These are some (if not all) of the works I’ll be referencing in our weekend class. I would love for our discussions to be more holistic, to feel like these are a collection of work to be discussed as a unit rather than a block of pieces to be discussed on a specific day, so don’t be afraid to reference and cross-reference and bring up pieces we’ve already discussed. I want to see how they work in collaboration and what connections can be made between them.
Most of the work I’ll be referencing in this course can be found online, published in recent literary journals. Those pieces are as follows:
- Zenique Gardner Perry – “I was fourteen: a memoir”
- Shivani Mehta – “The Captives”
- Meredith Alling – “Other Babies”
- JJ Peña – “Softness is a Salve” (pdf available in the forum)
- Megan Giddings – “The Alive Sister”
- Michael Martone – “Three Stories” (pdf available in the forum)
- Joy Williams – from “Ninety Nine Stories of God” (pdf available in the forum)
- Renee Gladman – from “Calamities”
- K-Ming Chang – “Inheritance”
- Zachary Schomburg – “Death Letter”
Content Warnings: There are references/instances of sexual abuse/assault in “I was fourteen” and “Jock Party,” references to the police killing of Black people in “The Alive Sister”, and parental abuse in “Softness is a Salve.” — I will be careful in how we discuss these pieces, but you are welcome to step back if you are highly sensitive to any of these topics, and don’t be afraid to let me know if I can help make the class a more comfortable, welcoming space.
I recently published a craft essay on Meredith Alling’s story, which I will reference in a craft note. If you’d like to read that essay, it is here (spoiler: this might contain an in-class exercise!): https://theoffingmag.com/insight/the-concept-becomes-the-story/
I will also make references to the Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction in a few of my daily craft notes. Although I quote and attribute parts of a couple essays in my craft notes, I do not include the essays themselves. If you find yourself intrigued and want further reading, I highly recommend buying or checking out that book, because it’s been critical in my approach to writing in short forms.
