Sci-Fi Online Short Story Course w/ Oliver K. Langmead

About the event

Explore the farthest reaches of your imagination on this six-session Sci-Fi writing course lead by renowned SF author and poet Oliver K. Langmead.

Over the course of six fortnightly sessions, we will learn the fundamentals of short storytelling like structure, pacing and character, before exploring and incorporating Sci-Fi staples like world-building, speculative imagery and much more.

Sessions will consist of writing exercises and close readings of classic and contemporary texts, as well as opportunities to workshop your projects as a group. You will also have access to a shared Slack channel to keep in touch and work on projects with fellow authors between sessions.

We will aim to write two short stories up to 3000 words over the span of the course, with your strongest piece published in a course eBook available thereafter on Amazon (you will, of course, receive a free copy!).

Over the course we'll cover:

Week 1: The Science Fiction Short Story: An Introduction (Capturing an Idea)

Week 2: Writing the Extraordinary (Defamiliarisation and Grounding)

Week 3: Working With Speculative Imagery

Week 4: Genre and Iteration

Week 5: Worldbuilding

Week 6: Pushing Form

Sessions will take place online over Zoom

DATES

Dec 15, 29

Jan 12, 26

Feb 09, 23

PLEASE NOTE Classes are capped at 15 places to ensure a high-quality experience.

PRICE

£150 per ticket which covers 6x sessions including publication in a Comma Press eBook anthology. Email George below to avoid booking fees.

£120 bursary tickets are available on a first come first served for writers of protected characteristics or those on low income – simply email george.forster@commapress.co.uk to apply.

PLEASE BE AWARE: We cannot offer refunds for cancellations made within 30 days of the course start date. If the minimum number of attendees in not met before 2 weeks prior to the start date, the course will be postponed or cancelled with existing attendees given the option of holding their place for the postponed date or getting a full refund of the ticket cost.

Considering signing up?

We make our courses as accessible as possible: they span the UK and take place routinely throughout the year; you don't actually need any previous experience - just enthusiasm for short story writing; and you only need a pen, paper, laptop/computer, and internet access in order to take part and keep in contact.

Our Course Graduates

Past participants on our Short Story Courses have gone on to be published by the likes of Penguin, Canongate Books, The Best of British Fantasy, Granta, and Ambit Magazine, have work reviewed in the The Guardian, The Irish Times, Lit Hub, Sunday Express and Metro and recognised by awards such as the The Brighton Prize

Oliver K. Langmead writes speculative fiction. His new verse-novel, Calypso, was named one of the best Science Fiction books of 2024 by the Guardian, Esquire magazine, and ScreenRant. His previous novel, Glitterati was shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award, and named one of New Scientist’s best Science Fiction books of 2022. His new novel, City of All Seasons, co-written with Aliya Whiteley, will be published by Titan Books in 2025. He is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster, and in late 2018 he was the writer in residence at the European Space Agency’s Astronaut Centre in Cologne.