Brevity, Density, Power: Reading Short Stories by Women Writers

Brevity, Density, Power: Reading Short Stories by Women Writers ($39/49)

“In a rough way the short story writer is to the novelist as a cabinetmaker is to a house carpenter.” —Annie Proulx, author of The Shipping News and other books

In this workshop, writers will explore "The Home-coming," by Milly Jafta. We’ll examine and respond to the story’s language, rhythm, themes, structure, point of view, references to real events and other texts. We’ll ask: What do we expect from a short story? And what happens when writers flout those expectations? Participants will receive an audio file of the story, read by the instructor before the class. During class, we’ll revisit key portions aloud—tuning our ears to dialogue, cadence, silences and echoes—as we engage in discussion. Our conversations will welcome participants’ thoughts, questions, wild ideas, thoughtful challenges and respectful dissents as we learn from and with each other.  Anndee's introductory workshop is open to all to register one time - a more in depth series will follow in 2024 in which writers will poke into the “cabinets” of six exuberantly different writers from a range of cultures, vantage points, and storytelling traditions including:
• “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin
• “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker
• “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried,” by Amy Hempel
• “The Shawl,” by Louise Erdrich

• “Chin,” by Gish Jen

• “The Thing Around Your Neck,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Anndee Hochman is a journalist, essayist, storyteller and teaching artist. For more than 20 years, she has facilitated community-based literature discussions through People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos. She also guides writers of all ages and experience levels in crafting poetry, memoir and creative nonfiction. Her books include Everyday Acts & Small Subversions: Women Reinventing Family, Community and Home (The Eighth Mountain Press) and Anatomies: A Novella and Stories (Picador USA). She’s at work on a young adult novel titled My Plural Is People.