Fiction Basics: Setting
Description
Tuesday, October 28th, 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Tuition: $28, Materials: $3
Join published author and writing teacher Brian Malloy for a special class sponsored by the Ely Area Writer's Group!
For this session on setting, keep in mind what Elizabeth Bowen said "Nothing happens nowhere." While many writers shy away from describing their settings, the lack of an atmospheric setting can easily bore and confuse readers. The well-rendered setting can create harmony or conflict, characterize, symbolize, play to or against readers' expectations, and make the familiar unfamiliar or the unfamiliar familiar. We'll review strategies for creating and presenting settings (significant and characterizing details, figurative language) and practice these strategies with writing exercises.
| Instructor Will Provide: |
| Practice exercises, presentation materials |
| Students Will Provide: |
| A writing utensil and notebook paper |
| Skill Level: |
| Beginner-Advanced: all levels welcome |
| Age Suggestion: |
| This class is designed for adult learners, or potentially for motivated and focused youth on a case by case basis. Please reach out to our staff at info@elyfolkschool.org if you're curious about whether this class is a good fit for you or someone in your life! |
About your instructors: Brian Malloy is the author of novels The Year of Ice (St. Martin's Press), Brendan Wolf (St. Martin's Press), After Francesco (Kensington), and the young adult novel Twelve Long Months (Scholastic). His novels have been a 2002 New York Times New and Notable title, an Oprah Daily pick for best of 2022, a 2021 Women's National Book Association Great Group Reads selection, and a 2009 Book Sense Pick. His nonfiction has appeared in Minnesota Monthly, OUT, and the Lambda Award winning anthology, The Man I Might Become: Gay Men Write About Their Fathers (Marlow & Co.). Honors include the Minnesota Book Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award, the Bloomsday Award for Irish American Literature and grants from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, de Groot Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. He has taught/teaches creative writing at Emerson College (Boston), the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), and numerous arts organizations.
Note: Be aware we may cancel class if a minimum number of registrations is not reached. We work to balance teachers’ need to plan for a class with students’ busy schedules — not an easy task. Please register as early as possible!
If interested, you can find our cancellation policy here.