Magical realism is both a literary and writing style of fiction in which the author combines realism with imaginary or fantastical elements or images of which the reader is meant to take as "real." In this four-week magical realism fiction workshop, we'll discuss the history of magical realism, how to identify it in text, and the major players in this literary movement from Franz Kafka to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende, and Haruki Murakami.

Each week, students will read excerpts of magical realism and practice writing magical realism through a variety of exercises. Through forums, you'll share your work and receive feedback from the instructor and fellow students. Students will also write one magical realism short story or the first chapter of a novel and workshop it with the rest of the class. This is a writing-intensive class, but one that will be fun and target your creative side in ways you didn't know were possible.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class is entirely asynchronous with weekly deadlines and there is plenty of interaction with Alex and your peers within Wet Ink, our dedicated online classroom. Craft materials, lectures, reading assignments, and writing prompts are all available through the online classroom. Students also post work and provide and receive feedback within the online classroom environment. You can get the work done as you see fit week-to-week, so it is perfect for any schedule. There are discussion questions each week inspired by the assigned readings and topics in the lecture notes. Students are encouraged to take these wherever is most compelling and/or useful for them. Each writer will have the opportunity to workshop a piece of writing, receiving detailed feedback from their peers as well as Alex; follow-up questions and conversations often occur. Alex engages with these discussions throughout the week.

• Instructor: Alex Temblador

• Class size limited to 10 writers

• Starts January 18, 2021
  

• Course is fully ONLINE; students can work according to their own schedule within weekly deadlines. Once you have enrolled the instructor will send you a link to our online classroom, provided via Wet Ink.