Events, Classes, and Seminars

Every poem is in conversation with the writing that came before it. This conversation crosses generations and cultures, erasing distances of time, space, and mortality. In this four-part class, we'll make that conversation intentional. We'll consider the what, why, and how of writing in dialogue with other writers: what it means to write "after" someone, why we might quote, echo, erase, or respond to another text, and how we might do so with care, integrity, and proper credit.

In this course, we’ll study writing that engages with folklore in a wide variety of ways: speculative memoir that tangles with witch tales, poems that draw on botanical lore, short story fairy tale retellings, mythic poetry and fiction, and more.

The workshop will begin with an interactive seminar on narrative structure. Participants will then analyze and present the dramatic beats of one of their favorite pieces of fiction to better understand what makes the story “work.” We’ll then apply those principles to your own work of fiction, devising character-driven scenes for maximum emotional effect.

Over three sessions, we’ll break down what a memoir book proposal needs, how to prove there’s an audience for your story, and how to make your personal material feel urgent. We’ll study real-life successful proposals and revise student material live in class. Best for writers with at least a partial manuscript or proposal-in-progress.

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.

This course encourages prose writers to turn their gaze outward through research, be it trips to the library, time spent online, interviewing, and more. Over six weeks, we will read and discuss works that incorporate research in unique ways, and follow our questions and passions to enrich our writing.

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).

This course is designed to help poets overcome the fear of fixed form through in-class practice, specialized writing prompts, and instruction on letting the form work for them rather than against them. Students will be guided through writing practices and prompts to generate specific words, ideas, symbols, or metaphors that will serve as catalysts for discovering fresh syntax, diction, and imagery.