This event is now open for registration and closes on August 12, 2026.
How do you write in response to the world in real time? Join writer Jaclyn Desforges for a 90-minute virtual workshop on flash fiction and urgency: how we tap into fear, noise, dread, anger, and absurdity, and turn all of that pressure into prose.
This event is part craft conversation, part generative writing session, part Q&A. Jaclyn will discuss writing flash fiction in response to today’s climate — how we turn politics, headlines, and private fears into narratives — and guide participants through a generative writing session built from what won’t leave us alone. You’ll have space to write, and, if you want, share your work in a supportive space. There will also be a dedicated Q&A to ask Jaclyn questions about writing and publishing today.
You’ll leave with a draft, or the beginning of one, and a clearer sense of how to write inside this moment. This workshop is open to all writers, regardless of experience or publication history.
Registration costs $20. You can register here through Stripe. The event Zoom link will be sent in your confirmation email. A recording of the event will be distributed to all registrants, so we encourage you to sign up even if you’re unable to attend the night of the event.
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2026
Time: 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT
Location: Zoom
See you there!
Who we are
Jaclyn Desforges (she/her) is the queer and neurodivergent author of a short story collection, Weird Babies (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2026), which Quill & Quire called “refreshing, unpredictable, and utterly distinctive.” She’s also the author of poetry collection, Danger Flower (Anstruther Books, 2021), and a picture book, Why Are You So Quiet? (Annick Press, 2020). She’s currently writing her first novel, Eyelash Person, with the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts. A Bread Loaf alumna and RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award Winner, Jaclyn’s writing has appeared in CRAFT Literary, The Fiddlehead, Room, and other magazines across North America. Her work has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, as well as Best American Short Stories, and she was a finalist for the 2023 CBC Poetry Prize. Jaclyn’s poetry collection travelled to the moon in 2025 as part of the New York Times-featured Lunar Codex Project. She teaches creative writing at Wilfrid Laurier University and lives in Hamilton, Ontario.
Rebecca Paredes (she/her) is the editor-in-chief of Glossy Planet and your facilitator for this event. She is a writer from Southern California by way of Lake Elsinore, where the IHOP is located next to the graveyard. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in Epiphany Magazine, Barren Magazine, Hunger Mountain Review, and other publications. She holds an MA in Creative Writing and is currently working on a novel inspired by her hometown and Mexican magic.