Events, Classes, and Seminars

Through guided meditations, writing exercises, and reading excerpts of big-hearted, emotionally courageous literature, writers of fiction and nonfiction will develop more self-connection, feel compassion for themselves as writers as well as for their characters, and care for their nervous system during the writing process, so they can enjoy more flow, catharsis, and joy.

In this course we'll read a number of first-person stories and discuss the advantages and risks of this perspective and how the first-person perspective is effectively established and sustained. Participants will use prompts to experiment with the many possibilities of the first-person in their own creative work.

This summer, let’s finish a story! This creative writing workshop is a fresh take on an old classic: a writing workshop with a focus on craft. Using examples from literature, we’ll examine what is working in several contemporary short stories then take a deeper look at our own work.

Through brief readings, writing prompts, and generative exercises, we’ll welcome in and attune our writing to the time of year.

This workshop embraces political, social justice-driven short fiction. In this three-hour session, we'll read excerpts from underrepresented authors, discuss confronting oppression, and engage in generative writing and supportive sharing.

This workshop will center transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming writers in all workshop materials and its approach.This Pride month, join TGNC+ writer Brody Parrish Craig (they/them) to celebrate contemporary trans poetry, generate new creative work & share our stories with one another.

This generative summer writing class will be a journey through all five senses. Each week we will read and/or view published pieces that focuses on a specific sense, then develop our own sensory work through discussion and generative prompts. Open to writers of all genres and experience levels.

Turn lived experience into a compelling memoir. This four-week course helps writers shape personal stories with clarity, structure, and intention. You’ll explore narrative arc, voice, and emotional truth while learning how to craft a story that resonates without losing your thread along the way.

Each week, we will read and discuss short pieces and excerpts from contemporary authors who are known to weave their pasts into the present including Annie Erneaux, Joan Didion, Ayad Aktar, Sonya Walger, Aysegul Savas, Rachel Cusk, Emmanuel Carrere, and others. There were also be to weekly craft essays on various genres (memoir, personal essay, autofiction and hybrid).

In this one-day workshop, we’ll review practical, applicable revision tools for each stage of the revision process. Then, we’ll take some time to reflect on what parts of your work-in-progress to tackle next.

This class is for fiction writers who have already made significant progress on novels, novellas, or short stories. This six-week workshop will offer in-depth guidance to students on their fiction writing projects.

You’ve worked hard on your writing and you want to bring it to your readers beyond the page. As writers, we don’t often get much instruction in performing our work. Even as we give public readings, make audio recordings, and film our excerpts for the internet, we’re often left to our own devices. In this course, we’ll practice reading our work aloud, incorporating theatrical techniques and exercises, and experimenting with performance styles to bring our words to life for an audience.

In this generative writing workshop, we will explore a slice of Portland as flâneurs, or writers who walk and observe as part of their practice.

Write about difficult experiences with honesty and control. This six-week course helps you navigate vulnerability on the page without feeling exposed or stuck. Through guided exercises and discussion, you’ll develop strategies to approach sensitive material with clarity, emotional safety, and intention so you can tell the truth while staying grounded.

This class will provide an introduction to journalism for every writer. Learning the fundamentals of reporting, researching, writing, editing and fact-checking can enhance any writing practice. In five, two-hour sessions, students of all levels will learn basic journalistic skills they can apply to their own projects, whatever the genre.

Together we will read & write creative writing on substance abuse, addiction & recovery, with an emphasis on harm reduction, healing, and reclamation. We will look at poems, short stories, and essay writing centering themes of addiction by their loved ones and by those with lived experience.