WRIT42403 - Writing & Walking in Memoir & Creative Nonfiction

Course Description

There is a long and varied history of the writer as flanuer- the passionate wanderer. Sometimes the writing that follows is transformed by the very act of walking or deepened by discoveries made along the way, but it is always changed by looking at one’s environment anew. We will read writers such as Virginia Wolf, Philip Lopate, and Adam Gopnik to see how urban writers and poets wrote about walking and applied the observational skills developed through using their senses as they wandered their environments mindfully. As we stroll around Chicago, we will also move from our interiority to the world around us and observe how it enriches our writing.

This class is suited for students with some essay-writing experience and/or students who have taken Introduction to Creative Nonfiction, Introduction to Memoir or the equivalent. Due to the nature of the course, be prepared to walk in all kinds of weather.