Dystopian fiction often asks that writers grapple with the end of the world. It is a genre shaped incredibly by setting and character, such that no detail may be overlooked in the struggle to survive. How, then, might the incredible bond between dog and human reframe a dystopian narrative?

While meeting a varied cast of canines from an equally diverse range of novels—ranging from Jasper in Peter Heller’s bleak The Dog Stars to Robot Billy in Arin Greenwood’s futuristic Your Robot Dog Must Die—participants will develop their own dog character. During the workshop, they and their dog character will make creative decisions to survive the dystopian settings we explore.