4 Sessions Starting November 13th

Mondays 6-8pm (bst)

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Experimental Prose is a four-week creative writing course that explores the formal boundaries of prose. We will experiment with the limits of fiction and creative nonfiction, including flash fiction, novella, essay, memoir, and prose poetry. Experimental Prose plays with some of the key elements of prose: character, structure, plot, themes, point of view, dialogue, and form.

 

Open to all skill levels and creatives and writers of any medium. You can sign up for all or just some of the weeks!

 

Optional reading material will be provided and we will read short excerpts during the workshop. The majority of the workshops will involve writing exercises. No one will be asked to share their work in the workshops, but we will discuss your writing process.

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You can sign up for all or just some of the sessions.

Session 1 November 13th: Experimental Fiction: Form and Time NNo

We’ll think about flash fiction, experimental short stories, novella’s, and the different ways that time can shape and fragment the form of short fiction. 

Optional reading: excerpts from Jamaica Kincaid ‘Girl’, Tobias Wolf ‘Bullet in the Brain,’ Fernando Sdrigotti Jolts, Jessica Au Cold Enough for Snow, and a selection flash fiction shortlisted for the Bath Prize.

Session 2 November 20th: Experimental Fiction: Creating Character

A week exploring ways of creating and developing characters, dialogue, and points of view, particularly in relation to objects. 

Optional reading: excerpts from Virginia Woolf ‘Small Objects,’ Katherine Mansfield ‘The Daughter’s of the Late Colonel’, Tim O’Brien ‘The Things They Carried’, Amy Arnold .

Session 3 November 29th*: Experimental Nonfiction: Form, Food, Memory

This week we’ll spend time with creative essays, memoir, and prose poetry, exploring the possibilities of creative nonfiction, particularly regarding food and memory. 

Optional reading: Nina Mingya Powles Tiny Moons, Rose Lu All Who Live on Islands, Pratyusha and Alycia Pirmohamed Second Memory. *Please note this week the session will be on Wednesday

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Session 4 December 4th: Experimental Nonfiction: New Nature Writing

We’ll explore ways of writing the environment today, and ways of experimenting with the form of nature writing, including memoir, political contexts, and the urban.  

Optional reading: Kathleen Jamie ‘A Lone Enraptured Male,’ Chitra Ramaswamy ‘Pigeon,’ Linda Cracknell ‘Lunar Cycling,’ Noreen Masud A Flat Place.

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