Taught by James Tate Hill, contributing editor for Lit Hub, fiction editor for the literary journal Monkeybicycle, and author of Blind Man's Bluff (W.W. Norton, 2021), which includes his essay from Prairie Schooner listed among the Notables in Best American Essays 2020.

In this 8-week course we will create and learn about short fiction that is risk-taking and full of discovery. In Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, she says, “Because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, “How alive am I willing to be?” Together, we will work on allowing our writing to take us to surprising places, to show us what we are thinking, to bring us the spark of topics, places, and people we want to explore. Throughout the course, you will complete two creative drafts of stories and you will grow as a reader and writer through providing feedback on your classmates’ writing.

NOTE: Students are required to purchase Thrill Me by Benjamin Percy. Links to published stories will be listed in the syllabus and provided by the instructor via email.