Shelter and the Writing Process, Part II: Beyond the Self Spring 2000 April 15 - May 20, 2000 Sat 1-3 pm Instructor: Esther Altshul Helfgott This class focuses on writing as a means to dialogue with self in relation to others. It looks at the page as a haven, not for the purpose of hiding, but as a means of cultivating that place within the self that can work most effectively for change. It focuses on the use of language as a vehicle to work for peace, for social change and for understanding the material reality of other people's lives. Writing exercises will help you place thoughts and feelings on the page; and time will be allotted for in-class reading of students' work. Beginning and experienced writers and readers are invited to attend this class and will be encouraged to develop their individual writing styles, voices and forms. The syllabus is tentative and changeable. I like to develop discussions and writing topics organically, that is, from discussions that arise in class and from issues that are pertinent to participants. But, at least, we will have a guideline to follow. My goal for this class is that it will act as a shelter for you, that you will feel comfortable here, that you will feel free enough to develop and re-enforce your writing voice(s), that you will take at least some of what you have learned and incorporate it into your life. Feel free to call or email me if any problems arise and to schedule a writing conference with me. I. April 15th Introductions. Discussion: What is "writing as action?" How does this concept connect with dialoguing with "self in relation to others?" For me, writing as action means making visible what is invisible, first to oneself and, then, to others. This, as opposed to writing solipsistically, as an end in itself. I came to this notion when I realized how solipsistic much of my own writing was, that I wrote and wrote and wrote but didn't share more than a small portion of what I was writing publicly. Finally, without plan or the angst that often comes with writing, I wrote The Homeless One: A Poem in Many Voices about homelessness and schizophrenia, my example of writing as action for this class. What is yours? Suggestion for Home Assignment: Find an example of "Writing as action." Write about why you see it that way. For instance, is The Diary of Anne Frank action? What was and continues to be the response to her work? How would you describe some of Adrienne Rich's writings or Muriel Rukeyser's? Or a book that you're reading now or one you would like to read? II. April 22 (This is the second day of Passover. If anyone cannot be present due to Passover, we will cancel this class and extend to May 27th). Choose a group in society either your ethnic group, or someone else's - or a group of people living in what is often called a parallel universe the nursing home, prison (why am I thinking cemetery) leper colony, hospital, a summer camp for chronically ill children, Japanese internment camp, concentration camp, even academia or a circus or ballet troupe or a shelter for battered women (your choice does not have to be sad and intense; it can be fun) and write about A) how you feel in relation to that group or B) make visible something about the group that is generally invisible to the outside world or C) an idea of your own. Selected Bibliography Alexie Sherman. First Indian on the Moon. New York: Hanging Loose Press, 1993. Cardinal, Ernesto. Flights of Victory. Curbstone Press, n.d. Casey, Crysta. Heart Clinic. Seattle: Bellowing Ark, 1996. Forche, Carolyn. Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness. Frank, Otto H. and Mirjam Pressler. Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. New York: Anchor books, 1995. Gioseffi, Daniela, ed. Women on War: Essential Voices for the Nuclear Age From A Brilliant International Assembly. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. Graver, Lawrence. An Obsession With Anne Frank: Meyer Levin and the Diary Grimsley, Jim. Winter Birds: A Novel. New York: Scribner, 1984. Helfgott, Esther Altshul. The Homeless One: A Poem in Many Voices. Seattle: Kota Press, 1999 Lachenmeyer, Nathaniel. The Outsider: A Journey into My Father's Struggle with Madness. New York: Broadway Books, 2000. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. ____________. The Nobel Lecture on Literature. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. Nasrin, Taslima. The Game in Reverse: Poems. New York: George Braziller, 1995. Powledge, Fred. Free At Last: The Civil rights Movement and the People Who Made It. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. Quintana, Leroy V. The History of Home. Tempe, Arizona: Bilingual Press, 1993. Real Change: Puget Sound's Newspaper for the Poor and Homeless. Seattle: Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project. Rich, Adrienne. What is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics. New York; Norton, 1993. Rukeyser, Muriel. The Life of Poetry. New York: William Morrow, 1974. Wolff, Tobias. This Boy's Life: A Memoir. New York: Harper and Row, 1989. III. April 29 Describe your neighborhood, especially your place of residence in relation to your neighborhood. Tell me about your neighbors, how often you see them on the street, if children play in front of their houses. Is there an ethnic mixture? Are there children in your neighborhood? Are there old people? (There is a 95 year-old woman on my block.. I have brought her flowers, knocked on the door, invited her to Thanksgiving, asked her if she wanted me to check on her, but she always says, "NO," so I go my way). Do you participate in block parties? Are you and your neighbors involved in politics together or the Wilderness Society or the Gray Panthers or a book group? Suggested Home Assignment: You are your neighbor. Describe your life. Include a dialogue with the you you are now. Continue collecting your writings into a portfolio. Choose a method to bind your work into chap-book form. IV. May 6 What do you know about Cuba or any other country? Why isn't it obvious to everyone that Elian should be returned to his father? How would you describe racial relations in this country? Why are African American men stopped by police out of proportion to their numbers? Why shouldn't gay and lesbian couples be allowed to marry? Suggested Home Assignment. Write an opinion piece. Pick the topic or use one of the above. V. May 13 What event(s) or issues are more visible to you since this class began? Can you think of another example of Writing as Action? Write one in short story, poem or memoir form or expand on the one you have already begun. Suggested Home Assignment: Interview a friend, colleague or family member on a subject you are afraid of. List everything new you learned after the interview. List what you already knew. VI. May 20 How have you sheltered yourself from worlds that scare you? How do others shelter themselves? How does writing bring you closer to others or, at least, make you more aware of that which you are not? How does writing make you more aware of that which you are? Share chap-books with class. Suggested Home Assignment: How will you use writing to help create peace and social justice within your particular milieu? What writing styles and forms feel most comfortable to you? Thank you for sharing yourselves this quarter. May 23rd - End-of-Class Student Potluck-Reading, Hugo House Cafe 6:30 - eat; reading: 7:00 Bibliography Bouldrey, Brian, ed. Best American Gay Fiction. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1996 Brooks, Gwendelyn. Blacks. Chicago: The David Co., 1987. Grimsley, Jim. Mr. Universe & Other Plays. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1998. Junker, Howard, ed. The Writer's Notebook. New York: ZYZZYVA, 1995. McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: Scribner, 1996. __________. 'Tis: A Memoir. New York: Scribner, 1999. Neiderman, Sharon, et al. New Mexico Poetry Renaissance. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Red Crane Books, 1994. Olsen, Tillie. Silences. New York: Delta, 1979. __________. Tell Me A Riddle. New York: Delta, 1961. Wilson, August. Any of his plays. Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. Periodicals: The American Scholar New York Review of Books Poetry Raven Chronicles Seattle Review Fine Madness |
