Cities are spaces forever in flux. Neighborhoods change, buildings are razed and new ones take their places, people move in and out. Within this environment, the writer attempts to capture the pace, the texture and the meaning of urban living. Among the most accomplished writers in the genre are Saul Bellow, James Baldwin, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and many others. Contemporary writers like Tommy Orange and Sayaka Murata have explored the emergence of new and forgotten identities in urban spaces. By reading excerpts and short fiction, students will learn the techniques that allow these eminent authors to create narratives that revolve around the city. These techniques will then be practiced, refined and implemented in the students' own writing through a series of in-class and at-home exercises and a weekly writing workshop where students will be encouraged to share their work with the class.
