Writing the Contemporary Gothic

Gothic fiction never disappeared—it traded castles and candlelight for suburbs, campuses and inherited homes. In this three-session generative workshop, we’ll explore how contemporary writers reinvent Gothic traditions through atmosphere, haunting, psychology and place. Readings will include work by Mariana Enriquez, Toni Morrison, Leslie Marmon Silko, Kelly Link, and Mona Awad, among others. We’ll start with an introduction to the genre and its history, spend some time with the haunted house subgenre, then focus on the “regional Gothic” (with a special look at New England as a Gothic site). Through discussion and creative prompts, participants will learn techniques for building dread, crafting charged settings, layering the past into the present and transforming ordinary places into sites of unease, then apply them to their own works-in-progress.

Open to fiction writers of all levels. This is a 3-week workshop, with a 2-hour session each week. Please prepare for approximately 2 hours of work between sessions.

This 3-week workshop meets on Saturdays from 2-4pm at LitArts RI on the following dates:

Sat, Sept 19
Sat, Sept 26
Sat, Oct 3

About Your Teaching Artist

JD Scott (they/them) is the author of the story collection Moonflower, Nightshade, All the Hours of the Day (&NOW Books, 2020) and the poetry collection Mask for Mask (New Rivers Press, 2021). Scott’s writing has appeared in Best Experimental Writing, Best New Poets, Denver Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Indiana Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and elsewhere.