Tuesday, October 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th

5:30PM-7:30PM Phoenix MST
Location: Zoom
 

What to expect at a glance:

• Multiple completed short satirical technique sketches (e.g., character sketches, setting sketches, dialogue-driven scenes)
• Peer and instructor feedback on a story manuscript
• A crowd-sourced list of suggestions for further reading and exploration

Course Description:

In this workshop, we'll explore (and join) the rich tradition of writing satire as a gesture, not only of criticism, but of optimism! Through humor, keen observation, and nuanced storytelling, we will create satirical pieces (fiction or essay) that depict the world we want. In each meeting we'll closely analyze examples of the genre, and then we'll get to writing. Trying out techniques such as exaggeration, juxtaposition, irony, incongruity, and reversal, we'll determine how we can deploy them to speak truth to power, comment on social issues, illuminate the absurd (and the sublime) aspects of human nature, and maybe even change hearts and minds! By the end of the workshop, you'll leave with multiple short pieces of writing, affirming workshop feedback on a longer draft in progress*, a crowd-sourced list of recommendations for further reading or exploration, and ideas for places to share your satire once it's polished.

*If you so choose to offer a piece for workshop— you'll never be compelled to share against your will! 

About the instructor:

Andrea Avery is the author of Sonata: A Memoir of Pain and the Piano (Pegasus Books). Her short work has appeared in Ploughshares, Barrelhouse, CRAFT Literary, The Oxford American, Real Simple, and Erase the Patriarchy: An Anthology of Erasure Poetry (University of Hell Press) among other places. Her novella, Visiting Composer, will be published in 2025 as the winner of the Miami University Press Novella Contest. She holds a BA in music, an MFA in creative writing, and an Ed.D, all from Arizona State University.