I Versus Not-I: Writing alongside Samuel Beckett and Anastacia Reneé

Intermediate | In this class we’ll write alongside two writers who, in very different but equally striking and funny ways, call into question what we know about ourselves and our past. We’ll compare Beckett’s disembodied mouth-monologue, “Not I,” to Anastacia Reneé’s concept of post-memoir, and we’ll weigh excerpts from Beckett’s Molloy, Watt, and Murphy against the continued saga of Anastacia Reneé’s alter ego, Alice. Expect weekly prompts, discussions, read-arounds, and the instructor’s comments on your work. Required texts: I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On: A Samuel Beckett Reader and Anastacia Reneé’s Forget It.