Class Description
How do writers write about writing? More ephemeral still, how do they write about reading? Is it an act of navelgazing to write fiction about fictions, or can the recursive meta-text illuminate something crucial about the act of thinking through language—our own and others?
In this biweekly close reading group, we will read and discuss intertextual novels: books with other, invented books or written works at their heart. Fictional poets situated within real histories; novels whose nonexistence is captured and given presence within the form of a published book. Texts that are deliberately disorienting, playful, excessive, teasing out the limitation and liberation inherent in form. Titles we’ll read include A.S. Byatt’s Possession, Renee Gladman’s My Lesbian Novel and To After That (TOAF), Shola von Reinhold’s Lote, and Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire.
Each week, we’ll explore topics as wide-ranging as our source texts, including narrative voice, the boundaries of genre, verisimilitude and hyper-realism, symbolism, emotional resonance, linguistic play, and thematic layering. Together, we will discuss what these polyphonic, chaotic intertextual novels can teach us about what it means to be readers, writers, and humans.
This group is designed for writers and readers who want to read more attentively and talk seriously about craft. Participants should expect lively discussion, close textual analysis, and the pleasure of spending time with books that treat the collaboration between reader, writer, and literary context as holy, and wholly transformative.
READING LIST
"Possession, A.S. Byatt
My Lesbian Novel and To After That (TOAF), Renee Gladman
Lote, Shola von Reinhold
Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov"
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
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This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.