Craft Seminar: How to Write a Historical Novel with Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Craft Seminar: How to Write a Historical Novel with Maurice Carlos Ruffin
1 Session: Monday, August 5
7:00-9:00pm ET
Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of three books, most recently the 2024 National Bestseller The American Daughters, which is a historical novel set in the 1850s. Other books include the story collection, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You (One World, 2021), a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and longlisted for the Story Prize, and We Cast a Shadow (One World, 2019), which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize.
Broadly speaking, starting a historical novel requires an understanding of craft and amazing story to tell. This seminar will discuss the elements of craft a new novelist should consider when starting a novel project that is set in historical times. The class will also discuss the requirements of a compelling historical story. Finally, the class will offer techniques to complete the work.
Workshop Highlights:
Craft knowledge and research is essential in starting a historical novel.
A historical novelist must first work to tell a compelling story.
Finishing a historical novel requires a variety of techniques.
2 full scholarships available. For information, please contact Kate Mabus, kate@theshipmanagency.com
Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s most recent book is the story collection, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You (One World, 2021), a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and longlisted for the Story Prize. His first book, We Cast a Shadow (One World, 2019) was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize. It was longlisted for the 2021 DUBLIN Literary Award, the Center for Fiction Prize, and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. The novel was also a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Ruffin is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Iowa Review Award in fiction and the William Faulkner–William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Award for Novel-in-Progress. His next novel is The American Daughters, which will be published by One World in February 2024. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Oxford American, Garden & Gun, Kenyon Review, and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America.
