{"id":2743,"date":"2012-06-03T05:03:08","date_gmt":"2012-06-03T05:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eltweekly.com\/elt-newsletter\/?p=2743"},"modified":"2012-06-03T05:03:08","modified_gmt":"2012-06-03T05:03:08","slug":"vol-4-issue-23-article-designing-a-course-in-creative-writing-by-brian-mendonca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/?p=2743","title":{"rendered":"Vol. 4 Issue 23 \u2013 Article: \u2018Designing a Course in Creative Writing\u2019 by Brian Mendon\u00e7a"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELTWeekly Vol. 4 Issue#23 | June 4, 2012 |\u00a0ISSN 0975-3036<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This article has been authored and submitted for publication by\u00a0Dr Brian Mendon\u00e7a<\/strong>, Department of EnglishCarmel College for Women, Nuvem, Goa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was asked to teach a course on creative writing at Carmel College, I had no clue where to start. After gamely saying \u2018yes,\u2019 I had plenty of time to dwell on the enormity of my folly.<\/p>\n

Of course, I had brought out two slim volumes of verse \u2013 but was that enough to offer a course on creative writing? \u00a0Half of my readers did not understand what I wrote, and the other half couldn\u2019t care less. There were a few though, just a few, in whom my poetry struck the right chord. But did today\u2019s college students have time for poetry, strutting around with their iPads and Kindles? I wasn\u2019t sure. The website of the London School of Journalism (lsj.org) did give me some leads but told more than it showed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Well, I thought, the only way to take this forward was to be creative about \u2018creative writing.\u2019 A glance at the Goa University syllabus made me heave a sigh of the relief when I noticed the adjectival clause after the title of the paper. It said \u2018Creative Writing for<\/em> Beginners.<\/em>\u2019 \u2018That includes me!\u2019 I thought to myself.<\/p>\n

We began by discussing what creative writing meant. How it was different from other ways of writing. We read Marquez\u2019s Prologue to Strange Pilgrims — <\/em>his collection of short stories, perhaps as a preamble to his \u2018Sleeping Beauty and the Airplane\u2019 in the same collection.\u00a0 For the novel form, we did a slice of Saramago, reading from the Portuguese, from his novel O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis <\/em>based on the life of Pessoa.<\/p>\n

Somewhere, conventions of reading too came into play.\u00a0 When I did Llosa\u2019s short story \u2018The Chilean Girls\u2019 and came to the last line, a student said with indignation, \u2018The story is incomplete \u2013 It does not have a happy ending\u2019 (One girl thought the narrator was a lech). A back copy of the Economist<\/em> helped me to contextualize Peru and Chile, complete with a map and Macchu Picchu (13 Feb. 2010).<\/p>\n

I found women-centric stories, particularly the girl-meets-mysterious boy variety, had the girls by the edge of their seats \u2013 never mind exams. So, \u2018One Night in Late September\u2019 from a 1973 collection of short stories by Vernon Thomas gushingly titled Roses for Remembrance<\/em> showed how important selecting the right materials for teenagers is.<\/p>\n

My forays into teaching creative writing (and the appreciation of it) received a further fillip when I discovered that the English Compulsory paper was titled \u2018Teaching Language Through Literature.\u2019 I took recourse to role-play when we did Willy Goes\u2019 terrific tale, \u2018Shi! Solid Gold Man!!\u2019 (Goa Today<\/em>, Jan 2012).\u00a0 This story was right up their street. They could relate to it from their own experience of dating and may have even met guys at Kamat restaurant featured in the story. Similarly, Astrid Pinheiro\u2019s poem \u2018The Bride Rejoices\u2019 published on the eve of Liberation Day served as a fine example of allegory (Navhind Times,<\/em> 18 Dec. 2011).<\/p>\n

How does one bring to students the immediacy of a creative writer\u2019s experience? Vikram Seth\u2019s recent Rivered Earth <\/em>came to our rescue. The sheer ingenuity of its conception swept us off our feet. So much so, the girls were chanting under the tree, \u2018Child of son, of daughter \/ Tombed and wombed in water . . .\u2019 When students wanted to know what a libretto was, I distributed copies of Arnold\u2019s \u2018Dover Beach\u2019 and had them listen to Samuel Barber\u2019s setting of the lines to music– on the car speakers of my i10.<\/p>\n

Shashi Deshpande\u2019s essay \u2018Writing From the Margin,\u2019 from the book by the same name, showed the challenges women writers have to face in India and how she overcame them. In Navtej Sarna\u2019s, \u2018Of Writers and writers,\u2019 we peeped into the writerly world and how writers write (Hindu<\/em>, 4 March 2012). We also took in Osho\u2019s view of creativity being basically music, \u2018only the medium differs\u2019 (Osho World<\/em>, Feb 2012).<\/p>\n

All this time I was writing, to hone my skills. \u2018Undra Mhojea Mama\u2019 was picked up by South Asian Ensemble<\/em>, and published in Toronto as an example of Creative Non-Fiction (First published in Navhind Times,<\/em> 6 Dec 2011; SAE<\/em>, Autumn 2011). I promptly included this genre on my creative writing course and passed my published article around to inspire the girls to write their own experiences. When \u2018Nishte Zai Go . . .!\u2019<\/em> was published the girls were already on study leave but it drove home the point of CNF being about the ordinariness of life presented creatively (Navhind Times, <\/em>31 March 2012).<\/p>\n

The Department of English organized a creative writing workshop where a poet (Manohar Shetty), a short story writer (Savia Veigas) and a novelist (Damodar Mauzo) interacted with the students about their craft.<\/p>\n

We rounded off the course with a stab at proof-reading symbols which I felt was an important skill for a writer. The students came through fine, scoring on a bandwith of 57 — 80\/100 on aggregate.\u00a0 Their enthusiasm powered the course.<\/p>\n

The student\u2019s specially enjoyed an exercise in story writing where a few opening lines were given in prose and each of the students had to add a few lines of their own — in a space of 3 minutes each! — to develop the story. What was particularly lively was the discussion which followed. Students felt a great sense of collaboration and achievement.<\/p>\n

Among the many assignments my students did, one was to develop a poem from the opening lines which were taken from an already published poem. The poem below, I felt, made the journey worthwhile . . .<\/p>\n

Morning<\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cec\u00edlia Meireles<\/p>\n

(Translated from the Portuguese by Rita Sanyal)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the sun that has arrived early on the windy mountain<\/p>\n

And the white translucent clothes that the washermen<\/p>\n

Have opened out in the air . . .<\/p>\n

[Continued below by Jolaine De Souza, SYBA Allied, Creative Writing student (2011-12)]<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the honking of the bakers horn that draws the people out <\/em><\/p>\n

onto the streets.<\/em><\/p>\n

And the morning chatter of the women<\/em><\/p>\n

waiting to fill their pots at the public tap.<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the village schoolmaster, and his students<\/em><\/p>\n

chanting the ABC.<\/em><\/p>\n

And there\u2019s Miguel the drunkard<\/em><\/p>\n

lying passed out in the street.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Then the morning becomes afternoon.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the sun that bears down<\/em><\/p>\n

fiercely on everyone\u2019s backs<\/em><\/p>\n

And the clanking of utensils and <\/em><\/p>\n

the rolling of mats.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the sound of people taking<\/em><\/p>\n

their afternoon siesta<\/em><\/p>\n

And of the children playing on the ground.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the whistle of the factory<\/em><\/p>\n

signalling the end of the day<\/em><\/p>\n

The white shirts are muddied and stained<\/em><\/p>\n

And the sun has slunk away.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was asked to teach a course on creative writing at Carmel College, I had no clue where to start. After gamely saying \u2018yes,\u2019 I had plenty of time to dwell on the enormity of my folly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","omw_enable_modal_window":"enable","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,39,180,332],"tags":[581,851,1060,1110,1120,1128,1132,1152,1762],"class_list":["post-2743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elt-articles-and-research-papers","category-elt-newsletter","category-eltweekly-vol-4-issue-23","category-english-language-teaching-webinars","tag-brian-mendonca","tag-elt-newsletter","tag-eltweekly-vol-4-issue-23","tag-english-language-teaching-newsletter","tag-english-teachers-newsletter","tag-english-teaching-newsletter","tag-english-teaching-tips","tag-esl","tag-tefl","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltweekly.humbeestudio.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}