Fiction Writing
Towards Justice
Friday, May 22, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm · Carnegie Learning Centre
We want to write about thematic and social problems that matter to us, but we don’t want our stories to sound didactic and bossy. How do we create fiction that relays a certain message about injustice in our communities, that still feels complexly human and real? This workshop will discuss plot, theme, and understory, and how writers like Billy-Ray Belcourt, Mary South, and Daniel Alarcón create scenes that show, rather than tell readers about justice for their characters and communities.
Facilitator: Leah Bailly
LEAH BAILLY
Leah is a fiction writer, scholar, and facilitator. She has won honours from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Alberta Literary Awards, Summer Literary Seminars, Graywolf Press, The Banff Centre, Breadloaf, MacDowell and Yaddo. Her writing has appeared in journals such as CRAFT, The LA Review of Books, PANK, Joyland, Prism International, The Collagist, Comonaut’s Avenue, subTerrain, Room, and on CBC and NPR Radio. Leah holds a PhD in Creative Writing & Literature from the University of Southern California and also has a BFA from the University of Victoria and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After ten years in the American West, Leah has returned to Vancouver where she teaches literature and creative writing.