Announcing our Winter 2023 classes! Join Elaine Hsieh Chou in a generative flash fiction class, Jane Wong in a memory and food writing craft class, Jessica Abughattas in a poetry workshop, and Matt Ortile in a personal essay craft class.
We’re excited to kick off 2023 with these offerings. More info about these classes are below, and you can browse the lineup of present and past classes here!
Craft Class:
Saturday, 3:00 PM–6:00 PM ET
January 14th
Open to all writers of color
The possibilities of flash fiction are endless. A flash fiction piece can be plot-driven, character-driven or setting-driven. But it can also be a question, a hypothesis, a dream, a memory, a feeling. Instead of being limiting, the short word count offers writers a limitless space of play and experimentation. Condensing or tightening a story’s focus can create an intense and singular reading experience that leaves a lasting impression. When we cut out what is unnecessary and only commit to what is necessary, when we depart from the conventional demands and structures of a short story, what magic can we create within the precious space we are given?
During this three-hour craft course, we will study examples of flash fiction (by K-Ming Chang, Vanessa Chan, Tania James, Mahreen Sohail, and more) and discuss different genres and styles of flash fiction including speculative, humorous/satirical and experimental forms. We will also be generating flash fiction through specific writing exercises and prompts so participants leave feeling excited to create new work, in addition to having several new concepts and beginnings to work from. No prior experience with flash fiction is required.
Succulent Poetry: Memory and Food Writing
Craft Class:
Saturday, 2:00–5:00 PM ET
February 4th
Open to all writers of color
In "From Blossoms," Li-Young Lee writes: "O, to take what we love inside, / to carry within us an orchard." Together, we will delve into the intimate sensory memories that food evokes. How can writing about food open up evocative spaces of comfort, family, memory, shared rituals, and desires? How can writing through and about food radically strengthen our communities and open up our creative craft? Along with celebrating and exploring food writing by poets such as Lucille Clifton, Chen Chen, Naomi Shihab Nye, and more, we will write together inspired by delicious prompts. Bring lots of snacks and a beloved vegetable/fruit.
8–Week Workshop:
Sundays 2:00–5:00 PM ET
February 5th–March 26th
Open to all writers of color
In poetry, the most resonant and memorable images evoke the senses, and are heightened by musicality, voice, and lineation. The most effective images transport us in time and space. In this eight-week poetry workshop, we will close-read and discuss poems with a strong sense of place—whether setting serves to locate an emotional memory, or the poem is an ode to a hometown. We will consider different poetic approaches to writing place, and write our own poems that reside in our cities and senses. Students will be invited to share their work and receive feedback from their peers.
The Essay as "Attempt": Making Sense of the World With Personal Essays
Craft Class:
Sunday, 2:00–5:00 PM ET
March 5th
Open to all writers of color
It was once decreed that “the personal essay boom is over.” In the years since, the personal essay has evolved: Authors are making the personal more explicitly political, connecting their individual experiences to broader cultural topics, trends, and ephemera in order to better understand the former, the latter, or both. But this evolution, Montaigne might argue, is in fact a return to its roots; they are “essays” or “attempts” at making sense of the confounding world we live in. In this one-day craft class, we’ll discuss why and how to deploy the personal essay form to elucidate the issues that trouble and fascinate us most as writers of color.
We will begin with a short seminar on the personal essay, followed by generative exercises to develop ideas for essays that tell compelling personal narratives and incorporate fact-based research, reporting, and/or analytical commentary. The second half of class will be devoted to a short workshop on how to pitch personal essays to magazine editors. In discussing the place of the personal essay in today’s literary and media landscape, we’ll consider arguments by writers like Jia Tolentino, Morgan Jerkins, Kyle Lucia Wu, Matthew Salesses, and more.
All classes will take place on Zoom and the class times listed are in Eastern Time. There are scholarships available for each class and deadlines are listed on the individual course pages.
View our full selection of online classes on our Online Classes Page.
See you online!