Short Story Summer Camp is a six-week exploration of short fiction—as both readers and writers—with author and teacher Jonathan Rogers. Each week we will read one or two short stories from writers including Chinua Achebe, Ray Bradbury, Anton Chekhov, O. Henry, Zora Neale Hurston, James Thurber, Dorothy Sayers, Eudora Welty, Oscar Wilde, and P.G. Wodehouse.
On Tuesdays, Jonathan Rogers will host a live* 90-minute lecture/discussion via Zoom, in which we will examine the particular methods and techniques employed in that week’s stories.
Participants will apply these methods and techniques to their own writing, producing an original short story by the end of the class.
Topics to be covered include (but are not limited to):
*Recordings of the lectures will also be available for learners who can’t attend the live lectures.
Dates:
Tuesdays, June 20 – July 25, 2022 (except for the week of July 4, when class will be moved to Wednesday, July 5)
Times:
Student Cohort: 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Central
Adult Cohort: 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. Central
Cost: $97
Intended Audience:
Adults, High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers
There are two “cohorts” of Short Story Summer Camp–one for adults (college-age and up), and one for high-school and middle-school students.
The two cohorts will attend separate lecture/discussions and participate in separate forums. Adults will be interacting with adults, and students will be interacting with students.
Please register for the appropriate cohort.
REQUIRED TEXT:
online links will be provided
READING:
One or two short stories per week
WRITING:
One 300-500-word writing exercise per week, culminating in a completed short story
WATCHING:
One live 90-minute lecture/discussion via Zoom
ONLINE DISCUSSION:
Throughout the week, learners will discuss the reading, the lectures, and their writing exercises in a dedicated online forum.
The Sacrificial Egg, Chinua Achebe
The Last Night of the World, Ray Bradbury
The Schoolmistress, Anton Chekhov
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Mammon & The Archer, O. Henry
John Redding Goes to Sea, Zora Neale Hurston
The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
The Image in the Mirror, Dorothy Sayers
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber
A Worn Path, Eudora Welty
The Selfish Giant, Oscar Wilde
The Truth About George, P.G. Wodehouse
