Revisiting and Reimagining Favorites: Authors, Books and Ideas

What stories, authors, places, or ideas do you return to time and again? In this participatory workshop, you’ll be invited to share your personal “Returning Attractions”—your top three picks from any category: authors, books, places, topics, or quotations. Choose one to briefly write about (just a paragraph) and share aloud with others during our first session. Bring a printed copy with you to class.

In Session Two, we’ll explore “James,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and reimagining of a classic, by Percival Everett. If you’ve read it, consider: “How does this book serve the reader?” We’ll also launch a creative writing exercise—reimagining a well-known story, character, or scene in a new setting or from a different perspective. For example: What if “Romeo and Juliet” were set in your hometown? What’s Juliet’s nurse like today?

Session Three will be devoted to sharing your short, one-page creative pieces. Please bring a printed copy for the group reading and discussion. Students may listen and join in discussion without submitting written work.

Len DeAngelis, who retired as the head of the English department at Middletown High School, was the 1990 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year. He has received Disney’s American Teacher Award and the 2018 Education for Service Award at UMass Boston. He has led seminars on “The Divine Comedy,” among other literature and writing for many years. He is also the Rhode Island ambassador for the Portrait Society of America. Len is the author of “Our Time.”