ST: Nest, Wave, Spiral, Bloom: A Cross-Genre Workshop
ENGL 238
Fall 2026
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01
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With Gaston Bachelard's classic The Poetics of Space and Jane Alison's Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative as our guides, we will examine a series of natural forms to deepen our writing practice and to discover new narrative possibilities. What can the spirals of nautilus shells and galaxies reveal to us about how to map a timeline of events for our poems or stories? What can the horizon teach us about consciousness? What can the effects of tidal patterns help us understand about trauma's effect on epigenetic inheritance and how to best represent that complexity on the page syntactically and visually? What can the silkworm teach us about poetic structure? What can a glacial moraine teach us about time in the sentence? What can a river teach us about narrative voice? In the company of writers like Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, M. Nourbe, Se Philip, Jamaica Kincaid, Anne Carson, Inger Christensen, Jen Bervin, Clarice Lispector, Cecilia Vicuña, Angela Rawlings, and others, we will discover what becomes possible when we write in collaboration with (re)generative forms. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (English) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, A TREATISE ON STARS
Jen Bervin, SILK POEMS
Anne Carson, NOX
Inger Christensen, ALPHABET
Jamaica Kincaid, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER
Jody Gladding, TRANSLATIONS FROM THE BARK BEETLE
Clarice Lispector, AGUA VIVA
M. Nourbe Se Philip, ZONG!
angela rawlings, SOUND OF MULL
Cecilia Vicuña, ABOUT TO HAPPEN
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Examinations and Assignments:
There will be bi-weekly salon presentations on the literature we read, as well as class discussions and workshops of one another's creative work. The class will culminate in a book arts project and a reflective essay. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course contributes to the fulfillment of ENGL major requirements: CW requirement, CW path, elective.
The English department highly recommends that students be enrolled in only one CW course in a semester. If you are admitted to more than one CW course, the department requests that you choose one and let the instructors know during Adjustment Period. By doing so you will be considerate of instructors and other students. |
| Instructor(s): Vogel,Danielle Times: ....R.. 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 1 | SO: 5 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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