Introducing New Courses in Writing and Publishing for 2008-2009

ENG 479 Topics in Language and Form: Literary Techniques in Advertising
Professor: Hugh Allspaugh
Fall Quarter

What can an aspiring literary writer or critic learn from advertising’s compression of story-telling? This course will teach students how to read the literary elements in advertising and how to apply the essential foundations of common story lines, terms, and ideas to the language of selling. The class will have special appeal to creative writers to professional writers, and to any students interested in how literary techniques and tropes work their way into popular culture and into this genre. This course also serves as an introduction for students interested in working as writers in advertising and related fields. Hugh Allspaugh is founder and president of Marketing Independence, Inc., an advertising and marketing consulting firm in Chicago, and also a managing director and senior partner of the advertising firm J. Walter Thompson.

ENG 484 Writing Workshop: Creative Writing Genre and Practice
Professor Carol Marcum
Fall Quarter

Triptych: Essay, Story, Poem–This course is designed to approach the writing process in three distinct genres: essay, story, and poem. Though readings and workshop students will investigate how each genre utilizes method and form to situate content, and how content responds to and changes in relation to genre. The course focuses on the process of workshopping students’ creative writing, including genesis of the work, peer peer collaboration, and revision. It is highly recommended both for new students to the program and for those interested in studying the formal conventions of poetry, short fiction, and the literary essay. Carl Marcum, a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Depaul, earned his M.F.A. at the University of Arizona. His volume of poems, Cue Lazarus, was published by University of Arizona Press.


ENG 484 Writing Workshop: Long-Form Fiction
Professor Bayo Ojikutu
Winter Quarter

While reading and critically assessing accomplished contemporary writers who have successfully navigated the formulaic chasm between short story & long-form works of fiction students will draft & revise their own “workshop-able” series of novel chapters, or a novella manuscript, as a final course project. Our theoretical objective will be the exploration of the manner in which the kernel elements of narrative fiction & its primary plot structures alter & extend within the framework of an expanded work. Our practical end is for each student to produce a portfolio manuscript (the aforementioned final project) ready to be carried forth from the university for circulation in institutional and marketplace forums. Bayo Ojikutu is the author of two novels, the Washington Prize for Fiction/Great American Book-Award winner 47th Street Black (2003), and the critically acclaimed Free Burning (2006), which has been called "the most foreboding love letter [Chicago] has ever received” & “a searing portrayal of one of the shameful realities within an oft unjust society." His short fiction has appeared in various journals over the years; most recently, a short anthologized in Other Voices was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize.


ENG 477 Topics in Publishing: Seminar on the American Publishing Industry
Professor Susan Harris
Winter Quarter

Writers expect to publish their work and to participate in the field of publishing as writers and, perhaps, editors. This class offers an overview of the American publishing industry, particularly that part devoted to literary publishing, and provides a context in which students can consider their own creative and career goals. Topics include the following: the establishment, growth, and dissolution of the major American publishing houses; development of canons and classics; censorship; changes in bookselling and marketing; the Internet and electronic publishing. Students will track the progress of a sample book through the entire publication process. Susan Harris is former editor-in-chief of Northwestern University Press and currently editorial director of Words Without Borders, an online magazine of international literature.

ENG 484 Writing Workshop: Writing on the Edge: Crafting the Short-Form Urban Essay
Professor Terry Sullivan
Winter Quarter

Terry Sullivan is a national freelance writer who built his career by writing on the edge: his columns, reviews and articles, appearing in such widely diverse publications as This Old House and Whiskey magazines, are urbane, sassy, ironic, playful, and always humorous. He was contributing writer to Gentleman’s Quarterly from 1987 to 2002 and wrote a monthly column for GQ for five years. This course is an introduction to the urban short-form essay, a genre found in metropolitan magazines, in journals focusing on contemporary trends and culture, and in the lifestyle and leisure sections of newspapers. This workshop focuses on writing casuals, profiles, enthusiasms, contraria, humor, and the personal urban essay. Students will produce three essays of publishable quality. This course meets on six Saturdays (exact dates TBA).


ENG 477 Topics in Publishing: Getting Published: An Editor’s Guide
Professor Alexandra Reid
Spring Quarter

How do you pitch a book proposal? Do you really need to get an agent? What can you do to help your manuscript reach an editor’s desk? And who is your audience anyway? While it seems to get harder and harder to get published, there are some things that a writer can do to catch an editor’s eye. A cutting-edge immersion in the world of contemporary publishing, this graduate seminar will cover such topics as trendspotting, the role of agents, deciphering a contract, and the emerging market for online and self-published books. This course, an introduction to the publishing process from an editor’s perspective, helps you identify the best publishing opportunities for your own writing. Alexandra Reid is a former Editorial Director at HarperCollins Children’s Books. During her career, she has acquired and published over one hundred books.