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August 2019
Telling Your Story: Personal Essay and Memoir (This seminar is full!)
Instructor: Bill Glose $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 8/11/19 | 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm This seminar will focus on structure and storytelling elements of essays and memoirs. Practical exercises will incorporate brainstorming and organizational techniques to gather details and focus your story on a particular theme. The class will also discuss ethical dilemmas associated with true-life stories. Bill Glose is a former paratrooper and combat platoon leader. Now a civilian, he undertakes intriguing pursuits—such as walking across Virginia…
Find out more »December 2019
End-of-class Celebration: Memoir in a Year II
An end-of-class celebration and reading for the students and instructor of the Memoir in a Year II course.This is a private event for students, family, and friends.
Find out more »January 2020
Evening Advanced Creative Nonfiction
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 1/14/20 - 3/3/20 | 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM NOTE: This class will start and end half an hour earlier than other evening classes. The goal of this Advanced Creative Nonfiction workshop is to push you to a new level of professionalism and take you from a first draft to a submission-ready final draft. The workshop will be about quality, not quantity, as we adopt a more tough-minded, detailed approach. Since…
Find out more »Daytime Combo: Fiction and Creative Nonfiction
Instructor: Christina Ward-Niven $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 1/16/20 – 3/12/20 | 1:00 pm -3:30 pm NOTE: No class on 3/5. Last class will be on 3/12. In this workshop, we will read one story or essay by a published author each week and discuss what makes it tick. How exactly does the piece work (or not)? We’ll dig into a wide range of craft topics, as they come up—point of view, characterization, pacing, suspense, mystery, etc. Next we’ll…
Find out more »Daytime Generative Writing (Will meet on-line)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 1/22/20 – 3/25/20 | 9:30 am -12:00 pm NOTE: This class will start and end one week later than other eight-week classes. No time for homework? No problem. We’ll do all the writing and critique work in class, so you don’t have to do it at home. Each session will begin with a short meditation to clear our heads. Then the instructor will lead participants through a series of prompts that…
Find out more »March 2020
Evening Creative Nonfiction (THIS CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELLED!)
Instructor: Brendan Wolfe $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 3/31/20 – 5/19/20 | 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm In this workshop, we'll critique student writing in addition to considering samples of a few published selections. We’ll consider essays and memoir as a distinctive genre, with the goal of moving from the chin-strokingly philosophical—"What is a true story?" "Is it memoir or mem-wah?"—to the more practical: "How should this story be told?" "How do I convince my readers to share my…
Find out more »April 2020
Advanced Fiction/Nonfiction Workshop (Online course. Cancelled!)
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4/14/20 - 6/4/20 | 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM The goal of this Advanced Fiction and Creative Nonfiction workshop is to push you to a new level of professionalism and take you from a first draft to a submission-ready final draft. The workshop will be about quality, not quantity, as we adopt a more tough-minded, detailed approach. Since everyone is expected to have a certain level of experience, we…
Find out more »Daytime Generative Writing (Online course)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays and Fridays, 4/15/20 – 6/5/20 | 9:30 am – 10:45 am No time for homework? No problem. We’ll do all the writing and critique work in class, so you don’t have to do it at home. Each session will begin with a short meditation to clear our heads. Then the instructor will lead participants through a series of prompts that build on each other and move toward the goal of completing…
Find out more »Reading for Craft: Fiction and Nonfiction (Online course)
Instructor: Jody Hesler $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 4/16/20 – 6/18/20 | 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm (10 week class) In this class we’ll be reading published short stories and essays that employ craft strategies in especially unique or effective ways. We’ll dig deep into each piece to see what makes it work, or what keeps it from working, for each of us. Stronger readers make stronger writers, so we will be able to apply what we learn from…
Find out more »Propelled by Story, Constrained by Truth: Exploring the Boundaries of Narrative Nonfiction (Online seminar)
Instructor: Chris Register $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/25/20 | 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm Narrative nonfiction authors face many decisions along their journey from proposal to print. Whether curating material for a historical snapshot, recreating conversations for a travelogue, or painting a scene for a memoir, the challenges are the same: where to begin, what to tell and leave out (and in what order), how much dialogue versus backstory to employ, and—of course—that elephant in the writing room: to…
Find out more »June 2020
The Personal Essay (Online class, This class is full!)
Instructor: Jay Varner $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Fridays, 6/2/20 – 7/24/20 | 9:00 am – 10:15 am Eight-week class Joan Didion once said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.” The Personal Essay explores an inventive and elastic form that helps you understand and connect experiences and beliefs. We will closely read and study some of the masters of the personal essay through close reading and mini-exercises designed to spark new material or…
Find out more »Autofiction (aka The Creative Memoir): A Workshop (Online class)
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $94.50 Members | $105 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6/16/20 – 7/9/20 | 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm Four-week class While Autofiction might seem new and in vogue (think of Ben Lerner, Sheila Heti, Karl Ove Knausgard), it has in fact been around since humans first scribbled. In fact, it might just be the only authentic genre, as nothing, it could be said, is ever purely fictional or nonfictional. They are all just stories. The purpose of this workshop…
Find out more »July 2020
Readings from “My Shadow Is My Skin” hosted by editor Katherine Whitney (Virtual reading)
On July 22 at 6:00 pm, join WriterHouse member, Renata Khoshroo Louwers, and anthology contributors, Roger Sedarat and Mehdi Okasi, as they read from their essays and discuss the powerful collection with editor Katherine Whitney. The Iranian revolution of 1979 launched a vast, global diaspora, with many Iranians establishing new lives in the United States. In the four decades since, the diaspora has expanded to include not only those who emigrated immediately after the revolution but also their American-born children,…
Find out more »September 2020
Daytime Combo: Fiction and Creative Nonfiction (Online class, CANCELED!)
Instructor: Christina Ward-Niven $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/16/20 – 11/18/20 | 1:00 pm -3:00 pm In this Zoom workshop, we will read one story or essay by a published author each week and discuss what makes it tick. How exactly does the piece work (or not)? We’ll dig into a wide range of craft topics, as they come up—point of view, characterization, pacing, suspense, mystery, etc. Next, we’ll turn the same lens to our own work, reading and…
Find out more »October 2020
Propelled by Story, Constrained by Truth: Exploring the Boundaries of Narrative Nonfiction (Online class)
Instructor: Chris Register $75 Members | $82 Nonmembers Monday - Friday, 10/26/20 - 10/30/20 | 9:30 am – 11:00 am Five-day mini-course Narrative nonfiction authors face many decisions along our journey from proposal to print. Whether curating material for a historical snapshot, recreating conversations for a travelogue, or painting scenes for a memoir, the challenges are the same: where to begin, what to tell and leave out (and in what order), how much to employ dialogue versus backstory, and—of course—that…
Find out more »November 2020
Advanced Creative Nonfiction (Online class)
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9/15/20 – 11/5/20 | 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm NOTE: This class requires instructor permission The goal of this Advanced Creative Nonfiction workshop is to push you to a new level of professionalism and take you from a first draft to a submission-ready final draft. The workshop will be about quality, not quantity, as we adopt a more tough-minded, detailed approach. Since everyone is expected to have a certain…
Find out more »February 2021
Memoir in a Year Part I: Writing the First Draft of Your Book-Length Memoir (Will meet on-line)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $1,399* Members | $1,399* Nonmembers Select Thursdays, 3/5/2020 - 2/18/2021** | 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM *Payment plans of $360.25 per quarter will be available for students accepted to this program. **For a complete list of dates, please see the 2020 Memoir in a Year Part I Syllabus Have a powerful life story you absolutely must tell? Looking for support as you harness the power of that narrative? During Memoir in a Year Part I: Writing the…
Find out more »March 2021
Evening Creative Nonfiction (Online course) – This class is full!
Instructor: Brendan Wolfe $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Mondays and Wednesdays, 1/11/21 – 3/3/21 | 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm In this workshop, we'll critique student writing in addition to considering samples of a few published selections. We’ll consider essays and memoir as a distinctive genre, with the goal of moving from the chin-strokingly philosophical—"What is a true story?" "Is it memoir or mem-wah?"—to the more practical: "How should this story be told?" "How do I convince my readers to…
Find out more »May 2021
Earning That Creative License: A Generative Class for Nonfiction Writers – Ongoing class
Instructor: Jody Hobbs Hesler $150 Members | $165 Nonmembers Thursdays, 3/25/21 – 5/27/21 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (Ten-week class) Emphasizing the “create” in creative nonfiction, this generative writing class will employ exercises to help creative nonfiction writers dig deeper into hard to recreate real-life scenes. Students will explore techniques more often associated with fiction writing to fully embody and envision motivations, conversations, behaviors, and backstories about which limited or no factual information exists. In-class exercises can help spark…
Find out more »September 2021
Memoir in a Year Part II: Finish and Revise the Draft of Your Book (Ongoing class)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $1,399* Members | $1,399* Nonmembers Select Thursdays, 3/4/2021 - 2/17/2022** | 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM *Payment plans will be available for students accepted to this program. **For a complete list of dates, please see the 2021 Memoir in a Year Part II Syllabus This class is a follow-on to the 2020 Memoir in a Year Part I year-long course. It will continue the study of memoir craft and technique, include in-class writing exercises, workshop new and revised…
Find out more »