The focus in this class will be on works of prose fiction, set in cities, in which the idea of the city is central to the development of both issues and narrative techniques. Through these works we will examine how the city, including our very own metropolis of Seattle, inhabits the consciousness of those who inhabit it. This course is designed to increase understanding and enjoyment of literary texts, and to enhance the ability to read, write and think creatively about issues related to everyday experience.

Works include Seattle author Jim Lynch's 2012 Truth Like The Sun, set in both the present and during the 1962 Seattle World's Fair; Teju Co! le's Open City, in which a young Nigerian doctor navigates physical, social and personal landscapes as he walks through Manhattan; selections from Paul Auster's postmodern meta-detective-fiction novellas in The New York Trilogy; and National Book Award finalist Karen Tei Yamashita's Tropic of Orange, set in present day Los Angeles. Class discussion and small group collaborations will provide the basis and support for both formal and informal writing.