Classics of Modern Short Fiction

Please note that this class will be in person at the library.

This course is a unique opportunity to study and discuss a variety of the seminal authors of the last two centuries by reading their short fiction. Led by writer, editor, and professor Joseph Reynolds, the seminar will be driven by open forum discussion and everyone will have the opportunity to articulate their perspective and debate a wide range of interpretations. Short fiction is the perfect opportunity to become familiar (or more familiar) with classic, important, and controversial writers without having to devote the time it takes to read and interpret a novel. It also allows us to study a much larger number of authors than we’d be able to a novel course. All of the works are publicly available by googling the titles. 

9/21--"Babylon Revisited" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

            "The Lady with the Pet Dog" by Anton Chekhov

9/29-- "Kew Gardens" by Virginia Woolf

            "A Rose for Emily" by William Faullkner

10/5--"Araby" by James Joyce

           "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane

10/12--"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

             "For Esme with Love and Squalor" by JD Salinger

10/19--"Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway"

             "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

11/2--"Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

              "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville