Department of English

This first-year seminar is held at Penn’s vibrant literary arts hub, the Kelly Writers House. Meeting each week in this Victorian cottage for a three-hour seminar, attending events together and debriefing about them afterwards, and writing critically and creatively in response to what they experience in the Writers House Arts Café, students will work closely with visiting poets, novelists, journalists, and other writers and artists giving readings, workshops, and colloquia at KWH throughout the semester. In addition to producing their own critical and creative work, students will collaboratively curate a public-facing literary event. The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the disciplines of English and Creative Writing by centering the living, evolving textures of contemporary writing.