The Real as Magic

The Real as Magic & the Magic as Real in the Everyday

This course is about exploring magical realism through an introduction to the 80+ years of history while also engaging with it on a page. You are not expected to have encountered anything I’ve referenced. We will be exploring questions like: How can we take our dreams and craft them into verse? In what ways can we challenge ourselves to write about our lives – whether it is a short piece or a full memoir project – while using the very real elements of the magical? Through a range of different exercises that will include some visual materials like short clips, written examples, and other kinds of prompts, this generative workshop will give individuals an opportunity to engage with this style within their own writing as poets and prose writers. Individuals will also have an opportunity to bring their own work to this experience and use this as an opportunity to edit through bending what they have written. Specifically, participants will:

• Learn about the elements of writing magical realism while engaging with examples of how poets and writers have thought about this form.

• Observe some of the ways that poets and non-fiction writers can have the magic and real collide on a page within their own work.

• Take this opportunity to generate new material or edit old work using magical realism via visual clips and other kinds of exercises.