Electric Literature is accepting applications for its first-ever writing workshop, led by Executive Director and Founding Editor of Recommended Reading Halimah Marcus.

This intimate six-week workshop will be held from 6 – 8 PM on Tuesdays beginning November 12 through December 17, 2024 in Kingston, NY. The cohort is limited to 12 participants, with two writers workshopped per class (each student will be workshopped once). The class will also discuss a selection of iconic and influential short stories, as time allows.

SCHEDULE 

Tuesdays, 6 – 8 PM, November 12 to December 17, 2024*

* The group will have the option to change the class time to 5:30 – 7:30 PM, by consensus

LOCATION

Barnfox, 291 Wall Street, Kingston, NY

Street parking is available and free after 5 PM. There are also two lots on Front Street, which are also free after 5 PM.

TUITION

$625 

Electric Literature members receive a 5% discount. 

The maximum enrollment is 12 people, and the minimum enrollment for the workshop to take place is 10 people. Accepted students will be invoiced after the minimum enrollment is met. Tuition is non-refundable.

ATTENDANCE

Students are required to attend a minimum of five workshops in Kingston, NY. Virtual attendance is not permitted.

APPLICATION DEADLINE AND INSTRUCTIONS

To apply, submit the following via Submittable:

1. The piece you intend to workshop. Fiction or nonfiction; up to 6,000 words; double spaced; 12-pt Times New Roman font. Don’t forget page numbers.
2. A one-page CV. Please make sure to include previous workshop, residency, and conference experience.
3. One paragraph introducing yourself and outlining your writing goals.  
4. One professional reference from the writing world. Former instructors, fellow students, or editors may serve as references. If you do not have previous publication or workshop experience, please submit a reference who can assure us that you will be a respectful and supportive classmate. 

There is no application fee. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until September 30, 2024 at 11:59 PM PST, and applicants will be notified by November 1, 2024.

QUALIFICATIONS

This workshop is designed to accommodate writers over 21 years of age of various experience levels, who want constructive feedback on a specific piece of work, aim to improve their writing skills, and want to find a local writing community. There are no educational, publication, or experiential requirements. Writers will be selected based on the quality of their writing samples and the degree to which their work demonstrates an understanding of craft concepts such as perspective, voice, narrative structure, scene, and dialogue. However, there is no such thing as “mastering” even the basics. Every writer has something to learn, and the workshop will use published as well as student work to explore the building blocks of effective writing.

PEDAGOGY

As an author with 12 years of experience leading one of the country’s most prestigious literary magazines, Halimah Marcus has worked on both sides of the desk: as an editor and gatekeeper, and as a writer awaiting an acceptance, or just a bit of encouragement. She brings a unique dual perspective to the workshop environment, encouraging students to develop and harmonize the two beasts within them: the writer and the editor.

Part of becoming a better writer is developing editorial acumen; if you are able to strategically, precisely, and empathetically edit others’ work, you will be better positioned to edit yourself. Writing is a solitary, sometimes isolating activity, but editing is collaborative. During critiques, students will be asked to provide feedback intended to help the author realize their vision for the story—not to share how they would have written the story themselves. The goal is to channel the author—like a ventriloquist or a medium—rather than change them. During workshops, authors will introduce their submission and will be encouraged to ask questions throughout. Authors will be discouraged from explaining their work once the critique begins, but they will be free to correct misunderstandings that might lead to unproductive lines of discussion. There will also be time allocated for brainstorming, as generating new ideas is an important part of the revision process.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Halimah Marcus has been a fiction editor since 2012, when she co-founded Electric Literature’s weekly fiction series, Recommended Reading. Over the last decade, she has edited hundreds of writers, including AM Homes, Weike Wang, Sheila Heti, Helen DeWitt, James Hannaham, Laura Van Berg, Jim Shepard, Charles Yu, Etgar Keret, Ben Marcus, Nathan Harris, Clare Sestanovich, Emma Eisenberg, and Catherine Lacey, as well as many other established and emerging writers. Stories she has edited have gone on to be included in Best American Short Stories, Best American Mysteries and Suspense, Best Australian Stories, the O. Henry Prize Anthology, and the Pushcart Prize Anthology. 

Halimah is also the editor of Horse Girls (Harper Perennial, 2021), an essay anthology that reclaims and recasts the horse girl stereotype, which was a New York Times “New and Noteworthy” pick, featuring T Kira Madden, Jane Smiley, Courtney Maum, Maggie Shipstead, and Carmen Maria Machado. Her own writing has been supported by Yaddo, and her short stories have appeared in Indiana Review, Gulf Coast, One Story, BOMB, The Literary Review, and elsewhere. Andrew Sean Greer selected her short story, “The Party Goers,” from the The Southampton Review as a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2022. Halimah has an MFA from Brooklyn College, and lives in Kingston, New York.

Calling all readers! Electric Literature is always accepting applications for volunteer readers to join our editorial team in one of three capacities: 

1. Recommended Reading, EL’s weekly fiction magazine, publishes one story a week: a mix of original work, forgotten classics, and forthcoming excerpts, each with a personal foreword by today’s best writers. Readers must commit to reading ten stories per week, ranging in length from 2,000 to 8,000 words.
2. The Commuter, EL’s weekly magazine of flash fiction, poetry, and graphic narratives, publishes one piece of original work per week, as well as occasional forthcoming excerpts. Readers must commit to reading ten pieces of flash prose or poetry per week.
3. EL publishes Personal Narrative essays weekly on wide-ranging topics that center narrative and consider what it means to essay as a verb; in other words, what it means to use prose to interrogate, investigate, adventure, and introspect. Readers must commit to reading ten essays per week, running in length from 2,000 to 6,500 words. Personal Narrative is actively seeking readers through 8/30 for our upcoming reading cycle, beginning this September. Applications received after 8/30 will be considered for future cycles.

Electric Literature receives a large volume of submissions in all categories, and a committed corps of volunteer readers is essential to helping the editors find new, unknown, and/or overlooked talent.

All reader positions are volunteer and require a commitment to complete reading assignments on a weekly basis for approximately six months. Readers will work remotely and on their own schedules (as long as they meet the weekly deadline). Current readers are not allowed to submit their own work for consideration in the category they are reading in.

Responsibilities include:

• Reading ten pieces per week, ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 words for Recommended Reading and 2,000 to 6,500 words for personal narrative. Submissions for The Commuter vary in length, but a poetry submission typically contains three poems or two to three pieces of flash fiction.
• Providing concise but thorough responses (one to two paragraphs) for each submission, with a clear YES or NO recommendation for each.
• Meeting weekly reading deadlines, and clearly communicating with editorial staff when scheduling conflicts arise.

The ideal applicant is:

• An avid and attentive reader
• A proactive and responsive communicator
• Self-motivated and able to meet deadlines
• Able to express themself clearly in writing
• A regular reader of the category who is familiar with its back catalogue
• An educational background in literature and/or professional experience in literary criticism, editing, and creative writing is a plus, but not required
• An active participant in their local literary scene, and an avid reader of contemporary writing

This is a volunteer position that requires a commitment of approximately six hours a week for six months, with an opportunity to renew. Readers will work remotely and on their own schedules (as long as they meet the weekly deadline). 

Current readers are not allowed to submit their own work for consideration in the category they are reading in. Discussion of submissions outside Electric Literature is strictly prohibited, and will result in immediate termination. 

For a sense of the kind of submissions you’ll be reading, visit our website and take a look at literary magazines and essays.

If you are interested in reading for Recommended Reading, please submit your resume and a two-paragraph response/critique of a story published in Recommended Reading. If your resume is selected, the application process will also include a reading test.

If you are interested in reading for The Commuter, please submit your resume and a one-paragraph response/critique of a piece of flash fiction or poetry published in The Commuter. 

If you are interested in reading personal narrative essays, please submit your resume and a two-paragraph response/critique of an essay published in our Personal Narrative vertical. If your resume is selected, the application process will also include a reading test.

Applications will be accepted year-round, and we will review and take on new readers as needed.