Workshop: How to Write an Award Winning Novel with Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Workshop: How to Write an Award Winning Novel with Maurice Carlos Ruffin
1 Session: Monday, August 10
6:00-8:00pm ET
Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Maurice Carlos Ruffin, who was recently honored with a Guggenheim Award, is a Professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University and an instructor at Randolph College Low-Res MFA program. He is the author of three New York Times Editor's Choice books, including the novels The American Daughters (One World, 2024) and We Cast a Shadow (One World, 2019) and the story collection The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You (One World, 2021) .
Writing a novel requires a mixture of earnest creativity and steely-eyed determination. In this generative session, aspiring novelists are encouraged to bring their drafts or start new drafts. We will focus on techniques for discovering unforgettable characters, building irresistible plots, and undeniable themes. In-class assignments will include drafting material without concern for perfection or propriety. This is your chance to create work that you will be proud of and readers will love.
Workshop Highlights:
Generative workshop for aspiring novelists.
Craft advice on characters, plotting and theme.
Polishing a manuscript.
This class has 1 scholarship available. To apply, please fill out this form by Friday, July 31.
Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s most recent book is The American Daughters (One World, 2024), which Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called "a vibrant picture of antebellum New Orleans." He is also the author of the story collection The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You (One World, 2021), which was a New York Times Editors' Choice, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and longlisted for the Story Prize. His first book, We Cast a Shadow (One World, 2019), was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize. It was a New York Times Editors' Choice and was longlisted for the 2021 DUBLIN Literary Award, the Center for Fiction Prize, and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. Ruffin is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Iowa Review Award in fiction and the William Faulkner–William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Award for Novel-in-Progress. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Oxford American, Garden & Gun, Kenyon Review, and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America.
