In February of this year, the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program ran its first massive open online course (MOOC). The course, Every Atom: Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, ran for six weeks with around 2000 students from around the world signing up. Starting on 27 September, interested word lovers can participate in the program’s latest MOOC – How Writers Write Fiction: Talks on Craft and Commitment.
The course will run until 8 November and intends to be an interactive study of the practice of creating writing. The program will be coordinated by Christopher Merrill, Director of the International Writing Program, and will feature a curated collection of talks created by fifty authors of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and literary translation. This will be complemented by online discussions, writing assignments and practical workshops.
In the Daily Iowan Merrill explained that “Anybody who has access to the Internet has the chance to hear really superb writers, and artists, and thinkers talk about what they love, and I think that’s a great boon for the writing and educational enterprise.”
How Writers Write Fiction: Talks on Craft and Commitment is free and open to all and there are no limits on enrolment numbers. To participate, sign up via the
Writing University site.
Find more open online courses via MOOC List.
What’s the cost. And can it be extensive course too?