OWLS

This course will focus on an in- depth analysis of short stories. The aim is to equip participants with the tools to analyze these stories, create their own narratives, and refine them. This course is designed to enhance storytelling skills and will cover four distinct sessions on the following topics, including participant discussion.

1. "Where to Start: Beginning Stories" Studies effective story openings, discusses what makes them compelling, and how they foreshadow future developments in the narrative before crafting their own beginnings.

2. Landing the Plane: Ending Stories" emphasizes the importance of strong story endings, analyzes exemplary conclusions to understand how they fulfill narrative expectations, and engages in practical exercises to create resonant endings.

3. "Plotting in the Drafting Stages" explores the role of plot in narratives, covering the relationship between plot and character, and examining how pivotal events shape storytelling through examples from short stories.

4. "Over-Plotting" addresses the pitfalls of excessive plotting in story drafts, examining how overreliance on plot can lead to predictable narratives, and engaging in discussions and exercises to foster innovative, engaging story development.

October 22 and 23

Jerry Gabriel: An Ohio native and graduate from the Ohio State University, Jerry's first novel, Deserters, was published in May 2026. He is the author of two collections of stories. The Let Go (Queen's Ferry Press, 2015 and Drowned Boy (Sarabande, 2010), which won the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction, was a Barnes & Noble "Discover New Writers"pick and was awarded the 2011 Towson Prize for Literature. His stories have appeared in One Story and Epoch Fiction. The Missouri Review and Alaska Quarterly among other publications. He has received numerous grants and fellowships. He lives in Maryland with his family and teaches writing at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Jerry