The Power of Place in Fiction [Natalie Baszile]

Man Booker Prize winner Josip Navakovich says, “No matter what, give us a world.” Indeed, there’s nothing more satisfying than reading a story that tips us headfirst into another world, whether it be the gritty streets of 1920s New York’s East Village, Wyoming’s windswept plains, or the vast reaches of Alaska’s Yukon Territory. We’ll use exercises and prompts to deepen the connection between place and character, tighten the link between place and emotion, and breathe life into our settings. Through readings and in-class writing, we’ll develop strategies to engage readers more deeply in the invented world of a book.