Flash Fiction: Create a Moment, Create a World with Helen Phillips (Zoom)

How can I evoke a world/situation/character/emotion/idea swiftly and potently? This is a question that fiction writers are always asking, but flash fiction brings particular urgency to it. Participants will examine samples of flash fiction and then experiment with the form themselves. We will consider questions such as: How can a piece achieve arc and resonance in a brief space? How does one attain the precision of language essential to this form? What can this form offer the reader in lieu of the satisfaction of a longer narrative? How can the lessons learned by trying our hands at flash fiction be applied to longer works?

Helen Phillips is the author of six books, including, most recently, the novel Hum, a Slate Top 10 Book of 2024, an Economist Best Book of 2024, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, and the Italo Calvino…