Exploring Speculative Fiction

Speculative fiction encompasses a wide range of writing styles and subjects, with one common feature: a focus on experiences that diverge from reality. This genre includes science fiction, fantasy, surrealism, magic realism, alternate histories, futurism, and more. In this course you’ll have the chance to “sample” three types of speculative fiction through both discussion and writing. We’ll explore re-tellings of fairy tales and legends, science fiction, and surrealism. In each case, we’ll look at examples, talk about common approaches to writing this type of fiction, and cover some practical craft advice for doing so successfully. Each section will end with a writing exercise that will help you imagine (and begin writing) your own speculative fiction story. You’ll end the day with three story ideas that can be expanded to full stories on your own time, and with guidelines and a conceptual framework to create more stories in the future.

This class is suitable for beginning writers, as well as more experienced writers who want to try a new genre or sharpen their skills in speculative fiction. No advance reading is necessary. Prior experience with fiction or fiction workshops is a bonus, but not a requirement.

Here's a "syllabus" of books Anjali will be visiting during this course and recommends reading if you'd like to learn more. No need to read or purchase these before the course.

This event will take place on Zoom. The link will be provided via email the day of the event. Registration ends at 12pm EDT on 8/15. Our minimum enrollment is 5 and our maximum is 15. We'll notify registrants 24 hours before the workshop if we do not meet the minimum and have to postpone or cancel, in which case we'll refund registrations.

There will be a limited number of scholarships available for folks experiencing financial hardship at the moment or who otherwise find the fee to be a burden; please email events@whitewhalebookstore.com for more information.

About the author:

Anjali Sachdeva’s speculative fiction collection, All the Names They Used for God, was named a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, longlisted for the Story Prize, and chosen as the winner of the 2019 Chautauqua Prize. Her fiction has been published in McSweeney’s Quarterly, The Fairy Tale Review, Vogue India, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading, among others. Sachdeva is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has taught writing at the University of Iowa, Augustana College, and Carnegie Mellon University. She currently teaches at the University of Pittsburgh and in the low-residency MFA program at Randolph College, and will be an instructor at the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop in 2021. (Photo credit for Anjali's author photo: Thurner Photography)