Sue William Silverman
September 26, 2025
How to Discover Shimmering Epiphanies in the Flash Essay
11 AM PDT | 12 PM MDT | 1 PM CDT | 2 PM EDT
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Sue William Silverman, author of Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader, in conversation with Linda Joy Myers, discussing “How to Discover Shimmering Epiphanies in the Flash Essay.”
Have you been writing long-form memoir—want to try shorter pieces—but aren’t sure how to make the transition? Or, maybe you’re currently struggling to frame your narratives into flash pieces. If so—and if you have questions about short-form creative nonfiction—Sue will try to provide answers!
During our discussion we’ll cover what makes flash, unable to rely on length for a lasting impression, still feel vast, deep, and memorable, rather than slight, anecdotal, or confined? How can a piece of flash creative nonfiction deliver a punch and still retain the interiority of reflection? Is there room in a short piece to include the Voice of Innocence (the Unaware Narrator) as well as the Voice of Experience (the Aware Narrator)? Is it possible to include speculation and experimentation in a short essay?
The discussion will also include how structure, ellipsis, imagery, and metaphor can transform universal themes such as loss, grief, and love into brief, illuminating work—“proseletts” with outsized abilities. Additionally, the discussion will address how to frame individual flash pieces into a full-length collection—the importance of a thematic whole—as well as strategies on how best to begin and end the brief essay. We will examine the differences and similarities between flash and other subgenres of creative nonfiction. especially in terms of the use of scene, summary, reflection.
This event will include a prompt and time for audience questions-and-answers.
5 points:
- How to find subject matter that lends itself to short yet complete essays.
- How do you take a snippet of your life and turn it into an essay with a shimmering epiphany?
- What are the best ways to begin and end a flash essay?
- Techniques to craft short essays with punch while they also universally, reflectively, resonate with readers.
- How to frame many seemingly disparate, random pieces into a complete collection, a whole.
Silverman bio:
Sue William Silverman is an award-winning author of nine works of nonfiction and poetry. Her new book, Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader, is a collection of flash essays. Her book on the craft of writing, Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul, won the 2024 IPPY Silver Award. Her memoir-in essays collection, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences, won the gold star in Foreword Reviews INDIE Book of the Year Award. Other works include Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction, made into a Lifetime TV movie; Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You, which won the AWP Award; and The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew. She’s co-chair of the MFA Writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her media appearances include The View, Anderson Cooper-360, and PBS Books. www.SueWilliamSilverman.com.
