AMERICAN LIVES, AMERICAN STORIES

Writing sample and application required to apply. If you are a Barnard Student, please click here to view guidelines, instructions, and the application form on the Portal under “Applying to Creative Writing Courses” (login required). Columbia students can find the guidelines, instructions, and application form here (no login required).

In this class we will discuss the narrative of the "American" story, and how stories of immigrants and minority identities redefine and complicate it. The goal of the class is to investigate how writers frame a sense of identity in relation to the "American ideal". We will explore this theme through three creative non-fiction pieces each focusing on a different perspective of place, person, and personal experience. What are your stories, and what makes them "American"?