The novelist Anne Tyler wrote, “I read so I can live more than one life.” The same can be said about writing. In this literary fiction class, students will produce new, short works through weekly writing exercises and give and receive feedback in weekly workshop sessions. They will also study the craft of fiction—including elements such as character, plot, dialogue, scene, and point of view—by reading published short stories. Students will have many opportunities to share their work in a supportive environment that celebrates empathy and imagination.
Eleanor Henderson grew up in Florida. She is the author of the novels The Twelve-Mile Straight (Ecco, 2017) and Ten Thousand Saints (Ecco, 2011), which was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2011 by The New York Times, was a finalist for the Award for First Fiction from The Los Angeles Times, and was adapted into a movie starring Ethan Hawke. Eleanor’s stories and essays have appeared in publications including Agni, Ninth Letter, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, All Things Considered, Poets & Writers, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and The Best American Short Stories. With the novelist Anna Solomon she is also co-editor of Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today's Best Women Writers (FSG, 2014). She has also taught at James Madison University, Syracuse University, the Colgate Writers Conference, and the Chautauqua Institution. In 2019, she was named the Robert Ryan Professor in the Humanities for her work on a memoir, Everything I Have Is Yours, which will be published by Flatiron Books in 2021.