CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
The creative writing program at HISA is designed to aid writers in developing the personal voice and style of creative work that can help them achieve their goals. Specifically, the course work is arranged around each individual writer’s current project, whether it be poetry or prose, and in any genre he/she is working in. The goal for writing majors is the completion of a manuscript of poetry or short prose, and/or a significant segment a longer prose work. Each week, students will submit new writing for open, non-judgmental critique and discuss in a small workshop setting the ideas and feelings they possess about writing and how it relates to their lives. Questions on “craft” will be examined from different points of view, but no hierarchy of style or manner will be favored. The teachers are all currently writing and publishing and actively involved with elements of style, editing, voice, narration techniques, etc. Students are encouraged to work closely with the teachers, as mentors, in one on one sessions, in addition to class. The teachers can aid students in forming writing projects—fiction, non-fiction, travel, poetry in all forms—and work along with them to solve programs and develop a strong sense of craft. Surveys of writers and their work supplement the development of writing projects and can add knowledge and inspiration. A further and important element, is the immersion aspect of the HISA program, whereby writers can reach into and enjoy the substantial history and culture they are living and learning in, enriching the content and energy of their work.
3 credits.