ENGL 377 – Intermediate Creative Writing: Nonfiction

Welcome! This is the website for ENGL 377 – Intermediate Creative Writing: Nonfiction  for the  Spring 2020 online course through UAF. The course will consist of:

  1. completing writing projects around some of the subgenres of nonfiction, specifically memoir, place-based, literary journalism, and writing the profile;
  2. online forum discussions about assigned readings;
  3. writing practice exercises;
  4. and peer critiques of your classmates’ work.

But you can read about all that on the syllabus. What I want to tell you is that a writing life, while a constant challenge, is exhilarating; an ongoing form of engagement with day to day life, a means of delving deeper and deeper into the hearts of our characters, ourselves, and the world around us. I encourage you to write what is most urgent to you, to listen, learn, offer, and, ultimately, follow your instincts into the stories you tell.

A note about the Essay Projects: In this class we have a wide range of experience. Some of you are taking the class after experiencing creative nonfiction for the first time in your Intro class, and some of you have written and published extensively – articles, stories, even books. Because, even though this is a 300 level course, this is the first nonfiction focused class in our creative sequence, I develop assignments around specific subgenres of nonfiction. But if you came into the class wanting to focus on a specific long project, or with ideas already that you want to pursue, please feel free to adapt your assignments accordingly.

Here’s how to get started:

  1. Read the syllabus and schedule, under “Resources.’
  2. Spend some time skimming through the various pages of this website in order to grow familiar with it. This will make it easier to find things later. Assignments and expectations will be posted weekly under “Weekly Agenda.’ (If you want to get started, Week 1 is available and waiting!)
  3. By now you should have received an invitation and signed into Slack. For future reference, here’s the url/link: IntermediateCreativeNonfiction.ENGL377.Spring.2020.slack.com.  
  4. Please watch this short video for an overview/reminder of how how Slack works:

 

 

If you’ve completed the above, Class starts now!

To get started, and see this week’s agenda, click here: Weekly Agenda

 

 

Thanks for enrolling in this class. I’m looking forward to a fun and rewarding semester!


Hi All,

I’m Daryl, and I’m the Instructor for this class. I’m also the author of Where We Land, a collection of short stories and Bicycling Beyond the Divide, a nonfiction book.I was born in Colorado Springs, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling around the West, and writing about its landscapes and people. I’ve also lived in New Mexico, Oregon, New Hampshire, and Mississippi among other places. And Alaska, of course. I received a B.A. in physical education from Adams State College (Alamosa, Colorado) and my graduate degrees are from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

I’ve taught writing at Georgia Tech. University, Stephen F. Austin State University in east Texas. I’ve been here at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for just over 10 years now.

I’m very much looking forward to this class!