Whether in fantasy or more mainstream narratives, storylines evolve in a carefully constructed world space. Imaginary settings—whether they be Narnia or New York— involve the creation of spatially coherent locations, a backstory and a world that is peopled.In this course, students examine fictional worlds and learn to build those worlds themselves.This class is not limited to but is recommended for students interested in fantasy, science fiction or speculative fiction. Writing sample and permission of the instructor are required.

Shapes speak to us. Prose shapes us. From the picture book to the chapter book, we will explore the ways in which literature for children invents the child reading that literature. And we will attempt to break through our natural nostalgia for works we know to rediscover their innovative and experimental nature. In so doing, we will see these works work their magic on themes that will become familiar throughout the semester: identity, nostalgia, interiors and exteriors, authority, independence and dependence and, of course, the nature of wild things.

Same as ENG 204. Medieval legends of Arthurian Britain as they developed in Wales, France, and England, and more recent retellings. Readings include early Welsh tales, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, the Gawain-poet, Malory, Tennyson and Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. Enrollment limited to 40.

Same as CLT 215. Medieval legends ofArthurian Britain as they developed in Wales, France and England, and more recent retellings. Readingsinclude early Welsh tales, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, the Gawain-poet Malory,Tennyson, and Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. Enrollment limited to 40.

This workshop will focus on writing skills and technique, close reading, and the production of new work. In addition, the workshop will include instruction in mindfulness meditation to help students cultivate their powers of concentration, observation, imagination, and creative expression on the page. Students will be asked to submit manuscripts for discussion in class, to revise and edit their work, and to keep a process journal about their writing practice. They will be asked to read fiction by established authors in a range of genres.

Taught by the Grace Hazard Conkling Poet in Residence, this advanced poetry workshop is for students who have developed a passionate relationship with poetry and who have substantial experience in writing poems. Texts are based on the poets who are reading at Smith during the semester, and students gain expertise in reading, writing and critiquing poems. Writing sample and permission of the instructor are required. Enrollment limited to 12.

An intermediate-level workshop in which writers develop their skills through intensive reading, writing, revising, and critique. Emphasis on narrative writing, broadly defined to include a variety of genres, depending on the interests of the current holder of the Lakes writing residency. Topic changes annually. Writing sample and permission of the instructor are required.

A study of the major poems and selected prose of John Milton, radical and conservative, heretic and defender of the faith, apologist for regicide and advocate of human dignity, committed revolutionary andRenaissance humanist, and a poet of enormous creative power and influence, whose epic, Paradise Lost, changed subsequent English Literature. Not open to first-year students.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, I Henry IV, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Macbeth,The Tempest, and Shakespeare's sonnets. Enrollment in each section limited to 25. Not open to first-year students.

A study of novels written in England from Aphra Behn to Jane Austen and Walter Scott (1688–1814). Emphasis on the novelists’ narrative models and choices; we conclude by reading several novels by Austen—including one she wrote when 13 years old.