Jul 01, 2017
Simply Magic
Ran Summer 2017
The moment a narrative parts from the familiar laws of reality is certainly a magic one. When done masterfully, an author's use of magic can sweep the reader up in a torrent of powerful emotions: wonder, horror, excitement, dissonance. But just as easily, the reader could refuse to suspend her disbelief and give up on the story altogether.
This four-week course will study widely varied approaches and examples of magic from masters across the genre spectrum, from the literary (Magic Realism, Slipstream, and the Weird) to the popular (Fantasy and Urban Fantasy), from novel to short story. Writers discussed include Marquez, Kafka, Kelly Link, George Saunders, Neil Gaiman, Ursula LeGuin, and others.
The course will also include in-class writing exercises, sharing and commenting on student works-in-progress, and group discussion of various topics related to the dangers, strengths and strategies of using magic in fiction.