ENGL 093P. Literary Philly - A Collective Exploration

Philadelphia is a vibrant literary city - and one without a single, monolithic literary center of gravity. In this class, taught by novelist, poet, and Swarthmore Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, students will have a chance to get to know, and contribute to, Philadelphia’s vibrant literary culture. Over the course of the semester, we will hear from and meet acclaimed Philadelphia-based novelists and poets; visit bookstores, libraries and community spaces; attend literary readings, salons, and open mics; meet with publishers and book reviewers, and more.

Throughout the semester, students will be keep and turn in a weekly literary journal, in which they will write a short reflection on each week’s session, and, for their final project, students will work in groups to form some sort of a creative guide, synthesis or contribution to Literary Philadelphia - this could be a mapping of all of the city’s bookstores, a zine interviewing local poets, a review of a number of Philadelphia’s reading series, or any other method the group might come up with to reflect on Philadelphia’s literary culture, and to share with their Tri-Co peers, and beyond, ways to connect with Literary Philly.
This class will be taught in Philadelphia as part of the Tri-Co Philly Program.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2026. Rothman-Zecher.
Catalog chapter: English Literature
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/english-literature

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