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Welcome


Description:

One of the more exciting aspects of contemporary creative practice is genre-bending. “Mixed-genre” or “Cross-genre” writing has often been defined in terms of fictional subgenres: mixing the conventions of a Jane Austen novel with those of zombie fiction, for instance; or combining SF ("Science" or "Speculative Fiction") with the Western.

In this course, however, you will be encouraged to extend the word "genre" to include larger considerations of form: calculated mixtures of poetry and prose, for example (as in the Haiku Diaries of medieval Japan), or the admission of fictional techniques to non-fictional genres (as in the New Journalism of the 1960s and 70s – now subsumed under the general heading of “Creative Non-fiction”).

We will start off by reading a number of texts (both contemporary and classic) which challenge conventional genre classifications. You will need to have a good understanding of the major creative strategies involved, as well as the larger cultural and artistic contexts lying behind such experiments, before you attempt to emulate them in your own writing.

A comprehensive Book of Readings has been provided for you, but you will also be expected to read at least one full-length book in order to complete the critical portion of the course. A Bibliography of other relevant materials has also been made available on this site.

Learning Outcomes:

Students who successfully complete this paper should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of genre as a practical determinant of the content as well as the form of individual pieces of writing.

  2. Place selected literary texts, local and international, within a series of broad cross-genre categories.

  3. Perform a sustained critical reading of a literary text with particular focus on technical and stylistic innovation.

  4. Develop critical and creative responses to course texts and theories at postgraduate level.

  5. Employ an expanded repertoire of creative writing techniques.

Assessment:

100% internal assessment comprising:

  1. 30% - A selection of the best 3 (of 6)
    Critical / Creative exercises (500-1,000 words)
    [learning outcomes 1-5]
    • These exercises are related to each of the six topics in the course.

  2. 30% - Critical Analysis of a set text (2,500 words)
    [learning outcomes 1-4]
    • Students will be asked to select one of the 6 prescribed texts (each related to one of the 6 topics) for and analysis and critique.

  3. 40% - Final Assignment (4,500 words)
    [learning outcomes 1, 4 & 5]
    • The form and nature of the final creative assignment will be developed in consultation with the course co-ordinator, to whom a proposal must be submitted at least six weeks before the due date.



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