Delicious Fiction

Delicious Fiction

Bouillabaisse at a French Caribbean island seaside cafe, or Jello-mold canned fruit salad at a family picnic in 1970s Utah, either way, so much is brought alive with words on the page carefully crafted to titillate our senses. Consuming and preparing food is part of our everyday lives, so including meals and cooking in fiction evokes a true-to-life three-dimensionality to our stories. Additionally, among the reasons why people read is to be transported to a place or a reality that they’ve not had the opportunity to experience, or conversely, to relive a precious past that they miss. Food and eating are perfect avenues to help readers escape to an alternate existence, or dwell in a bit of nostalgia. This fun workshop will help you make the most of this yummy part of writing by illustrating how to effectively weave cooking, dining, and snacking into fiction.

In this workshop, we will explore the use of preparing and eating food as creative opportunities to: Develop characters, Highlight setting, Create pacing, and build suspense., Set the psychological scene for conflict, romance, and other turning points in characters’ lives, Express emotion and interpersonal dynamics in dialogue.

Class times

10:30 AM to 4:30 PM with a lunch break 12:30 to 2:00 PM

Harrie Farrow

Harrie Farrow is a novelist, poet, and editor with a background in investigative reporting, feature

writing, and blogging. She brings to her work an eclectic personal history including growing up in the Virgin Islands, spending her 20s in San Francisco, and owning a fine dining restaurant in the Ozarks. She has also traveled extensively in Europe and the Caribbean. Harrie has varied experiences with advocacy and activism, including being arrested several times for civil disobedience in Washington D.C., and is also a thrice-elected official who represents Eureka Springs in county government.