4 sessions, Wednesdays, October 21 to November 11th, 6:30-9pm EST
online, 9 students max
Sliding Scale: $210 to $275, please pay as much as you can afford
If this scale is too great a financial burden, please contact us—we can make it work!
Enroll for this class.
Everyone loses sometimes, but at what point does a character become an undeniable loser?
In this short course and workshop, we’ll explore how to write all varieties of losers, failures, flunk outs, and flops. Students will explore the craft questions behind writing losers, like what qualities are indelible to losers? What can writing losers and flops teach us about agency in fiction and beyond? How can losers enable writers to comment on larger cultural forces, such as economic alienation or the role technology plays in our lives?
We’ll read work by writers who have written some of the key representations of loserdom, including Tony Tulathimutte, Iris Owens, Ottessa Moshfegh, and more. You’ll also be given a syllabus with loser narratives to explore in other mediums, such as cultural criticism on the concept of contemporary loserdom and films to explore. Each student will have the opportunity to workshop at least one piece in a supportive environment. (Note: light reading and responding to work ahead of time will be required.)
The class is open to writers of any experience level with an interest in fiction or prose writing. If you’re looking to delve more deeply into the concept of loserdom, want substantial feedback on your writing, or are looking for new strategies to craft complex, flawed characters, this class is for you.
Enroll for this class.
About the Instructor
Mary Kate McGrath is a writer, educator, and disability advocate based in Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in the Iowa Review, the Indiana Review, Tin House, the Florida Review, and elsewhere. Her short story "Gorgeous Vibrations" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has an MFA in fiction from Boston University, where she was a Leslie Epstein Global Fellow.
Student Testimonials
“Mary Kate is AWESOME! The class was spacious, rich, and well-paced.”
“Mary Kate was an excellent instructor! As many of the other writers in the class also had chronic illnesses/identified as disabled, Mary Kate was always open to accessibility and accommodations for all the writers involved. She championed each of the writers within the workshop space to write their best work, and provided thorough feedback and notes. The readings she picked truly were subversive in nature and the prompts accompanying them gave the class space to sharpen their skills. I would not hesitate to take another class with her!”
“Mary Kate provided amazing opportunities to connect, engage critically with work, write, and receive feedback from other folks sharing chronic illness and disability identities. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to take this class. Highly recommend.”
“Excellent class. It was everything I was looking for! Mary Kate gives such attentive, thoughtful feedback and assigns really interesting readings and prompts. The other students were amazing writers and careful readers. We need more classes like this. It was a great experience for my writing and my existence in the world.”
“Readings added depth and prompts were thought-provoking. I feel like I came out of the class with a draft near ready to submit for publication.”