Nine-Month Fiction Workshop

Nine-month fiction Workshop

Applications for my next nine-month workshop (2023-2024) are now closed. If you are interested in applying for next year, please reach out to me in May or June of 2024. The application includes a questionnaire and a writing sample (fifteen to twenty pages). Please email me for the workshop questionnaire and other details: skirk.walsh@gmail.com. Spaces are limited, so please apply before the deadline to ensure consideration. In addition, check out the great online adult writing workshop offerings at Writers League of Texas, Austin Bat Cave, Catapult, and StoryStudio.

Workshop description: This workshop is designed for advanced and intermediate fiction writers who are working on novels or short story collections. More than half of my students have completed MFA programs and are looking to continue this kind of creative dialogue in their writing lives. In addition, about half of the students will be working on novel-length projects as well as short stories. The length of the class provides the opportunity to have four focused critiques from a consistent group of readers/writers. The focus of our discussions and workshops are trained on big-picture issues, such as character development, plot, pacing, structure, point of view, and then moving into the finer details of sentence rhythm and figurative language.

About every fifth week will include a reading of a short novel or short story collection. Discussion of these books will revolve around particular aspects of craft as well as interviews with the authors. Recent visiting authors include: Deesha Philyaw, Kimberly King Parsons, Megha Majumdar, Jamel Brinkley, Antoine Wilson, Mary-Beth Hughes, and Dana Spiotta.

The workshop meets at a gallery space at Sage Studio on Springdale in East Austin. Please email me for any further questions: skirk.walsh@gmail.com. Thank you!