Master Fiction

Class Description

Thinking about applying for an MFA? Feeling ready to publish? In this intensive forum, you will polish and/or complete at least two short works of fiction by refining craft elements and developing a deeper grasp on how to produce and revise a successful short story. This course offers a model for workshopping your manuscripts in which you will receive written comments from the students and the instructor before your story is discussed in class. Instead of remaining silent, you and the instructor will co-lead the conversation about your story with a focus on concrete revision options. Classmates will be encouraged to incorporate content-based criticism (e.g. “how does this character challenge or reinforce stereotypes? what are the socio-cultural implications in this piece?”) with craft-based criticism (e.g. “how does the author show this character’s change over time?). This structure aims to give the writer a stronger voice in their own critique, for readers to thoughtfully examine and learn from their initial feedback during the workshop, and for everyone to leave class with a clearer revision strategy for their work. We will also look at some published work by authors such as Azam Ahmed, Mariana Enríquez, Aleksandar Hemon, Lauren Groff, and Alejandro Zambra.

The course will be open to students working on short fiction; novel chapters will be discouraged. Only students who have taken previous fiction workshops at GrubStreet or elsewhere should apply. Space is limited to 9 students in order to foster a more rigorous and intense learning experience.

Important dates:

The Master Fiction application is now closed. Applications submitted after December 20th will not be reviewed.

The payment deadline for admitted students is January 7th.

To apply, please click the red "SEE DIRECTIONS TO APPLY" button in the top right corner of this page. This application will ask you to detail your workshop experience. It will also ask you to upload a 5-10 page writing sample. Please make sure this writing sample is in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, and in 12-point font. For tracking purposes, your name should appear in the file name (e.g. Smith.Memoir Title.Submission). Decisions will be emailed to applicants approx. 1 week after the deadline. You can also track the status of your application in your Grubstreet profile. Please make sure your application is complete before you finally click "APPLY." If you have any technical difficulties filling out this application, please email [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation email once our system has received your submission.

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.