A Short Course on the Stories of Shirley Jackson 

with Mitchell Glazier

October 21st from 1PM to 3PM ET via Zoom

Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) remains one of the most influential mystery writers of all time and has gone on to influence the likes of Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Donna Tartt, and countless others. Consider “The Lottery” (1948), which inspired a lifetime of frequent hate mail from aghast readers of The New Yorker and is still one of the most widely anthologized American short stories.

But how do Jackson’s stories remain obelisks in the world of literary suspense writing today? What do her observations both reveal and conceal about the dark heart of suburban Americana, both past and present? We will also discuss the qualities of humor that vein her work.

In this hybrid seminar-workshop course, we will read selected stories by Jackson, think critically about the elements of style that conjure both gooseflesh and laughter, and write our own imitations. 

Meet Your Instructor 

Mitchell Glazier is a writer from West Virginia. He holds an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University, where he was a teaching fellow. His poetry has appeared in Washington Square Review, Annulet, Tupelo Quarterly, and other places. Mitchell reads for American Chordata and manages a creative writing program for high school students at Columbia's School of the Arts.