The Art of Storytelling (In-Person) [6-weeks, $300 Suggested]

Instructor: Dove | Sundays January 22-February 26 | 6:00-8:00 PM ET | In-Person in Durham, NC

Stories are not explanations. The whole story is the meaning. This writing workshop and discussion-based course will examine what a short story is and the choices we make as writers at the sentence and structural levels. With short stories as our texts, we will read and write with the goal of illuminating what makes a story satisfying or complete. Together we will ask the questions: What makes a short story different from a novel? How do you know what to put into a story and what to leave out? And what, pray tell, is relevant detail?

In this course, you will read and write short stories and will workshop one original story as a class, learning as you write to investigate the dynamic among the story, the world outside the story, the reader and the author. Our analysis will focus on the recursion of language and structure to bring about the “swerve”—i.e. the inevitable conclusion—for every work we encounter. Along the way we will discuss how modern fiction writers engage the writing process and read essays and interviews to expand our understanding of “realistic” fiction and how it interacts with “truth.”

This course will give you the vocabulary and knowledge to evaluate and revise your own writing and to discuss peers’ work and published stories in a critical and thoughtful manner. And you will come away with increased understanding of your individual voice, style, content, and ability for sustained narrative. Susan Steinberg, Sandra Cisneros, Joyce Carol Oates, Edward P. Jones, Flannery O’Connor, Amy Hempel, Lynne Tillman, Javier Marias, Mary Robison, Roxane Gay, Jennifer Egan and Sheila Heti are some of the authors we will likely read.

Classes will meet at: Arcana | 331 W. Main St (rear entrance) | Durham, NC | 27701
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For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.

If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.