Writing Literary Criticism with Declan Fry
How to get started in writing criticism
Join renowned writer, poet, and essayist Declan Fry in this insightful and practical course on writing literary criticism.
Whether you're looking to kick off your criticism career, or interested in exploring reviewing alongside your other writing, learn how to get started with experienced literary critic Declan Fry. Criticism shares a great deal in common with essay, fiction, and even poetry—it is not about what's black and white, good or bad—it is concerned with the grey areas of life and how a piece of writing makes you feel. This course will focus primarily on reviewing fiction, poetry and non-fiction, but these teachings can be applied more widely across your writing practice.
You will learn:
- The difference between criticism and reviews
- How to read as a critic
- To write both short-form and long-form criticism
- How to approach reviewing different genres
- Self editing and how to critique your own criticism
The course is designed to take you 5-6 hours in total, and can be completed in short stages at your convenience. Scroll down to see the full course curriculum and a list of frequently asked questions.
"Thank you Declan for encouraging me to continue to create and construct reviews that reflect me as a writer and for giving me the courage to put my finished work out into the world!"
KYD Members receive a 10% discount on this course and all other KYD online courses throughout the year. Become a member here, or contact [email protected] for more information.
Want to buy a course for a friend? Purchase a gift voucher here.
Your Instructor
Declan Fry has written for Meanjin, Memo Review, Overland, Westerly and elsewhere. He writes regularly for the ABC, Age/SMH and Guardian and is a board member of Australian Book Review and of the Melbourne Writers Festival. His poetry has been shortlisted for the Judith Wright Poetry Prize and selected for The Best Australian Science Writing 2021. He was a winner of the 2021 Griffith Review Emerging Voices Competition, received the 2021 Peter Blazey Fellowship, and in 2022 was nominated for the Pascall Prize in criticism. His latest writing appears in Another Australia (Affirm Press), The Cambridge Companion to the Australian Novel, and in Griffith Review 79: Counterfeit Culture.
Course Curriculum
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StartPart One Introduction (5:44)
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StartExercise
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StartWhat is Criticism?
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StartOn Getting Started (6:46)
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StartBegin the Begin
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StartExamples of Beginnings
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StartExercise
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StartResponding to the Work
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StartTips When Reading
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StartExamples of My Notes
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StartReview vs. Criticism
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StartA Work in Itself
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StartA Work in Itself Example
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StartExercise
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StartFinal Tip (5:42)
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StartPart Two intro (5:43)
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StartExercise
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StartLanguage
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StartExercise
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StartDiscuss what is of interest rather than judging
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StartChristos Tsiolkas and the Mechanics of Feeling
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StartExercise
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StartTo discuss good/bad without appraising as ‘good/bad’
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StartExample: Claire Dederer on Lolita
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StartExercise: Changed Opinion
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StartThe Process of Discovery (3:49)