This craft talk will focus on one of the most critical techniques for every creative writer, despite genre: making the reader pay attention! By looking specifically at various ways artists tell their stories, we'll try to increase our awareness of effective ways of gripping the reader, keeping their minds continually active, and compelling them to be an active participant in the art of storytelling. Attendees are encouraged to bring a pen and paper with them.
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh is the author of the story collection, Brief Encounters With the Enemy and the memoir, When Skateboards Will Be Free. His stories and personal essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times, Granta, McSweeney's and Best American Stories. Saïd teaches at Hunter College, Columbia University, and NYU, where he received an outstanding teaching award.
This event is colloquium credit eligible.