A LIttle Lighting: Writing Flash Nonfiction
Led by Marin Sardy
In this generative writing course, we’ll delve into the pleasure and potency of flash nonfiction. Defined as stand-alone nonfiction prose of less than 1000 words, flash nonfiction is an emerging form that seeks to capture life’s richness in a small space. It aligns in some ways with flash fiction and prose poetry, but it is also very much its own thing. We’ll discover what that means and where it can take us.
Our focus will be the creation of new work. We’ll try new approaches and take creative risks, and perhaps even catch a little lighting—the spark that ignites a great flash piece. Through short readings, discussions, and writing exercises, we’ll examine and practice essential elements of flash nonfiction. In group sharing, we’ll identify specific choices and notice what shines. Our goal for the week will be to produce fresh drafts of short, vivid flashes that can later be revised and polished. But our deeper purpose will be to play and experiment, discovering the possibilities of this exciting form.
Our focus will be the creation of new work. We’ll try new approaches and take creative risks, and perhaps even catch a little lighting—the spark that ignites a great flash piece. Through short readings, discussions, and writing exercises, we’ll examine and practice essential elements of flash nonfiction. In group sharing, we’ll identify specific choices and notice what shines. Our goal for the week will be to produce fresh drafts of short, vivid flashes that can later be revised and polished. But our deeper purpose will be to play and experiment, discovering the possibilities of this exciting form.
Program Details
Start Date:
End Date:
Categories:
Ghost Ranch Program
Writing Literature Journaling
Date & Time Details:
3:00 pm Check in
10:00 am Check out
10:00 am Check out
Location:
Ghost Ranch
Address:
280 Private Drive 1708, Abiquiu, NM, USA
Contact:
Information
info@ghostranch.org
505-685-1000
Email Us About Program
About the Leader
Marin Sardy
Marin Sardy is the author of the memoir The Edge of Every Day (2019) and co-creator of the text-and-image collaboration Psychic Telephone. Sardy’s essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, the Kenyon Review, Fourth Genre, the Missouri Review, and many other journals, as well as in two award-winning photography books. She is the winner of the 2025 Mathiasen Prose Award and her work has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net prizes, as well as twice listed as Notable in the Best American Essays. She teaches memoir and personal essay writing for Authors Publish and Writing Workshops.