Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop
A Literary Arts Center for Writers
Workshops & Classes • Editing & Coaching • Creative Community • Literary Events
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"The ability to craft a compelling story
is one of the most powerful tools wepossess as humans."- Joy Baglio, Fiction Writer & Founder/Director of PVWW |
MOST WORKSHOPS ARE ONLINE
• One-Day Classes • Multi-Week Workshops • Year-Long Manuscript Workshop Program •
• Workshops in Fiction (Flash, Short Story, Novel), Nonfiction, Memoir, Poetry, Hybrid •
• Classes in Creative Planning, Process, & Publishing • Author Readings • Community •
• Editing/Manuscript Consultation Services • Writing Coaching • Writing-Related Merch •
RECENT NEWS
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• FALL WORKSHOPS NOW ENROLLING, all virtual, via Zoom!
• PVWW STORE: We're excited to open our PVWW store, with mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, totes, and more! Show off your PVWW merch at any of our virtual events! • PVWW featured in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, about writers finding connection amid cancellations. Read article HERE. • PVWW and Founder Joy Baglio Featured in Business West |
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Updates on upcoming classes, events, news, craft tips, & highlights from our recent workshops! |
FEATURED MULTI-WEEK WORKSHOP
ONLINE
Narrative Eyeballs: POV In Fiction
4 Weeks: Tuesdays, September 6 - 27 (6 - 8pm EST) • $250
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Point of view is perhaps one of the most taken-for-granted elements of fiction. Like a movie’s background music, audiences don’t always consciously notice it. Yet it informs character creation, characters’ relationships to each other and their worlds, and even entire plots. Through discussions and reflections, in-class and at-home exercises, and short readings, we’ll dive into the below-the-surface hows, whys, and whats of point of view. This will include learning different terms and approaches associated with point of view, its relationship to character building and voice, how plots are related to narrative intimacy or distance, and point of view’s surprising psychological components. (Read full description before registering!) For beginner and advanced beginner writers, though may be a helpful refresher for intermediate writers.
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CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is the author of the hybrid novels In Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse and A Child Is Being Killed. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Denver Quarterly, The Rumpus, PANK, West Branch, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and is an English professor and volunteer death doula.
ABOUT US
We are a literary arts organization based in Northampton MA and online, though we're completely virtual for the foreseeable future. PVWW was founded in 2016 by writer Joy Baglio, and each season our team of thirty author-instructors offers around 25 - 30 one-day and multi-week writing workshops in fiction, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, hybrid/experimental forms, and publishing - for experienced and aspiring writers of all levels and backgrounds. We also run a Year-Long Manuscript Group Program for writers working on book-length projects, open for applications every year October - early January. All our workshops are limited to a small number of writers (8, 10, or 12, depending on the particular class) and are held live on Zoom (sometimes with an additional online classroom space) which allows discussion and participation from all participants. In addition to our classes and workshops, we host frequent virtual author readings, free twice-a-month generative Community Writing gatherings for writers of all levels and genres, as well as offer professional one-on-one manuscript consulting and editing services. Our focus is on a rigorous understanding of craft and technique, while also creating a supportive and fun environment for writers of all levels.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Writing is a life-long pursuit, and as writers we are constantly observing, constantly learning. There is no end to discovery in this journey. We truly believe that the skills of the writer and storyteller do matter and can change peoples' lives and the world. Our goal is to create an inspiring literary community while helping writers of all levels and backgrounds hone their tools, improve their craft, and accomplish their goals as storytellers, writers, and authors.
We also know that writing is an art form that can be practiced, honed, and improved. Imagination can be nurtured, and exercised. We don't view craft as a rigid set of "rules" but as tools with multifaceted uses and purposes that we are always learning more about, no matter what level we may be at or how long we've been writing. We don't view craft and these "tools" of the writer as an end in themselves, but as a means to better express ourselves and tell our stories. To become more confident storytellers, poets, memoirists, essayists, etc. As Ursula K. Le Guin has said, "Skill in writing frees you to write what you want to write. It may also show you what you want to write. Craft enables art." We couldn't agree more!
We also know that writing is an art form that can be practiced, honed, and improved. Imagination can be nurtured, and exercised. We don't view craft as a rigid set of "rules" but as tools with multifaceted uses and purposes that we are always learning more about, no matter what level we may be at or how long we've been writing. We don't view craft and these "tools" of the writer as an end in themselves, but as a means to better express ourselves and tell our stories. To become more confident storytellers, poets, memoirists, essayists, etc. As Ursula K. Le Guin has said, "Skill in writing frees you to write what you want to write. It may also show you what you want to write. Craft enables art." We couldn't agree more!
OUR INSTRUCTORS & EDITORS
Our instructors, editors, consultants, and coaches are all professional, working writers with years of experience in the literary world, both locally and nationally. We each specialize in a range of genres and topics, from flash fiction, short stories, and novels to memoir, poetry, screenwriting, and experimental/hybrid writing.
OUR STUDENTS & COMMUNITY
Writers of all backgrounds, career levels, and walks of life attend our classes: Some have MFA's and published books, others are taking their first steps toward making writing a part of their lives. Writing is a life-long journey, and our community reflects this!
WE ARE COMPLETELY VIRTUAL*
Before the pandemic, our classes were held in a physical classroom (in Western MA, where we are based) and while we do plan on having in-person classes and events at some point in the future, we are completely virtual right now and for the foreseeable future. No matter what the future brings, we will also plan to continue virtual workshops indefinitely.
*We have two in-person workshops this July that will be held at the Smith College Conference Center, in Northampton MA. Check out our Creative Writing Classes tab for more info!
*We have two in-person workshops this July that will be held at the Smith College Conference Center, in Northampton MA. Check out our Creative Writing Classes tab for more info!
OUR WRITING WORKSHOPS/CLASSES
At Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop, we offer the following types of classes.
Workshops listed below are from our current summer/fall 2022 schedule:
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• The Lyric Essay (in person)
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• Generative Writing Workshop
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• The Novel (First Draft)
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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Find out what people are saying about our classes!
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"Can't say enough about PVWW, Joy, and her amazing team of teachers! Writing is very much about the ability to sit in your seat for hours and put pen to paper, but coming to PVWW helps you build a community around your writing, breathe new life into your efforts, and get out of your own head a bit. And beyond that, I've learned lots of practical, nuts-and-bolts techniques that have vastly improved my work."
- Emily Everett, Managing Editor at The Common |
"PVWW is the most effective writing platform/service/group I've tried in the local area. The variety offered when it comes to events is a great mix-up between workshops, free writing sessions, and one-day classes, which specifically focus on particular areas of writing/craft. Each time I go to one of these events, I feel not only reenergized, but capable of carrying out the various techniques and tools that are shared."
- Meg Granger, reader for The Masters Review |
RECENT CLASSES & EVENTS
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