A 1-Day Fiction Workshop
Saturday, May 24, 1 - 4 PM
Brian Evenson's approach to horror is singular. Eschewing predominant models of the mind -- because "consciousness is thinner than we like to believe" -- and rejecting realism altogether as a useful literary mode -- because "reality exists but...we perceive it so incompletely as to have only a partial relationship with it" -- Evenson's stories revel in a sensation of wrongness, a compounding dread that he refused to release. How, then, does the man who George Saunders calls the "most intense, prolific, and apocalyptic writer of fiction in America" generate this feeling and leave his devoted readers reeling from these bad bad dreams?
In this class, we'll explore the philosophy that shapes Evenson's horror, as well as Mark Fisher's illuminating conception of the Weird, and excavate Evenson's techniques for producing dread through a close reading of several of his stories. We'll focus on the affective qualities of his work through group discussions and writing experiments that will get you writing in the right mood.
$90 Members/$135 Nonmembers
Ahsan Butt earned his MFA in Fiction at Antioch University of Los Angeles. His short-fiction and essays have appeared in Pleiades, West Branch, Split Lip Magazine, Barrelhouse, The Massachusetts Review, The Normal School, SmokeLong Quarterly, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. He is currently a Senior Editor at South Asian Avant Garde: A Dissident Literary Anthology (SAAG) and writes a newsletter on horror writing. Find him at ahsanb.com.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due by May 14 at 9:00 a.m.
→ MORE INFORMATION
MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION