Loved for its cartoons and its storied contributors like E. B. White and J. D. Salinger, hated for its often-mocked tone or the thousands of rejection slips it doles out each month, The New Yorker is bound to stir some sort of reaction in the souls of most writers.

Founded in 1925, it is still one of the only high-circulation magazines in America that regularly publishes fiction. The instructor of this one-night workshop spent fifteen years working on the magazine’s staff and kept a notebook of observations and lessons learned on the job. Using these notes, along with excerpts from stories and articles that have appeared in the magazine, the class will examine some of the guideposts of good writing (showing vs. telling, the importance of creating a gripping beginning, knowing your characters; etc.), and through the aid of these examples, as well as the lively class discussion they inspire, students will walk away with greater sense of how to become better, sharper writers.

While the class is primarily geared to exploring the craft of writing—and fiction writing, in particular—there will also be a brief discussion about how magazine editors work and what they look for, as well as list of suggested further reading from The New Yorker.

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Who Should Attend:

Adults, 18 and over
Writers at all levels

About the Instructor: Lauren MacIntyre’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Vogue, Epoch, Shenandoah, and The Southwest Review, among other places. She has won a Henfield Transatlantic Award for her fiction.