Class Description
When someone says science fiction and fantasy, five-hundred-page tales of robots and dragons might come to mind. The classics were written in the '60s and '70s, speculating on a future we're now living in — but there's still plenty of future left to imagine. In this course, we'll travel through time and to far-away lands through lectures, readings, illustrations, and videos. We'll explore the origins of both genres and their subgenres, with a focus on the story elements that make them distinct: world-building, the Hero's Journey as a framework for protagonist development, and the art of weaving social commentary and critique into speculative worlds.
This class includes weekly readings and discussions (20–40 pages) and short writing prompts. The final week will be devoted to workshopping a short story you'll develop throughout the first three weeks. Short story writers and novelists are equally welcome, as are students who are brand new to the genre. Readings will draw from a curated selection of contemporary speculative fiction, with an emphasis on voices that are expanding and redefining what these genres can do and who they speak to.
We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
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.