wesleyan university creative writing specialization

Bloom Creates New Memoir and Personal Essay Specialization on Coursera

Amy Bloom, the Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, recently launched a new nonfiction writing course housed on the Coursera platform. This is Wesleyan’s 21st free massive, open, online course (MOOC) offered through Coursera .

Launched on Jan. 14, Bloom’s Memoir and Personal Essay: Write About Yourself Specialization  shows participants how to write with confidence. Taught by award-winning essayists and memoirists, this specialization provides tips, prompts, exercises, readings, and challenges that prepare students to write compelling nonfiction.

Bloom, author of two New York Times best-sellers, also is professor of the practice in creative writing and professor of the practice, English. In this Q&A, Bloom discusses the new specialization. (The  Q&A also appears on Coursera .)

Q : What is the Memoir and Personal Essay Specialization?

A : The Memoir and Personal Essay Specialization focuses on these two popular forms of creative writing about the self. One of the wonderful opportunities in this kind of work is that memory and observation are even more important than imagination and the ability to create fictional plot lines. Here, you weave all these skills together to help you put to paper the story you’ve always wanted to share.

Q : Who should take this Specialization?

A : Our ideal learner is anyone who wants to tell their story. Age ain’t nothing but a number! Whether you are a 20-year-old with something to say about yourself and the world in which you live, or an 80-year-old with a lot of memories and stories, this Specialization is for you. Your audience could be as wide as the world or as narrow as your family; if you have a story you’d like to share, this is the Specialization to help you create writing from within that people will enjoy reading.

Q : Why was this Specialization created?

A : In 2016, Wesleyan launched a popular Creative Writing Specialization , and feedback from those courses suggested further interest in nonfiction. So we gathered more writers—award-winning memoirists and essayists—and turned our attention to these enormously popular genres, with the intention of presenting answers to the essential questions about writing about the self: how to find your story, how to develop your own distinctive voice, how to create an interesting and powerful narrative, how to pull your story pieces together, and how to make it engaging for the reader. I think we’ve succeeded!

Q : What will learners take away from the Memoir and Personal Essay Specialization?

A : This Specialization is all about creative nonfiction. When our students finish each course in the sequence, they will have written multiple scenes from their life, many of which may be part of a final memoir or essay. Each course presents the ideas of writing creative nonfiction from a new perspective, and students will be able to learn, from each of these four masters of the genre, tools and strategies to further their own works.

Q : What part of the Specialization excites you the most?

A : We all just love the interview segments. The opportunity to talk to great writers about their observations, their techniques, and their own experience in writing has been more fun, and more fascinating, than we’d even expected. We can’t wait for you to hear these dialogues!

Q : What is one of the most surprising things about writing memoirs that you will cover?

A : It is sometimes a surprise, and a little daunting, for people to discover that having a good story or an interesting event in one’s background is not enough to create a compelling piece of writing. This Specialization is designed to help our students get from an interesting moment—or a lifetime of moments—to memorable writing.

Q : What do you want prospective learners to know about the Memoir and Personal Essay Specialization?

A : This is a course by writers, for writers at all levels of experience. Our goal is to open up the possibilities to people who have a wish—even a need—to write about the world without and the world within.

• English Department
• Shapiro Creative Writing Center

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CREATIVE WRITING 

Over the history of the English Department, the creative writing program has evolved from a few introductory course offerings to what is now a full program of introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.  Creative Writing is currently a competitive concentration within the major, but beginning with the Class of 2023 it will become its own separate pathway for completion of the major. Below are links to detailed descriptions of the various aspects of Creative Writing within the major.

The Creative Writing Path  

Pursuing honors in creative writing, prizes in creative writing.

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A 5-course Specialization from Coursera

Creative Writing

Craft Your Story Like the Great Writers

About this Specialization

This Specialization covers elements of three major creative writing genres: short story, narrative essay, and memoir. You will master the techniques that good writers use to compose a bracing story, populated with memorable characters in an interesting setting, written in a fresh descriptive style. You will analyze and constructively evaluate peer writing. In the Capstone, you will draft, rewrite, and complete a substantial original story in the genre of your choosing. Our courses are designed for anyone from the aspiring short story writer to established novelist. Whether you have a finished novel sitting on your desk calling for a fresh look or have had the germ of an idea for a decade, this Specialization gives you tools to achieve your goal. Through 4 courses focused on a key aspect of writing, and taken in any order you choose, you will develop a stronger ability to not only refine your writing, but critique writing in general and find inspiration in the works you are already reading. Thanks to our sponsors, upon completion of their first assignment, learners in each course will receive up to an 80% discount from Write-Bros and a 30% discount off their first purchase from Scrivener to use on their writing software. Additionally, learners who complete an assignment will receive 30% off membership at the online writing community Scribophile. For more information about our partners, see the FAQ below.

OpenCourser is an affiliate partner of Coursera and may earn a commission when you buy through our links.

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Creative Writing Specialization

Description.

This Specialization covers elements of three major creative writing genres: short story, narrative essay, and memoir. You will master the techniques that good writers use to compose a bracing story, populated with memorable characters in an interesting setting, written in a fresh descriptive style. You will analyze and constructively evaluate peer writing. In the Capstone, you will draft, rewrite, and complete a substantial original story in the genre of your choosing.

Our courses are designed for anyone from the aspiring short story writer to established novelist. Whether you have a finished novel sitting on your desk calling for a fresh look or have had the germ of an idea for a decade, this Specialization gives you tools to achieve your goal. Through 4 courses focused on a key aspect of writing, and taken in any order you choose, you will develop a stronger ability to not only refine your writing, but critique writing in general and find inspiration in the works you are already reading.

Thanks to our sponsors, upon completion of their first assignment, learners in each course will receive up to an 80% discount from Write-Bros and a 30% discount off their first purchase from Scrivener to use on their writing software. Additionally, learners who complete an assignment will receive 30% off membership at the online writing community Scribophile. For more information about our partners, see the FAQ below.

Price: Enroll For Free!

Subtitles : English, French, Spanish

Creative Writing Specialization – Wesleyan University

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Throughout the academic year, a number of Visiting Writers, as well as distinguished alumni and publishing faculty are here on campus to offer readings, talks and workshops, and to contribute to an inclusive atmosphere of creativity and support. Our vibrant reading series generally takes place on Wednesdays, 6pm in Russell House. See our  2023-24  lineup:  here .

9/28 : Distinguished Writer in Residence, Yuri Herrera  

10/5 :  Sister Spit Tour : Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson w. Cristy C. Roads, Julian Degdo Lopera, Mya Spalter, Sara Seinberg, and Vera Blossom  *co-sponsored  with Theater Department 

10/19 : Distinguished Writer in Residence, Mahogany Browne

10/26 : Joan Jakobson Visiting Writer:  Alice Elliott Dark

11/16 :  Hafizah Augustus Geter   *co-sponsored by Wesleyan University  Press ,  African American Studies and the Center for African American Studies

2/15 :  Millett Reading:  Jacqueline Woodson  

2/22 : Visiting Creative Writing Faculty in English:  Emma Copley Eisenberg , A. H. Jerriod Avant , and Jeremy Tiang

3/8 : Francisco Goldman

3/29 : Merve Emre ( Distinguished Writer in Residence ) in conversation with author Lauren Elkin

4/19 : Joan Jakobson Visiting Writers:  His Name Is George Flyod authors  Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

4/26 : Jacob Julien Visiting Writers:  Megha Majumdar and alum  Diana Goetsch

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A home stager is a professional who prepares a house for sale, aiming to attract more buyers and potentially secure a higher selling price. They achieve this through the following techniques:

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Their goal is to present the house in the best light. Home stagers in Elektrostal' help buyers envision themselves living there, increasing the chances of a successful sale.

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