by Writing Workshops Staff
34 minutes ago
Elise LeSage wants to know whether you would still be you in the body of a cat. Thomas Nagel, the philosopher whose famous essay opens her reading list, says no. LeSage is less convinced, and that flicker of doubt is the engine driving Dogs, Gods, Ghosts, and More: Writing the Non-Human Narrator, the three-week fiction workshop she teaches this November at WritingWorkshops.com, the official education partner of Electric Literature.
LeSage is a fiction writer and educator based in North Carolina, where she earned her MFA from UNC Greensboro. She is an alum of the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Kenyon Summer Workshop, and Clarion UCSD. Her fiction has appeared in EPOCH, Hypertext Magazine, Flash Frog, and PseudoPod; her craft essays have run in The Writers' Chronicle and Author's Publish Magazine. Her taste, she says, runs to weird fiction with tons of heart. Alien hive minds. Bigfoot love triangles. Splintered, overlapping timelines.
Across three Saturdays, students move through sensory experience, inhuman language, and non-human morality, reading Nagel alongside George Saunders, Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, Joy Deva Baglio, and Chris Adrian. You will leave with a portfolio of generative material, a polished scene or story opening of up to 2,000 words, and one-on-one feedback from Elise in a live meeting at the close of the workshop. You will also pick up something less expected: a working vocabulary for how a creature that is not you might taste, want, and speak.
Here is our Meet the Teaching Artist Interview with Elise:
Writing Workshops: Hi, Elise. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Elise LeSage: I'm a writer, university educator, and book marketing specialist based in North Carolina—and yes, I do wear too many hats! I love reading and writing weird fiction with tons of heart. The weirder, the better. Give me your alien hive minds, your bigfoot love triangles, and your splintered, overlapping timelines.
When I'm not engaged in writing-related stuff, you'll probably find me singing karaoke or putting together fabulous outfits. (Not to brag about that last part—I am told I'm something of a snappy dresser!)
Writing Workshops: What's the thing you wish someone had taught you earlier in your writing life, and how does this class address that?
Elise LeSage: In my early years, I had it in my head that my writing had to be a secret passion. I was embarrassed to call myself a writer—much less show my work to others.
Now, I understand that, while drafting is usually a solo-practice, being a career writer is a team sport. You have to be brave and put yourself out there. Seek feedback from other writers. Build community. Folk folks with whom you can share losses and wins, people who will push and nurture your craft.
When I receive student feedback, the notes that make me the proudest are ones that say "I made friends in your class." If I have a teaching superpower, I hope it's this. I want my classroom to be a catalyst for new communities.
"When I receive student feedback, the notes that make me the proudest are ones that say 'I made friends in your class.' If I have a teaching superpower, I hope it's this. I want my classroom to be a catalyst for new communities."
Writing Workshops: If a student walks away from this class with one skill or shift in their writing they didn't have before, what is it?
Elise LeSage: Students will learn how to step outside of themselves to write immersive, compelling characters.
Writing Workshops: What's the last sentence you read that made you stop and reread it? Type it out for us.
Elise LeSage: Okay, this one is kind of embarrassing. A line I've been loving lately is the Jerskin Fendrix lyric: "If only the girls in here could hear me play piano."
The song the line is from—"Oh God"—details a party. The speaker feels lonely and out of his element, especially in the socialization department. Like Jerskin, I feel most like myself when I'm making art. For me, it's fiction; for him, it's music ("piano"). The most charming, most authentic Elise LeSage isn't the girl you'll meet at a party; she's the one you'll encounter in the pages of a literary journal.
I think a lot about the different, often discordant selves we carry in our human bodies. Part of what inspired "Writing Non-Human Narrators" is my fascination with how the self can be applied across non-embodies contexts, e.g. through video games and online chat. I wonder too what the self would look like across radically different embodied forms. Would I still be me in the body of a cat? Our course's first author, Thomas Nagel, says no—but I'll leave it there. If you're interested in this train of thought, sign up for the class!
Writing Workshops: Describe a moment in a workshop, one you were teaching or one you took as a student, where something clicked for someone. What happened?
Elise LeSage: One of my most valuable, hard-earned lessons was "Don't lose the forest for the trees." I remember sitting in an MFA workshop, chatting through a peer's story. She had this absolutely gorgeous scene about a cabin burning down. The language was lush; the imagery was stunning. But, through our workshop discussion, it became clear the scene wasn't serving the story's emotional arc. The narrative would be tighter—and the ending would stick—if the cabin didn't burn down.
I realized I had been in this author's shoes before. I had scenes and characters that were really strong, but ultimately weren't serving the story. It's tough to kill your darlings—especially when they're so well-crafted—but it has to be done.
Nowadays, my first drafts tend to be a little messier. I focus less on language and more on things like stakes and narrative efficiency. You never know what you'll end up cutting until you get feedback, so why bog yourself down in finding the perfect turn of phrase?
Writing Workshops: What's a craft move you're slightly obsessed with right now? Not a big concept, a small, specific technique.
Elise LeSage: Lately, I've been really into character voice, especially in projects that use more than one POV. I'm impressed by authors who manage to make their characters sound distinct. I have been playing around with how voice functions on a word choice level. Character A might say "shut," where B says "closed." A says "angry" where B would say "peeved."
Of course, sentence structure and interiority come into play too. However, I've found that small, consistent word-level choices really add up in making characters feel distinct.
Spend three Saturdays building voices that could not possibly belong to anyone but the creature speaking. Classes begin November 7 and enrollment is open now.
Enroll in Writing the Non-Human Narrator →Writing Workshops: What's a book you press into people's hands that has nothing to do with writing craft?
Elise LeSage: Visual dictionaries. I have one for architecture and one for the history of western fashion. It's super helpful to flip through the pages, find the picture of the thing I'm trying to describe, and learn the real name. (For example, did you know the stepped platforms in throne rooms are called "daises"?)
Writing Workshops: What's the worst writing advice that sounds smart?
Elise LeSage: "Avoid cliches." In finished stories, sure, but in the first draft? Go wild. Let rumors spread like wildfire; let your characters release breaths they didn't know they were holding. Polished turns of phrase can come later. In draft one, just get the feeling down.
"In finished stories, sure, but in the first draft? Go wild. Let rumors spread like wildfire; let your characters release breaths they didn't know they were holding."
Writing Workshops: Finish this sentence: "Most writing classes won't tell you this, but..."
Elise LeSage: Correctly formatting your story can make or break your chances of publication.
Writing Workshops: Who was your first literary crush?
Elise LeSage: Rodion Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment. I read it in 10th grade. I found it sexy that he was always fainting.
Writing Workshops: What's your teaching vibe, in one sentence, not a paragraph?
Elise LeSage: When you're in my class, I hope writing will feel as joyful as play.
Writing Workshops: What would your students be surprised to learn about you?
Elise LeSage: I have terrible handwriting. Thank Heavens my feedback will be typed!
Play is the operative word. LeSage builds her classroom around low-stakes exercises, brainstorms, and voice experiments, on the theory that you find a strange narrator by wandering toward it rather than aiming. Three Saturdays in November: a reading list that runs from a philosopher's bat to a Saunders fox, a polished scene of your own, and a live one-on-one session where Elise reads your pages closely. Bring the alien hive mind you have been afraid to attempt. This is the room for it.
Three Saturdays on Zoom with Elise LeSage, beginning November 7, 2026. Open to all levels, and built for writers who like to take risks on the page.
Save Your Seat in Writing the Non-Human Narrator →WritingWorkshops.com is an independent, artist-run creative writing school and the official education partner of Electric Literature. Since 2016, we've helped writers strengthen their voice, develop a greater understanding of craft, and forge a path to publication.
