Reading Fiction of the Pacific Northwest

Frances McCue

MW 12.30-2.30 Winter 2016

frances@francesmccue.com

Office: MGH 297 

Set in the mythic landscape of deep forests, twisting waterways and the open plains, fiction from this region is, by turns, stark and lush, urban and wild. In this course, we’ll read short stories and novels set in Washington, Idaho and Montana and along the way, we’ll visit the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula, mountain towns in Idaho, the Flathead Valley of Montana and the city of Seattle. 

We’ll approach reading as writers do, asking “How might this have been made?” Our time in class will simulate a lively artists’ studio where we will test out fiction writing strategies to illuminate our reading and we’ll work in groups to convene deep reading methods and discussions. Together, we’ll celebrate some of the great stories about this place. In the end, students will write a culminating essay as part of a group project, a mini-conference on Pacific Northwest Fiction. 

Our texts will include: Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie and The Other by David Guterson.