Valerie Fioravanti

Writer * Writing Instructor * Coach

Valerie Fioravanti Home     Private Coaching     Sacramento Workshops     Master Teacher Workshops     Stories on Stage     Contact Me      


WRITER
 
I write fiction, essays, and prose poems. My linked short story collection, Garbage Night at the Opera, won the 2011 Chandra Prize and is forthcoming from BkMk Press. Stories from the collection have appeared in North American Review, Cimarron Review, Hunger Mountain, Night Train, and othersThese stories have received four pushcart prize nominations and Special Mention in Pushcart Prize XXVIII. I received a Fulbright Fellowship in Creative Writing to work on a novel set in Italy, Bel Casino, which is one of two novels currently in the works. My essays and prose poems have been published in Eclectica, Silk Road, Puerto del Sol, International Living, and others. I live in Boulevard Park in midtown Sacramento, where I run the Stories on Stage reading series, teach writing workshops, and coach writers privately.
  
INSTRUCTOR
 
I teach short story, flash fiction, and multi-genre classes for the UCLA Writers' Extension and private workshops from my home in midtown Sacramento. I've previously taught writing for New Mexico State University and National University's MFA program. Please email me if you would like further information about my teaching schedule/interests.
 
EDUCATION
 
I received my Master's of Fine Arts degree in Fiction from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, under the fine tutelage of writers Kevin (Mc) McIlvoy, Robert (Boz) Boswell, Toni Nelson, and Connie Voisine.
 
I received my Bachelor's of Arts in Liberal Arts from the New School in New York City, where I was born and raised.

 

WELCOME!

  

Online Stories:

"Haliled" in Prime Number Magazine

 

"Kissing Decisions" in Night Train

 

"Bouquet" in Babel Fruit

This is a reprint. "Bouquet" originally appeared in Green Mountains Review.

 

"Distance" in Pindeldyboz

Stories as .pdf files:

"Beer Money" from Harpur Palate, Vol. 6.2

Nonfiction online:  

"Touching Margaret Atwood" in r.kv.r.y.

 

"Kissing in Tandem" in Eclectica
(If you're curious about the story mentioned in this essay, it's "Kissing Decisions" listed and linked above) 

 

"Miserable? Not Me" in Sacramento News & Review

I am Interviewed: 

By Emmanuel Sigauke 

 

By Peg Alford Pursell

 

By Don Peteroy/Cincinnati Review


By Sue Staats/r.kv.r.y.

  

 Misc. Honors: 

Named "Best Friend to Fiction Writers" by
Sacramento News & Review in 2011 Best of Sacramento issue. Read profile here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

NEWS

 
My life as a pretty magazine whore continues with the current issue of r.kv.r.y. The cover art for my essay "Touching Margaret Atwood" is absolutely gorgeous. My thanks to editor Mary Akers & artist Mathew Chase-Daniel.

 

I was named a "Best Friend to Fiction Writers" for my work with Stories on Stage and Master Teachers Weekend Workshops by SN&R in their 2011 Best of Sacramento issue.

The Cincinnati Review called me a relevant writer, then asked me an irrelevant question about Herman Mellville here.

 

My travel short, "Hot Turkish Man for You!" will appear in the next issue of Jelly Bucket.

My story collection, Garbage Night at the Opera, has won the 2011 G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction from BkMk Press, and will be published in 2012.

Do you know that Stories on Stage has a blog? We feature local literary news, interviews with Stories on Stage authors and performers, and information regarding upcoming workshops.

My collection, Garbage Night at the Opera, was named a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award in 2010 & 2011.

I judged SN&R's Flash Fiction contest this year. Read the winners here.

Stories on Stage has won a 2010 Best of Sacramento Award from Sacramento Magazine. We were the editor's pick for Best Reason to Listen Up.

New Pages mentioned my story "Beer Money" in their review of Harpur Palate. The reviewer wrote, "If fiction is supposed to make humans more tolerant...this is a must-read story for the journey to enlightenment." Doesn't get much better than that, huh? You can read the full review here.