$595
10 Sessions via Zoom
Out of stock
Once a week Tuesdays, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:30 pm EDT October 13 to December 15, 2020
Every story asks a question. Wanting the answer to the question is what motivates writers to write and it is that same wanting that keeps readers reading. By workshopping the opening chapter of our novels-in-progress, we will identify the central question of each story, energizing the author to write in service of their specific quandary and, in turn, sharpening their narrative hook.
Capacity: 14 students
This workshop will take place online via Zoom. Participants will receive instructions for access prior to the first session.
Led by
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Kate Milliken
Kate Milliken
Kate Milliken is the author of the 2013 Iowa Short Fiction Award-winning collection, If I’d Known You Were Coming. A graduate of the Bennington College Writing Seminars, Kate has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, Yaddo, and the Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop. Her debut novel, Kept Animals, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s 2020 First Novel Prize. Kate lives in Northern California with her family.
By Kate Milliken
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Kept Animals
By Kate Milliken
Published by Scribner
It’s 1993, and Rory Ramos works as a ranch hand at the stable her stepfather manages in Topanga Canyon, California, a dry, dusty place reliant on horses and hierarchies. There she rides for the rich clientele, including twins June and Wade Fisk. While Rory draws the interest of out-and-proud June, she’s more intrigued by Vivian Price, the beautiful girl with the movie-star father who lives down the hill. Rory keeps largely separate from the likes of the Prices—but, perched on her bedroom windowsill, Rory steals glimpses of Vivian swimming in her pool nearly every night.
After Rory’s stepfather is involved in a tragic car accident, the lives of Rory, June, and Vivian become inextricably bound together. Rory discovers photography, begins riding more competitively, and grows closer to gorgeous, mercurial Vivian, but despite her newfound sense of self, disaster lurks all around her: in the parched landscape, in her unruly desires, in her stepfather’s wrecked body and guilty conscience.One night, as the relationships among these teenagers come to a head, a forest fire tears through the canyon, and Rory’s life is changed forever.
Kept Animals is narrated by Rory’s daughter, Charlie, in 2015, more than twenty years after that fateful fire. Realizing that the key to her own existence lies in the secret of what really happened that unseasonably warm fall, Charlie is finally ready to ask questions about her mother’s past. But with Rory away on assignment, Charlie knows she must unravel the truth for herself.
About this series
Writing Workshops
We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.