Course Description: This course will introduce you to genres of creative writing by studying and practicing four modes: poetry, fiction, personal prose, and dialogue. Students will explore and discuss great models of each of these forms; they will write short pieces of critical prose on selected works; and then we'll try our hand at composing poems, stories, personal essays, and dialogue (for radio). If scheduling permits, they will hear craft lectures from the great writers in our Department and DC who produce them. The authors under study include Semezdin Mehmedinovic, Stephen Crane, D.H. Lawrence, Michael Ondaatje, Anna Deavere Smith, and a number of poets. We’ll follow Ondaatje through the genres. The course is designed for those who have some experience in studying and writing in at least one of these genres. Please be prepared for intensive research in how each form of writing happens, how it renders human experience, voice, plot, statement, and vision. And be prepared both to experiment with literary forms and to share your draft work with others.