Grant Faulkner / Larry Smith / Nancy Stohlman
Arts of Brevity
Saturday 05.20.2023 // 4-8pm
Clio’s
353 Grand Avenue, Oakland
(Seating is limited —> reserve below!)
CLICK HERE to reserve your spot!
A novel can be written on a postcard. A story needs only six words for the telling. (“For Sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”) Please join three contemporary masters in the arts of brevity at Clio’s to experience the joys and challenges of writing short. In a tradition that has roots in ancient aphorisms and parables, Grant, Larry, and Nancy create flash fiction, super-short stories, and 100-word novels. Over the course of their evening at Clio’s, they will discuss the why, how, and where of the short short and guide us through some brief exercises with pen and paper to produce our own six word stories—which Clio’s will proudly archive and display! Bring the kids! This will be fun.
Our guests numerous books will be available for purchase.
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About our guests:Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. His most recent book is The Art of Brevity;he has also published Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories; All the Comfort Sin Can Provide; and Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo. His stories have appeared in Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton’s New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, Flash Fiction America, and Best Small Fictions. His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, LitHub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer.
Nancy Stohlman is the author of six books, including After the Rapture (2023), Madam Velvet’s Cabaret of Oddities (2018), The Vixen Scream and Other Bible Stories (2014), The Monster Opera (2013), Searching for Suzi: a flash novel (2009), and Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction (2020), winner of the 2021 Reader Views Gold Award and re-released in 2022 as an audiobook. Her work has been anthologized widely, appearing in the Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and The Best Small Fictions 2019, as well as adapted for both stage and screen. She teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder and holds workshops and retreats around the world.
Described by Oprah Magazine as “on a quest to spark self-expression in everyone,” Larry Smith is the founder of the Six-Word Memoir project, a bestselling series of ten books, a board game, and a live-event program found in classrooms, conferences, festivals, company retreats, and almost anywhere people gather. He is the editor of The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous and Obscure, co-author of The Joy of Cannabis, and director of the play A Map of Myself: A 70-Minute, One-Woman Revolution on War, Immigration, and Home.
Nancy Stohlman 