Hybrid Forms

This class will involve reading and discussion of short works of literature that do not easily fit into only one genre “box.” We will discuss such forms as novella, essay, prose poetry, miscellany, graphic novel/comic book, and list. As a W credit course, this course will include two 5-7 page papers as well as revision.

Texts will include, among others: Maggie Nelson’s Bluets; Kate T. Williamson’s A Year in Japan; Shane Jones’ Light Boxes; Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities; Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, Dinty W. Moore’s Son of Mr. Green Jeans; Richard Sala’s Delphine; selections from Joe Wenderoth’s Letters to Wendy’s, Anne Carson’s Plainwater, Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons, and Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet; and texts by Jorge Luis Borges and Vladimir Nabakov. We will likely encounter a film as well.