Starts Tuesday, May 21st, 2024

The class will meet weekly via Zoom on Tuesdays from 7:00PM - 9:00PM EST

Taught by Robert Anthony Siegel, the author of a memoir, Criminals, and two novels, All Will Be Revealed and All the Money in the World. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Paris Review, The Drift, The Oxford American, and Ploughshares, and has been anthologized in Best American Essays 2023, O. Henry Stories 2014, and Pushcart Prize XXXVI. He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan, a Mombukagakusho Fellow in Japan, a Writing Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and a Paul Engle Fellow at the Iowa Writers Workshop. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop.

Writers are readers—passionate, obsessive, highly analytic readers who delight in taking apart stories to figure out how they work. In this fully online Zoom class, we will hone our critical reading habits together, looking at five short stories in five weeks, one per week. Each class will begin with discussion, then move on to a brief craft talk highlighting the story’s construction. We will end with an in-class writing exercise that we can share with the group—and store away in our notebooks as the seed of a new story.

“Storytelling Lab” is an ongoing series of five-week Zoom classes focused on deepening our understanding of craft through the close reading of great stories. Each class contains new stories and new craft lessons, so students can take “Storytelling Lab” as often as they wish; they will always find fresh insights into the art of fiction, as well as a vibrant community of craft-oriented readers dedicated to “reading like a writer.”

Class Take-Aways

• Critical reading skills
• Insights into story construction, including conflict, scene, exposition, irony, and subtext
• Five short in-class writing exercises that can become the bases of future stories

Syllabus:

May 21: Satire and sincerity—“Bullet in the Brain,” Tobias Wolfe

May 28: Fiction and myth—“A Visit of Charity,” Eudora Welty

June 4: The plotless feeling—“A Manual for Cleaning Women,” Lucia Berlin

June 11: Making observation do the work—“Feathers,” Raymond Carver

June 18: An essay that reads like a short story—“The Fourth State of Matter,” Jo Anne Beard

TESTIMONIALS:

"This course exceeded my expectations. Robert "dripped" the craft-info to us, just enough to get to the next exercise. It never felt "information heavy" to me. He covered everything for me." -Robert B.

"The course was wonderful. The wealth of information and the opportunity to use the exercises to think through my novel was most valuable. What an excellent course all around: the structure, content, and atmosphere." -former student 

"I found Robert's provision of tools, and then the practical application in exercises most valuable.  Robert is one of the best that I have learned from. His tempo and pace throughout the class were great. He listens with a keen ear, and is very approachable and compassionate in his delivery. He also shared a lot of examples of novels for us to read and pick up on ways to deliver story." -Carol R.

"Robert was superb. He created an encouraging atmosphere, a clear step-by-step building of ideas, and helpful exercises. Highly recommend!" -former student

"This class exceeded my expectations. I found the didactic portions were extremely informative and so were the exercises very valuable." -Lisa M.

"Full of richly drawn characters and jolting plot twists—Glasser’s time behind bars is especially chilling—Siegel’s debut novel works both as a parable of how quickly the high and mighty can fall, and as gripping drama. 'Money' well spent." -NEW YORK POST on ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

"Early in this novel, there is a wonderful scene—rich with embarrassment—in which Louis Glasser, the altogether unlikely hero, helps his Harvard-educated son buy a new suit. The son’s fortunes founder, but that’s nothing compared to the perils that overwhelm his father—a lawyer who operates on the margins and becomes the target of a criminal investigation. Siegel’s … portraits (loving and otherwise) of the Glassers, New York prosecutors, and various lowlifes are right on the money." -THE NEW YORKER on ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

"...Well-turned and elegant...Gloriously complex..." -ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION on ALL WILL BE REVEALED

"...A richly detailed and seedily seductive narrative." -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on ALL WILL BE REVEALED

"Robert's unique skill as a teacher comes from his enthusiasm not only for talking, which is present in many talented professors, but for listening... He has a reputation for being the best kind of teacher: generous, knowledgeable, demanding, and always at the ready with excellent advice." -former student

"The level of discourse was challenging and interesting and I think part of the reason for that was the casual atmosphere of discussion, fostered by Robert. When people are allowed to speak in an open, non-threatening environment, wonderful things happen." -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Robert Anthony Siegel
  
• Starts Tuesday, May 21st, 2024 
• The class will meet weekly viz Zoom on Tuesdays from 7:00PM - 9:00PM EST
  

Contact us HERE if you have any questions about this class.

Instructor Robert Anthony Siegel is the author of a memoir, Criminals (Counterpoint,) and two novels. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Paris Review, The Drift, The Oxford American, and Ploughshares, and has been anthologized in Best American Essays 2023, O. Henry Stories 2014, and Pushcart Prize XXXVI. He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan, a Mombukagakusho Fellow in Japan, a Writing Fellow at FAWC in Provincetown, and a Paul Engle Fellow at the Iowa Writers Workshop. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, and a BA from Harvard.