In this talk, we'll explore the craft of writing fiction that doesn't move—fiction contained in a single, discreet space as large as a house, and as small as a bed—and the implication it has for our understanding of gender, characterization, and plot. Stories discussed will include Angela Carter's "The Fall-River Axe Murders," Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers," Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," and Nancy Hale's "The Earliest Dreams."
Carmen Maria Machado's debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, was a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize. Her essays, fiction, and criticism have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Granta, Harper’s Bazaar, and elsewhere. She is the Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia with her wife.