Writing Co-Lab

In an ideal world, we would hold nothing back and tell each other the truth, and only the truth. But that's not how the real world works. Instead, we spend much of our time lying to others, and to ourselves. We also lie by omission, which is to say: we keep secrets. In this class, we'll examine how writers like Sally Rooney, Meg Wolitzer, and Nora Ephron confront these evasions, then confess to some of our own secrets and deceptions. 

Steve Almond is the author of twelve books of fiction and non-fiction including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His first novel, Which Brings Me to You (co-written with Julianna Baggott) was made into way-better-than-he-expected movie starring Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff. His last novel, All the Secrets of the World, is in development for television by 20th Century Fox. His work has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize, Best American Mysteries, and the NYT Magazine. His most recent book, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow, is about craft, inspiration, and how to keep going at the keyboard. Almond teaches at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and lives outside Boston with his family and his anxiety.