with Tyler Barton

Thursdays, 6-8 PM, October 23 – December 4 (No workshop on 11/28/2025) 

In-Person at Writers & Books
740 University Ave, Rochester NY 14607
Price: Members $320; General Public $360; 1 need-based scholarship available.

Minimum enrollment: 7
Maximum enrollment: 15

An essential element of any story, “setting” grounds the reader in place and time, infuses the narrative with mood, supports or disrupts emotional journeys, and can complicate the plot–even acting as a character itself. This generative workshop will provide prompts, technique, and theory on how to research and write memorable, life-like places in prose—whether a region you’ve never seen, a town you’ve never left, or a time you’ve yet to live. Participants will engage with contemporary fiction and nonfiction by Jess Walter, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mary Ruefle, Kevin Wilson and other authors whose works exemplify how place is more than just a box to check when creating a story: it’s an opportunity to construct deep meaning with unforgettable detail. Over six weeks, participants will benefit from feedback as they develop a story or essay with an impactful, memorable, and specific sense of place. Open to writers of all experience levels. 

Tyler Barton is a literary advocate and the author of Eternal Night at the Nature Museum (Sarabande Books, 2021), a book of short stories, and The Quiet Part Loud: Stories (Split Lip Press). His fiction, poetry, interviews, and criticism have appeared in Electric Literature, The Kenyon Review, Poetry Northwest, FENCE and elsewhere. His work can be found at tsbarton.com.

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