The Inventive Feminist Voice

Service Description

“Woman must put herself into the text – as into the world and into history – by her own movement.” Hélène Cixous Feminist, non-binary and female identified writers have produced some of the most inventive prose of the 20th century. This class will take its cues from writers such as Virginia Woolf, and Gertrude Stein – both of whom boldly subverted traditional narrative to create forms that rang true to their experience of the world. We’ll touch base with Gloria Anzaldua and Theresa Cha, hybrid writers who crafted fierce political and personal memoirs out of the everyday scraps: recipes, worksheets, songs, photographs, and letters to government officials. Our questions: How can female identified people find a frame that fits our unruly experiences of self and body? How do we milk the interruptions, the stolen moments common to our experience as writers? How can we begin to make and break our own rules? This class will be multi-genera, and generative, though time will be allotted to workshop pre-existing pieces. This class welcomes writers of all levels, those who already experiment to those who want to play, explore, and invent. The class will include one half hour individual consultation with each student. Feedback will be given on one piece of writing (up to ten pages of prose or hybrid work). Instructor Bio: Jennifer Colville holds and MFA from Syracuse University and a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Utah. She is the director of PorchLight Community Literary Center, and the founder of Prompt Press, a project connecting visual artists, book artists and writers. She has taught creative writing and literature at San Fransisco State University, The University of San Fransisco, The University of Utah, The University of Iowa, Coe College and Cornell College. She has published short fiction and non-fiction in such places as The Iowa Review, The Northwestern Review, The Mississippi Review and Diagram. "Elegies for Uncanny Girls," a collection of short stories, was published in 2017 by Indiana University Press. Jennifer is a 2022/2023 Iowa Artist Fellow.

Contact Details

• 1019 E Washington St, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

  colvillejen@hotmail.com