Creative Nonfiction: the online face of University of Toronto?
One participant wrote that “the weekly notes were very helpful, introduced new stylistic tools, and provided clear instruction on how to complete the exercises and assignments.” Another said “this was my first online course and overall it provided me with a great learning opportunity while in virtual community with like-minded learners.” A third observed that Our Hero “is clearly an expert in his field and I’m happy to have worked with him in this course!”
We had a great run in autumn 2014. Can we match or better it? A lot depends on who logs in. This year, autumn brings a voyage with Adventure Canada and the launch of a new book. More on those later. Bottom line: for 2015, I have only one chance to include YOU in my online course in Creative Nonfiction. It’s called The Art of Fact: An Introduction to Writing Nonfiction, and it’s available through the University of Toronto. We launch mere weeks from now, on January 26. And the particulars
look like this: “The hallmarks of
Creative, Literary or Narrative Nonfiction are truth and personal
presence. The
genre includes subjective and objective streams, and encompasses memoir,
autobiography, biography, history, adventure, travel, and true crime.
The
writer of nonfiction employs memory, imagination, analysis, and
research, and
adapts literary techniques from fiction, journalism, and the essay. This
craft-oriented course aims to enhance your ability to tell true
stories.”
You can find out more at the link above. In the past, folks have
“attended” from as far away as Japan and Uganda. Oh, and we do have a
favourite text:
Textbook: The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism,
edited by Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda. (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, ISBN
0-684-84630-6). Maybe see you in cyberspace?