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On October 11, 2016, the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa opened a new fiction writing course How Writers Write Fiction 2016: Storied Women. Centered on female authorial voices and female literary characters, this online course will be offered completely free to all participants and will welcome writers of all genders.

COURSE OVERVIEW
How Writers Write Fiction 2016: Storied Women will bring together beginning and experienced writers for the study and practice of writing fiction. Class videos, readings, and writing assignments will invite new writers to experiment with the creation of fictional characters, scenes, and stories. Advanced writers will be challenged to examine their convictions and to refine and expand their craft. Centering on character - the characters created by women writers and the female characters created by all writers - this MOOC will lead participants through a progressive study of how authors from around the world approach each aspect of writing fiction.

COURSE PROFESSORS
Professors Christopher Merrill and Margot Livesey will lead you through this course. Margot Livesey is Professor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop; she is the author of seven novels and one short-story collection. Her new novel Mercury is forthcoming this fall. Christopher Merrill is Director of the International Writing Program and University of Iowa Professor of English; he has published six collections of poetry, five works of nonfiction, and many works of translation. His new work After the Fact: Scripts and Postscripts, a conversation in prose poems with Marvin Bell, has just been published.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
The contributing authors, who will share their craft principles and advice with you during the class videos, hail from Indonesia, Israel, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, and the United States. Each offers a unique perspective on the writing process. We are honored to present their voices here.

TEACHING TEAM
The teaching team, who will work directly with you online regarding the class videos, readings, and writing assignments, are alumni of the Iowa Writers' Workshop with substantial publication records and exceptional teaching expertise. They will log into the course website at different times of day and night so that you will be able to interact with them from any time zone in the world.

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