Class

After the Exquisite Corpse: the Surreal, the Collaborative, the Ekphrastic

The Exquisite Corpse is a parlor game popularized by the Surrealists, in which a participant draws or writes a line in response to a line from another participant, rendering, as Simone Kahn wrote, “creatures unimaginable by one alone.”

In this class we will try a sampler platter of strategies of the Exquisite Corpse, writing collaboratively, ekphrastically, or in response to other art, and towards the surreal. Whether you’re a poet, a flash fiction writer, or a creative non-fiction writer, these are techniques that can work across genre.

We will warm up by writing in response to art from global Surrealist movements, such as the art of Remedios Varo and Wifredo Lam. We will look at speculative flash fiction by K-Ming Chang to help us create our own fantastical or surreal rules to guide our work, and then collaborate with one another, writing short poems or flash fiction pieces alternating lines within our groups. Finally, we will take a look at poems by Douglas Kearney and Victoria Chang that emulate visual elements from other art.

What becomes possible when we allow ourselves whimsy, strangeness, new frameworks for our writing? This class is open to all genres of writers, and writers of all levels of experience. No need to be an art expert in any way! There will be opportunities to share out our work as students are interested.

In this class, students will:
- Write descriptively and in response to art from global Surrealist movements
- Identify strategies and study definition and employment of ekphrasis
- Open new possibilities in our writing through study of speculative world building
- Generate new work individually and collaboratively

Instructions for Accessing This Online Class

In order to access live class meetings, you must have the Zoom application downloaded to your computer. You will also need a WiFi/Internet connection throughout the duration of your scheduled meeting and a computer with audio and video capability. The information to join your Zoom classroom will be provided in your confirmation email upon registration. Please check spam folders if you do not see this email upon registration. For more information on how to use Zoom, please see our training manual here.