ENG 295-01 - Special Topic: Radio Storytelling

2 credits (Fall)

When Jay Allison launched The Moth Radio Hour in 2009, a weekly podcast featuring unscripted “true” stories told live, he was betting on an untapped appetite for narrative radio. He was right: we are in the midst of a renaissance of acoustic storytelling reminiscent of radio in the 1930s and 40s, with Moth and such shows as Sarah Koenig’s Serial (2014), a podcast throwback to be serialized broadcasts of old-time radio. Telling one true-crime story over the course of its first season, Serial (which has been downloaded 68 million times) attracted an audience that became obsessed with the Koenig’s detective skills and meandering style. Like the devoted fans of Ma Perkins seventy-five years ago, Serial’s listeners can’t wait to hear what happens next: did ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed really strangle Hae Min Lee? This short course will focus on radio storytelling. You’ll listen to a variety of radio’s classic writers from Orson Welles and Lucille Fletcher to Toni Dave and David Sedaris, as well as compose your own narratives for podcasting. Each of you will write one story, either fact-based or invented, that will be carefully workshopped in written form and then recorded, edited, and mixed in Pro Tools (audio editing software). The goal of this class is to help you discover and develop your skill as a writer of narrative prose that is as compelling to the ear as to the eye - and to become a cutting edge podcaster.

Prerequisite: ENG 205 or ENG 206.
Note: Dates: September 11 to October 16. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Porter

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