Description
This creative writing class familiarizes students with the art of making the strange familiar or the familiar strange. Students are introduced to genre works, ranging from pre-cyberpunk SF to the present practice of ?slipstream?. Both experimental and traditional story-telling techniques are reviewed with a special emphasis on prose style and hybrid narrative forms. Projects include the short story, dramatic scene, and film treatment, and are peer reviewed in a workshop format. Topics for writing exercises are drawn from an array of sources, including the study of nanotechnology and brain chemistry. Sub-genres include space and colonization, cyborgs, future cities and women and science fiction.
Materials for study range from the renowned works of J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, and James Tiptree, Jr., to the current works of Kelly Link, M.
Rickert, and Charles Stross. Readings are supplemented with film and television material as well as guest artists.