City Summer Youth Academy is for students ranging from incoming 6th graders through currently enrolled high school students. CSYA is underwritten by a generous grant from the Wells-Fargo Foundation.

The World in a Thimble: Short-Form Creative Writing

Monday-Friday, 7/10-7/14/2023, 1:00pm-3:30pm, online

Instructor: Nora Boxer

In this class, we'll explore the power of short forms: prose poetry, flash fiction, flash essay. We'll examine more deeply how we are defining (or blurring!) the line between prose and poetry. We'll look at how big concepts can get distilled into a page or two of fiction or personal essay. We will also do a bit of exploration with short-form lineated poetry: haiku, haibun, and tanka. We'll read some (surprise!) short craft essays on short forms as well as many published creative works to help deepen our understanding. Enjoy completing short writings in a community of peer writers! Small is beautiful. Small is big. :)

This will be a live synchronous course. Students will need a computer or smart phone with webcam and microphone, internet and web streaming capacity, and the Zoom application installed to their device. You will also need a designated notebook and something to write with.

Instructor Bio:

Nora Boxer has taught a variety of creative writing classes for adults at City Extension since 2015, and previously worked as a writer-in-the-schools with youth writers in Austin, TX. Formerly a long-time Bay Area resident, Nora is now a PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she teaches undergraduate classes. www.noraboxer.com