CLHUMCW006 - Introduction to Creative Nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is a diverse genre of writing, encompassing personal essays, memoirs, place and travel essays, cultural criticism and more. This course will introduce the major types and allow beginning and intermediate writers to create and refine their creative nonfiction writing. The readings will demonstrate the breadth of the genre and allow students to observe the techniques skilled creative nonfiction writers use to capture their ideas and experiences and communicate them effectively to their audiences. The students will complete exercises to practice what they observe in the readings and will exchange feedback with their peers and instructor in a constructive and encouraging workshop format.
Course Details
Deborah Barrett, Ph.D., is a professor in the practice of writing and communication at Rice University, where she teaches graduate courses in creative writing and literature. She was awarded the John Freeman Faculty Teaching Award in 2019 in the Graduate Liberal Studies program, which she joined as faculty in 2009. She has served as the director of MBA communication at the Jones Graduate School of Business and director of the Program for Communication Excellence for Rice undergraduates. Dr. Barrett holds a Ph.D. in English from Rice and has published scholarly articles on literature, communication and leadership and a textbook, “Leadership Communication” (McGraw-Hill). She has participated in several major writing conferences, including the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences for creative nonfiction, fiction and poetry. She has also published creative nonfiction essays as Deborah Burch-Lavis and a chapbook of poetry, “The Desert Speaks to the Dreamer.”
Online--Synchronous
This course will be delivered in a synchronous format online. Participants will receive login instructions to the course page which will provide access to the virtual classroom link and other resources. All online classes are held at Central Standard Time.
- Creative nonfiction permutations
- Memoir and personal essays
- Scenes, description and dialogue
- Narrative structure and storytelling
- Place and travel writing
- Arguments and rants
This course is suitable for beginning and intermediate writers.