Writing Illness
A Narrative Medicine Virtual Short Course
Join us for a 5-week online course that explores writing illness.
"English, which can express the thoughts of Hamlet and the tragedy of Lear, has no words for the shiver and the headache." - Virginia Woolf
In this course, students will examine the difficulty of translating illness into prose. First, how do we define illness? We'll take a broad view, examining the difficulties in expressing any form of pain or discomfort, by it physical or mental. We will read and examine expressions from other writers—how does a piece of writing work, or not, and what questions does it raise? What is working on us, what is left unsaid, and what can be expressed in the space between words and the silence?
Who gets to tell the stories of illness—the body in pain, witnesses, caretakes, all of the above? What changes in expressions of pain from different vantage points?
We will practice telling our own stories through creative exercises and, depending on the size of the group, host brief workshops to examine participant writing. Whether you come with a story you are wanting to tell, a specific pain you wish to express, or simply an interest in how writing works, all are welcome. No prior writing expereince necessary, just a willingness to try!
Audience
We invite nurses, physicians, physician assistants, dentists, chaplains, social workers, therapists, public health professionals and other clinicians, as well as writers, academics, artists, scholars, and all those interested in the intersection of narrative and illness to join us.
This is an online, non-credit course. Enrollment is limited to 12 students, and class will be held weekly online from Tuesday, January 12—February 9 from 6:00-8:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Tuition and instructor information can be found below. Payment plans are available. For additional information, email Program Manager Aly Tadros at4030@cumc.columbia.edu.
About Narrative Medicine
Developed at Columbia University in 2000, Narrative Medicine fortifies clinical practice with the ability to recognize, absorb, interpret, and be moved by stories of illness. We recognize that the central event of health care occurs when the patient gives an account of self and the clinician skillfully receives it.
Faculty
Nellie Hermann, MFA
Nellie Hermann, recipient of a 2016 NEA literature fellowship, is a co-author of Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine (Oxford University Press, 2017). Her first novel, The Cure for Grief (Scribner, 2008), received national acclaim and was chosen as a Target “Breakout” book. Her short fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train, The Five Fingers Review, and Blunderbuss, and her nonfiction has appeared in an anthology about siblings, Freud’s Blind Spot (Free Press, 2010), The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Academic Medicine. Her second novel, The Season of Migration, about the early life of Vincent van Gogh (FSG: 2015), was an Editors' Choice by The New York Times. She received her MFA from Columbia University and is now Lecturer in Medical Humanities and Ethics at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and the Creative Director of Columbia Narrative Medicine.
Course Details
- Format: Live, online via Zoom (5 weekly sessions)
- Day & Time: Tuesdays, 6–8pm EST
- Dates: January 12, 19, 26 | February 2, 9
- Tuition: $650 | To inquire about payment plans contact at4030@cumc.columbia.edu
- Refund policy: Full refund up to 14 days before the course start date
- Questions? Contact Program Manager Aly Tadros at at4030@cumc.columbia.edu
Course Registration
Registration opens November 17. Join the waitlist to be notified when spots become available.