Many prose poems are indistinguishable from short-short stories; brief essays from prose poems; and fragments from prose poems and brief essays. Some authors eschew genre and refer to their pieces generically as texts or works. Short prose forms may be impossible to define but they are fascinating to talk about. We will consider a wide range of forms, approaches, and styles, spanning the last 185 years (with some precursors) from a variety of authors, languages, and time periods. In addition to works in English, Alan Ziegler will read translations from the French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other languages. He will also incorporate readings of his own work.

This evening is the sequel to Alan Ziegler's Spring '24 festival and residency master class on the same topic, which was highly popular. Those of you who did not receive the handout the first time will receive a handout during the event this time.

Alan Ziegler is the editor of Short: An International Anthology of 500 Years of Short-Short Stories, Prose Poems, Brief Essays, and Other Short Prose Forms (Persea Books). His other books include Love At First Sight: An Alan Ziegler Reader; The Swan Song of Vaudeville: Tales and Takes (with an introduction by Richard Howard); The Green Grass of Flatbush (winner of the Word Beat Fiction Book Award, selected by George Plimpton); So Much To Do (poems); The Writing Workshop, Volumes I and II; and The Writing Workshop Note Book. His work has appeared in such places as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Tin House. He is Professor of Writing and Director of Pedagogy at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he has received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching and was chair of the Writing Program. His cross-genre memoir(ish) Based on a True Life will appear in the Fall of 2024. He contributes frequently to http://tinyurl.com/Best-American-Poetry.