Mind the Gap [Sarah Dowling]

All Levels | Have you ever searched for the perfect word, only to realize that there is no word for what you want to describe? This course uses “lexical gaps”—phenomena for which no word exists in English—as springboards to new writing. We’ll begin by identifying lexical gaps that interest us: there is no word for the act of gazing into the distance, nor for a parent who loses their child. Together, we’ll write about unnamed events, states, and things. Most writing will happen in class, with some light exercises between meetings. Students will leave the course with new strategies for generating work, as well as several well-developed drafts.