Writing the City: Sydney

This course is a creative writing workshop keyed to exploring the experience of travelling and living abroad in the global city of Sydney. The course will guide students to find their own voice in responding to their experience of Sydney. Since before the nineteenth century, Sydney and Australia have provided inspiration for many writers including poets (AB "Banjo" Patterson and Oodgeroo Noonuncal), novelists (D.H. Lawrence and Miles Franklin), and travel writers / memoirists (Mark Twain and Bill Bryson). After reading and discussing their work, students will add their voices to these writers. Additionally, students will read and discuss texts that focus both on Australia and the city of Sydney from the perspectives of native and foreign writers and will note the literary techniques and strategies that these various writers have used to express their experiences and observations.