Small Stories, Big Meaning: a storytelling workshop
$90
In this four-hour workshop, we’ll mine minutia. Everyday moments, half-remembered anecdotes, passing observations using them as raw material for telling personal stories that resonate. What makes a story feel big or important? Together, we’ll test that question by looking closely at how you move through your life: the choices you make, the risks you avoid or take, the mistakes you repeat, the things you long for, and the decisions that reveal what matters to you.
Through 5-part story structure, guided prompts, playful exercises, and real-time exploration, you’ll practice noticing what’s already there and shaping it into a story. You’ll learn how small moments carry weight—and how to recognize the ones that want to be told to an audience (whatever audience means to you. Could be stage, or podcasts, or during a pitch, or for documentary)
Taught by BACKFENCE Storytelling producers and hosts Frayn Masters and Ash Allen, This class is for everyone. Whether you’re experienced and looking for a hot take into your material, quieter and still discovering what your stories might be, or someone who loves being on stage and wants deeper source material, you’re welcome here. You’ll leave with new tools, new perspectives, and a clearer relationship to the stories embedded in your own life—ready to keep excavating long after the class ends.
Comments from previous students:
“Frayn’s workshop was just so magical and life changing.”
“After Frayn’s workshop & showcase, I felt like I was on (legal) drugs. For days. It put a bounce back in my step.”
Access Program
We want our classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most classes have at least one access spot available.
Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.
Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.
Apply here for the liaison position.
Ash Allen
Originally from Mississippi, Ash is a critter-obsessed, barefoot tomboy turned comedian and storyteller. Her work is rooted in red clay hills, kudzu-lined highways, and the feral tenderness of the woods she grew up running through—blending sharp comedy with emotional honesty and a deep sense of place.
A repeat Moth StorySLAM winner, 2025 Best of Portland Comedy finalist, and one of Willamette Weekly’s 2026 Funniest Five, Ash shares tall-yet-true stories on stages across the country. She hosts the weekly storytelling radio show Porch Hang and co-hosts ROY G BIV, highlighting the best queer comedy Portland—and beyond—has to offer. In addition to performing, Ash teaches and coaches storytelling with BACKFENCE Storytelling and recently produced and facilitated the sold-out King Tides Storytelling Retreat on the Washington Coast.
Frayn Masters
Frayn Masters really loves listening to and digging into stories, she is endlessly curious and interested in the messiness of being human. Through producing hundreds of stories she has witnessed the following paradox of storytelling… that though we might think the biggest stories are near death and the like, it turns out that investigating almost forgettable minutiae can uncover some of the biggest shifts, laughter, tears, vulnerability, and decisions that form high stakes stories. It all hinges on the context of one’s life at that moment.
Frayn is the artistic director and host of the award-winning storytelling series, BACKFENCE Storytelling, and co-host and co-creator of the super delightful 29 minute conversational storytelling podcast,BACKFENCE Unhinged. Frayn is also developing a podcast and talk show about loneliness with co-creator and co-host Beth Lisick called Let’s Get Lonely!
She was voted Best Storyteller by Willamette Week's readers and is also a former producer and host for The Moth. Through a storied 20+ year background of improv, sketch comedy, writing, acting, and storytelling, she specializes in working with 1:1 with CEOs, Executive Directors, Creative Directors, designers, athletes, scientists, formerly awkward podcast and video hosts, funeral directors, and tech leaders for all manner of speaking engagements. She also custom builds workshops that breath vulnerability, fresh air, and excitement into words and performance.
