Mastering the Speculative Short Story
The great science fiction writers of the 20th century, from Ray Bradbury to Philip K. Dick, were masters of the short story. In this presentation, we'll focus on the central challenge of the speculative short story: building imaginative, epic worlds in just a couple thousand words. Writers will learn strategies for blending macro ambitions (high-concepts, world-building, magic systems) with micro craft skills (characterization, voice, tension). This course is for anyone interested science fiction, fantasy, or genre-bending short stories.
About the Instructor:
Ruben Reyes Jr. is a graduate of Harvard College where he studied History and Literature and Latinx Studies. His writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, AGNI, BOMB Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, LitHub, and other publications.
His debut story collection, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, was a finalist for The Story Prize, and longlisted for the the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the New American Voices Award. Archive of Unknown Universes is his first novel. Originally from Southern California, he lives in Queens.
