I don't agree with the previous post. I definitely think Professor Hisham is knowledgeable and funny and says the most wonderful things. But as a writing student, I feel isolated and intimidated in his class, and most of the other students in the class feel the same way too even though we don't say it because he's a superstar professor or whatever. The workload is also way too much - it's both a writing workshop and a literature class and it gets old by the 4th week or so. After the excitement of learning from someone as distinguished as him dies down, all that's left is the feeling of not being a good enough writer. He's very prescriptive of what he expects from his students as writers and universalizes/homogenizes the writing experience in a way that makes it feel like only certain types of writing is worthwhile and only certain types of people can be/are writers. Have I left having learned anything from this class? Yes, I read more intentionally now and I love words more. But as a writer? I feel crippled - I'm terrified to write anything new and am even considering why I'm even a writer. So, if you've been writing for a long time and have taken other writing courses, maybe this class (fiction Writing) is for you. If not, there are other writing classes - you might come here and feel like your wings have been clipped.