FICTION TO FILM
$350 | 4 Weeks | Thursdays, 8pm - 10pm ET | April 18 - May 9, 2024
with Emily Adrian
Why do we so often say the book was better than the movie? Can film do things that fiction can’t? In this course, we will read four works of fiction (three short stories and a novel) and watch film adaptations of each text. By studying fiction and film side by side, we’ll discover how adaptations can shape, inform, or expand our understanding of a story. What do adaptations reveal to us about form? How does a ten-page short story lend itself to a two-hour movie? We’ll take a close look at how filmmakers interpret moments of literary ambiguity, as well as the creative choices that allow each film to stand as a work of art independent of its source material.
This is a course for writers who have decided to write a memoir and would like structure and support in getting started! In the early weeks of the course, we will study the opening chapters of published memoirs, including those by Jeanette Walls, Terese Marie Mailhot, Hua Hsu, and others. We will discuss topics such as tense, point of view, narrative arc, and research in memoir, and will complete generative exercises to experiment with style. In the later weeks of the course, students will have a whole-class workshop opportunity, which will include a written feedback letter from the instructor, with some notes on the provided writing and recommendations for further reading and drafting.