What do four local authors in different genres have in common?
One thousand words to tell their stories all using the same prompt.
For the 15th year, Piccolo Fiction will gather seasoned writers to continue a story that starts “I ducked into the alley…” This year’s event is June 3 at 5 p.m. in the courtyard beside the Blue Bicycle Books on King Street.
For Charleston author Gervais Hagerty, Piccolo Fiction is a chance to do a character study. Her debut novel “In Polite Company,” unearths the inner workings of Charleston’s elite. It was published by HarperCollins in 2021, followed by a story featured in “Reunion Beach,” an anthology dedicated to author Dorothea Benton Frank, a bestselling Charleston novelist who died in 2019.
Hagerty is using the alley prompt to explore how she might write about a teenager in her next book. “I went to the alley the other day,” she said. “ And I just sat there and thought about what would put me here. And I immediately went to my teen years, because we’re all just shoved in these liminal spaces.”
CIA-targeting-officer-turned-author Brittney Butler of Isle of Palms sees the prompt as a fun challenge to step away from what she’s currently working on, a sequel to her first novel, “The Syndicate Spy.” Having worked at the CIA for a decade, Butler said she wants to show the emotions that come with doing the work of espionage, which might also include some romance.
She said she is excited to bring the Piccolo Fiction audience on a thrilling spy mission.
“What I’ll read at the event will be very CIA-focused,” Butler said. “So you’ll kind of feel like you’re walking through a mission at the CIA.”
The event will also feature North Charleston author Y-Danair Niehrah who writes historical fiction, often focusing on the Degar people—the indigenous tribes of Vietnam. And Sara Peck, a Blue Bicycle bookseller and manager who penned three poetry books. She is developing a novel manuscript as part of the Tin House Winter Workshop in Portland.
“As a writer myself, [if] you give me a prompt, I don’t know where it’s gonna go,” Hagerty said. “And then [if] you give three other people the prompt, I’m curious to see what the other people will do. I think that’s a really neat way to curate an evening.”
IF YOU PLAN TO GO: 5 p.m., June 3. Alley near Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King Street. Free.
Joyelle Ronan is an arts journalism graduate student at Syracuse University.
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