Short Story Course with Michelle Green, Sheffield

9 Feb 2017

Location: Bank Street Arts, 32-40 Bank Street, Sheffield S1 2DS

Times: 7-9pm

Price: £180 for the full course (attendees must pay for full course- individual course units not available separately).

Dates: Six workshops are held over a 6 month period to enable you to complete writing assignments:

Thursday 9th February 2017
Thursday 9th March 2017
Thursday 13th April 2017
Thursday 11th May 2017
Thursday 8th June 2017
Thursday 6th July 2017

*The workshop dates have been pushed back by one month due to unforeseen circumstances.

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This course is about the short story …

Over the course of 6 workshops, you’ll get a handle on the predominant narrative structures used by short story writers, and implement them in your own work. Completing set writing tasks between workshops, and receiving structured, peer-driven feedback, you’ll develop 3 short stories to completion, with tailored advice on how to shape the story, and how to improve the characterisation, dialogue, and narrative voice. Comma Press, one of the UK’s leading publisher of short fiction is always looking for new voices in short fiction and it’s hoped that this course will unearth and develop contenders for one of their showcases of new writers.

What you need to be familiar with …

You don’t necessarily need any practical experience of writing stories, nor of supervised creative writing of any kind, but it’s important that you have an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the short story form. To get the most from the course, you should be prepared do some background reading, undertake writing tasks between sessions, read the work of others on the course prior to each session, offer tactful – yet frank – feedback, and receive constructive criticism on your own work. The course isn’t geared towards any particular sub-genre within the short story form – be it literary fiction, sci-fi, or horror – we’ll be looking at techniques applicable to all these genres. This course will be taught by author, Jude Brown.

What we won’t cover …

This isn’t a course devised to help you write a novel, a novella, poetry, micro-fiction, or biography – it’s all about the short story, which presents its own specific demands and opportunities to writers (for the avoidance of doubt, short stories typically weigh in at somewhere between 1500 and 8000 words long, for the purpose of this course we will be looking at stories up to 5,000 words long).

Equipment you’ll need …

Something to write with (pen and paper will do) during sessions, and a computer and internet access at home, to upload your work in progress to the online drop box, or email to the group. If you prefer to print out other people’s work to read prior to the sessions (rather than reading from a screen), you’ll need to do this at your own expense.

About the Tutor

Michelle Green is an acclaimed poet-turned-short story writer, and a well-loved figure on the Manchester spoken word scene. In 2005 she won the North West Regional Poetry Slam, and has since performed across the UK, both solo and in collaboration with musicians and visual artists, at festivals such as the Big Chill, as well as on BBC Radio 4. She has published her poems and short stories in numerous magazines and anthologies (including Bitch Lit and City Secrets), and her first collection of poetry -Knee High Affairs - was published by Crocus in 2006. Jebel Marra is her first collection of fiction and is based on her own experience as an aid worker in Darfur. Jebel Marra was shortlisted for the Saboteur Awards 2015 and was recently longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2016.

BOOK HERE on Eventbrite, or through the Bank Street Arts website.
Email tom@bankstreetarts for details.