Saturday Nov. 2nd, 10 am to 4 pm
$95 members/$110 others San Francisco
Student Testimonials
Want a class to help you delve into the dark side? Here’s a chance to jump into a literary mosh pit of slamming, sweaty fun. No holds barred.
“Nothing is as cathartic as writing about irrational desire, and nothing is as interesting to read about!” says Katia Noyes. “Look at the twisted souls in the books of Mary Gaitskill, Jonathan Franzen, Dostoyevsky. Human beings don’t behave rationally, yet writers often strip their characters of conflicted or dark intent. It’s hard to let one’s pet protagonist do bad things, or meet bad people, yet this is the meat of fiction.”
Students will look to old cartoons, current TV, and the classics for inspiration, noting misbehaving Greek gods, archetypal fairy tales, and nefarious types in favorite fiction, as well as dangerous settings ranging from the truck stops of Katherine Dunn to the choppy seas of Herman Melville. All the while, Katia will help students map out their own characters’ flaws, and provide in-class exercises to make sure anti-heros and conflicted, everyday people come out of the shadows and spit on the page.
“The focus of the class will be on inspiring each student, no matter how new to writing, to unleash her imagination and release the shadow side without judgment,” says Katia. “Catharsis will be the name of the game, and a game it will be; the entire class will be conducted in the spirit of fun and encouragement.”
Katia Noyes danced in companies in New York and San Francisco before becoming a dance critic and then a novelist. She is the author of Crashing America, nominated for four awards, listed on LGBT top ten lists in the UK and US, and currently being adapted for film. Her novel about idealism, art, and war, A Partial History of My Delusions, was recently excerpted in Criminal Class Review, and she has published essays in various anthologies, including For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth about their Bodies, Getting Older, and Acceptance.