fill with our own work, including work we will polish in the course of our session. The seminar will include the following:

• Close readings of writing that exemplifies the art of writing crisis, analyzing the choices—structure, tropes, imagery, language, characterization—that these writers make.

• Taking our lead from classic and contemporary writers of crisis, we will engage in generative writing exercises designed to apply what we’re learning.

• Workshops / sharing works-in-progress with other participants and the instructor.

Each writer in the class will leave with a writing crisis toolkit developed by the instructor. You will also leave the course looking at writing and at crisis in a different way. You will leave with an enhanced ability to respond to this unprecedented historical moment with the words and stories it demands.