Topics in Creative Non-Fiction (CNF): Writing Place

Through the reading and writing of creative nonfiction essays, we will use place as a lens through which to explore the human relationship to natural and built environments, as well as to ideas of home, travel, exile, place and displacement in our complex contemporary world. Students will write three essays (Home/Insider Essay; Place/Displacement Essay; Reported Place Profile) over the course of the semester and extensively revise and polish two of them. Readings may include work by Wendell Berry, Joan Didion, Ocean Vuong, Anne Dillard, Sarah Broom, Terry Tempest Williams, Natasha Tretheway, Rick Bass, Elizabeth Kolbert, John Seabrook, Carlo Rotella, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Jamaica Kincaid. Admission to this course is by permission of the instructor. Graduate/Undergraduate Level. Restricted to Graduate Students, Seniors, Juniors and Sophomores. Students should send up to 8 double-spaced pages of creative writing or place-based journalism to <suzanne.matson@bc.edu>by 11/6/24. Ideally, the writing sample will be nonfiction, but if your strongest writing is in fiction, poetry or drama, that is also acceptable. Include your email address. Late applications will be considered on a rolling basis as space permits.

Averages use numerical 1–5 ratings, including the ratings submitted with new anonymous reviews.

OrganizationHow well the course was organized

5.00 / 5

ChallengeHow intellectually challenging students found it

4.79 / 5

AttendanceHow necessary attendance was

5.00 / 5

AssignmentsHow helpful assignments were

4.88 / 5