Contemporary Fictions

This subject is not offered in 2013.

120

Admission to the postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma, or fourth year honours (creative writing); or the Masters in Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing.

None

None

None

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject deals with a range of forms within the genre of fiction, with a particular although not exclusive focus on the short story - one of the lasting forms of modern creative writing, but one peculiarly receptive to intellectual and artistic movements. The subject is seminar based and engages with a range of narrative forms that compliment short fiction, in addition to the reading and discussion of fiction. Themes and texts that may be included will be essays on the production and craft of writing, the translation of works of fiction into other media, such as cinema, theatre and fine art. The subject may also look at specific forms of fiction such as the 'linked collection' of short fiction, thematic anthologies, and single-authored collections produced around physical, social, ethical, ideological and psychological themes.

Students who complete this subject should be able to:

• apply advanced theoretical, aesthetic and analytic skills to interpreting critical and creative texts;
• tackle new problems in the production of creative works with confidence and openness to contemporary artistic directions;
• participate effectively in group discussions and collaborative learning; and
• demonstrate an understanding of the wider public significance of their knowledge and skills.

5000 words consisting of a short story or first chapter of a proposed manuscript 100% (due in the examination period). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% (or 10 out of 12) classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Any student who fails to meet this hurdle without valid reason will not be eligible to pass the subject. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject. Essays submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised 2% per day. Essays submitted after two weeks of the assessment due date without a formally approved application for special consideration or an extension will only be marked on a pass/fail basis if accepted.

A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop.

• A Boulter, Writing Fiction: Creative and Critical Approaches, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
• A Dillard, Living by Fiction, Harper & Row, 1982.
• D Falconer (ed), Best Australian Short Stories 2009, Black Inc, 2009.
• P Geyh & F Leebron et al (eds), Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology, W. W. Norton, 1998.
• S Gwynn (ed), Fiction: A Pocket Anthology, Penguin Academics, 2009.
• B Oakley (ed), On the Edge: 30 Modern Australian Short Stories, Five Mile Press, 2005.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students who successfully complete this subject will acquire skills in:

• critical thinking and analysis;
• thinking creatively;
• openness to new ideas;
• communicating thoughts and knowledge;
• written communication;
• time management and planning; and
• practices and ethics in the field of creative writing.