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 |
Learn More About the 10-Month Manuscript Program & View All 10-Month Workshops |
PVWW 10-Month Manuscript Program offers small, intensive, virtual workshops in all genres (novel, memoir, poetry/hybrid, & nonfiction) for writers working on a book-length projects. Workshop groups meet monthly over the course of ten months (March - December) and offer other ways of support and connection in between meetings, including a virtual classroom space and monthly Accountability Buddies. The program offers rigorous, MFA-level craft instruction, and seeks to create a tight-knit community of support for writers as they work to complete their manuscripts. Annual program open house in November. Applications are open each year October - December.
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2023 WINTER WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
All Classes/Workshops Are Live & Virtual via Zoom!
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 "Full Description" links. Instructor bios and general registration policies are also listed there.
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). 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. Please note: Our system does *not* send a confirmation email after registering, so please mark your calendar beforehand!
Did you recently attend a one-day or multi-week workshop? We'd love to hear about your experience! If you have a minute, we always appreciate feedback via our Workshop Feedback Form or our Editing & Manuscript Consulting Form - we take all feedback into account and it's incredibly helpful to learn both what you enjoyed and anything you didn't. If you've enjoyed your experience, we're also endlessly grateful for all Facebook reviews and Google Reviews, which help other writers find us! Thank you in advance!
If you teach at a university, college, or school: You may be able to use professional development credits to pay for writing workshops. We have had a number of people do this before. If interested in this, first check with your institution, as it would depend on them.
ONLINE - FULL
Funding Your Writing: Applying for Grants, Residencies,
Scholarships, Fellowships, & Other Opportunities
2 Hours: Saturday, April 1 (1 - 3pm EST) • $45
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In this two-hour workshop, I'll share what I've learned about applying to project-specific grants (that offer funding and require a proposal letter), artist residencies (that offer time, space, and often funding to write), scholarships (that offer attendance to a program or conference), and other competitive opportunities. We'll talk about what should be present in a proposal letters and/or artist statements, how to select strong work samples, how to create an impressive budget (which is requested in some specific grant applications), and spend time looking examples (I'll share my own) and crafting statements in class, in response to guidance and exercises. Attendees will leave with clarity and confidence around what makes a competitive application / proposal. For writers of all levels and genres. Non-writer artists welcome too. Limited to 15 writers.
JOY BAGLIO is the founder of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop. Her fiction has appeared widely in journals such as The Missouri Review, Tin House, The Iowa Review, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, The Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere. She’s received grants, residencies, scholarships, and awards from Yaddo, The Elizabeth George Foundation, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, Vermont Studio Center, The Kerouac Project (spring 2023), Ragdale (summer 2023), among others. Joy holds an MFA from The New School and has taught widely, as well as served on conference admissions boards, been associate editor for West Branch, and has presented at conferences such as AWP and The Muse and the Marketplace. |
ONLINE
Revising and Polishing Your Poems
4 Weeks: Saturdays, April 8 - 29 (10am - 12pm EST) • $250
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For most poets revision can be daunting, and yet it is the most important step toward creating work that resonates with readers. If you aren’t receiving regular feedback, this workshop will provide tools for discovering what your poems need. We will explore issues of craft including beginnings and endings, tension, line breaks, form, and diction. Each session will focus on giving and receiving feedback on poems that you want to improve in an atmosphere of respect. Before each session, students will send one poem for feedback, will work on suggested revisions between sessions, and complete 3-4 poems. Revision exercises will be given each week to use for future work. This workshop is geared toward beginners and advanced beginners. Read full course description and course outline at the "Learn More" link! Limited to 10 writers.
GAIL THOMAS' books are Trail of Roots, Leaving Paradise, Odd Mercy, Waving Back, No Simple Wilderness, and Finding the Bear. Her poems have been widely published in journals and anthologies including CALYX, Beloit Poetry Journal, North American Review, and elsewhere. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and Ucross, and several poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. |
ONLINE - FULL
Intermediate / Advanced Creative Nonfiction Workshop
8 Weeks: Mondays, April 10 - May 29 (6 - 8pm EST) • $400
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This course is designed to give creative nonfiction writers, both those writing short essays and full manuscripts, the opportunity to give and receive feedback on work in progress. Writers may be working in any creative nonfiction genre, including but not limited to personal essay, memoir, travel writing, science and nature writing, political commentary, philosophical or contemplative essays, literary journalism, lyric essay, and hybrid or experimental work. The course offers a model for workshopping in which participants will receive written comments from the group and instructor via Google Docs during the week, 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 revision. Each participant will get the chance to workshop up to 5,000 words at least twice through the course. Participants will also receive readings and occasional writing exercises via email to supplement craft discussions and teacher lectures. Read full course description and course outline at the "Learn More" link! For intermediate and advanced writers with a serious commitment to taking their work to the next level. Limited to 8 writers.
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is the author of the hybrid novel In a Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Everyday Feminism, DIAGRAM, West Branch, Dusie, Huffington Post, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University and currently works in Western Massachusetts as an English professor and death doula. |
ONLINE
Earth Day: Connecting to Nature Through Writing & Art
3 Hours: Saturday, April 22 (1 - 4pm EST) • $60
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Climate change affects us all, and climate policy dialogues are increasingly in the media spotlight. In this single-session workshop, we will reflect on our relationship with nature through discussion and writing prompts; consider the impact of our current actions on future generations; and each student will compose their own pledge to be a steward of the environment. From our earliest experiences of observing and interacting with nature, to trying to keep nature immersion as a regular practice in a busy adult life, we will explore our memories, attitudes, and hopes for the natural environment. If you are working on a larger writing project that incorporate these ideas, this class will help you to write embodied, visceral prose that comes from an authentic place. This is a multidisciplinary and multi-media workshop that integrates meditation, visual poster-making, and (if possible) a break to walk outside and contact your nearest natural space. See full description for a list of recommended materials! All levels and genres. Limited to 12 writers.
MICHELLE LEVY is a book editor, writer, and Certified Environmental Educator. Her essays have appeared in Hippocampus Magazine, Humans and Nature, GoNOMAD, and more. She's completed 90-day wilderness survival courses in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. Originally from Chicago, she lived in Latin America for two years and Manhattan most of her life, and she now lives in the forest in the Catskills, with her two daughters, two cats, and a colony of stick bugs. |
ONLINE
Generative & Community-Building Workshop: All Genres
10 Weeks: Tuesdays, April 25 - June 27 (6 - 8pm EST) • $375
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This workshop is perfect for any writer, any level or genre, at any stage of the process who wants to be part of a supportive, weekly generative writing group. Each week will feature a number of prompts, tailored to the writers in the group, and we will meet to write together; however, writers can also choose to use the group writing time toward work on other projects, and/or apply the prompts toward those projects if they choose. After writing, participants will have the opportunity to share work aloud if moved to do so. The group will provide on-the-spot, encouraging verbal feedback. This 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! Limited to 10 writers. All levels.
KATE SENECAL received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2013. She is the former fiction editor of Storychord and the Director of PVWW's Manuscript Programs. She has received an honorable mention in Glimmer Train’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest, was the winner of Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose’s 2021 Award in Fiction, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2016. |
ONLINE
Generative & Community-Building Poetry Workshop
8 Weeks: Tuesdays, May 2 - June 20 (6 - 8pm EST) • $375
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This group is for both beginner and established poets who are craving a space to just be…poets! Each week, we'll generate new poems in class, guided by versatile prompts. Rather than intensive craft study, formal workshopping, and revision, we'll engage with encouraging on-the-spot feedback on brand new pieces. You may come to class with poems or ideas you’re already working on, too. If you are a poet looking for guided writing time, gentle accountability from an experienced instructor and fellow like-minded poets, support around writing/life balance, and the opportunity for community, this group is for you! By the end of the course, you’ll have garnered a sense of peer support, set intentions for your writing life, and written at least seven new drafts of poems for you to take with you. All levels. Limited to 10 writers.
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is the author of the hybrid novel In a Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Everyday Feminism, DIAGRAM, West Branch, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University and currently works in Western Massachusetts as an English professor and death doula. |
ONLINE
Writing for Social Media:
Starting Your Blog / Newsletter
6 Weeks: Thursdays, May 4 - June 8 (6 - 8pm EST) • $350
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Medium, Substack, Wordpress. You’ve certainly heard of them–perhaps you’ve read items on these platforms. Maybe you even have a site yourself that you've left dormant. Whatever the case is, this course is designed to help you start or revamp your online writing, to think up dynamic topics, play to your strengths, and generate endless posts that bring in a healthy following. Developing an online platform is a great way to write about your personal experience or expertise on a topic, connect with others, and in some cases, can lead to acquiring an agent and/or book deal. Over the course of six weeks, students will learn about numerous formats of online writing and discover strategies to build their own platforms. Each week, students will complete in-class writing to generate ideas of what their platform will be about. For writers of all levels and genres. Students should expect 1 - 2 hours of work each week. Limited to 10 writers.
ANITA GILL is a Fulbright Scholar whose work has appeared in The Iowa Review, Kweli, Prairie Schooner, The Offing, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her writing has been listed as Notable in Best American Essays and has won The Iowa Review Award in Nonfiction. She holds an MA in Literature from American University, and an MFA in Writing from Pacific University. She currently serves as Nonfiction Editor for Hypertext Review. |
ONLINE
Finding the Shape of Your Novel
2 Hours: Saturday, May 6 (1 - 3pm EST) • $45
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We know intuitively what shape a story can take: the problem, escalation, climax, and denouement. But novels can take thrilling and multi-varied directions; there’s a wonderland of novel structure to explore, far beyond the simple Aristotelian arc. In this two-hour online class, we’ll explore the possibilities of alternative story structures in novels, looking at examples from Teju Cole, Colum McCann, Katie Kitamura, and others; and we’ll do exercises to try structuring our own novels, discovering the narrative potential of re-ordering and re-formulating our stories’ conflicts. For writers currently engaged in novel-writing and/or novel revision.
BLAIR HURLEY is the author of THE DEVOTED, which was longlisted for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Her second novel, MINOR PROPHETS will be published in 2023. Her work is published in New England Review, Electric Literature, The Georgia Review, Guernica, Paris Review Daily, West Branch, and elsewhere. She is a Pushcart Prize winner and an ASME Fiction award finalist. |
ONLINE
The Poetry Chapbook: Creating and Publishing
3 Weeks: Saturdays, May 13 - 27 (10am - 12pm EST) • $200
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If you have a group of poems you’d like to publish as a chapbook, this workshop will guide you through the process. A good chapbook is more than a shorter version of a full-length book and more than a steppingstone to a first volume. You will learn how to select, edit and order poems and how to search for a publisher. There will be hands-on exercises to demonstrate steps of the assembling process. Writers who would most benefit from this class are those who have 20-30 pages of completed work. (Prior to the first class, writers will submit 10 pages of poetry to be used to demonstrate assembly). Read full course description and course outline at the "Learn More" link! Limited to 10 writers.
GAIL THOMAS' books are Trail of Roots, Leaving Paradise, Odd Mercy, Waving Back, No Simple Wilderness, and Finding the Bear. Her poems have been widely published in journals and anthologies including CALYX, Beloit Poetry Journal, North American Review, and elsewhere. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and Ucross, and several poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. |
ONLINE
Get Unstuck: Lighting the Creative Fire
2 Hours: Saturday, May 13 (1 - 3pm EST) • $45
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If you find yourself in a writing rut, stuck in the mud of your plot, or simply unmotivated, you're not alone. Getting stuck is natural to the writing process. This class is here to offer you strategizes to get unstuck in your creative work now and in the future. Through a series of engaging exercises, creative play, an equipping session, as well as some light support group discussion, the artistic fire is sure to light again. All writers of all levels and genres are welcome to join. Limited to 15 writers.
KIRA ROCKWELL is a neurodiverse playwright and educator. She is an Artist Fellow in Dramatic Writing with the Mass Cultural Council, a Recipient of Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, an Elliot Norton Nominee, and more. Her work has been developed with The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Great Plains Theatre Commons, among others. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. As an educator, she has taught at Brandeis University, Wheaton College, and centers across New England. |
ONLINE
Revising Your Prose with Courage
2 Hours: Saturday, May 20 (1 - 3pm EST) • $45
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"All writing is re-writing," Nabokov said. It's only when the messy first draft is finished that the real work begins of finding a story true potential. In this 2-hour workshop, we'll discuss what happens when writers complete the first draft, and the re-envisioning that goes into thoughtful revision. Using readings from Raymond Carver, Zadie Smith, and others, we will explore the lesser-known tools of revision that professional writers employ. Attendees will use in-class exercises and practical techniques to revise their manuscripts (whether short story, novel, memoir, or CNF), with the goals of shopping for conflict, exploring character motivations, and streamlining language. For writers of narrative prose (fiction, CNF, memoir) who are currently engaged in revision work.
BLAIR HURLEY is the author of THE DEVOTED, which was longlisted for The Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Her second novel, MINOR PROPHETS will be published in 2023. Her work is published in New England Review, Electric Literature, The Georgia Review, Guernica, Paris Review Daily, West Branch, and elsewhere. She is a Pushcart Prize winner and an ASME Fiction award finalist. |
ONLINE
A New Woman Warrior:
Writing Poems on Power, Grief, and Identity
2 Hours: Sunday, June 11 (1 - 3pm EST) • $45
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In her essential feminist book The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston expertly incorporates persona, Chinese folklore imagery & Chinese American experiences to build new notions of a “woman warrior.” How do we write our own journeys of empowerment and loss? In this generative workshop, we will study poems written by other women about our bodies and identities, motherhood and womanhood, grief and silence. Using prompts inspired by The Woman Warrior and readings of work by Anne Sexton, Lucille Clifton, Allison Blevins, Warsan Shire, Sylvia Plath, Rita Mookjerie & Emily Jungmin Yoon, we will write ourselves into the future and into ourselves. Students will come away with drafts of new poems as well as prompts to use when class is over. For writers of all levels. Limited to 12 writers.
JOAN KWON GLASS is the author of NIGHT SWIM (Diode Editions, 2022) & three chapbooks including IF RUST CAN GROW ON THE MOON (Milk & Cake Press, 2022). She serves as poet laureate for Milford, CT, as Editor in Chief for Harbor Review & as a Brooklyn Poets mentor. Joan teaches on the faculty of Hudson Valley Writers Center, Brooklyn Poets, Maine Writers Alliance & the International Women’s Writing Guild. Joan’s poems have been published in or are forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Asian American Writer’s Workshop (The Margins), Rattle, RHINO, Dialogist & elsewhere. |
ONLINE
Generative Short Fiction Intensive
8 Weeks: Summer / Fall Dates TBD • $400
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Have you vowed you'll write more? That you'll reclaim your writer’s life? This fun, supportive deep-dive into short fiction is for you! In this generative workshop, you’ll create up to seven short fiction drafts using prompts on storytelling elements like plot, voice, structure, character, setting, and point of view. To represent each element and deepen our understanding, each week you’ll be guided by reading and discussing a story from the masters, including Manuel Gonzalez, Alice Munro, Jamaica Kincaid, Jhumpa Lahiri, and more. You will have the opportunity to submit at least two drafts to receive workshop feedback from the teacher and class. Though this is a generation-focused course, we’ll also touch on introductory revision strategies. Past participants have estimated that the at-home reading/writing takes 2-5 hours per week. Read full course description and course outline at the "Learn More" link!
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is the author of the hybrid novel In a Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Everyday Feminism, DIAGRAM, West Branch, Dusie, Huffington Post, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University and currently works in Western Massachusetts as an English professor and death doula. |
ONLINE
Intro to the Personal Essay
4 Weeks: Summer / Fall Dates TBD • $250
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Ready to put yourself on paper? Whether you’re just getting started or you’d like to get re-started, this course is for you. Here, we’ll get curious about key concepts in the art of the personal essay, including narrative, writing both scenes and reflections/ideas, and basic revision concepts, while studying examples from essayists like Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Sy Montgomery, and Berry Grass. We’ll put what we learn into practice using prompts and generation exercises for inspiration, and in the second half of the course, each student will have the chance to workshop one draft with the whole class. By the end of the course, you’ll have generated at least two short essay drafts to take with you, and the tools to continue honing your craft. Read full course description and course outline at the "Learn More" link! Limited to 10 writers. For beginners.
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI is the author of the hybrid novel In a Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Everyday Feminism, DIAGRAM, West Branch, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University and currently works in Western Massachusetts as an English professor and death doula. |
Did you just attend a workshop or work with an editor? We'd love your feedback!
We'd love to hear about your experience! If you have a minute, we always appreciate feedback via our Workshop Feedback Form or our Editing & Manuscript Consulting Form - we take all feedback into account and it's incredibly helpful to learn both what you enjoyed and anything you didn't. If you've enjoyed your experience, we're also endlessly grateful for all Facebook reviews and Google Reviews, which help other writers find us! Thank you in advance!
10-MONTH MANUSCRIPT PROGRAM
APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED
ONLINE
10-Month Novel Workshop: First Draft
10 Months: March - Dec. 2023 • Meets Mondays (6:30 - 9:30pm 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
10-Month Novel Workshop: Revision
10 Months: March - Dec. 2023 • Meets first Wednesdays (6:30 - 9:30pm EST) • Cost: $2500
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This workshop is for fiction writers who have finished a complete draft of a full-length 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. All participants and the instructor will read up to 100k words of each others’ full manuscripts over the course of the year. Each writer will have at least two opportunities to discuss their manuscript with the entire group, where they will receive written and verbal feedback. 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. Limited to 9 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
10-Month Poetry & Hybrid Manuscript Workshop
10 Months: March - Dec. 2023 • Meets first Wednesdays (6:30 - 9:30pm 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
10-Month Nonfiction Manuscript Workshop
10 Months: March - Dec. • Meets first Thursdays (6:30 - 9:30pm 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 open until 12/22/22
10-Month Memoir Workshop
10 Months: March - Dec. 2023 • Meets first Tuesdays (6:30 - 9:30pm 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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