ENGL 16
On Literary Nonprofits Winter 2023

This course introduces students to the world of literary nonprofits: presses, journals, residencies, and advocacy organizations. Students will begin with a study of Outpost, a new residency in Southern Vermont dedicated to writers of color from the United States and Latin America. After an orientation to this organization’s history and mission, students will have conversations with members of the board and read and rank applications for the upcoming residency cycle. Guest speakers from a variety of positions within other literary nonprofits will visit class as the students then prepare case studies on an emerging literary nonprofit of their choice. The goal of this course is to demystify this aspect of the literary landscape and demonstrate the rigorous commitment and various skillsets necessary to move from a well-intentioned vision to a sustained and impactful organization. The course will meet for two hours three times per week with outside-of-class work consisting of reading and research, interviewing employees at various nonprofits, and the preparation of the aforementioned final case study.