Read Like A Writer

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The 2nd and 4th Monday of each month at 6:30 – 8:00 EST on Zoom.

Writers read to become better writers by teasing out the brilliance in the stories we love. And then trying things out for themselves. Fiction writer Riki Moss brings us short stories from The New Yorker, Granta, The Paris Review, etc.; stories picked for their unique voices, or a stunning first paragraph, exquisite sentences, unexpected endings, the way tension builds in a conventional narrative or circles in fragments: like that. How does the writer pull it off?  Prompts are provided for generative writing, so we hear each other’s voices without judgement. A two month schedule will be posted in advance, the files provided with enough time to read before each workshop. That’s what we ask of you; Read the story, pull it apart, delight in the conversation and write.

To join a session, email [email protected]. We’ll respond with the file and a zoom link. It’s that simple.

Here are the currently scheduled workshops for 2024:

We’ll respond with the file and a zoom link. It’s that simple.

Do you find writing from prompts useful?
Would you like to share your prompts?

Would you like feedback/comments from your peers for other writing?

Workshop participants are invited to post in our google docs.

Email [email protected]

Currently Scheduled Workshops

April 8: James Fenimore Cooper, The Eclipse and Augusto Monterroso, The Eclipse. Here are two timely stories, both called The Eclipse. One of them written by James Fenimore Cooper, the American who wrote the Last  of the Mohicans in 1826, the other one a very short piece by the Honduras-born Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso, who may have written the first flash fiction ever in the 1940’s, a 9 word story called ” El Dinosaurio “ included here in full:
“Cuando desperto, el dinosaurio todavia estaba alli”
“When he woke up, the dinosaur was still there.”

April 22: A.S. Byatt, Crocodile Tears. (English, 1936 – 2023.) This is  a short story from The Books: “Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice. She uses an an intriguing jumping off place: that of a contented couple in an art gallery, and then nails the actual story in an intense twist. It’s about seeing, as well as a story of a woman’s shocking actions. Beautifully written as it opens our minds up to connections.

May 13: Hilary Mantel; The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher. Mantel was a beloved award winning – she got the Man Booker – British author known for her historical novels who died in 2022. This story is a hoot and a revelation, unsparing, told from the POV of a woman living an “ordinary” live who is visited by the assassin, whom she believes is the plumber, and makes him tea as they discuss murdering Thatcher, Ireland and well, ordinary life.

May 27 Paul  La Farge, Another Life. He’s described as an inventive American novelist who died last year at 52. Gary Shteyngart, another contemporary writer we should read, whose family spent the pandemic with him in The Hudson Valley, speaks of him lovingly. In this story, a husband ducks out of a visit to his wife’s father’s birthday party and hits a bar. And the story takes a turn and zips towards an indelible conclusion. It’s written in one long paragraph, but thankfully with punctuation.

Workshop leader Riki Moss