This is a free demonstration open to all who are interested in learning about Writers Studio classes. It takes place online on Wednesday, April 3rd at 6:30 PM Tucson time. Please email to pivory@writerstudio.com if interested and we’ll send a link to join the class.
Literary Fiction
All posts in the Literary Fiction category
October Class: Online Writing About Childhood
Published September 23, 2023 by Philip IvoryStarting Saturday October 7th, I’ll be teaching another session of my special six-week class Online Writing About Childhood through The Writers Studio.
Your personal memories of growing up can be a treasure trove of ideas for stories and poems and memoir pieces. This class will show you techniques to manage your personal material and bring it to life.
In this class, we examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose such as Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and Ray Bradbury. How did they use imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain?
Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.
For more information, CLICK HERE. Hope to see you in class!
THIS SUNDAY: Free Online Writers Studio Reading
Published April 22, 2023 by Philip IvoryJoin the Writers Studio Reading Series on Sunday, April 23 at 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT for a reading of original work from our faculty.
During this virtual reading, teachers from our New York City, Tucson, San Francisco, and Rome branches will share their poetry and fiction.
I’m excited to be representing Tucson with a new piece, reading alongside talented colleagues including Lorraine L. Babb, Lisa Bass, Stas Gawronski, Kathie Jacobson, and Sally McElwain.
The reading is free. CLICK HERE to register in advance. We hope to see you there.
APRIL CLASS: Online Writing About Childhood
Published April 9, 2023 by Philip IvoryStarting Saturday April 29, I’ll be teaching another session of my special six-week class Online Writing About Childhood through The Writers Studio.
Your personal memories of growing up can be a treasure trove of ideas for stories and poems and memoir pieces. This class will show you techniques to manage your personal material and bring it to life. (NOTE: For those who have already taken this class, I’m working on creating a “sequel” class with all new exercises that I hope will be ready by summer.)
In this class, we examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose such as Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and Ray Bradbury. How did they use imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain?
Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.
For more information, CLICK HERE. Hope to see you in class!
UPCOMING CLASS: Online Writing About Childhood
Published January 3, 2023 by Philip IvoryStarting January 28, I’ll be teaching a new session of my six-week class, Online Writing About Childhood.
CLICK HERE to register.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Childhood from the perspective of an adult writer can seem like “another country,” a strange land where our powers, responsibilities and perceptions were vastly different. And yet it is the place we all come from. And while the lens through which we viewed the world as children may have seemed innocent and magical, our sensibilities were always vulnerable to the hard truths of encroaching adulthood.
In this class, we will examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose such as Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and Ray Bradbury. How did they use imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain? Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.
This class is open to all writers of poetry and prose, including new and returning Writers Studio students. Each week, students write a two-page exercise based on the week’s model. Then, during a two-hour, live Google Meet session, students present their work and receive feedback from their fellow classmates and from the teacher. The last fifteen minutes of the class are spent reading and discussing the following week’s model, using the Writers Studio method of analyzing persona and narrative technique. The Google Meet sessions are not recorded.
Sign up soon before the class fills up.
THE SWAMP RAT: New fiction published
Published November 19, 2021 by Philip Ivory“Man towers above the rest of creation so long as he realizes his own nature, and when he forgets it, he sinks lower than the beasts.”
— Boethius
It’s been a while since I had any short fiction published, since I’ve been devoting myself to finishing a novel. But here’s a story I wrote about three years ago which has finally found a home. It’s called The Swamp Rat.
The story arose from a flash fiction contest I participated in through NYC Midnight in 2018. While the story didn’t win, I thought it was worth developing, and expanded it from 1000 words to a fully-fleshed 7000 word story.
It’s set in Paris during the 1930s, and is a bit of homage to the style of early spy/mystery stories by such writers as W. Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene.
I’m excited that the story has found a home at The Chamber, an online journal of dark fiction. My thanks to the publishers.
READ IT HERE. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying the whole issue.
My thanks also to friends who helped me in the development of this story, including Reneé Bibby, Alice Hatcher, Frances Lynch and my fellow students in the Tucson Writers Studio Master Class, who gave me excellent feedback.
I hope you’ll let me know what you thought of the story by leaving a comment, either here or on The Chamber site. Thanks!
Audio Story: Miss Brompton Falls 1938
Published November 2, 2019 by Philip Ivory
A small town beauty pageant, a general store and a simmering potential for violence are the ingredients of my story, “Miss Brompton Falls 1938,” published a while back at Menacing Hedge.
Please feel free to check out the AUDIO VERSION, read by yours truly. Any comments are welcome. Thanks!
Good Egg Indeed
Published October 22, 2019 by Philip IvoryBecause things are absurd, it’s good to relish an absurd passage from P.G. Wodehouse, from the story Jeeves in the Springtime:
“But I am thankful to say the worst has not happened. The matter has been adjusted. Jane is not leaving me.”
“Good egg!”
“Good egg, indeed—though the expression is not familiar to me.”
UNREAL event at Antigone: Thanks for Support
Published October 21, 2019 by Philip IvoryThanks to our students and friends who came out to support our special event last Friday, Oct. 18!
Our teachers at The Writers Studio Tucson had a chance to read from their creative work at a public reading held at Antigone Books on Fourth Avenue here in Tucson.
It was called UNREAL, and gave our teachers, Lela Scott MacNeil, Richard Leis, Donna Aversa, Reneé Bibby and myself a chance to read selections of poetry and prose that focus on the unusual, the dark, and the unreal.
This was the program:
Lela Scott MacNeil / reading novel excerpt, Long Night’s Journey Into Day
Phil Ivory / reading flash fiction, Probably Last Meeting of Bluebell Ridge II Homeowners Association
Richard Leis / reading poems, [Aliens are here], Phantom Taste of Apricot on My Tongue, Cities Through Telescopes, City as Fairy Tale, and Burning Baby
Donna Aversa / reading flash fiction, A Little Bit Of Sausage
Reneé Bibby / reading short story excerpt, That Boy
We had a great turnout who came to hear our work and browse at Tucson’s most celebrated independent bookstore.
Many thanks to Antigone Books for being such a gracious and enthusiastic host, and making us and our guests feel at home. We’re looking forward to more events like it.
UNREAL: Writers Studio Teachers Read Their Work
Published October 4, 2019 by Philip IvoryJoin us on Oct. 18 for a public reading event, cohosted by Antigone Books and The Writers Studio. Teachers from the Tucson branch of The Writers Studio — Lela Scott MacNeil, Richard Leis, Donna Aversa, Reneé Bibby and myself — will read selections of poetry and prose that focus on the unusual, the dark, and the unreal.
WHERE: Antigone Books, 411 N 4th Ave, Tucson, Arizona 85705
WHEN: October 18, 2019 at 6:00 PM
No RSVP or admission fee is required.
At The Writers Studio Tucson, we pride ourselves on being active participants in Tucson’s thriving literary community. Please join us, and patronize Antigone Books, one of the finest independent bookstores in the country. Visit their web site and sign up for their newsletter.
The Writers Studio, founded by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Schultz in 1987, offers writing workshops designed to help students discover and nurture their own voices. The Writers Studio Tucson offers four levels of classes to help students achieve their writing goals.
For more information on The Writers Studio, click here.
When Reality Doesn’t Cut It, UNREAL Is Our Best Friend!
See you on Oct. 18!