Spring 2025 Courses
ENGL-1000-001 | English 1A | TBA | JUN20 - JUL31 | MW 9AM - 12PM
Course Delivery: In-person
Course description TBA
ENGL-1000-760 | English 1A | K. Sinanan | MAY5 - JUN2
Course Delivery: Online Asynchronous
Course description TBA
ENGL-1003-001 | Intro: Topics in Literature | C. Anyaduba | JUN20 - JUL31 | TTH 9AM - 12PM
Course Delivery: In-person
Course description TBA
ENGL-1004-001 | Intro: Reading Culture | TBA | MAY5 - JUN16 | MW 9AM - 12PM
Course Delivery: In-person
Course description TBA
ENGL-1005-001 | Intro: Reading to Write: Frenemies, First Loves, and Family Binds| L. WONG | JUL7 - AUG18 | MW 1PM - 4PM
Course Delivery: In-person Workshop
This course introduces students to university-level literary study and the writing workshop. Students read a variety of creative literature (contemporary adult fiction, nonfiction, and young adult fiction) from a writerly perspective, to explore and analyze writers' techniques, and to gain a broader understanding of the art and craft of writing. Topics may include dramatic action, narrative strategies, organizational principles, imagery, setting, characterization, and voice. The themes of the readings and writing assignments emphasize “coming-of-age narratives” about young narrators who examine their relationships with peers and family members during adolescence and in early adulthood. Students will also have the opportunity to workshop their writing in small groups of four, and will be responsible for giving thoughtful feedback on their classmates’ creative output. This course may be of special interest to students who plan to take Creative Writing courses at the 2000 level.
ENGL-2102-001 | Intro to Creative Writing: Developing a Portfolio: We.come to the Writers' Room | L. Wong | MAY5 - JUN2 | MWF 9AM - 12PM
Course Delivery: In-Person Workshop
“If you’re struggling with what you’re writing—if you’re afraid to be your true self on the page—I dare you to stop listening to the outside voices and try listening only to yourself this one time. Write the book you most want to write…Write the book that is the most unapologetically YOU, no matter how long it takes.”- Nova Ren Suma, author of The Walls Around Us
“Overnight success is almost always a myth. Half of this industry is luck and half is the refusal to quit”--Victoria Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
“The first draft isn’t about getting it right, it’s about getting it done.” –Ava Jae, author of Beyond the Red
The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself. -Jim Rohn
In this workshop-based course, students concentrate on developing a portfolio of creative writing, including literary short fiction, young adult, and genre fiction. The course introduces students to strategies for writing in various prose genres and to the discipline involved in seeing a project through several drafts to its final stages. Through weekly writing exercises/prompts and assigned readings, this class emphasizes skills involved in self-editing and the professional preparation and submission of manuscripts suitable for a portfolio.
Students will be responsible for active participation, thoughtful feedback on peers’ work, and a willingness to generate new writing. This is a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment. The workshop is also encouraged to think about submitting work to literary journals such as the University of Winnipeg’s Juice: /english/juice-journal-submissions.html
As this is a 200-level writing workshop, students should be fairly independent, committed, and motivated to improve their craft. Late assignments without permission will not receive instructor feedback and they will receive a zero if they are submitted a week after the deadline. This may sound harsh but I want us to adhere to the standards that professional writers follow in their daily practice.
Note: This course is recommended for students who plan to enroll in further creative writing courses at the undergraduate level.
ENGL-2603-490 | Short Fiction | A. Brickey | MAY5 - JUN16 | MW 1PM - 4PM
Course Delivery: Stony Mountain Penitentiary
Course description TBA
ENGL-3113-001 | Writing Short Fiction Workshop | L. Wong | MAY5 - JUN2 | MWF 1PM - 4PM
Course Delivery: In-Person Workshop
Fiction is one of the few experiences where loneliness can be both confronted and relieved. Drugs, movies where stuff blows up, loud parties — all these chase away loneliness by making me forget my name’s Dave and I live in a one-by-one box of bone no other party can penetrate or know. Fiction, poetry, music, really deep serious sex, and, in various ways, religion — these are the places where loneliness is countenanced, stared down, transfigured, treated.”- David Foster Wallace
The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself. -Jim Rohn
An autobiography can distort; facts can be realigned. But fiction never lies: it reveals the writer totally. - V.S Naipaul
The short story is arguably the most difficult genre to write. Unlike the novel, it requires brevity and flawless execution of craft. You must be detailed enough to draw the reader into the scene and make them care about your character, but you must be brief enough so that the backstory does not overwhelm the narrative arc. This workshop-based course is meant to challenge, provoke, and stretch your skill as a fiction writer; it’s meant to give you a stronger sense of what kind of writer you might aspire to be, and to help strengthen your application of craft through practice and intensive peer feedback.
In this generative workshop, we will focus on crafting original short stories. Student manuscripts will form the primary texts, in addition to some assigned reading and in-class writing exercises. You are welcome to submit both literary and genre fiction.
Questions that we will explore but are not limited to: how do we craft compelling pieces of short fiction? What is the difference between literary, upmarket and commercial fiction? Within a stylistical, literary, and ethical context, what should we be aspiring to, as practitioners of this genre, and how can we be successful in breaking into the industry?
Students will have the opportunity to workshop a draft of their short story during the term and they are responsible for placing as much attention on critique as on their own craft. Learning to write and evaluate short stories will be the focus of the workshop, and we will hone our creative processes to produce engaging works of fiction.
Attendance, thoughtful feedback on peers’ works, and lively discussion are expected. Maintaining a safe, respectful literary community and classroom space is a priority. A final grade will be based on participation, feedback letters, attendance, an outline/synopsis, and an exploratory draft of a short story.
Students are also encouraged to think about submitting work to literary journals such as the University of Winnipeg’s Juice: /english/juice-journal-submissions.html
Please note that this is a workshop-based course (peer-review focused) where participation means being part of an engaged and welcoming literary community. Students are expected to adhere to the university’s respectful workplace policy at all times. This means being courteous and thoughtful when offering feedback on peer manuscripts. You may be asked to leave the workshop if you violate the policies of a safe and inclusive learning environment.
Moreover, as this is an intermediate writing workshop, students should be fairly independent, committed, and motivated to improve their craft. Late workshop submissions without permission will receive a zero if they are submitted a week after the deadline. Similarly, if you are being workshopped and you are unable to attend, we may not be able to accommodate you because of scheduling. It is your responsibility to switch with another student if you know that you will be away that week.
This writing workshop is NOT a good fit if you are unable to show up regularly to peer review your classmates’ work; if you do not want honest feedback on your own work, and/or if you are unable to adhere to strict workshop deadlines. I am sorry if this sounds strict or unnecessarily harsh, but we are working towards the larger goal of professionalization as successful writers beyond the university.
Students are selected based on a 5 page writing sample of prose (double-spaced) due by April 5, 2025. If there is still space in the class, students may also submit their portfolio after the deadline.
ENGL-3169-001 | Films for Young People | H. Snell | JUL7 - AUG18 | TTH 1PM - 4PM
Course Delivery: In-Person
Course description TBA
ENGL-3723-760 | TOpics in Indigenous Texts and Cultures | P. DePasquale | MAY5 - JUN16
Course Delivery: Online Asynchronous
Course description TBA
ENGL-4903-001 | Critical Race Studies | J. Wills | MAY5 - JUL31 | TH 1PM - 4PM
Course description TBA