Food Writing
This course will explore creative writing about food. We will read local and national food writing, as well as listen to music and watch films about food. We will write our own poetry, short stories, personal narratives, recipes, restaurant reviews, food blogs, and reflections about food, eating, cooking, and grocery shopping. We will consider how culture, class, gender, location, and migration shape how writers represent food experiences. We will also discuss many local food issues in Hawai’i, such as traditional Hawaiian food practices, imported foods, GMOs, diabetes, and hunger. This will be a hands-on course that will require students to eat, cook, visit a farmer’s market and grocery store, review a restaurant, and more.
Please note that this is a Writing Intensive course: there will be weekly formal and informal creative and critical writing assignments, both in-class and at-home, to improve overall writing skills. Students will learn techniques for drafting, editing, workshopping, and revising writing. Beyond different types of creative writing, we will also complete critical reviews, reaction/reflection papers, and journals. We will produce a minimum of 20 pages of writing throughout the semester.
Required Texts:
Young, Kevin, ed. The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink (2014)
Other readings will be provided via Laulima.