…nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people.
–Mark Twain (1835-1910)
This course is for aspiring writers seeking a motivating and supportive environment in which to tell stories about their foreign experiences and how these experiences affect and change them. In it, we will marry the creative, imaginative, and intellectual activities of writing while focusing on storytelling and translation. Theoretical study will stimulate and encourage insight. The aim is to open and enjoy the process of writing while honing skills and expanding horizons. Americans writing in Spanish will be addressing a foreign audience, with the intention of expressing their innermost selves, which will result in rich and interesting material for further development. Essays, short stories, novels, and films from Spanish and American scholars, fiction writers, and filmmakers will serve as examples and inspiration. Invitations will be extended to writers and filmmakers to come and speak to the class.
At the end of this course students will
- Know how to outline a creative writing project from beginning to end and how to complete the first draft of a short story, novel, and screenplay as well as how to revise it.
- Have a more nuanced understanding of translation and a pronounced increase in Spanish fluency.
- Have pertinent theoretical references to aid understanding, insight, and scholarly work.
- Have more precision in their written and oral communication skills.
- Have a deeper understanding of themselves, their culture, Barcelona, its culture and citizens.
This course is taught at the CIEE Barcelona Study Center.
