The underlying idea behind this fiction workshop is that students learn best about writing by writing, by discussing their work with the instructor in conference, by listening to others constructively discuss their work in class, and then by rewriting and revising. 60-65 pages of work, which may include significant revisions of previously written work, will be required of each student over the semester. Students will also be required to read and to respond sensitively to the other fiction submitted to the workshop. Students may submit short stories, novellas, or novel excerpts. Copies of each manuscript will be returned to the writer, fully critiqued by the other students as well as the instructor. Students will also read, discuss, and write brief analyses of the short stories in the two required course texts.

Recommended reading before the semester: The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner; and Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular, by Rust Hills.

Required texts: Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri; and The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, by Aimee Bender.

All fiction writers currently enrolled in the MFA in Creative Writing Program are automatically admitted to the workshop. Once these students have been placed, any remaining openings may be given to applicants from outside the program. Interested students should submit a representative story or novel chapter, along with their name, phone number, and a brief description of their interests and experience, to the instructor's mailbox, which is located in BH 402.