ENGL 192 SC - Speculative creative writing

This course will introduce students to a range of speculative fiction and poetry in English. We will examine key facets of creative writing—form, narrative, characterization, etc.—with an emphasis on how authors use these tools to develop speculative, fabulist, and magical stories. What do modern fables look like? What can you say with a science-fiction short story? What happens when we approach horror, sci-fi, and fantasy (traditionally “genre” fiction and poetry) with same interest and care that is traditionally reserved for “literary” realism? While the emphasis will be on contemporary authors, we will also discuss some older speculative texts (potentially excerpts by Hawthorne, Cavendish etc.) to consider how speculative genres have changed. Students should be prepared to draft, workshop, and revise speculative stories and poems over the course of the semester.

Please refer to the course schedule on the Scripps Portal for current course offerings and details.