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Richard Hugo House & NW MediaArts Present:
Writing Fantastic Fiction Workshop Series
Fall 2007
The literature of speculative fiction provides the perfect oeuvre to hold a mirror up to humanity and look at who we are and what we might become. By telling tales of "the other" we discover ourselves. By projecting current trends forward, we ask "what if?" and compare the world that is with worlds that might be. Fantastic fiction has long been the home of astute social commentary and in-depth exploration of what it means to be human. Important work is being written in the realm of fantasy, science fiction, mythic and fabulist fiction, and these workshops provide an opportunity to work with masters of the field.
This workshop series will take you on a voyage of discovery as critically acclaimed authors from around the country arrive in Seattle to teach a day-long workshop focusing on writing tools that will further your craft in the genre of fabulist fiction and provide you with tools to sharpen your skills in all the writing you do. Each author will teach a one-day Sunday workshop and give a reading and book signing for the general public the following day, Monday, at 7:00 p.m. Workshops include discussion, in-class writing exercises and critiquing.
Mythic Fiction
Instructor: Charles de Lint
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Far from being escapism, contemporary fantasy can be the deep mythic literature of our time. Powerful works of mainstream literature are often informed by myth. Mythic fiction is literature that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws from the tropes, themes and symbolism of myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The term "Mythic Fiction" is widely credited to Charles de Lint and Terri Windling — examples can be seen in their work and in the work of authors such as John Crowley, Alice Hoffman, Jane Yolen and many others. Bring a short synopsis of your favorite myth or bit of folklore and join award-winning Canadian author Charles de Lint as we learn to infuse elements from archetypal fantasy into the plot of a contemporary mainstream or fantasy story. We'll also discuss how to develop a writing style that doesn't get in the way of the story and still retains it own individual voice. At the end of the day, Charles and his partner MaryAnn Harris will talk about markets, agents, and publishers' lists.
Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and Americana/folk musician. He established the genre of "mythic fiction," which falls somewhere between fantasy and mainstream fiction with a magical realist bent. It is sometimes also considered "urban myth" and is known for being "fantasy for people who normally don't read fantasy." He is a winner of the multiple awards, including the World Fantasy Award, and the author of over 40 novels and short story collections. Sunday, September 16, 2007
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It's about Time
Instructor: John Crowley
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Anyone who has written a lot of fiction comes to understand that the greatest structural and narrative challenges — and the nicest opportunities — and the biggest hazards — lie in the management of time. In the world we live in, time always proceeds at a rate of one second per second, and only from past to future. But in fiction these things are a matter of authorial choice. Stories can run from present to past; a year can take a page, and one ordinary day in Dublin can fill 800. Time passes differently in Neuromancer from the way it passes in Lord of the Rings, and the difference creates different books. How does the writer think about, and work with, time? Lessons, examples, analysis, and exercises.
John Crowley is the author of numerous much-acclaimed novels, including the classic Little, Big, soon to be reissued in a museum-quality 25th anniversary edition featuring a critical introduction by Harold Bloom. Crowley's work has been honored with the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Premio Flaianno (Italy). Recent work includes The Translator, Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land, and Endless Things, the final volume of the Aegypt series. Since 1993 Crowley has taught creative writing at Yale University, and is currently Director of the Summer Session Creative Writing Program. Sunday, October 21, 2007
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Slipping into the Strange
Instructor: John Kessel
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Slipstream (and related modes — fabulism, interstitial fiction, metafiction, the New Weird) is based on the desire to produce cognitive dissonance in the reader. Writers from Franz Kafka to Karen Joy Fowler, stories from Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" to Kelly Link's "The Hortlak," have twisted reality in the service of the inexplicably strange. In this workshop we will discuss and practice the techniques you can use to create fiction that unmoors the reader from expected reactions. You'll learn to use allegory instead of letting it use you, literalize metaphors, borrow from non-literary sources, cross pollinate between genres, incorporate pastiche, parody or collage, or externalize psychological states of your characters to produce unsettling fictions. The goal is to have your fiction evoke the strange without losing rigor or meaning.
John Kessel co-directs the creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. A winner of the Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award, the Locus Poll, and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, his books include Good News from Outer Space, Corrupting Dr. Nice, and The Pure Product. His story collection, Meeting in Infinity, was named a notable book of 1992 by the New York Times Book Review. Writer Kim Stanley Robinson has called Corrupting Dr. Nice "the best time travel novel ever written." Sunday, November 18, 2007
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Co-sponsored by
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How to Register
If you already are or become a member of Richard Hugo House at the time of registration, take the member tuition rate.
Clarion West Alumni also get the member rate for these classes.
Registration information at Hugo House
Mail:
- Fill out the registration form
- Mail the form with your tuition check or credit card information to:
Registrar
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
Phone:
Call Hugo House at (206) 322-7030 with your credit card information from 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. weekdays, and Noon-5:00 p.m. Saturdays (except holidays).
Fax:
You may also fax your registration and credit card information to (206) 320-8767.
Previous Workshops