Spring 2026 Courses

ENGL-1000-001 | English 1A | A. Gray | JUN19 - JUL31 | TTH 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: In-person

This course offers an introduction to university-level literary study, including the reading of creative literature (poetry, fiction, or drama); the theory and practice of literary criticism; the role of historical and cultural factors influencing literary texts; and research skills. Students' writing also receives significant attention.

ENGL-1000-770 | English 1A | J. Scoles | MAY04 - JUL02 | TTH 1300 - 1500
Course Delivery: Online Synchronous

This course will introduce students to reading, researching and writing about English literature by major authors in three distinct literary periods: Romantic, Victorian and Modern. A broad scope of genres will be considered—a significant amount of poetry, short stories and a novella, from authors such as Letitia Barbauld, Charlotte Smith, William Blake, Felicia Hemans, John Keats, Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson and James Joyce—with lectures and assignments anchored in world history. We’ll examine the relationship between texts and contexts and explore how specific narratives are represented and structured in relation to others in world literature and across the three major literary periods. We’ll also interrogate the evolving ‘landscapes’ of identity and conflict in our world over the years, with a focus on the forces (colonial, political, social, etc.) that shape and re-shape history. Students will gain skills in close reading, analyzing texts and literary criticism, among other elements of literary study.

ENGL-1001-245 | English 1 | D. Wolf | MAY04 - JUL02 | MWF 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: In-person

This section is reserved for students in the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP) and the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC) Program.

In this course, students will develop critical reading and writing skills through the study of a variety of short stories, a novel, and a book of poetry. Classes will be structured primarily around class discussions of the readings but will also involve group work and brief lectures on key concepts and relevant critical and historical contexts. In-class writing will be an important component of the course.

ENGL-1001-247 | English 1 | S. Goodhand | MAY04 - JUL02 | MWF 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: Online Synchronous

This section is reserved for students in the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP) and the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC) Program.

This course offers a full introduction to university-level literary study, including the reading of creative literature (poetry, fiction, or drama); the theory and practice of literary criticism; the role of historical and cultural factors influencing literary texts; and research skills. Students' writing also receives significant attention.

ENGL-1003-001 | Topics in Literature: What is Afrofuturism | I. Adeniyi | MAY04 - JUN01 | MWF 1300 - 1600
Course Delivery: In-person

What does it mean to imagine Black futures? This course introduces students to Afrofuturism, a term encompassing the aesthetics, philosophies, and imaginative traditions through which Black artists, writers, and thinkers have engaged with science, technology, and visions of the future. More than a genre or style, Afrofuturism is a critical lens that holds the histories of racism and colonialism alongside bold reimaginings of Black life, identity, and possibility. Drawing on works by writers from Africa, North America, and the Caribbean, we will trace the multiple origins of Afrofuturism and the debates that have shaped how we understand it today. Key themes, such as identity, community, reproduction, patriarchy, and posterity, will guide our readings and discussions as we examine how Black writers and thinkers have used speculative imagination to confront, resist, and transcend structures of power and control. By the end of the course, students will have developed a nuanced understanding of Afrofuturism as both a cultural movement and an intellectual tradition, and will be equipped to analyze the ongoing marginalization of Black peoples across different historical and contemporary contexts.

ENGL-1004-001 | Intro: Reading Culture: It's Just for Fun: The Cultural Resonaces of Escapist Art | T. Penner | MAY05 - JUN15 | MW 1300 - 1600
Course Delivery: In-person

This course challenges the ‘high art’/‘low art’ dichotomy by taking a serious look at works and genres that are often dismissed as escapist as we consider the ways all art engages with the culture around it, despite the genre or qualitative category into which it is placed. To do this we will examine romcoms that question prevailing economic systems, futuristic tales that speak to the present, sitcoms that capture the anxieties of their ages, pop stars that use their music to deconstruct their personae, crime thrillers that take on environmental catastrophe, and super-hero stories that highlight the political unrest of our time. In each work we will consider how escapist trappings can lead to deeper engagement with culture in sometimes surprisingly subversive ways.

ENGL-1005-001 | Intro: Reading to Write | J. Scoles | JUN19 - JUL31 | MW 1300 - 1600
Course Delivery: In-person

This course introduces students to university-level literary study. Students read a variety of creative literature (poetry, drama, fiction, and creative non-fiction) from a writerly perspective, to explore and analyse writer’ techniques, and to gain a broader understanding of the art and craft of writing. Topics may include poetic structure, dramatic action, narrative strategies, organizational principles, imagery, setting, characterization, and voice. This course may be of special interest to students who plan to take Creative Writing courses at the 2000 level.

ENGL-2002-001 | The Creative Process | I. Adeniyi| MAY04 - JUN15 | MWF 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: In-Person

How does a literary work come into being? This course traces the journey of a text from initial inspiration to finished publication, examining the creative decisions, habits, and artistic commitments that shape what ends up on the page. Rather than reading fiction in isolation, students will encounter it alongside the writers themselves—through essays, interviews, correspondence, drafts, and occasional live appearances when possible—in order to understand not just what was written, but how and why. At the centre of the course are a select group of contemporary, award-winning writers whose composing and revision processes are richly documented. We will analyze the choices they made at every stage of their work, interrogating how those choices reflect broader questions of craft, vision, and intention. We will also consider reception, that is, how critical and popular audiences have responded to the finished work, and what those responses reveal about the relationship between process and outcome. By the end of the course, students will have developed a sharper vocabulary for discussing creative process and a deeper understanding of what makes certain artistic decisions succeed or fall short.

ENGL-2102-001 | Intro to Creative Writing: Developing a Portfolio | L. Wong | JUN04 - JUL02 | MWF 1300 - 1600
Course Delivery: In-Person Workshop

“If you’re struggling with what you’re writing—if you’re afraid to be your true self on the page—I dare you to stop listening to the outside voices and try listening only to yourself this one time. Write the book you most want to write…Write the book that is the most unapologetically YOU, no matter how long it takes.”- Nova Ren Suma, author of The Walls Around Us

“Overnight success is almost always a myth. Half of this industry is luck and half is the refusal to quit”--Victoria Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“The first draft isn’t about getting it right, it’s about getting it done.” –Ava Jae, author of Beyond the Red

The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself. -Jim Rohn

In this workshop-based course, students concentrate on developing a portfolio of creative writing, including literary short fiction, young adult, and genre fiction. The course introduces students to strategies for writing in various prose genres and to the discipline involved in seeing a project through several drafts to its final stages. Through weekly writing exercises/prompts and assigned readings, this class emphasizes skills involved in self-editing and the professional preparation and submission of manuscripts suitable for a portfolio.

Students will be responsible for active participation, thoughtful feedback on peers’ work, and a willingness to generate new writing. This is a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment. The workshop is also encouraged to think about submitting work to literary journals such as the University of Winnipeg’s Juice: https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/english/juice-journal-submissions.html

As this is a 2000-level writing workshop, students should be fairly independent, committed, and motivated to improve their craft. Late assignments without permission will not receive instructor feedback and they will receive a zero if they are submitted a week after the deadline. This may sound harsh but I want us to adhere to the standards that professional writers follow in their daily practice.

Note: This course is recommended for students who plan to enroll in further creative writing courses at the undergraduate level.

ENGL-2102-490 | Intro to Creative Writing: Developing a Portfolio | J. Wills | MAY04 - JUN15 | TTH 1300 - 1530
Course Delivery: Stony Mountain Institution

This course offers an introduction to skills meaningful to creative writing across various modes and genres. Students learn about narrative voice, characterization, setting, arrangement, imagery, symbolism, pacing, and other aesthetic elements and the effects these techniques can have on a reading audience. We will study short-form examples, practice writing, and workshop so that students are prepared for upper-year Creative Writing courses. The goal of this course is to reveal the connection between content and mode, to practice reading as a creative writer, and to recognize and apply elements of craft.

This course follows the models of the anti-racist writing workshop (Salesses) and the decolonial workshop (Chavez). This course also follows the models of unlearning ableist workshop practices (Montgomery).

It is part of the Walls to Bridges program and will take place at the Stony Mountain Institution in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood. Students should contact the instructor at j.wills@uwinnipeg.ca for permission to register.

Please note: 6 credit hours of First-year English, including ENGL-1001(6) or ENGL-1000(3) must be completed prior to taking this course.

ENGL-2185-250 | Literary Communities | S. Goodhand | JUN04 - JUL02 | MWF 1300 - 1600
Course Delivery: In-person

This section is reserved for students in the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP) and the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC) Program.

Literary communities provide significant contexts for the writing and study of literature. This course explores the literary works, interrelated biographies, and historical/cultural contexts of communities of writers. This approach provides an alternative framework of study to those focusing on individual authors, literary periods, or genres. Possible literary communities for study in different offerings of this course might include the Bloomsbury Group, the Lake Poets, the Inklings, the expatriate American in Paris, the Beat Poets, and the Kootenay School of Writing.

ENGL-2603-001 | Short Fiction: Fear and the Short Story | A. Brickey | MAY04 - JUN15 | TTH 1300 - 1600
Course Delivery: In-person

This course considers the short story both in its nineteenth century and contemporary forms. Short fiction in different English-speaking cultures, principally in England, the United States, and Canada, will be discussed.

ENGL-2604-245 | Poetry nd Poetic Form | J. Strong | JUN19 - JUL31 | TTH 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: Online Synchronous

This course explores poetry as both an art to be studied and an art to be made. Students will read poems from a range of periods, traditions, and styles while learning how poets use form, rhythm, rhyme, imagery, diction, voice, and figurative language to create meaning and feeling. Through close reading and class discussion, students will develop the skills to interpret and analyze poetry with confidence.

The course also gives students the chance to write poetry. Alongside analytical essay writing, students will compose two original poems, practicing different forms and techniques through guided exercises. Whether working with sonnets, free verse, or other poetic structures, students will discover how form can challenge, sharpen, and expand their creative expression. Ideal for students interested in literature, creative writing, or simply the pleasure of language, this course offers an introduction to the power and possibilities of poetry.

ENGL-3113-760 | Writing Short Fiction | L. Wong | MAY04 - JUN01
Course Delivery: Online Asynchronous Workshop

Fiction is one of the few experiences where loneliness can be both confronted and relieved. Drugs, movies where stuff blows up, loud parties — all these chase away loneliness by making me forget my name’s Dave and I live in a one-by-one box of bone no other party can penetrate or know. Fiction, poetry, music, really deep serious sex, and, in various ways, religion — these are the places where loneliness is countenanced, stared down, transfigured, treated.”- David Foster Wallace

An autobiography can distort; facts can be realigned. But fiction never lies: it reveals the writer totally. - V.S Naipaul

The short story is arguably the most difficult genre to write. Unlike the novel, it requires brevity and flawless execution of craft. You must be detailed enough to draw the reader into the scene and make them care about your character, but you must be brief enough so that the backstory does not overwhelm the narrative arc. This workshop-based course is meant to challenge, provoke, and stretch your skill as a fiction writer; it’s meant to give you a stronger sense of what kind of writer you might aspire to be, and to help strengthen your application of craft through practice and intensive peer feedback.

In this generative workshop, we will focus on crafting original short stories. Student manuscripts will form the primary texts, in addition to some assigned reading and in-class writing exercises.

Questions that we will explore but are not limited to: how do we craft compelling pieces of short fiction? What is the difference between literary, upmarket and commercial fiction? Within a stylistical, literary, and ethical context, what should we be aspiring to, as practitioners of this genre, and how can we be successful in breaking into the industry?

Students will have the opportunity to workshop a draft of their short story during the term and they are responsible for placing as much attention on critique as on their own craft. Learning to write and evaluate short stories will be the focus of the workshop, and we will hone our creative processes to produce engaging works of fiction. You are welcome to submit both literary and genre fiction.

Regular participation in the online Discussion Forum on Nexus and thoughtful feedback on peers’ manuscripts are expected. Maintaining a safe, respectful literary community and virtual classroom space is a priority. A final grade will be based on online participation, peer feedback letters, writing exercises, and an exploratory draft of a short story.

Students are also encouraged to think about submitting work to literary journals such as the University of Winnipeg’s Juice: https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/english/juice-journal-submissions.html

As this is an intermediate writing workshop, students should be fairly independent, committed, and motivated to improve their craft. Late workshop submissions without permission will receive a zero if they are submitted a week after the deadline. Similarly, if you are being workshopped and you are unable to attend, we may not be able to accomodate you because of scheduling. It is your responsibility to switch with another student if you know that you will be away that day.

Students are selected based on a 5 page writing sample of prose (double-spaced) due by April 6, 2026. If there is still space in the class, students may also submit their portfolio after the deadline. Please submit your portfolio to li.wong@uwinnipeg.ca

ENGL-3709-001 | Topics in Canadian Literature and Culture | P. Tagore | MAY04 - JUN15 | MW 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: In-Person

For the 2026 spring term, our focus will be on the concept of ‘Unmapping the Nation.’ From a decolonial perspective, we will look at literature primarily by indigenous women and women of colour writers, theorists and cultural producers based in Turtle Island. In a period of rising Canadian nationalism, this course will consider these works to examine topics such as empire, nationalism, race, immigration, gender, sexuality, class, capitalism and indigenous sovereignty. Literary and cultural studies provide a unique and imaginative entry point into complex and urgent contemporary issues about the Canadian nation-state and its representations. Using Benedict Anderson’s famous formulation of the nation as an imagined community that is formed through violence, including state-sponsored violence and Othering, we will look at works from a wide variety of backgrounds to see how they create alternative decolonial maps and relations.

ENGL-3709-245 | Topics in Canadian Literature and Culture | J. Scoles | MAY04 - JUN15 | TTH 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: Online Synchronous

This section is reserved for students in the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP) and the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC) Program.

This is a course in Contemporary Canadian Poetry, with a focus on Poetry with Purpose—particularly, poems that advocate, celebrate uniqueness, inspire, question, share, unite and give voice to the voiceless. We’ll explore texts and contexts, from small community grassroots to national issues, with lectures and assignments anchored in Canadian culture and history. We’ll explore poetic form and structure, and interrogate the evolving ‘landscapes’ of identity, with a focus on the forces (colonial, political, social, etc.) that shape and re-shape our lives and stories. The first part of this course will explore contemporary Canadian poetry through analysis, close reading, small group and whole-class discussions and presentations. The second part of the course will build upon this exploration and see students write and draft, discuss, expand and refine their poetic craft by exploring a variety of techniques and approaches to writing poetry with purpose, with a focus on essential poetic elements: imagery, voice, theme, structure (form), literary devices, rhythm and sound. Through writing exercises, workshops and peer review sessions, students will also consider the larger context of the Canadian literary community and how, as emerging writers, they might participate in it.

ENGL-3717-245 | Indigenous Literature and Culture | C. Lypka | MAY04 - JUN15 | TTH 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: In-Person

This section is reserved for students in the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP) and the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC) Program.

This course will focus on the connection between Indigenous storytelling and material art by combining hands-on learning in traditional beadwork with listening to and reading works of resistance and resurgence. Beading can be an Indigenous research methodology used to resist colonial violence by maintaining and preserving Indigenous identity, transmitting stories and knowledge, and enacting cultural resurgence. The class will reflect on and put into practice how Indigenous ways of knowing are activated through listening while working with your hands.

ENGL-3723-245 | Topics in Indigenous Literature and Culture | C. Lypka | JUN19 - JUL31 | TTH 0900 - 1200
Course Delivery: In-Person

This section is reserved for students in the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP) and the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC) Program.

This course offers an introductory survey of storytelling by Métis writers and artists. Together, we will learn about the Métis as post-contact Indigenous Peoples, correcting settler-colonial notions of hybridity and racialization that work to fracture Métis identity. With this framing, we will explore themes centred around erasure, sovereignty, and resilience through works of multiple genres, including fiction, life writing, poetry, and multimedia arts. In examining these various artistic forms as aesthetic, personal, and political sites, we will collaboratively think about how the writers and artists challenge and revitalize notions of Métis-ness within the Canadian understanding of “mixed heritage,” between ideas of settler and Indigenous, rather than their own people and culture.

ENGL-4270-001 | Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture: Libertines, Whores, Mollies, and Female Husbands: Transgressive Sexuality in the Restoration and Early Eighteenth Century | K. Ready | MAY04 - JUN15 | TTH 1300 - 1600

This course examines a range of representations of transgressive sexuality in England and Great Britain during the Restoration and early eighteenth century, with an effort to place these materials into cultural context, and to consider various theoretical frameworks for understanding them, including the work of Michel Foucault and Thomas Laqueur. For the study of sexuality, the Restoration period and eighteenth century arguably command special interest. In the backlash against Puritanism following the end of the Interregnum, English society saw more relaxed attitudes towards sex and more open expression of sexual desire (at least among elites) than ever before. Although moral censure and legal and other penalties remained potentially high, cults of libertinism flourished around the court of Charles II, and with these came greater tolerance for various forms of extramarital and homosexual sex. As the eighteenth century wore on, attitudes began to shift once again. In the meantime, understandings of sexuality and sexual difference were changing and becoming secularized as a result of developments in medicine and elsewhere. Some of the writers we will look act in this context include Aphra Behn; John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester; Jonathan Swift; Alexander Pope; Mary Wortley Montagu; John Gay; John Cleland; and Henry Fielding. We will also be looking at visual materials from the period and a variety of primary source materials.