Literature Classes in NYC, New York

Olio Breakfast Club will be a monthly series dedicated to gathering and discussing one classic text over coffee and bagels. Our version of a book club, led by a great teacher.  Patricia Kim, english professor and social worker will give us a unique perspective on a classic text which is encouraged but not essential to read ahead of time. This...

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Enjoy the stunning work of these authors from around the world. Please read W.G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn for the first class, Alice Munro’s The Love of a Good Woman for the second, Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire for the third, Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust for the fourth and Sylvina Ocampo’s ...

Experience the creative genius of some of the nation’s most gifted authors, both past and present. Please read Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad for the first class, Ursula K. Le Guin’s Orsinian Tales for the second, Evan S. Connell’s Mr. Bridgefor the third, Willa Cather’s My Antonia for the fourth and...

This course on Shakespeare’s Henriad will largely focus on two plays, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry V, along with excerpts from a third, Henry IV, Part 2. We will follow the development of prince Hal, a prodigal and scamp, into King Henry V, a conquering hero and majestic—and Machiavellian—ruler. We’ll also follow the rise and fall of one of...

Our personal stories are a vital part of who we are. When we explore our stories by writing memoir, we have the opportunity to understand our experiences more deeply and give others a chance to reflect on theirs. In this course, students will produce and share original autobiographical work, examine aspects of craft such as voice, structure and narration,...

In writing The Idiot,a novel dear to his own heart, Dostoevsky set about to depict a truly good man. As he asks whether goodness can survive in the world and/or a novel, Dostoevsky also addresses traditional assumptions about marriage, family life, the “woman question,” Russian identity, health, sickness, love and death. To celebrate the 150th...

Don Quixote is in several senses one of our essential books. First, as a model for what novels could do: from Dickens to Dostoevsky, from Flaubert to García Márquez, novelists have acknowledged their debt to Don Quixote. Second, as a revolutionary work that, during the wave of expulsions of Jews and Arabs from the Iberian Peninsula, has...

We’ve all heard about the Ancient Greeks. Their influence on the modern Western world is formidable; we are surrounded by references to Greek government, art, literature, mythology, philosophy, science… Yet for all our celebration of the Greeks and their achievements, there is one aspect of their culture that rarely gets mentioned in modern times:...

The decade of the 1920’s was a period of dazzling creativity in Europe and America. “New” was the thing in music, literature, painting, poetry. Artists of all disciplines intermingled and influenced each other. Young composers and musicians took center stage: Les Six in Paris; Gershwin, Copland and Armstrong in America; Weill, Brecht and Hindemith...