6-Week Nonfiction Workshop: Writing Cultural Criticism

This class is for the novice, the experimenter, and the experienced alike. All that you need to join us is a powerful love for the arts—any art—and a desire to turn that appreciation into crafted, analytical writing. Learning to write cultural criticism amplifies not only your ability as a nonfiction essayist but as a human being in the world who appreciates creative works.

In this class we will read, we’ll look at art, we’ll listen to music, and then we will write. And write, and write. Assignments will be structured more like traditional college than a writing workshop, because that’s my teaching experience. You’ll produce small amounts of work regularly, which will build over time into one impeccably crafted piece (after edits from me and your classmates). Somewhere in there, your critical voice will emerge: by the end of the class, you’ll have one unshakeable review in your hand, on an artwork of your choice, and a new sensibility to take forward in life.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Introductions. In-class discussion of personal goals. Close reading of criticism examples and discussion of the different traditions in the genre. What works and what doesn’t. Take-home assignment: write an appreciation of a recent artwork while avoiding cliché.

Week 2: Consideration of what it takes to write about music, art, or literature. Putting together arguments with appreciation. In-class argument workshop.

Week 3: Beginning to specialize: students choose their artwork. How to bring context and research into the review.

Week 4: Drafts due + “how to pitch.” Each writer presents their review as a pitch.

Week 5: Individual workshops instead of class.

Week 6: Final edits, reflection, and end-of-class readings.

CLASS TAKEAWAYS:

- A watertight 1200-word review on a work of art of the writer’s choice, which will work as a clip for pitches.

- The confidence and skills to pitch review editors.

- The life-changing ability to see (or hear) with a critic’s reflexes.