Class Description
In the introduction to the groundbreaking 1996 anthology In Short, author Bernard Cooper writes that the brief essay form requires “an alertness to detail, a quickening of the senses, a focusing of the literary lens … until one has magnified some small aspect of what it means to be human.” In this seminar, we’ll take a close look at this powerful genre, breaking down the elements of Cooper’s recipe—alertness, quickness, and focus—into clear craft elements. We’ll use the Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction as our guide, which offers insights and exercises from some of today’s top flash nonfiction writers. You’ll leave class with a greater understanding of the brief literary essay form, at least two “seeds”/drafts of your own essays, and ideas of where to publish.
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.