Courses – Fall 2025 / Literature


The courses listed below, in the general area of literature, are currently offered at Quest.

Click on any title to view the related course page.


CONTEMPORARY SHORT STORIES

Coordinators: Nancy Richardson, Mary Buchwald, Frieda Lipp

This long-standing class discusses short stories from all over the world.

CONTEMPORARY POETRY

Coordinators: Ellen Rittberg, Frieda Lipp, Karen Millard, Linda Schwartz

We will explore important and well-regarded modern poets, their poems, and their place in the literary continuum/historical context.

MORAL TALES FOR OUR TIMES

Coordinators: Lynnel Garabedian, Sandy Kessler

Our class will read several plays in which individuals act morally and bravely in the face of enormous social and political pressure and at great cost to themselves.

ORAL INTERPRETATION OF POETRY

Coordinators: Joyce Hinote, Peter Dichter

The human oral tradition goes back millennia, and it began with poetry. It was a way of communicating and telling stories about the world around us and who we are.

THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV

Coordinators: Sheryl Harawitz, Andrea Irvine, Ellie Schaffer, Ellen Shapiro

Our study group will dive into the complex world of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, a masterpiece that explores the intricacies of faith, doubt, and morality through the lives of the Karamazov family.

TIMELESS WRITINGS: THE ILIAD

Coordinators: Sheryl Harawitz, Mary Ann Donnelly, Judy Hampson, Andrea Irvine

What could be more intriguing than sharing the literary works that have endured the test of time, and engaged and inspired people worldwide for over a millennium?

WONDERFUL BOOKS OUT LOUD: TWAIN'S SHORT STORIES

Coordinators: Harriet Finkelstein Larry Shapiro, Ruth Ward

Mark Twain has been called the father of American literature. A humorist, lecturer and novelist, Twain combined narrative wit and a strong sense of irony to create distinctive masterpieces based on American culture and language.