Writing Contemporary Short Fiction with Siavash Saadlou (Online course)
2026-06-12 18:30 - 2026-07-31 20:30 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
Date and Time: Fridays, June 12–July 31, 6:30–8:30 p.m. ET
This intensive, 8-week online workshop is designed for writers who want to break away from conventional narrative formulas and master the sharp, subtext-driven landscape of contemporary short fiction. Moving past predictable plots, we will analyze the technical mechanics of stories that feel alive, dangerous, and emotionally bruising. To anchor our craft lectures, we will closely study the machinery of some of today’s most acclaimed contemporary voices, reading award-winning work by Jamel Brinkley, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ottessa Moshfegh, Emma Binder, and Amber Caron. Each two-hour session pairs deep-dive structural analysis of these authors’ stories with immediate, high-stakes writing sprints. This is a hands-on workshop. You will draft live, dissect craft machinery, and workshop your own fiction in a rigorous, supportive environment modeled on top-tier MFA programs. By looking closely at how today’s masters engineer desire, proximity, and domestic friction, you will learn to build short fiction that lingers long after the final sentence.
Maximum number of participants: 12
Standard Registration: $295 CAD
QWF Members: $250 CAD
About the instructor:
Siavash Saadlou is a 2026 Rising Star, selected by Writers’ Trust of Canada. His short stories, essays, and works of translation have appeared in Ploughshares, Massachusetts Review, and New England Review, among other journals. He is the winner of numerous literary contests, including the 2025 Conger Beasley Jr. Award for Nonfiction, the 2024 McNally Robinson Booksellers Creative Nonfiction Prize, and the 2023 Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize.
View syllabus.
To register, or if you have questions, email Siavash Saadlou at siavash.saadlou@gmail.com.
