MFA, Indiana University. PhD, SUNY Albany. Wallace Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University. Author of the novel Lay It on My Heart and the short story collection Home Remedies. Fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, Ploughshares, New England Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Iowa Review, Los Angeles Review, and other literary magazines. Reviews, interviews, and essays published in The Believer, The Rumpus, and Salon. Executive Director of Napa Valley Writers’ Conference. SLC, 2021–
Previous Courses
MFA Writing
Short Fiction Workshop
Workshop—Spring
This class is for students who are working on short fiction. We’ll approach the form by discussing a variety of published stories—how they set their own terms and what makes them work—and by addressing concepts like tension, subtext, time, and structure. Brief weekly writing assignments are designed to be generative; supplemental reading will include essays and interviews. The workshop of first or early story drafts will provide opportunities to talk about language, characters, conflict, and other elements of craft. While workshop will focus on short fiction, students who are also writing novels are welcome to submit excerpts for discussion during one-on-one conferences. In addition, the class will touch on a writer’s evolving relationship to their process: how to embrace uncertainty; where to look for one’s own most-compelling material (and what approaches might serve it best); how to navigate the world of fellowships, publishing, and awards while continuing to write; and much more.
Faculty
- Angela Pneuman