Taylor M. Polites is a novelist living in Providence with his small Chihuahua, Clovis. Polites’ first novel, The Rebel Wife, was published in February 2012 by Simon & Schuster. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University and a BA in History and French from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2009 he was awarded the Norris Church Mailer Fellowship from Wilkes University. He has lived in Provincetown, MA; New York City; St. Louis and the Deep South. He has covered arts and news for a variety of local newspapers and magazines, including the Cape Codder, InNewsWeekly, Bird’s Eye View (the in-flight magazine of CapeAir), artscope magazine and Provincetown Arts magazine.
Academic areas of interest
Polites is a writer of historical fiction with a broad interest in history and literature and the ways in which they interact. He has focused his research on the black and white experience in the 19th-century American South, myth-building in Southern fiction, and Southern women’s narratives of the Civil War.
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
LAS E412-01 - BEGINNING FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP
LevelUndergraduate
UnitLiterary Arts and Studies
Subject Literary Arts and Studies
Period Fall 2024
Credits 3
FormatWorkshop
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
LAS E412-01
BEGINNING FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP
LevelUndergraduate
UnitLiterary Arts and Studies
Subject Literary Arts and Studies
PeriodFall 2024
Credits3
FormatWorkshop
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: M | 9:40 AM - 12:40 PMInstructor(s): Taylor PolitesLocation(s): Washington Place, Room 310Enrolled / Capacity: 15Status: Closed
SECTION DESCRIPTION
While the writing of fiction involves only the writer and the page, the group workshop affords the writer the opportunity to explore, develop and refine his or her work in a small community focused on a single goal. This environment of craft and creativity is particularly critical to the beginning writer. As with any craft, revision is the key to effective storytelling. The revision process will be emphasized. Short fiction by leading writers will be read and discussed; elements of craft will be explored; students will learn to deliver criticism in a supportive, constructive way; but learning by doing will comprise the majority of the class. Writing will begin in the first class, leading to small, peer-driven workshop groups and culminating in a full class workshop at semester's end. Students will produce three stories throughout the semester, all of which will be workshopped and revised. The student's engagement in the course, participation and attendance, will drive the final grades.
