The Novel Today (Spring)
Discuss major new work by today’s top writers, including emerging novelists, award-winners, and established favorites, all of whom are central to today's cultural conversation. We will investigate a variety of inventive narrative strategies, explore the psychology of numerous fascinating characters, and examine important topics within a context of changing times, changing lives and a changing world. We will explore; vulnerable people and a parrot in pandemic New York; betrayal, revolution and Somerset Maugham in 1920s Penang; a far-right reactionary government in the south of Ireland; a mysterious man, a mysterious forest, and a mysterious nightfall; a historical novel set in the aftermath of the civil war centered on a strange man called Night Watch; the return of the complex and enigmatic Eilis Lacey, now in Long Island but with her heart still In Ireland; a brilliant autobiographical three generation saga about a “pied noir” family left without a homeland after Algerian independence; two sisters and a big bear on San Juan Island;
immigrant Indian teenage sisters, the game of squash, and the pressures and perils of winning; the recovering alcoholic son of an Iranian immigrant and his chaotic, tragicomic search for meaning.
Readings: Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors
; Kaveh Akbar, Martyr!;
Paul Lynch, Prophet Song
; Jon Fosse, A Shining
; Claire Messud, A Strange Eventful History
; Colm Toibin, Long Island
; Sigrid Nunez,The Vulnerables;
Julia Phillips, Bear
; Chetna Maroo, Western Lane
; Jayne Anne Phillips, The Night Watch
.
Students should read The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez for the first class.
You'll Walk Away with
- Increased cultural literacy, including intercultural knowledge and competence
- An understanding of current contemporary fiction, including its themes, meanings, and historical and cultural contexts
Ideal for
- The curious and creative
- Professionals who use critical thinking
3 sections
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Spring 2025
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Section
001 -
Semester
Spring 2025 -
Date
Feb 19 - Apr 23 -
Day
Wednesday -
Time
1:00PM-2:40PM -
Sessions
10 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Midtown Center
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-
-
Section
002 -
Semester
Spring 2025 -
Date
Feb 20 - Apr 24 -
Day
Thursday -
Time
10:00AM-11:40AM -
Sessions
10 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Instructor Led
-
-
-
Section
003 -
Semester
Spring 2025 -
Date
Feb 20 - Apr 24 -
Day
Thursday -
Time
1:00PM-2:40PM -
Sessions
10 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Instructor Led
-