Advanced Fiction Workshop

Class Description

Thinking about getting an MFA? Feeling ready to publish? In this intensive forum, we will polish or complete at least two short works of fiction. And through drafting and workshop discussion, we'll practice building and applying elements of craft like point of view, momentum, dialogue, time and scope, voice and style, and sentence construction. We'll discuss authorial intention, reader expectations, sociopolitical contexts of our work, and what it means to write, read, and publish in the literature world as we know it today. The class will consist primarily of extensive peer workshops along with close examination of published short fiction chosen to illustrate novel approaches to craft.

This course is open to students working on short fiction and flash fiction. We 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. Published authors we'll read may include Morgan Talty, Yōko Ogawa, Mariana Enríquez, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Edwidge Danticat, Toni Morrison, Justin Torres, and Yiyun Li.

Please Note: Class does not meet on October 17th and October 24th.

Important dates:

Applications are now closed. Applications submitted afer September 4th, 2023, at 11:59PM (EST) will not be reviewed. The payment deadline for admitted students is Monday, September 11th.

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.

Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Scholarship Information

Please note: In order to be eligible for acceptance into an advanced class, you must submit an application via the “See Directions to Apply” button above. You can then submit a separate scholarship application via the “Apply for Scholarship” button. We cannot consider applicants who only fill out a scholarship application without applying to the class itself.

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.