Narrative Layer Cake: Blending Ideas with Plot in Sigrid Nunez’ The Friend
DATE UPDATE: This class will take place from July 27 – August 17. This has been corrected from the print catalog.
A moving meditation on loss, a funny yarn about a dog, a deep inquiry into storytelling: Sigrid Nunez does all three in The Friend. Using a detailed chapter outline as our home base, we'll examine how Nunez constructs this short, multilayered, National Book Award-winning novel, with discussions revolving around the ways she creates character, conflict, and theme. Then, we'll consider how to apply what we learn to our own works-in-progress.
All students in this class will receive a 20% off discount at Elliott Bay Book Company to purchase the course reading list.
Michael Shilling
Michael Shilling is the author of Rock Bottom, a novel published by Little, Brown. The musical adaptation of the book was staged in 2014 by the Landless Theater Company. His stories have appeared in The Sun, Fugue, and Other Voices. He has taught at Seattle University, University of Puget Sound, and Cornish College of the Arts.
