Prose Writing Group (Spring/Summer 2026)
8-Week Session / Ongoing • with Leonora Desar • All Levels
Available spots
Class Description
This group is for prose writers at any stage who want to be part of a supportive, weekly ongoing writing group, whether you’re just starting out or publishing frequently, and whether you’re writing short stories, memoirs, or any kind of prose-based storytelling! Meetings are structured so as to be casual and manageable with busy lifestyles, and as such there will be no readings or assignments outside of group meetings, and of course the commitment to your own writing. Each meeting may include a mix of looking at masterful excerpts (or complete short pieces) together in class and discussing how they work; discussion and breakdown of different craft topics; prompts and generative in-class writing time; and an opportunity to share our work (and goals) aloud with the group for on-the-spot feedback and/or brainstorming (always optional). The week-by-week agenda will evolve and change in response to the interests and goals of the writers in the group, as led by the instructor. Above all, this group is a space of community-building, creative support, writing time, and craft/process development for writers who want to make more time for their work and to connect with other writers. STRUCTURE: This is an ongoing group that meets weekly for eight weeks, followed by a short break, before continuing on for another session, and so forth. Current group members always get priority when registering for the next session. INSTRUCTOR LEONORA DESAR's fiction has appeared in places such as River Styx, Passages North, The Cincinnati Review, Black Warrior Review, and Columbia Journal, where she was chosen as a finalist by Ottessa Moshfegh. She has been selected for The Best Small Fictions 2019 and 2021, Best Microfiction 2019, 2020, 2021, and the Wigleaf Top 50 (2019, 2020, 2021). She was a runner-up/finalist in Quarter After Eight’s Robert J. DeMott Short Prose Contest, judged by Stuart Dybek, and Crazyhorse’s Crazyshorts! contest. Her journalism has appeared in Psychology Today, WomansDay.com, Parenting magazine, WomansDay.com, Business Insider, and others. She holds an MFA in fiction from NYU, where she taught creative writing, and an MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. MEMBER DISCOUNT: ***If you're a PVWW Member, use your Member Discount Code upon checkout! If you're not a member and interested in becoming one, email us at admin@pioneervalleywriters.com, with subject "Membership."
Upcoming Sessions
Cancellation Policy
If you withdraw from a workshop TEN DAYS OR MORE before the start of the class: You'll receive credit toward another workshop (minus 10% transaction fee) OR a full refund (minus 10% transaction fee). The transaction fee is non-refundable for PVWW, so this is something we must apply to all refunds and transfers. Please note that this fee applies even in the case of accidental registration. If you withdraw from a workshop nine days before the start of the class up until 48 hours before: You'll receive a refund minus 20%. If you withdraw from a workshop less than 48 hours before the start of a class or after the class has begun: We cannot offer credit or any refund. If you are absent on the day of your workshop or miss it for any reason, we are unable to offer any kind of refund or credit. If we have to cancel a class you have paid for, you will receive a full refund, without the service charge deducted. For our full listing of policies, visit www.PioneerValleyWriters.Com, Policies page (under Home). To withdraw and receive a partial refund according to the above, please get in touch with us at admin@pioneervalleywriters.com
Contact Details
admin@pioneervalleywriters.com
Florence, Northampton, MA, USA