The Elegance of Compression
Genres: Fiction
Online
Online Intermediate, Advanced
Intermediate, Advanced 1 Session
1 Session Many of the best short stories convey the richness of a character's life in only a few pages. We'll examine four stories with narrative arcs that span their characters' lives, specifically considering how the authors use precise language and patterned structures, and how the stories "turn" rather than "close" to achieve complexity often attributed only to longer works. Writing exercises will be offered. Participants should come to class having read all four stories, which the instructor will provide before the first session.
Texts:
“The Marburg Sisters,” Andrea Barrett
“Story of Your Life,” Ted Chiang
“Eight Bites,” Carmen Maria Machado
“Family Furnishings,” Alice Munro
Registration dates:
June 5: Scholarship Donation Day (Learn more.)
June 6: Member registration opens
June 13: General registration opens
Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum
Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum is the author of three collections of short fiction, most recently What We Do With the Wreckage, which won the 2017 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and was published by UGA Press in 2018. Her earlier collections are Swimming With Strangers (Chronicle, 2008) and This Life She's Chosen (Chronicle, 2005). Her short fiction has been published in Ploughshares, McSweeney's, One Story, and North American Review, among other journals, and she has been the recipient of a PEN/O. Henry Prize. Kirsten teaches fiction writing at Hugo House and 9th–12th grade English at a small independent school near Seattle.
FAQ
Complete FAQHugo House will only process refund requests that are submitted 5 business days or more before the class start date. To request a refund, log in to your account, go to “My Account,” select the “Orders” tab on the left-hand side, click the appropriate order, and request a refund for your specific class. Administrative fees apply. Please see our full refund policy here.
Class sessions may be recorded if a session falls on a holiday, or if a student has access needs. Class recordings are not guaranteed.
We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic or any other oppressive behaviors, regardless of who commits them. Please check out our full community guidelines by clicking here. If an instance of community guidelines are violated and not resolved within the classroom, students may let us know by filling out the student incident report.
Classes may be cancelled if less than 5 students are enrolled within 10 days before the class start date. If for any reason Hugo House needs to cancel a class, students can choose between a full credit or full refund.
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