Writers from Ernest Hemingway (“The only kind of writing is rewriting”) to Khaled Hosseini (“Writing for me is largely about rewriting”) to Joyce Carol Oates (“Most of my time writing is really re-writing”) have stressed the importance of revision. And yet, since all we usually have access to is the final draft of a published book or story, revision is something of an invisible craft. In this seminar we’ll try to draw it forth into the light, calling on examples from life, literature and even pop culture (from remakes to reboots to retcons), as well as offering a range of strategies - ‘Save’ your darlings, Revising Titles, Getting to Done - for how to re-see re-vision.

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Peter Ho Davies’ most recent novel is A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself. Other books include The Fortunes, winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; The Welsh Girl, long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and a London Times bestseller; as well as two critically acclaimed collections of short stories. His work has appeared in Harpers, The Atlantic,  The Paris Review and Granta and been anthologized in Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories.