Reading & Writing Alongside Annie Dillard [Liza Birnbaum]

This class will take place via video-conferencing (Zoom), Pacific Time.

All Levels | “Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?” writes Annie Dillard. In this course, we’ll use Dillard’s wide-ranging work to investigate the art of setting down that beauty and mystery on the page. Through close readings, craft discussions, and optional writing exercises, we’ll consider her practices of attention and reverence and how they might inspire our own creative lives. Students will read Holy the Firm, essays, and selections from longer works, and will have the chance to share writing in class. All students in reading classes will receive a book club discount on the instructor’s reading list at the Elliott Bay Book Co.