Upcoming Courses
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Writing Desire
Mondays: November 3 - December 1
7 - 9 p.m. EST
$400
How do we turn internal obsession into a narrative that resonates broadly? What's the role of restraint when writing with passion? Storytelling is neither a mystical pursuit, nor a technical one. It boils down to desire. The reader is asking two essential questions when they pick up a story. First: Who do I care about? And second: What do they care about? If you make the reader shoulder what Sarah Manguso calls “the burden of hope,” they will follow you anywhere.
The Practice of Imagination
Tuesdays: November 4 - December 2
7 - 9 p.m. EST
$400
Imagination is at the heart of fiction—yet it’s often overlooked in serious discussions of writing. There’s something elusive about it, both abstract and a little kindergarten. What is imagination, exactly? What makes for a well-imagined story? And how can we nurture our own imaginations, in order to write the fiction that is the most specific and particular to us—fiction that is original and alive?
Past Courses
2025
GENERATING THE PERSONAL ESSAY with BRIAN BENSON
BUSINESS OF FREELANCING with ALI FRANCIS
featuring Jess Tran, Elyse Inamine, & Chloé CaldwellWRITING PEOPLE: THE ART OF PROFILE & BIOGRAPHY with MAYUKH SEN
featuring Doreen St. Félix, Jiayang Fan, Julie Phillips, & Julianna Escobedo ShepherdNONFICTION RE-VISION INTENSIVE with MARGO STEINES
WRITING MOTHERHOOD with RACHEL YODER
featuring Lidia Yuknavitch, Michelle Tea, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson & Rivka GalchenMODERN LOVE SUBMISSION WORKSHOP with LAVINIA SPALDING
WRITING GRIEF with MEGAN STIELSTRA
featuring Samantha Irby, Lulu Miller, Matthew Salesses, & Vauhini VaraFUCK THE BIG FIVE with CHLOÉ CALDWELL
featuring Mia Arias Tsang, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Christoph Paul, and Brian Gresko
WRITING HUMOR with GREG MARSHALL
featuring Sloane Crosley, Ben Philippe, Parini Shroff, & Curtis Sittenfeld
WRITING THE BOOK PROPOSAL with RAKSHA VASUDEVAN
featuring Elisa Gabbert, Lauren Markham, Noelle Falcis-Math, & Anni LiuWRITING THE BODY with MARGO STEINES
featuring Sarah Manguso, Krys Malcolm Belc, Porochista Khakpour, & Christina CookeRETHINKING TRAVEL WRITING with FAITH ADIELE
featuring Carey Baraka, Bani Amor, Pier Nirandara, & Noo Saro-WiwaWRITING PICTURE BOOKS with KYO MACLEAR
featuring Minh Lê, Matthew Burgess, X. Fang, & Jillian TamakiWRITING AUTOFICTION with AUBE REY LESCURE
featuring Zinzi Clemmons, Laura van den Berg, Alexander Chee, & Andrew Sean Greer
2024
HYBRID MEMOIR with LILLY DANCYGER
featuring Nicole Chung, Elissa Washuta, Jeanna Kadlec, & Chelsea BiondolilloNAVIGATING LITERARY PUBLICITY with LAUREN CERAND
featuring Dan Sinykin, Kathleen Schmidt, Sonya Chung, & Andre BanksRESEARCH FOR WRITERS with JULIA COOKE
featuring Álvaro Enrigue, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, May Jeong, & Jerry SaltzSCRAPPY: HOW TO BUILD AN ALTERNATIVE LITERARY LIFE with CHLOÉ CALDWELL
featuring Courtney Maum, Alex Alberto, M. M. Carrigan, & Lidia YuknavitchWRITING ABOUT FAMILY with PRISCILLA GILMAN
featuring Safiya Sinclair, Maggie Smith, Dani Shapiro, & Casey Gerald
WRITING FOOD with ALI FRANCIS
featuring Bettina Makalintal, Mayukh Sen, Jaya Saxena, & Alicia KennedyWRITING THE MODERN LOVE ESSAY with LAVINIA SPALDING
featuring Susan Yoon, Kevin Renn, Staceyann Chin, & Miya LeeWRITING MOTHERHOOD with RACHEL YODER
featuring Angela Garbes, Louisa Hall, Sabrina Orah Mark, & Erika MorilloWRITING TRAUMA with MARGO STEINES
featuring Stacey Ramsower, Athena Dixon, T Kira Māhealani Madden, & Lacy M. JohnsonWRITING THIS WARMING WORLD with MEERA SUBRAMANIAN
featuring Emily Raboteau, Helen Macdonald, Elizabeth Rush, & J. Drew Lanham
2023
HYBRID MEMOIR with LILLY DANCYGER
featuring Melissa Febos, Esmé Weijun Wang, Jeannie Vanasco, & Tyrese L. ColemenWRITING THE BODY with MARGO STEINES
& featuring Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Melissa Febos, Natalie Lima, & Leslie Jamison
2022
HOW TO BEGIN with LESLIE JAMISON & COLLEEN KINDER