I am so excited to announce that I will be teaching an online workshop on writing speculative fiction and poetry! In this 6-week workshop titled “Crafting Fantastic & Imaginative Worlds” students will use The Writers Studio method of persona writing and critiquing and apply it to the universe of possibilities that is science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It begins Saturday, July 27, 2019 and registration is open now.

After I finished my undergraduate degree in Creative Writing and English and started taking workshops at The Writers Studio and the University of Arizona Poetry Center in Tucson, I found my reading and writing habits had greatly expanded to include both literary and genre fiction and poetry. I also found myself growing impatient with those who try to draw strict boundaries between literary and genre writing, often demeaning writers of the latter in the process.

The truth is there are masters of craft who write incredible science fiction, fantasy, and horror on par with the best literary works. Ursula K. Le Guin is just one example, and her incredible bibliography is the reason why I believe so strongly that good writing is good writing no matter what the genre. I imagined a workshop that retained The Writers Studio’s sharp focus on narrative techniques like persona narrators, point-of-view, tone, and mood, and applied it to speculative fiction and poetry writing.

Every week we will read an excerpt from a short story or poem by a master of speculative fiction and poetry such as N.K. Jemisin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Alyssa Wong, Ray Bradbury, and Neil Gaiman. Students will then try out the same persona and techniques in a page and a half of their own writing to be submitted to their classmates and to me. The Writers Studio has a great approach to providing feedback that values craft over what we subjectively like or dislike about a piece, so each student will receive in response to their writing our helpful and encouraging critiques! For even more discussion about craft, genre, and our writing, we will meet online Saturday mornings for an hour-long chat.

“Crafting Fantastic & Imaginative Worlds” is open to writers of all levels and experience who are interested in writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Please join us!