Grackle painting by Kerry James Marshall.
The word essay means “to attempt or try,” and we often use the essay form as a path toward understanding. Writing an essay is therefore a journey in itself. And when we share our essays, they can, as Phillip Lopate suggested, make “the reader feel less lonely in their confusion and darkness.” But one doesn’t have to flounder in despair to engage in this complex and lovely form. In this course, we will use mentor texts on a variety of subjects and employ multiple forms in our writing. We will dive wholeheartedly into our curiosity. If you find the ordinary five-paragraph essay from your school days tedious, don’t worry. We’ll be experimenting with more exciting structures here. Bring your past experiences, bring your nascent ideas about concepts outside of yourself, bring your willingness to try new things. And definitely bring something to write with, because this course will be generative, each week. You’ll also have the opportunity in workshop to get feedback on your writing in a collaborative and respectful atmosphere.
Angélique Jamail is a Lebanese-American author whose work has appeared in over two dozen publications, including New Reader Magazine, Waxwing, Pluck, The Milk of Female Kindness––An Anthology of Honest Motherhood, Femmeliterate, Bayou City Magazine, and Literary Mama, and her poetry has been featured on the radio. Her books include Finis. and Homecoming (both fiction) and The Sharp Edges of Water (poetry). Her work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and has been a finalist for the New Letters Prize in Poetry. She began serving on the Board of Directors for Mutabilis Press in December 2019. She’s also the creator of the popular zine Sonic Chihuahua.