Subtext and Subversion a prose Intensive with Allison Wyss (via Zoom)

Subtext can be used to subvert oppressive tropes—it can also be used to reinforce them. So when should a writer use subtext? And how do we make sure it’s a force for good? There are no easy answers, but there are some good tools and strategies for thinking through these issues. Through in-depth discussion of sample texts and concrete writing exercises, we’ll look at the ways subtext can subvert. We’ll also talk about what to avoid: the dangers of relying only on subtext, how it is necessarily exclusive, and how it can say things you don’t mean for it to!
Writers will emerge with a better understanding of how subtext operates in fiction, how it can be powerful, and how it can be oppressive. They’ll also emerge with new tools for subverting oppressive tropes and some brand new writing.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom and capped at 12. Link will be sent to email you use to register at the time of registration and again the day before the class. Please make sure to read our course policies page regarding workshop conduct and logistics before registering for any class at HVWC. Scholarship information will be available for this class on July 15^th and applications are due on August 15, 2022.

Allison Wyss’s short story collection, Splendid Anatomies, was published by Veliz Books in 2022. Allison has a thing about body modification, dismemberment and fairy tales. Her stories have recently appeared in Water~Stone Review,Cincinnati Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Moon City Review, Yemassee, Lunch Ticket, Jellyfish Review, and (less recently) elsewhere. Some of her ideas about the craft of fiction can be found in Reading Like a Writer, a monthly column she writes for the Loft Literary Center. With Erin Kate Ryan, she is co-founder of the Minneapolis Storytelling Workshop.