Novelist Jaspreet Singh will lead a creative writing workshop, at the intersection of disciplines, with a special focus on “human,” “nature,” objects, changing relationships and landscapes. How stories can help us grasp and better imagine the findings of scientists: ‘Collectively human beings have become a non-human geological force.’
This workshop assumes that the stories we tell and live are also geological agents, and it will encourage the participants to locate new forms of stories for living in the Anthropocene epoch. How to make our stories less anthropocentric? How to locate moments and situations that allow a better integration of multiple scales (the scale of our everyday life and the local; the scale of human history and the global; the scale of Earth’s history and the planetary)? How to write between text and image and other media? How to write human-non-human entanglements and ecological emotions? How to create new metaphors? How does one breathe life into characters in a world gone logarithmically ambiguous and metastable? How to engage with words and concepts like “hope” in a story?
Our writing sessions will be especially guided by: “How does one energize readers rather than paralyzing them.” Craft-wise we will pay special attention to the importance of detail, serious noticing, and deep listening while developing a story.
This workshop does not require any previous experience in creative writing. It is open to university students from all disciplines: arts, humanities, sciences, engineering, medicine, psychology, economics and so forth. Students with intermediate creative writing experience are also welcome.
Please note: due to the time difference between Germany and Canada, the workshop will take place during the evening hours in Germany.
Students may obtain either 3 KP or 6 KP in this course, depending on the workload they take on. Students who have already participated in previous courses will be able to attend as guests if space permits, but will not be able to gain more than a total of 6 KP.
Duration: 7 days in the period of August 25 to September 3rd, 2022.

Conducted: online
Number of hours: 28
Credits allowed: 3 or 6

Activities include:
[1] Presentations/conversations on the craft of fiction/creative non-fiction.
[2] Suggested Readings. (Books, stories and essays)
[3] Writing assignments.
[4] One-on-one manuscript consultations.
[5] Group critiquing and conversations about writing.
[6] Online public readings of work created during the workshop.
[7] Additional short-story workshop (for students with intermediate writing skills)