An Anthology for Creative Writers: A Garden of Forking Paths

For courses in creative writing. A Garden of Forking Paths is an anthology of contemporary literature that covers the full spectrum of genre possibilities while exploring diverse styles, themes, experiences, and forms. The readings in this text inspire the emergence of innovative creative writing. In a multi-genre creative writing course, an instructor faces the dilemma of assigning several texts in order to offer good examples of writing in each genre. This text solves this problem by presenting large samplings of creative non-fiction, short fiction, poetry, alternative forms, and essays concerning craft. Story: Beth Anstandig and Eric Killough, guided by fiction writer, essayist, and poet Robert Creeley's belief that all writing is essentially the act of articulation and that "form is content, content form," brought together as many successful examples of creative ideas and writing styles as possible in a single volume. They grouped these writings by genre for ease of use so that you can choose how you want to spend your reading time. From science fiction writer Philip K. Dick to naturalist Charles Bowden, you will find in the garden that each author has labored to articulate at least one of the seemingly infinite possibilities that the creative spirit can bring into being. Many of the authors in the text have successfully created works of written art using more than one genre. Beth Anstandig and Eric Killough created this text in hope that these examples will inspire your students to experiment in multiple genres as well.