Class Description
Writers of all genres can gain essential storytelling techniques from studying historical fiction. With a focus on craft and practical insight, this creative writing seminar is designed to provide greater understanding of this ever popular and complex genre, and what sets it apart from contemporary literary prose. During the first half of the seminar, students will examine and discuss the essential characteristics of historical fiction, drawing from the work of Madeline Miller, Geraldine Brooks, Colson Whitehead, E.L. Doctorow and Toni Morrison. Students will have the opportunity to do in-class activities that offer techniques and strategies for undertaking necessary research to incorporating this material into scenes, plot lines and characters in order to infuse one’s work with a greater sense of authenticity and nuance. Students will also be able to share their own historical fiction projects during the second half of the seminar, with an opportunity to workshop excerpts from manuscripts-in-progress, focusing on revision techniques, character, story, and setting development.
Class Format
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!
Scholarship Information
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 more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
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.