Class Description
Thinking about getting an MFA? Feeling ready to publish? In this intensive forum, you will polish and/or complete at least two short works of fiction. The emphasis is on building and applying elements of craft such as narrative point of view, story arc, dialogue, specificity of language, openings, and good sentence-making. The class will consist primarily of extensive peer workshop along with short lectures and close examination of published short fiction chosen, to the extent possible, to speak to the specific craft issues raised in students' work, and/or to illustrate some novel approach to an element of craft. Readings might include work from authors such as Carmen Maria Machado, Nam Le, ZZ Packer, George Saunders, Eric Puchner, Annie Proulx, Junot Diaz, and others.
The course will be open to students working on short fiction and flash fiction; novel chapters will be discouraged. You will be in the company of other serious writers and an experienced instructor dedicated to giving comprehensive and insightful feedback. 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 closer, more intense and more rigorous learning experience.
Please note: No class on June 26th, July 31st, and August 7th. Class ends September 4th.
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. Story 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.
Important dates:
The application deadline for this class is May 18th at 11:59pm. Applicants can expect to learn of decisions 1-2 weeks after the deadline.
Did you know that we have scholarships available for all GrubStreet classes? To apply, click the "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button in the top right corner of this page. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your scholarship application and await our Scholarship Committee's decision before registering for the class. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
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. Please visit the Resources tab to access the video-conference link.
Zoom Participation:
Students are not required to turn their camera on, but are encouraged to participate any way they feel comfortable through functions such as the live chat, emoji reactions, and unmuting the microphone. Learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
We ask that instructors enable closed captioning and send a transcript of the session after class. You can also enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting. If your instructor forgets to send the transcript, just send ’em an email!