Overview

The Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program hosts 10-day, on-campus residencies at the start of each semester. A select number of classes held during this time are open to serious writers who wish to audit graduate-level Craft, Criticism, & Theory courses. Each class is two hours long and costs $125.

Auditors must complete preparatory work and required reading for each class attended. Please double-check the reading requirements when you sign up, as we don’t necessarily have handouts for all texts. Unless the description notes that handouts will be provided, auditors must seek out these items.

Registration is generally open in May/June for July’s residency and November/December for January’s residency. Subscribe to our newsletter to ensure you’re alerted when our registration form is available.

Below find sample classes available for audit.

PRACTICAL PROSODY: TRADITIONAL & NON-TRADITIONAL APPROACHES

Cost: $125                                                                                                  

Date Offered: Jan. 11, 3:30-5:30 p.m. EST, exclusively on Zoom

Prosody is defined as the study of all the elements of language that contribute toward acoustic and rhythmic effects. What were the original intentions and uses of poetic prosody? What are the possible uses and limits of traditional approaches to poetic meter today? How do poets develop a sense of meter and line that serves and speaks to the current world we live in as well as their distinctive voice? What is the role of prosody in revision? These and other questions will be considered.
 
Goals & learning outcomes: With all of the above in mind—and after a quick crash-course in traditional prosody—we will engage with diverse traditions of rhythm, meter, and sound with an eye on what they offer poets on a practical level. Going forward, students will be encouraged to experiment and play with these elements of prosody to discover how these diverse traditions might inspire their own poems.

Required reading: Handout provided in class.

Also required: Have paper and a pen or pencil handy.

Questions to consider: How would you describe the rhythms of your work? What role do things like counting syllables and reading aloud as you draft have in your poetic practice? How can a very close attention to rhythm, sound, and pacing contribute to the motion of our poems? What is your own history (the good, the bad, and/or iambic) with poetic prosody?

Instructor: José Angel Araguz, Ph.D.

José Angel Araguz is a CantoMundo fellow and the author of seven chapbooks; the collections Everything We, Think We Hear, Small Fires, Until We Are Level Again, An Empty Pot’s Darkness and, most recently, Rotura; and the lyric memoir Ruin and Want. His poems, creative nonfiction, and reviews have appeared in Crab Creek Review, Prairie Schooner, New South, Poetry International, and The Bind. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, he runs the poetry blog The Friday Influence and composes erasure poems on the Instagram account @poetryamano. A member of the Board of Governors for CavanKerry Press, he is also a faculty member in Lasell’s University Solstice Low-Residency MFA program. With an MFA from New York University and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, José is an Assistant Professor of English at Suffolk University in Boston, where he also serves as Editor-in-Chief of Salamander Magazine.

 

NONFICTION AND MEMOIR COMICS: USINGING JOURNALISM SKILLS TO TELL AND DRAW A STORY

Cost: $125

Date Offered: Jan. 13, 1:15-3:15 p.m. EST, exclusively on Zoom

Reporting can be a useful tool when creating nonfiction or memoir comics. They can help the artist tell a factual sequence of events, deepen their understanding of the story, and build trust between the artist and their subjects. We will look at my own personal work as a comics journalist at NPR and memoir writing as examples. 

Goals & learning outcomes: In this class, we will learn a few journalism basics and how they can be deployed in sequential art. We’ll discuss how to ask for an interview and create a question list, as well as recording, transcribing, and what to disclose to a subject about the piece. How might race, gender, and power affect the outcome of an interview?

We will go over basic journalism ethics, like what is “on the record” and “off the record.” We will learn how to triangulate and fact-check, especially claims a subject might make in an interview. And we will talk about truthful depictions of a character in illustration and in dialogue. That may require the artist to ask the subject for source images, personal photos, and other visual references. The last part of the class will be devoted to coming up with a question list for a potential source. If there’s time, we will look at a sample comics script that has been adapted from a nonfiction interview.

Required reading:

Suggested reading:

Instructor: Malaka Gharib

Malaka is a journalist, cartoonist and graphic novelist. She is the author of I Was Their American Dream, a graphic memoir published in 2019 about being first-generation Filipino Egyptian American, which won an Arab American Book Award in 2020. Then in 2022, she published It Won't Always Be Like This, a graphic memoir about her summers in the Middle East. By day, she works as a digital editor at NPR for "Life Kit," a lifestyle podcast about health, finance, relationships, and more. Her comics and writing have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Catapult, The Believer Magazine and The New Yorker. You can find her on Instagram @malakagharib or visit her website.

 

EXPLORING IDENTITY & CULTURE VIA MIDDLE-GRADE CHARACTERS

Cost: $125

Date Offered: Jan. 13, 1:15-3:15 p.m. EST, exclusively on Zoom

In recent years, there has been an influx of middle grade novels featuring immigrant families in the U.S. or even families living in other countries. For a traditionally American- and white-centric children’s book world, this trend comes with challenges as well as joy. While offering a variety of perspectives for readers, there is another, more important purpose behind such novels: the ability for marginalized readers to explore and interact with their own identity.

Goals & learning outcomes: In this class, we will discuss how identity and culture are portrayed in a selection of recently published books by authors of color, specifically those dealing with families and stories reflecting the authors’ identities. We will examine good and bad ways of identity realization and why such stories are necessary for a generation of American readers, regardless of their race and culture. Finally, we will consider how we can incorporate these themes in our own writing in an authentic way.  

Required reading: Handouts provided during class

Suggested reading: No specific titles, but you will be asked to share your thoughts about any middle grade novel, novel-in-verse, or graphic novel you’ve recently read that highlights a culture or identity different from your own, and how the author portrayed it.

Also required: Please bring notes and highlights of your selected novel to the class for an interactive discussion.

Reading question: how can a writer portray identity and culture without making it the story itself, and why is it important to do so?

Instructor: Saadia Faruqi

Saadia is a Pakistani American author and interfaith activist. She writes the popular children’s early reader series Yasmin and other books for children, including chapter books, graphic novels, and picture books. Her middle grade novels include A Place At The Table (a Sydney Taylor Notable 2021 co-written with Laura Shovan), A Thousand Questions (a South Asia Book Award Honor 2021) and Yusuf Azeem Is Not A Hero (a School Library Journal Best Middle Grade 2021 book). Her graphic novel Saving Sunshine was a Kirkus Best Book of 2023 and a New York Public Library Best Book of 2023, as well as a 2024 Texas Library Association Little Maverick Graphic Novel. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry, and prose. Saadia was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She lives in Houston with her husband and children.

STORIES & HISTORIES FROM MISAABEKONG: THE NATURAL WORLD IN CNF

Cost: $125                             

Date Offered: Jan. 13, 1:15-3:15 p.m. EST, exclusively on Zoom

The earth and all creatures who live upon her are at the heart of Native American worldview and the passing of knowledge from each generation to the next. That foundation of teaching and learning will be examined in both Linda LeGarde Grover's body of work as well as in the optional sharing of selections from students’ own work that they may wish to contribute. The application of Native American—particularly Ojibwe—worldviews and philosophies to the writings of Native writers as well as the students in this class will be identified and discussed for students to consider as they integrate the presence of the natural world into their own writing.

Goals and outcomes: Students will recognize key aspects of Native American, particularly Ojibwe, beliefs and teachings; they will identify and apply those teachings in the reading of the writings of Native authors; they will discuss and understand the concept of appropriation and examine how those beliefs can be respectfully and appropriately integrated into their own writing. Interactive discussion and time allotted for a brief writing exercise will be included during the class session, as well as the opportunity to discuss shared work.

Reading/writing requirements: Students will be provided with a brief example of Grover's creative nonfiction work to be read before class; students are encouraged to bring to class a brief example of their own work that includes one of more aspects of the natural world.

Instructor: Linda LeGarde Grover

Linda is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and professor emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She is author of fiction, poetry, research articles, newspaper columns, and essays. Linda’s research on American Indian boarding schools and effects of federal Indian policies upon communities, families, and individuals has resulted in publications in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She is especially drawn to the interwoven aspects of academic research with the experiences and reactions of individuals and collectives in diverse historical and sociological milieu, both in her own work and in the reading of others in varied genres. Linda’s publications have received the Electa Kinney Award, the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, the Minnesota Book Award, Northeastern Book Award, Red Mountain Press Editor’s Award, and the Native Writers Circle of the Americas Book Award for Fiction.

 

YES, EVEN YOU CAN DRAW A GRAPHIC NARRATIVE

Cost: $125                                         

Date Offered: Jan. 14, 1:15-3:15 p.m. EST, exclusively on Zoom

Graphic narratives/comics are a hybrid of words and drawings, but a good story underpins the whole thing. In that sense, the art supports and is secondary to the story. Ergo, no matter how skillful the art is, if the story is weak, the comic will be as well. But the reverse is also true: the art does not have to be elaborate or beautiful; it just needs to render its part in the story and can be quite simple. To that end, this workshop is about teaching you the basic fundamentals of drawing for comics, so even the most insecure aspiring cartoonist will feel confident about their art. We’ll begin by showing that many celebrated comics incorporate rudimentary art. Then we’ll jump into drawing, beginning with a copying activity, followed by exercises designed to “boil down” real-life objects into their most basic (geometric) shapes. Next will be a series of engaging exercises that encourage humor, intuition, and spontaneity. You’ll leave the class with confidence in your drawing skills, and enthusiasm for making comics.

Required Reading (on Canvas):

  • Ivan Brunetti, Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice, “Week 1: Spontaneous Drawing,” pp. 25–28.

Suggested reading:

Instructor: Josh Neufeld

Josh is a cartoonist known for his nonfiction narratives of political and social upheaval, told through the voices of witnesses. His works of comics journalism have been published by Al Jazeera America, The Boston Globe, Medium, Fusion, Cartoon Movement, and The Atavist, among others. As a comics artist, he has collaborated with such acclaimed writers as Brooke Gladstone, Harvey Pekar, and Nick Flynn. Josh is the writer/artist of the New York Times-bestselling nonfiction graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans after the Deluge. In addition, he is the illustrator of the New York Times-bestselling graphic nonfiction book The Influencing Machine. He was awarded a 2004 Xeric Foundation grant for his first book A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia Central Europe). In 2014, Josh was an Atlantic Center for the Arts Master Artist, where he mentored eight Associate Artist cartoonists. In 2012, he was awarded the Knight-Wallace Fellowship in Journalism at the University of Michigan—the first long-form cartoonist ever admitted to the program. As part of the U.S. Department of State’s Speaker and Specialist program, Josh has traveled abroad as a “cultural ambassador,” giving presentations and conducting workshops in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. He has taught comics workshops at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and has served as a thesis advisor for students at the Center for Cartoon Studies and Hunter College. His illustrations have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. His books have been translated into numerous languages. Josh lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, the writer Sari Wilson, and their daughter. Visit his website.

 

INTERIORITY IN FICTION

Cost: $125                                                

Date/Time: Jan. 17, 1:15-3:15 p.m. EST, in person at the Donahue Center for Creative and Applied Arts, Room 214

Interiority is one of the most important tools that fiction writers have at their disposal. In this class, we’ll explore how delving into the subjectivity and consciousness of our characters can help us with character development, worldbuilding, and narrative momentum. We’ll examine how, in the words of Rebecca Makkai, “a character’s real interiority is often the fuel” for our stories, and we’ll also look at different ways that interiority is created, using memory, emotionality, humor, physicality, and fragmentation. 

Outcomes & Goals: In addition to the above, we’ll discuss the importance of interiority and how attention to this key device can enhance your fiction. We’ll also examine different techniques for creating and exploring interiority in our characters and work on generative writing prompts based on these techniques.

Required Reading (all handouts can be found on Canvas): Please read these excerpts in advance:

  • Excerpt from Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
  • Excerpt from Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly
  • Excerpt from Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
  • Excerpt from Lot by Bryan Washington

Reading Question: What do you notice about the way interiority is created in each of these excerpts? How does interiority help to develop the characters, increase your understanding of their world, and/or advance the story?

Instructor: Gina Chung

Gina is the author of the novel Sea Change, which was named a 2023 B&N Discover Pick and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book; it was also longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her short-story collection Green Frog—from Vintage in the U.S. and Picador in the U.K.—also garnered critical acclaim. A recipient of the Pushcart Prize, she is a 2021-2022 Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow and holds an MFA in fiction from The New School. Her work appears or is forthcoming in One Story, BOMB, The Kenyon Review, Literary Hub, Catapult, Electric Literature, and Gulf Coast, among others. Currently living in New York City, Gina is Korean American writer originally from New Jersey..

Registration

Register for courses below. January 2025 audit registration closes Dec. 16, 2024.

Audit Policy

  • Auditing of Solstice MFA classes is offered on a space-available basis and requires the approval of the Assistant Director. Only the classes featured on the Audit List are available to the public.
  • Priority in class enrollment is given to matriculated MFA students.
  • Should an auditor later apply and be accepted to the MFA Program, classes taken prior to acceptance will not be credited toward the degree. The university will not maintain attendance or academic records of classes audited.
  • Auditors are expected to complete the advance preparation requirements for any MFA class; this will ensure that all participants are “on the same page.”
  • While priority in class discussions must be given to matriculated students, individual faculty members will determine the extent to which auditors may participate in writing exercises/workshop-style discussions. Faculty members may welcome or encourage auditor participation, but the baseline expectation for auditors is that they will only spectate. 
  • A non-refundable fee per course of $125 for members of the public.
  • Fees are also non-refundable for missed courses. Auditors who miss their scheduled courses may be given the option to audit a different course during the current residency.
  • Auditors cannot view recordings for courses in the event of a virtual residency due to FERPA restrictions.
  • Solstice graduates may audit free of charge.