Current course offerings

Please Note: Course profiles marked as not available may still be in development.

Course description

The speculative short story is one of the most provocative and intriguing narrative forms available to writers and readers: it hits like a gut punch; it should astonish, mystify, amaze, wound and console¿all in the space of a few pages. In this course, you will develop the skills necessary to write compelling and thought-provoking speculative short stories. Through readings, discussions, and writing exercises, you will explore the various sub-genres of speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and magical realism. Topics covered may include discovering and developing prompts, narrative structure, worldbuilding, and thematic elements. You will also analyze important works of speculative fiction and their publishing contexts to gain a better understanding of the genre's conventions, techniques and markets. By the end of the course, you will have written and received feedback on a speculative short story of your own and prepared it for submission.