About the Class

This class will be offered again in Spring 2014.

Here’s info from Spring 2013.

Course Description

Special Topics in Creative Writing: Literary Citizenship

ENG 405-002  6:30-9:10 PM  R

Spring 2013

Prof. Cathy Day

A literary citizen is an aspiring writer who understands that you have to contribute to, not just expect things from, the publishing world. This course will teach you how to take advantage of the opportunities offered by your campus, local, regional and national literary communities and how you can best contribute to those communities given your talents and interests. It will also help you begin to professionalize yourself as a writer. You will learn how to:

1.) create your own professional blog or website

2.) use social media to build your writing community

3.) interview writers and publish those interviews

4.) review books and publish those reviews

5.) submit poems, stories, and essays to literary magazines

6.) query agents and editors regarding book manuscripts

7.) apply to graduate programs and write an effective statement of purpose

8.) deliver an effective public reading of your work

9.) pitch to an agent

10.) craft a professional résumé.

Students who complete the course in an exemplary fashion will be eligible to apply for internship positions as Social Media Tutors at the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie July 25-27, 2013.

Books We’ll Be Reading

1. Carolyn See, Making a Literary Life, Ballantine Books; ISBN-10: 0345440463
2. Austin Kleon, Steal like an Artist, Workman Publishing Company; ISBN-10: 0761169253
3. Eugene Cross’s Fires of our Choosing, Dzanc Books, ISBN-10: 1936873079
4. Marcus Wicker, Maybe the Saddest Thing, Harper Perennial, ISBN 10 0062191012
5. Ellen Passarello, Let Me Clear My Throat, Sarabande Books, ISBN-10: 1936747456
6. Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, Anchor Books,ISBN-10: 0307477479
7. Chuck Sambuchino, Create Your Writer Platform: The Key to Building an Audience, Selling More Books, and Finding Success as an Author. Writer’s Digest Books, ISBN-10: 1599635755