WESTSIDE NONFICTION
Lisa Fetchko
Enrollment limit: 8 students
$420 new; $380 returning
(Payment plans available for returning students.)
For the past few decades, we have been living in a golden age of nonfiction—there are more ways than ever to work in this incredibly versatile genre. During this eight-week mixed-level nonfiction course, we will explore several important strands of nonfiction: the personal essay, New Journalism, creative nonfiction, and the lyric essay. With short writing exercises, field research, and an in-depth look at craft—especially narrative voice, structure, and the “carnality” (as Mary Karr puts it) of detail—students will try their hands at one or more of these genres (other genres are welcome as well). Each student will have the opportunity to workshop two pieces (or two versions of the same piece as long as edits are substantial). There will be a strong focus on the challenges and rewards of editing, especially for students who aren’t new to nonfiction.
This class will take place in Mar Vista, where wine, sparkling water, and the occasional gourmet snack will be served.
Mar Vista
Wednesdays
7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 11, 2021 to August 29, 2021
Lisa Fetchko has published essays, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translations in a variety of publications including Ploughshares, Bookforum, and n+1. She is a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Review of Books. Lisa has an MFA from Bennington College, where she studied both fiction and nonfiction. She teaches in the bilingual MFA in Creative Writing Program at Mount Saint Mary’s and has taught writing in the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA. In addition to teaching and writing, she has worked in architecture and documentary filmmaking in the United States and Latin America.