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Bending Reality

Transforming Your Ideas into Speculative Fiction

How speculative elements in fiction can strengthen and amplify the story's trajectory

What is speculative fiction and how does it play with realist constructs? What does it mean to incorporate elements of magical realism, horror, weird, or the fantastical into one’s work? Why would one want to?

Increasingly writers are drawn to the concept of speculation and include speculative elements in their short fiction and novels. This workshop explores how you can do the same in both subtle and dramatic ways. We consider how to include speculative elements that strengthen and amplify the story’s trajectory. We’ll concentrate on character, premise and setting. We will draw on models and inspiration from a diverse set of writers including Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Jocelyn Johnson, Walter Mosely, and others. We will write together and see where we can help our work shape-shift.

Michele Tracy Berger is the Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. She has a secondary appointment in the Department of English. She is a leading scholar in applying intersectional approaches to studying areas of inequality. This work spans the fields of public health, political science, sociology and women’s and gender studies. Her short fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Much of her work explores psychological horror, especially through issues of race and gender. Doll Seed, her debut short story collection of speculative fiction, was published in fall 2024 by Aunt Lute Books.