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Open Writing Hours Today!
WriterHouse will be offering the volunteer operated Open Writing Hours today. Come in and enjoy a nice quiet place to write, meet with your writer friends, and have a cup of coffee on the house. Want to see more open hours? We do too! Become a volunteer for WriterHouse today to help us promote the creation and appreciation of the literary arts in your community.
Find out more »Pattern and Form in Poetry
Instructor: Kristen Rembold Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Tuesdays, 5/23/17 - 6/27/17 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM This class will be an examination of pattern and form in poetry. All poets are pattern makers. We'll read examples from literature (mainly recent examples) and set about deconstructing/constructing our own forms, too. Participants will have the opportunity to submit and workshop poems each week, and we will view those poems-in-process through the lens of pattern/exception. Even if you don't think of yourself…
Find out more »Evening Poetry
Instructor: Mark Parlette-Carino Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Tuesdays, 5/23/17 - 6/27/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM This workshop is open to all poets—beginners, dabblers and dedicated writers. In it, you'll have the chance to create and share new work each week. We'll use the workshop, and some discussion of published poems and writing processes, to explore different aspects of what makes poems work—the language, the images, the ideas, the rhetorical structures. Our goal is to marvel at…
Find out more »Writing 101: The Elements of Good Storytelling
Instructor: Lisa Ellison Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Tuesdays, 5/23/17 - 6/27/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Whether you’re interested in writing true stories or fiction, the elements of great storytelling are the same. Writers need to know how to develop interesting characters, establish a story’s central conflict, write engaging scenes, and use vivid sensory details. They also need to know how to give and receive supportive editorial feedback. During this six-week class, we’ll examine the elements…
Find out more »Open Writing Hours Today
WriterHouse will be offering the volunteer operated Open Writing Hours today. Come in and enjoy a nice quiet place to write, meet with your writer friends, and have a cup of coffee on the house. Want to see more open hours? We do too! Become a volunteer for WriterHouse today to help us promote the creation and appreciation of the literary arts in your community.
Find out more »Daytime Creative Nonfiction – Class is Full, Waiting List Available
Instructor: Lisa Ellison Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Wednesdays, 5/24/17 - 6/28/17 | 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM "The most important question anyone can ask is: What myth am I living?" - Carl Jung "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." –Joan Didion This class will focus on how to take personal writing in any form—memoir, personal essay, or creative nonfiction—and mine…
Find out more »Daytime Fiction
Instructor: Nichole LeFebvre Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Wednesdays, 5/24/17 - 6/28/17 | 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM Building Character Convincing readers that the characters you’ve imagined are full, complex human beings is essential to creating effective fiction. In this class, we’ll focus on how to construct the people that will populate your fiction by studying techniques used by writers such as Ottessa Moshfegh, Flannery O’Connor, ZZ Packer, and Joy Williams. Nichole LeFebvre is an MFA candidate in…
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Evening Fiction: Introduction to Flash Fiction
Instructor: Phil Jason Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Wednesdays, 5/24/17 - 6/28/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Flash Fiction is probably not new (certainly it was hard to write a novel when you were living in a cave, running from predators and had a vocabulary of only two hundred words), but the advent of Internet publishing has brought significantly more attention to the short short form (stories under 1000 words). Still, it remains a difficult genre to…
Find out more »Open Writing Hours Today!
WriterHouse will be offering the volunteer operated Open Writing Hours today. Come in and enjoy a nice quiet place to write, meet with your writer friends, and have a cup of coffee on the house. Want to see more open hours? We do too! Become a volunteer for WriterHouse today to help us promote the creation and appreciation of the literary arts in your community.
Find out more »Literary Salon with Brendan Wolfe
Please join us as we celebrate the publication of WriterHouse Instructor Brendan Wolfe's book Finding Bix: The Life and Afterlife of a Jazz Legend. During this one-hour session, moderated by Jay Varner, Brendan will talk about what he learned while writing about a jazz legend as well as his publication process. As an added bonus, Wolfe will play audio recordings of Bix's songs. About Finding Bix: Bix Beiderbecke was one of the first great legends of jazz. Among the…
Find out more »Evening Advanced Creative Nonfiction
Instructor: Jay Varner Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Thursdays, 5/25/17 - 6/29/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM In this advanced workshop, you’ll have a chance to work on either revisions or new material. Along the way, we’ll read select craft essays and examples of successful creative nonfiction. However, the primary focus will be on your writing—not just larger concerns like structure and development, but also more focused issues like sentence structure and word choice. The goal is…
Find out more »Open Writing Hours Today!
WriterHouse will be offering the volunteer operated Open Writing Hours today. Come in and enjoy a nice quiet place to write, meet with your writer friends, and have a cup of coffee on the house. Want to see more open hours? We do too! Become a volunteer for WriterHouse today to help us promote the creation and appreciation of the literary arts in your community.
Find out more »Makeup Class for Daytime Fiction
Instructor: Nichole LeFebvre Cost: $142 Members | $158 Non-members 6 Wednesdays, 5/24/17 – 6/28/17 | 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM Building Character Convincing readers that the characters you’ve imagined are full, complex human beings is essential to creating effective fiction. In this class, we’ll focus on how to construct the people that will populate your fiction by studying techniques used by writers such as Ottessa Moshfegh, Flannery O’Connor, ZZ Packer, and Joy Williams. Nichole LeFebvre is an MFA candidate in…
Find out more »Summer Reading
Join us for wine, snacks, and a festive reading featuring students from our summer term. All are welcome to attend.
Find out more »Memoir in a Year Part II: Revising the Draft of Your Book
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan Tuition: $1,449.00 (application required) 24 Thursdays, January 12, 2017 – December 14, 2017 | 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Application Deadline: 12/2/16 Description Have you written a first-draft of a memoir and find you are ready to take it to the next stage? Are you ready to polish your scenes and make them shine while enjoying the structure and motivation provided from committed peers in a guided class setting? Memoir in a Year Part II: Revise Your Book-Length…
Find out more »Write On! Session One: 6th-8th Grade Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Erin James Cost: $220 on or before April 30, 2017, $235 May 1, 2017 or thereafter Monday - Friday July 10, 2017 - July 14, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM During this week, young writers will explore the craft and fun of creative writing through a variety of prompts, journaling, music, brainstorming, people-watching and visits to inspiring nearby locations. Modes of expression and experimentation will include poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and more! Throughout the week, we will learn about and…
Find out more »Write On! Session One: 9th-12th Grade Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Abby Baum Cost: $220 on or before April 30, 2017, 2017, $235 on May 1, 2017 or thereafter Monday - Friday July 10, 2017 - July 14, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM In a world that is increasingly colored by diversions and distractions, how do we, as artists, learn to leverage inspiration? This five-day intensive study will be situated in the study of that seemingly elusive muse: inspiration. The course will seek to locate a beginning point for each…
Find out more »Write On! Session One: 3rd-5th Grade Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Terry Levinson Cost: $220 before May 1, 2017, $235 thereafter Monday - Friday July 10, 2017 - July 14, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM “You become a writer because you need to become a writer - nothing else.” --Grace Paley “When my speaking voice fails me, my writing voice prevails. My hand is intimately connected to my heart.” -- tslevinson We all need to discover the power of our words and have an avenue for expression. During this lively…
Find out more »Write On! Session Two: 3rd-5th Grade Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Robin Albertson-Wren Cost: $220 on or before April 30, 2017, $235 May 1, 2017 Monday - Friday July 17, 2017 - July 21, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM Come enjoy a week immersed in poetry! We will be reading poems, studying various styles and creating our own. We will be inspired by stories in verse, local artists, downtown venues and even by making homemade ice cream! Robin Albertson-Wren has been inspiring children to write since 1991. She first began creating…
Find out more »Write On! Session Two: 9th-12th Grade Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Abby Baum Cost: $220 on or before April 30, 2017, $235 May 1, 2017 or thereafter Monday - Friday July 17, 2017 - July 21, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM In a world that is increasingly colored by diversions and distractions, how do we, as artists, learn to leverage inspiration? This five-day intensive study will be situated in the study of that seemingly elusive muse: inspiration. The course will seek to locate a beginning point for each member, appropriate…
Find out more »Write On! Session Two: 6th-8th Grade Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Jen Buckett Cost: $220 on or before April 30, 2017, $235 May 1, 2017 or thereafter Monday - Friday July 17, 2017 - July 21, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM Are you a young writer looking for inspiration and feedback on your work? Join us this summer as we search for stories between the musty shelves of used bookstores, inside the paintings of local artists, and outside in overheard conversations on the Downtown Mall. We'll become a a community…
Find out more »Write On! Session Three: 9th-12th Grade Advanced Creative Writing Summer Program
Instructor: Hannah Barnaby Cost: $220 on or before April 30, 2017, $235 May 1, 2017 or thereafter Monday - Friday July 24, 2017 - July 28, 2017 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM You already know that you love to write -- but great writing is equal parts passion and skill. This summer camp session is designed to help you find that balance. We'll spend the week focused on going deeper into your stories, getting to the core of what sets your…
Find out more »First Pages
Instructor: Phil Jason Cost: $139 Members | $147 Non-members Monday - Friday, 7/31/16 - 8/4/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM First pages possess an enormous significance. In the bible, the first page is where God creates the universe! In your own work, whether it’s a short story or a novel, fiction or nonfiction, it’s going to be where the reader enters whatever universe you’re creating or sharing. This is where you’re going to introduce them to things like your…
Find out more »Writing 101: Elements of Good Storytelling
Instructor: Lisa Ellison Cost: $139 Members | $147 Non-members Monday - Friday, 7/31/16 - 8/4/17 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Whether you’re interested in writing true stories or fiction, the elements of great storytelling are the same. Writers need to know how to develop interesting characters, establish a story’s central conflict, write engaging scenes, and use vivid sensory details. They also need to know how to give and receive supportive editorial feedback. During this five-day intensive, we’ll examine the…
Find out more »From Memory to Memoir
Instructor: Lisa Ellison Cost: FREE for WriterHouse Members Wednesday 8/2/17 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM This seminar is intended for budding memoirists who are interested in shaping their life experiences into a dynamic story around a specific theme. In this two-hour seminar, we will discuss the basic tools you’ll need to write engaging and vivid stories about your life. We’ll read short examples of writers who use these tools effectively, then we’ll write our own using in-class exercises. Please bring…
Find out more »Of Bigness and Brevity
Instructor:Annie Kim Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 8/5/17 | 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Brevity is the soul of wit. But what of poetry? Working from the premise that even big poems are made up of well-tooled little parts, we'll dig into examples of both big and little poems to unpack the art of poetic brevity. We'll explore ideas for revising work with an eye toward speed and grace. While writers of all levels are welcome, this class…
Find out more »So You Think You Wanna Novel?
Instructor:Kristie Smeltzer Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 8/5/17 | 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM This seminar is intended for budding novelists, those who plan to start writing a novel or are in the process of writing a novel first draft. We’ll briefly discuss some basic aspects of writing and terms you should be aware of, which will help you know what to learn more about, if you haven’t already, before you get too deep into your book. We’ll also…
Find out more »After You Finish a Novel Draft: What’s Next?
Instructor:Kristie Smeltzer Cost: $60 Members | $65 Non-members Sunday 8/6/17 | 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM Congratulations! You have written a full draft of your novel or are nearing completion. While one phase of work is done, another has just begun. This seminar will cover approaches to help you step back and get a clear sense of your novel as a whole. We’ll discuss several tools you can use when refining the structure of your narrative, and exercises to help you…
Find out more »The Making of a Debut Memoir: A Conversation about Lessons Learned and Tricks of the Trade
Join WriterHouse instructors Sharon Harrigan and Jennifer Niesslein as they talk about the missteps, lessons learned, and triumphs experienced while writing and publishing their debut memoirs. Learn what these authors wished they had known while we also celebrate the release of Sharon’s new book Playing with Dynamite, forthcoming from Truman State University Press in October 2017. Short story author and novelist Kristen-Paige Madonia will moderate this conversation. Advanced praise for Sharon’s Book: “For much of her life, Sharon Harrigan’s father…
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