Overview

This module will explore creative responses to wilderness, the non-human and environmental challenges, drawing on a range of ecological writings including creative non-fiction, novels and poetry. Literary relationships with landscape and other species will be explored in relation to issues of race, gender and global justice as well as the context of climate crisis and emerging understandings of wellbeing. Through practical seminars and workshops, students will experiment with different approaches to writing about place, environment and the non-human world. There will be opportunities to discover some of the ecological research taking place in Bangor University, and to draw on it creatively. The module will include writing outdoors, making the most of Bangor's unique location.

Topics studied may include:

What is ecopoetics?

New Nature Writing

Critical Terms and Turns: Posthuman, Anthropocene, Plantationocene

Writing more-than-human perspectives

Writing (with) Sound

Writing the Micro

Geological writing

Writing with Science

Assessment Strategy

A- to A (70%+) Typically, the work of a first class candidate will show many of the following qualities:Excellent levels of originality, vision and depth; striking and thorough engagement with ideas.Excellent understanding and control of form.Impressive linguistic control and/or innovation.Sophisticated understanding of the creative process and assured control of decisions made in writing. B- to B+ (60-69%) A 2(i) candidate’s work will show many of the following qualities:Demonstration of a degree of vitality and originality.Very good understanding of generic conventions; sound use of structures and forms.Resourceful use of language.Sound understanding of the creative process and thoughtful control of decisions made in writing. C- to C+ (50-59%) A 2(ii) candidate’s work will show many of the following qualities:Some attempt at serious exploration of ideas. Some link between themes and form. Good attempt to engage with form, but this may not be entirely sustained.Use of language technically proficient, but not always focused.Some awareness of the creative process and of decisions made in writing. D- to D+ (40-49%) A 3rd class candidate’s work will show many of the following features: Limited engagement with ideas. Link between themes and form not always clear. Limited sense of formal conventions. Inconsistent with regard to linguistic technicalities. Limited awareness of redrafting and editing process.

Learning Outcomes

• Critique ways in which literature responds to ecological thought, including its intersections with gender, race and issues of global justice.

• Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of how writing in a range of forms can explore complex relationships between humans and environments.

• Demonstrate the ability to generate, develop and critically reflect upon original creative work in response to environmental and ecological themes.

• Synthesise creative, critical and theoretical approaches to ecological challenges.