What is the relationship between art and activism when we live in a strange reality of worldwide pandemics, AI that can generate paintings in the style of da Vinci, and ongoing climate disaster? When reality is stranger than fiction, how can magical realism help us render this strange reality or Afrofuturism empower us to transform the present and transgress? In this creative writing workshop, we will experiment with unreality by tapping into storytelling with an undercurrent of magic and discovering how our voices can go beyond the page and change the world. We will read & write fiction where strange things happen: people fly, time collapses, the dead rise, & nature eschews the laws of physics etc. From NoViolet Bulawayo to Octavia Butler, the goal is to see how authors weave activism into their work and try it ourselves. 

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: None.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Typical Periods Offered: Spring

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring

Notes: Mandatory Credit/Non Credit.