Walking in the world of ruins : explorations in the processes and products of autobiographical fiction

I continue his [Sebald's] walks in the world of ruins, of what is dead. I continue his contact with a stimulating tendency of the contemporary novel, a tendency that opens new ground in between essay, fiction and autobiography... So writes Enrique Vila-Matas in his innovative text, Montano. In attempting to map this new ground, the processes and products of autobiographical fictions will be scrutinised with particular reference to questions of authenticity and voice, drawing examples from texts including James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, which problematise genre boundaries, question the relationship between reader and author, and demonstrate how life experience now, literally, has a price. The paper will conclude by proposing the first steps towards a reading and writing practice where, in the words of Goldberg, ‘every page trembles, vulnerable to manifold incursions - of prior texts, of future accidents, of reading and writing’

Teaching the changing story

This paper begins with a brief survey of the state of contemporary short fiction practice, with particular reference to McSweeneys Quarterly Concern, leading into a reflective account of pedagogical approaches to short fiction on Creative Writing degree programmes; an examination of expectations of Creative Writing courses from the point of view of students, teachers and the publishing industry; and consideration of how teaching methods can accommodate or respond to potentially conflicting aspirations. An account of delivering a short fiction module, and an evaluation of personal teaching practice, lessons learned and principles extrapolated concludes