The Muse & the Marketplace 2016

Hermit crab essays and stories adopt already existing forms as the container for the writing at hand. (The hermit crab is a creature born without its own shell to protect it so it must find an empty shell to inhabit.) By using a hermit crab form such as a “to-do” list, field guide, or set of yoga poses, one can craft a narrative where the form organizes or even dictates the content, and where these formal constraints help bypass our intellectual minds to make us more open and available to unexpected images, themes, and memories. In this class we will brainstorm a variety of forms in order to work with the tender underbelly of our own stories, and then we will use these “shells” to draft writing that aims for something new, exciting, and emotionally engaging-- for us and for the reader. You'll leave with a list of readings and additional exercises to further your study.d