English 891WB - S-Sex, Bloat, and Zombies

"How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?" This course asks students to view themselves and the authors studied as Dr. Frankenstein. We will study various approaches to crafting the physical body in fiction and all they can achieve when exploring themes of trauma, agency, illness, and human desire. Books will be selected from an expanding list that includes work written by Gayl Jones, Elena Ferrante, Anthony Veasna So, S.A. Cosby, Garth Greenwell, James Joyce, Colson Whitehead, Johnathan Franzen, Haruki Murakami, Mohsin Hamid, Mariana Enriquez, and others. Requirements will include a presentation on an assigned book and the creation of your own monster (a short story in which the body is written).

This class is open to English graduate students only.