Class Description
This special seminar is part of GrubStreet’s Literary Ambassador program, which brings some of the most exciting voices in the literary world directly to you, teaching unique craft lessons at a more affordable price. Usually priced at $175, this seminar is now available for only $35 for non-members and $25 for members.
In this workshop, The Third Hotel author Laura van den Berg will lead a close reading of “Island at Noon” by Julio Cortázar, who instructs that the fantastic is “not escapism; it’s a contribution to living more deeply in this reality.” The class will pay extra attention to time, world-building in the short story, and how to destabilize reality without losing readers. In addition to close reading, the workshop will include craft discussion, and a generative exercise. All writers are welcome. This workshop is likely to be of particular interest to writers and readers who are interested in short fiction and fantastic, “time-bending” plots.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.