As part of her tenure in the winter term of 2023/24, Picador Professor Megan Giddings will teach two classes at American Studies Leipzig.
Generative Fiction Seminar
Thursday, 3 – 5 pm, NSG 429
When I was starting out as a "serious" writer, one of the biggest pieces of advice I was given was that "I wouldn't become truly good until I had written at least 1,000,000 words." While we won't attempt to break that million mark, we will be writing short stories in many different styles. Expect to generate many first (awful, wonderful, silly, embarrassing, ambitious) drafts. We will read short stories by writers such as Kelly Link, Jamel Brinkley, Jhumpa Lahiri, Rachel B Glaser, Charles Yu, and Venita Blackburn. In the second half of the class, you will be given a choice to either work on a collaborative writing assignment with your classmates or to participate in a small group workshop. You will be asked to revise the work you've done in this seminar.
You can enroll in this course by registering for the 5-LP BA professional skills module "Creative Writing: Imagining America" (04-001-1019).
Mythmaking, Secret-Keeping, Good Gossip, and Creating Characters
Thursday, 11 am - 1 pm, GWZ 3 5.15
In this seminar, we will close-read, discuss, and write through the ways that myths are used in contemporary works to establish an understanding of people, setting, and beliefs. We may read works
such as Louise Erdrich's Round House, Susan Choi's My Education, John Darnielle's Devil House, Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown, and Clint Smith's How The Word Was Passed. There will be times where we will do creative activities as other ways to consider and understand the course's big ideas.
This seminar is part of the MA module "Myths, Narratives, Memories" (04-038-2009).