The Short-Short Story

(EGL 130)

This hands-on course will focus on the short-short story (also referred to as “flash” or “sudden” fiction) that represents a hybrid of short stories and prose poems. Over six weeks, students will create a substantial portfolio of work—generated by spontaneous in-class exercises as well as take-home assignments— that can either stand alone or be used to develop longer works of fiction. We will explore elements of craft as well as utilize prompts, exercises, and other inspirational tools to push students into creative directions they otherwise might not explore.

Alice LaPlante, Former Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer

Alice LaPlante is a writing coach in the Graduate School of Business. She has been teaching in the Stanford Continuing Studies program for fifteen years, and also teaches in the MFA program at San Francisco State. Her fiction has been published in Epoch, Southwestern Review, and other literary journals, and won a Transatlantic Review prize. LaPlante is the author of five books, including the creative writing textbook, Method and Madness: The Making of a Story (W.W. Norton). Her novel, The Wrongs of Those Who Know, will be published by Grove Atlantic in 2010.