Fiction Writing: Stories in the Suburbs

3 units

In the fifties, the suburbs were still somewhat of a novelty in American culture-most people still lived in cities and small towns, or on the farm. Back then, Levitowns and the like were embraced with either gee-whiz optimism, or seen as sinister dystopias where youth, ideals, and romance went to fester and die. But now that the American mainstream is stucco McMansions, strip malls, and big box stores; now that the suburbs have become more ethnically diverse; now that literature is being generated from these places instead of just about them, how have stories set in the 'burbs changed? We'll read short stories written from the fifties until the present day exploring this particular setting, and, through a series of exercises, workshops, and our own short fiction, we'll explore the milieu as writers (whether we happen to be from the suburbs or not), always on the lookout for the unexpected in these familiar places.