Kristen Roupenian, the author of the world’s first viral short story “Cat Person”, will be giving a special master class for us on Monday, 1 April from 12:00 – 13:30 at Sarphatistraat 213-IV, 1018 GJ Amsterdam. Reception with a light lunch to follow.

Note: This event is open only to current and former core workshop students. Winter and spring 2019 workshop members receive 25% off—you will have received an email with your member discount code upon registration.

In conversation with our director Sarah Carriger, Roupenian will discuss technique in “Cat Person” (available on the New Yorker website) and one or two other stories from her debut collection You Know You Want This. We’ll also be speaking more generally about the writing and publishing process and there will be plenty of room for your questions.

Roupenian holds a PhD in English Literature from Harvard and an MFA from the University of Michigan. “Cat Person”, which was published in December 2017, was the second most shared article on The New Yorker website that year. And with close to 5 million views, it may be one of the most popular pieces of online fiction in the magazine’s history. The New York Times Book Review said of the collection, “What’s special about ‘Cat Person,’ and the rest of the stories in You Know You Want This, is the author’s expert control of language, character, story—her ability to write stories that feel told, and yet so unpretentious and accessible that we think they must be true.” HBO is planning a series based on the collection.

We hope you can join us for the class and stay afterwards to get your book signed and mingle with other writers over tea, coffee and sandwiches. And to keep the inspiration going, we’ll send you home with an exercise based on one of the stories.

To get the most out of the class we recommend you read the collection in advance. You can purchase your copy at Boekhandel van Rossum or online from most major booksellers (available in print and ebook formats). The Dutch translation Je weet dat je dit wil is also available from most local booksellers.