Tuesdays 6-8PM over Zoom, plus 1 additional hour asynchronous instruction per week
9/13, 9/20, 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1 (make-up class, if needed: 11/8)
Applications open August 15th. Apply by August 30th, 11:59pm, using the link below.

In conjunction with the Kelly Writer’s house, this course will be entirely free for writers in these zip codes: 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143, 19151, 19133, 19140, 19142, 19132, 19124. Writers outside these zip codes should apply to a different 8 week class. This course also includes an opportunity for a shared, celebratory reading at Kelly Writer's House alongside fellow writers and teachers following the 8 week sessions.

Regardless of genre, a compelling character is a reader’s primary point of entry. No artform harnesses consciousness with the comprehensiveness fiction offers. Well-crafted characters emit their own gravity, impacting setting, action, and mood. Exploring what makes a persuasive character also invites inquiry into matters of dialogue, point-of-view, and motivation. In unpacking the innerworkings of character, students come to understand the driving element of a narrative’s ecosystem. This course would combine close-reading of notable literary characters from short and long fiction, with written and multimodal exercises in character sketching. Students will also put their characters into action by drafting scenes, passages of interiority, and epistolary prompts.

Ariel Delgado Dixon was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. Her work has appeared in Kenyon Review, O: The Oprah Magazine, The Mississippi Review, and elsewhere. Her first novel, Don't Say We Didn't Warn You, was published in February 2022 by Random House. She lives in Philadelphia.