Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop
A Literary Arts Center for Writers
Craft Study • Workshops & Classes • Editing & Coaching • Creative Community
|
"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 |
ALL WORKSHOPS CURRENTLY ONLINE
• One-Day Classes • Multi-Week Workshops • Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced Courses •
• Workshops in Fiction (Flash, Short Story, Novel), Nonfiction, Memoir, Poetry, Hybrid •
• Classes in Creative Planning, Process, & Publishing • Craft Instruction • Community •
• Editing/Manuscript Consultation Services • Writing Coaching • Classes for Young Writers •
RECENT NEWS
|
• FALL 2021 WORKSHOPS ARE HERE! All live, virtual, and limited in size!
• 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! • COMMUNITY WRITING happens the first Friday evenings of every month, is virtual, free, and open to all! Check out the schedule on our "Events" page! • 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 |
Subscribe to our newsletter
In every newsletter:
Updates on upcoming classes, events, news, craft tips, & highlights from our recent workshops! |
UPCOMING MULTI-WEEK WORKSHOP
ONLINE - 1 spot left!
The Only Fact We Have: Writing About Death*
4 Weeks: Tuesdays, September 28 - October 19 (6 - 8pm EST) • $250
*IMPORTANT NOTE: Though the topic of grief will naturally arise, it is very important that students know this is not a grief support group and is not run by a therapist/grief counselor. If you are experiencing acute grief or trauma, or might otherwise be in need of intensive psychological support around death, you are advised to consider whether a clinical support group is more appropriate at this time.
|
James Baldwin wrote, "Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have." But how in the world to address this one fact, death? In this class, we'll do so through creative writing, with the guidance of a trained death doula. Prompts will be adaptable to poetry, hybrid, short fiction, and creative nonfiction, allowing students to explore types of writing which speak to them. Rather than engaging with intensive academic study and workshopping, the invitation is to gently contemplate and get curious about death; we'll aim to foster the vulnerability and bravery it takes to do this, and likely we'll find humor, too. We'll read poetry, hybrid, short fiction, and short essays from writers including Walt Whitman, Thich Nhat Hanh, Claudia Rankine, Lydia Davis, Jericho Brown, Kenneth Patchen, Ursula LeGuin, and Rumi. Writers of all levels and genres welcome. Limited to 10 writers. Please read the full course description at the "Learn More" link before signing up!
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is a death doula and author of the novels In a Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016) and A Child Is Being Killed (Aqueous Books, 2013.) Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared widely, in such publications as The Washington Post, Denver Quarterly, The Rumpus, West Branch, PANK, Dusie, Huffington Post, and Everyday Feminism. She holds an MFA from Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and is currently an English professor. In addition to teaching frequent workshops at PVWW, she leads PVWW's Year-Long Nonfiction and Year-Long Poetry/Hybrid Workshops in the PVWW Year-Long Manuscript Program. |
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!
OUR CLASSROOM & LOCATION
Before the pandemic, our classes were held at Commons Coworking in Williamsburg MA, and we miss our beautiful, large-windowed room with lots of table space and hot tea brewed before every class! Though due to COVID-19, ALL OUR WORKSHOPS ARE CURRENTLY ONLINE FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. We will also be continuing virtual workshops after the pandemic as well.
Find out what people are saying about our classes!
|
"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 |
|
|
