How to Write YA Speculative Fiction, with Lilliam Rivera


Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of the young adult novels Dealing in Dreams (March 2019), The Education of Margot Sanchez (February 2018), the middle grade novel Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit (March 2020) by Little, Brown, and the forthcoming Never Look Back (September 2020) by Bloomsbury. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Elle, to name a few. Lilliam lives in Los Angeles.

Technical question? Reach out at: info@imagination.ucsd.edu

When: Mondays, June 29 to July 20, from 3–4:30pm PST

Where: Online (via Zoom)

How: Free (registration required; space is limited)

For young writers (age 13–18) only

In this four-week course, writer Lilliam Rivera (Dealing in Dreams, The Education of Margot Sanchez, and Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit) will walk you through different strategies and techniques for writing YA science fiction and fantasy stories.

How Will I Take This Class?

This course will take place via Zoom, a free videoconferencing app for computer, tablet, and phone.

When you enroll (above), you’ll be given a link to the online classroom. Before the first session, you can click on that link, and you will be prompted to download the Zoom app, if you don’t already have it.

If you have enrolled but not received a link to your class session, please email us at info@imagination.ucsd.edu.

When the class starts, everyone but the instructor will be “muted,” but instructors and workshop staff will be able to “unmute” you for questions and interactive portions of the classes.