WRITING CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
All classes & events are live & virtual, via Zoom!
"The ability to craft a compelling story is one of the most powerful tools we possess as humans."
- Joy Baglio, Founder/Director of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop
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At PVWW, we offer the following types of classes:
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These classes run two or three hours and focus on particular writing-related craft, process, or practical topics. They often emphasize the development and honing of specific skills, through craft instruction, analysis of published work, discussion, and in-class writing exercises. One-day classes are an opportunity to dip a toe into writing instruction (if you're new to writing), get a burst of inspiration about a particular topic, and be part of a supportive writing group for an afternoon! Unless stated, they DO NOT entail outside reading or the opportunity to receive feedback on your work. Limited to 12 writers (in most cases).
View All One-Day Classes |
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These longer workshops meet weekly for the stated number of weeks and in most cases offer the opportunity to receive feedback on your work from the instructor and group (unless the course description emphasizes generative writing, revision, studying a particular book, or something else). Multi-week workshops usually include weekly deadlines, reading and/or writing assignments, and most do require at least a few hours of work per week, outside of class. They are always supportive and encouraging in nature and a great way to build a regular writing practice and cultivate your own writing community. Limited to 10 writers.
View All Multi-Week Workshops |
View All Year-Long Workshops / Learn More About the Year-Long Program |
The PVWW Year-Long Manuscript Workshop Program is for writers in all genres (fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry/hybrid) who are working on book-length manuscripts. These workshops are for serious writers looking to make a year-long commitment to finishing a draft of their book, in the supportive and rigorous presence of a small group and an instructor dedicated to guiding the cohort. Groups meet virtually on a monthly basis, and writers receive regular feedback from the group and instructor. The program includes a number of other benefits, including regular craft instruction, outside readings, accountability buddies, interaction in a virtual classroom space between meetings, and one-on-one conferences with the instructor. Applications are open annually October - December, and the workshops begin each year in March.
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IMPORTANT NOTE: The workshop descriptions below are abbreviated to fit on this page. Before registering, please make sure to read the full workshop descriptions, including weekly breakdowns (for multi-week workshops), by clicking the "Learn More" links. Instructor bios and general registration policies are also listed on the "Learn More" page.
Receiving the Zoom link for each workshop: A welcome email and Zoom link will be emailed to all who register closer to the date of the workshop (1 - 3 days before one-day classes and 3 - 5 days before multi-week workshops). Though please mark the date of the workshop you register for in your calendar upon registration! If you do not see a an email from joy@pioneervalleywriters.org a couple days before your workshop, make sure to check all email folders (promotions, spam, trash, etc.) before getting in touch as sometimes our emails end up there.
ONLINE
Embrace Theatricality: A Workshop on Movement
3 Hours: Sunday, June 12 (1 - 4pm EST) • $60
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During this one day workshop, we will explore how to effectively incorporate Movement into storytelling. Beyond just utilizing stage directions, writing with the living body in the mind's eye greatly activates your story in exciting ways. Together, will engage in generative in-class writing exercises that will equip you with the muscles to create scenes that pop off the page. We will use the works of Jose Rivera, Clare Barron, Katori Hall, and Julia Izumi to guide our study. Though the workshop is taught from a playwriting lens, it is well suited for writers of all genres who are looking to infuse their writing with movement. Limited to 12 writers.
KIRA ROCKWELL is a playwright and 2021 Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing with Mass Cultural Council, a recipient of the Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, as well as a Runner-up for the Princess Grace Award, among others. Her plays have been supported by The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Actor's Express, among others. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. |
ONLINE
Advanced Fiction Workshop
8 Weeks: Wednesdays, July 6 - August 24 (6 - 8pm EST) • $400
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This course is designed to give experienced fiction writers - both novelists and short story writers - the opportunity to give and receive feedback on work in progress. The course offers a model for workshopping in which participants will receive written comments from the group and instructor before their work is discussed in class. Instead of remaining silent, writers will be an active participant in the conversation about their work, with a focus on concrete revision options. Participants will receive craft essays, occasional writing prompts and relevant published short stories or novel excerpts via email that will inform our weekly discussions.For advanced writers with prior workshop experience. Admission by application, or permission of the instructor. Limited to 8 writers.
KATE SENECAL is the Assistant Director of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop and the Program Director of PVWW's Year-Long Manuscript Program. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the former fiction editor of Storychord. She's received an honorable mention in Glimmer Train’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. Kate’s fiction has been published in The Laurel Review, The Foundling Review, and in Storychord.com. In addition to her work at PVWW, she teaches writing at Grub Street and Umass, Amherst. She is at work on a first novel. |
IN-PERSON (Northampton, MA)
The Lyric Essay: Try One On For Size
2 Hours: Saturday, July 23 (10am - 12pm EST) • $60
***Proof of vaccination and booster required and checked at the door.***
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Remember when ‘the essay’ was a formal piece of writing that followed specific rules? Not anymore. Today the essay is breaking out of that scholarly box and exploring different ways to play with ideas or discover meaning. Randon Billings Noble calls these lyric essays and identifies four different forms: flash, segmented, braided, and hermit crab. She calls the lyric essay “a piece of writing with a visible/stand-out/unusual structure that explores/forecasts/gestures to an idea in an unexpected way.” Join us for a quick trip through some of these unusual structures. We will read excerpts from classic essays as well as more daring contemporary writings. Participants will have the opportunity to ‘try on’ some of these models through in-class writing with positive supportive feedback. Whether your subject is memoir, travel, food, or astrophysics, there’s a lyric essay waiting for you to test drive. Essay readings will be emailed before the meeting. Limited to 12 participants. Workshop held at Smith College.
CELIA JEFFRIES is the author of the award-winning novel Blue Desert, and her work has appeared in numerous newspapers and literary magazines including Westview, Solstice, and Puerto del Sol. She has received grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Turkey Land Cove Foundation, and La Muse. She holds an MA from Brandeis and an MFA from Lesley University. She is currently at work on a memoir. |
IN-PERSON (Northampton, MA)
Writing the Body
3 Hours: Saturday, July 23 (1 - 4pm EST) • $75
***Proof of vaccination and booster required and checked at the door.***
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Our bodies are made of stories. Heat. Sensation. Illness. Spasms. Tears. Even in numbness or dissociation, the body speaks. Writing the body is one of the most powerful ways to draw in a reader. As soon as someone names a sensation-- an ear twitch, a quickened pulse, the ache of longing in a shoulder -- we can practically feel it as our own. Through meditations, in-class writing, and class sharing, we'll explore how to tap into the body's language and unearth its stories. No matter your writing background, ambitions, or genre, this class will help you tap into your embodied wisdom and discover new stories waiting to be told. All levels & genres. Limited to 12 writers. Workshop held at Smith College.
ARYA SAMUELSON was awarded CutBank's Montana Prize in Non-Fiction, judged by Cheryl Strayed. Her work has been published in Columbia Journal, New Delta Review, Entropy, The Millions, and elsewhere. She holds an an MFA from Mills College and has been studying at Lidia Yuknavitch’s school of Corporeal Writing since 2017. Arya writes across all genres and is currently working on a novel. |
ONLINE
Writing Genre-Bending Fiction
2 Hours: Saturday, July 30 (1 - 3pmEST) • $45
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Fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, romance, noir. How much–if at all–should we consider genre when crafting our stories? Can we reject the stuffy philosophy that genre writing is not literary (yes!)? We’ll talk about how to mix genres and bend their “rules” to write memorable fiction. Sci-fi romance! Fantasy-noir! Mystery-magical realist-western! We’ll break down our favorite genres and why we love them, and apply those elements to our own craft. And, we’ll read masterful examples, do generative writing exercises, and share our work (not required). For writers of all levels & genres. Limited to 12 writers.
LARA EHRLICH is the author of Animal Wife, which won Red Hen Press’s Fiction Award, judged by Ann Hood, and was published by the press in Sept 2020. She is also the host of Writer Mother Monster, a conversation series devoted to dismantling the myth of “having it all” and offering writer-moms solidarity, support, and advice. Lara is the director of marketing for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas based in Connecticut, where she lives with her husband and 6-year-old daughter. |
IN-PERSON (Northampton, MA) - 4 spots left!
Harness Your Creative Flow: Generative Community
Full-Day Writing Retreat (All Genres)
6 Hours: Saturday, August 6 (10am - 5pm EST) (Lunch break from 12 - 1pm) • $125
***Proof of vaccination and booster required and checked at the door.***
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This generative retreat - for any writer, at any stage of the process - is designed as an opportunity to set aside an entire day to nurture your writing practice and build community in a warm, fun and low-stakes environment. The day will feature generative prompts, time to write, and the opportunity to share what you’ve written with the group and/or offer and receive casual feedback. The class is not genre- or craft-focused, but rather centered around community-building and ensuring that writers are able to make time for their creative work in a world that does not make that easy! Held on the scenic Smith College campus, in Northampton MA. Limited to 12 writers. All levels & genres. *Lunch break from 12 - 1pm. Lunch not provided, but easy/quick walk to downtown Northampton cafes.
KATE SENECAL is the Assistant Director of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop and the Program Director of PVWW's Year-Long Manuscript Program. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the former fiction editor of Storychord. She's received an honorable mention in Glimmer Train’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. Kate’s fiction has been published in The Laurel Review, The Foundling Review, and in Storychord.com. She is at work on a first novel. |
ONLINE
Writing the Supernatural
4 Weeks: Mondays, August 8 - 29 (6 - 8pm EST) • $250
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"I think fiction starts with something really unusual,” says the writer Samanta Schweblin. “Normality is a big lie.” If you are a writer who’s drawn to the unusual, be it the unreal, the uncanny, or the undead, or if you’d like to learn how to bring elements of horror, fairy tale, sci-fi, or surrealism to your writing, this class is for you. Many of us read and write scary or fantastical stories in order to escape. But supernatural writing also has a long history of engaging with the social norms and fears of its time. What is a haunted house story in the era of home quarantine? How does a pandemic encourage us to rethink vampire and zombie narratives? Can a fairy tale or fable help us communicate ideas during a time of social upheaval? In this workshop and generative class, we’ll experiment with prompts and exercises meant to help us imbibe our work with the magical, the scary, and the strange, and we’ll provide feedback on each other’s pieces. We’ll look to the experts for inspiration, reading work by authors such as Steven Graham Jones, Silvina Ocampo, Angela Carter, Julio Cortázar, Nalo Hopkinson, Lily Hoang, Sofia Samatar, and Octavia E. Butler. We’ll also read and discuss each other’s writing, with each student having the opportunity to be formally workshopped once. Whatever your goals are for writing the supernatural, you’ll come away from this class with gleefully weird work and a range of thrilling new ideas. All levels. Limited to 10 writers.
CAROLINE BELLE STEWART stories can be found in Gulf Coast, Denver Quarterly, Fairy Tale Review, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbook "Husbandly Things" (Factory Hollow) and co-creator of “Mast Year: A Mystical Field Guide" (Mount Analogue). A recipient of fellowships from Monson Arts and MacDowell, she lives in Western Massachusetts. |
ONLINE
Who's Afraid of Freewriting?
2 Hours: Sunday, August 14 (6 - 8pm EST) • $45
IMPORTANT NOTE: Let us know in the "Notes" section when you register what genre(s) you primarily write in, so that Jyo can tailor prompts to the group!
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You’ve no doubt heard about free writing—the technique of writing without stopping for a specified amount of time or pages. But are you, perhaps, afraid to try it? Or have you tried it but fear you are doing it “wrong”? Or maybe you’re not sure if this technique will be helpful for you? This class will start with the scientific basis of free writing (turning on the right brain) and then ease students into free writing with very short, judgment-free sessions. We will then explore how to use free writing for any aspect of your writing, such as generating ideas, getting started with a scene, character development, dialogue, and endings. We will also touch on using free writing for personal growth. This class is suitable for all writers at any level and in any genre. Limited to 12 writers.
JYOTSNA “JO” SREENIVASAN is the author of the short story collection These Americans and the novel And Laughter Fell From the Sky. Both are about Indian Americans in the Midwest. Her short stories have been published Copper Nickel, Tampa Review, and Tiferet, among others, and some of her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She was selected as a Fiction Fellow at the 2021 Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and was a finalist for the 2014 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. For more information about Jyotsna as well as other writers who are children of immigrants, please see www.SecondGenStories.com. |
ONLINE • Free, Ongoing
Community Writing Workshops: Ongoing
Fridays: April 1, May 6, June 3, July 1, Aug. 5 (6 - 7:30pm EST) • Free to Attend
with PVWW Founder-Director Joy Baglio
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This FREE, gathering for writers of all levels and genres happens every FIRST FRIDAY of the month and is a great way to get back into the flow of your work in the supportive presence of other writers. We warm up each session with a number of engaging prompts (each session's prompts are based around a theme, so check our theme schedule on the Community Writing event page!), followed by (optional) sharing and discussion. Despite the session's theme, prompts are open and accessible to writers of all genres. This is a great gathering for any writer seeking to make headway on their own writing projects as well as gain support and solidarity from the group. Discussion and sharing will happen in the last half hour. Please Note: Community Writing is NOT a feedback-centered workshop. It is a generative gathering, a place to write alongside others, as well as connect and share with other writers. It's also drop-in friendly, and usually a larger group than the standard weekly workshop. If you're looking for a smaller workshop group that meets regularly with a focus on craft instruction and/or feedback, check out our other classes (listed below). No group size limit.
Special New Year's / Writing Goal-themed session on January 7! |
RSVP Directions: Please RSVP just ONCE, even if you plan to attend more than one session, as we will add you to the Community Writing mailing list and email you the link to all sessions the day before. Link is always the same. Open to all! Teen writers welcome.
YEAR-LONG MANUSCRIPT PROGRAM
APPLICATIONS FOR WORKSHOPS BEGINNING IN 2022 OPEN OCT. - DEC.
ONLINE - Applications closed
Year-Long Novel Workshop: First Draft
12 Months: Dates TBA for 2023 • Meets third Mondays (6 - 9pm EST) • Cost: $1900
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This workshop is for fiction writers who are working on their first draft of a full length novel manuscript. Writers who are just beginning with an idea as well as writers who are mid-draft would both benefit, but the explicit goal of this course is to have a finished first draft, ready for the first stage of revision. This course meets over zoom once a month for three hours, in small accountability buddy groups of 2-3 people at least once between meetings, and is in regular contact via a virtual classroom space. Each month, writers will be offered a slew of prompts, writing exercises, craft lectures, discussion questions, and readings designed to maintain momentum, solidify a regular writing practice, and provide support around all of the highs and lows of the novel writing process. Limited to 10 writers.
KATE SENECAL is the Assistant Director of PVWW. She received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2013. She is the former fiction editor of Storychord, and a UMass professor. She's received an honorable mention in Glimmer Train’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. Kate’s fiction has been published in The Laurel Review, The Foundling Review, and in Storychord.com.
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ONLINE - Applications closed
Year-Long Novel Workshop: Revision
12 Months: Dates TBA for 2023 • Meets last Mondays (6 - 9pm EST) • Cost: $2400
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* Full manuscript reading by the instructor is in service of the two hour-long meetings all participants will have with the instructor over the course of the year. Full novel manuscripts are due, via email, at by the 1/3/2022 application deadline.
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This workshop is for fiction writers who have finished a complete draft of a full-length novel manuscript and are looking for support and structure in the revision process. The explicit goal of this course is to complete one full revision of a completed draft of a manuscript. Prior to the start of the course, the instructor will read all participants' full manuscripts.* This course meets over zoom once a month for three hours, in small accountability buddy groups of 2-3 people at least once between meetings (but often more often), and is in regular contact via a virtual classroom space. Each month, writers will be offered a set of linked, progressive exercises geared toward helping writers revise or see their novels in a new light, a slew of prompts and writing exercises that are geared toward re-writing or reworking existing pages, craft lectures, discussion questions, and readings designed to maintain momentum, solidify a regular writing practice, and provide support around all of the highs and lows of the novel revision process. Writers should be prepared to read and discuss up to six novels over the course of the year, as well as craft readings, as assigned by the instructor. Limited to 10 writers.
KATE SENECAL is the Assistant Director of PVWW and the Director of PVWW's Year-Long Manuscript Group Program. She received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2013. She is the former fiction editor of Storychord, and a UMass professor. She's received an honorable mention in Glimmer Train’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. Kate’s fiction has been published in The Laurel Review, The Foundling Review, and in Storychord.com.
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ONLINE - Applications closed
Year-Long Short Story Workshop
12 Months: Dates TBA for 2023 • Meets first Wednesdays (6 - 9pm EST) • Cost: $1900
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This group is designed for short fiction writers who are interested in diving deeply into the craft of short fiction and producing several new stories over the course of the year. Each month, we’ll undertake in-class and at-home generative exercises designed to help hone your understanding of what a short story is and how it functions as a contained unit. We will also keep in mind the revision process and various methods to approach revising short fiction as we go. By the end of the year, participants can expect to have solid drafts of between six and twelve short stories. Over the course of the year, we will give each other intensive feedback on drafted stories, as well as spend time studying and discussing published short story collections (approx. 6 collections, plus occasional individual stories). Alongside your own writing, we will cover specific elements of craft, such as characterization, plot, scene building, dialogue, details, world building, setting, structure, and more. Limited to 10 writers.
SARA RAUCH is the author of What Shines from It: Stories, which won the Electric Book Award. Her prose has also appeared in Paper Darts, Meetinghouse, Hobart, Split Lip, and So to Speak. She holds an MFA from Pacific University, and lives with her family in Holyoke, MA. Find her online at www.sararauch.com.
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ONLINE - Applications closed
Year-Long Poetry & Hybrid Manuscript Workshop
12 Months: Dates TBA for 2023 • Meets first Wednesdays (6 - 9pm EST) • Cost: $1900
* Creative nonfiction writers working in more traditional or general prose-style should apply to the nonfiction workshop (course description below, on this page).
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This workshop is designed for poets and hybrid writers who have a manuscript in progress, plus those who have a vision but are just beginning. Poetry projects may be in a wide range of poetic forms. Hybrid projects may be those that mix or experiment with forms. This may include mixed prose/poetry texts, experimental or poetry-based memoir or essay, mixed visual/language texts, and poetic or lyric essays which stretch the boundaries of traditional or popular prose-based creative nonfiction.* In studying poetry and hybrid together, we'll see the vast and surprising overlaps between these terms, both in historical context and in practice. In addition to work on our own manuscripts, we'll read about and discuss traditions in lyricism, prose poetry, fixed and free verse, hybrid and cross-art, modernism, and more. Students can expect to read numerous monthly excerpts and 4 short books. By the end of the year, participants will have a solid first draft of either chapbook-length (approx. 30 pages) or full-length (approx. 60-70 pages for poetry, or a wide range of pages for uncategorizable or hybrid work.) Limited to 10 writers.
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is is the author of two hybrid novels. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Denver Quarterly, The Rumpus, PANK, West Branch, DIAGRAM, Everyday Feminism, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and is currently an English professor and volunteer death doula.
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ONLINE - Applications closed
Year-Long Nonfiction Manuscript Workshop
12 Months: Dates TBA for 2023 • Meets first Thursdays (6 - 9pm EST) • Cost: $1900
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This workshop is designed for creative nonfiction prose writers in non-memoir genres (nature and science writing, philosophy and spiritual writing, travel or food writing, biography, history, politics, social commentary, literary journalism, etc.) who have a manuscript in progress as well as for those who have a vision but are just beginning. By the end of the year, participants will have a solid draft of a complete manuscript. To this end, we will give each other feedback, discuss different craft topics each month, and do in-class and at-home generative prompts and exercises. Additionally, we will study numerous monthly excerpts and 3-4 books from the masters. Limited to 10 writers
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is is the author of the hybrid novels. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Denver Quarterly, The Rumpus, PANK, West Branch, DIAGRAM, Everyday Feminism, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and is currently an English professor and volunteer death doula.
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ONLINE - Applications closed
Year-Long Memoir Workshop
12 Months: Dates TBA for 2023 • Meets first Tuesdays (6 - 9pm EST) • Cost: $1900
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This workshop is designed for memoirists who have a manuscript in progress as well as for those who have a ‘body of work’ they can identify as a ‘possible manuscript.’ In this year-long program, we’ll discuss the history of the memoir genre and study memoir-writing techniques by reading and analyzing a mix of craft essays and stellar works of personal narrative, including 3-4 book-length memoirs that represent different stylistic and organizational approaches to the form. Alongside our active reading and discussion, we’ll find structure and purpose in our own work by defining clear individualized writing goals, doing regular generative exercises and providing consistent and thoughtful feedback on each other’s pages. By the end of the year participants will have drafted a substantive manuscript, portions of which may be ready for submission for publication. Limited to 10 writers.
DORIAN FOX’s essays, articles and stories have appeared in a wide range of literary publications, including Brevity, The Rumpus, Gay Magazine, Atticus Review, Under the Gum Tree, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, december, Creative Nonfiction’s Sunday Short Reads and others. His work has also been honored in various competitions and received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. A longtime Massachusetts resident, he now lives in Brighton, MA.
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