Short-Form Fiction & NonFiction: A Hands-on Seminar, Guest Instructor: Chrissy Kolaya

 The Johann Fust Library Foundation is honored to present author and professor Chrissy Kolaya, who will teach a hands-on seminar in short-form fiction and nonfiction. Over two and a half days, students will read examples of the form and use prompts to get started on writing their own short-form work and explore what they can learn through the practice and study of short stories, flash fiction, and brief memoir.

Brevity, concentration, restraint, striking imagery, economy of language, playfulness, and experimentation are all hallmarks of the form. Because of that, the practice of reading and writing short-form fiction and nonfiction can help hone and develop craft techniques not only for the short form but for longer pieces of creative work, as well.

Your Instructor:

Chrissy Kolaya teaches in the MFA program at the University of Central Florida. She has designed and taught graduate and undergraduate courses on contemporary fiction, the history of prose style, editing for creative writers, and a range of other topics. 

Chrissy’s own short-form writing has appeared in New Sudden Fiction (Norton), Crazyhorse, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. She is the author of a novel: Charmed Particles, and two books of poetry, Any Anxious Body and Other Possible Lives.

 Chrissy is passionate about collaboration and has worked with filmmakers and composers on adaptations of her work. Her work has been supported by grants, fellowships, and awards from the Fiction Meets Science Program at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany, the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Loft Literary Center, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Lake Region Arts Council, and the University of Minnesota.

Class size is limited, and registration is required. To register for this two-and-a-half-day seminar, visit JFLFBG.org or call (941) 964-0211. The seminar begins on Friday, April 5, and continues through Sunday, April 7, 2024.