HNAR-221: Weird Fiction

This creative writing class introduces students to a wide range of "Speculative Fiction," from classic Sci-Fi and turn-of-the-century Fantasy/Horror to stranger, more contemporary work sometimes categorized as "slipstream," "bizarro," or "the New Weird." Students do not need to have prior experience with any of these genres in order to participate. Through reading and discussing short stories by past and present masters, we will familiarize ourselves with the various narrative and stylistic conventions of Speculative Fiction. Then, using the techniques we have learned, we will write and workshop stories of our own, paying special attention to the way the first glimmer of an idea-an interesting character, a striking image, a bizarre conceit-can develop into a story of luminous imaginative power.