Explore short story fiction writing by studying narrative craft elements like story, plot, character, scene, structure, archetypal patterns and dialogue. We’ll examine professionally published pieces and your own work. By the end of the course, you’ll be ready to begin a story based on a word or an idea. You’ll also understand how to evaluate […]
read moreThis class will focus on confessional style poetry. We will look at examples for inspiration as well as write in a workshop style class.Poets like Sylvia Plath will be helpful in guiding us to look inward and explore some themes for our writing, including personal growth, grief, beauty, and the spiritual. Be prepared to leave […]
read more“Visionary Fiction” is a term developed by Walidah Imarisha for fantastical writing that helps us imagine new, just worlds. We’ll explore writing visionary and speculative fiction from prompts created through creative coding. Learn the basics of JavaScript using an app the instructor has developed. With this tool you will gather data from existing texts (which […]
read moreThomas Larson writes that “memoir is most successful when it is not the ‘story of a life,’ but a focused part of that life—a dozen summers spent working on a grandfather’s farm, a long relationship with a dying relative, the first year of law school.” You’ll work with writing prompts and timed writing exercises, and […]
read moreDream is a language that is already deeply metaphorical. Discover how to harness these sorts of images in order to create poems alive in their sense of wonder. Students will spend time working on the dream logic of their own work after investigating and inhabiting the dream poems of other poets.
read moreIn this 5-week introduction to memoir class, we'll study coming-of-age stories as a window into the art of character development. Each week, we'll read an essay or book excerpt and use it as a foundation for writing our own 500-word piece. There will be opportunities to share in class and edit our own work outside […]
read moreDo all the sounds and fury of family time around the holidays make you wish for one hundred years of solitude? Maybe writing it out will help. Through discussion and free writing, this class is designed to help you reach a state of literary catharsis as your write about your people.
read moreWhether you’re looking to publish fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, this class will kick your journal submissions into gear. Over the course of a weekend, you’ll write, share work with peers, and submit that work to five different journals. In the process, you’ll create an author bio and cover letter you can customize and reuse for […]
read moreExplore short story fiction writing by studying narrative craft elements like story, plot, character, scene, structure, archetypal patterns and dialogue. We’ll examine professionally published pieces and your own work. By the end of the course, you’ll be ready to begin a story based on a word or an idea. You’ll also understand how to evaluate […]
read moreThis class is for the conversations that still need to happen. We’ll talk about the barriers that keep us from writing what we need to write. We’ll also examine works by Chanel Miller, Jeannette Walls, and Layli Long Soldier to take lessons from the ways in which they make difficult topics easier to access. Students […]
read moreWhether you're an adherent of David Sedaris and Patricia Lockwood, or just a total goof-around whackadoodle, this class will take you through a step-by-step process of drafting and refining a humorous tale in prose form.
read moreWhether you are interested in getting started telling your story in memoir, fiction, or some twisted combination of the two, this generative workshop will serve as a gentle and fun way to push yourself creatively. Through prompts, mini-lectures, readings, supportive discussion, and maybe even prestidigitation, students will work towards realizing their prose visions.
read moreHave you taken poetry workshops at VisArts? Do you feel ready to deepen your craft? Work with other experienced writers to study, learn new forms and critique your classmates' work.
read moreExplore the dark self, what Carl Jung called the “shadow” part of our psyche. Sometimes we see it in our dreams, sometimes it appears in dark imaginings. We’ll learn what the shadow can add to our creative writing by experimenting with timed writing, dream journals, guided imagery and Active Imagination.
read moreThe art of expressing joy, pain, triumph, or tragedy by painting pictures with words. This series journeys the human experience through the lens of poetry as performance art. Richmond's first poet Laureate, Douglas Powell/Roscoe Burnems unpacks captivating poetry slam performances and guides participants to create dynamic pieces of their own.
read moreCelebrate the poet Emily Dickinson by reading some of her poems, eating her famous cake, and writing poems of your own. We'll also look at some of Dickinson's manuscripts and letters, and we'll consider how her writing process and life experiences shaped her poetry.
read moreThomas Larson writes that “memoir is most successful when it is not the ‘story of a life,’ but a focused part of that life—a dozen summers spent working on a grandfather’s farm, a long relationship with a dying relative, the first year of law school.” You’ll work with writing prompts and timed writing exercises, and […]
read moreCalling all poets, fiction and nonfiction writers! Are you looking for new ways into the work? Are you curious about using craft to challenge your instincts and skill set? In this two-day intensive, we dismiss genre distinctions and experiment with a series of vigorous craft exercises that seek to push us outside the bounds of […]
read moreTake a deep dive into the craft of writing fiction. With a particular focus on short fiction, this class will explore key craft elements such as characterization, setting, tone, conflict, and structure through discussion and generative writing exercises. This is a craft and generative writing class, not a workshop. However, the instructor will offer each […]
read moreClarissa Pinkola Estes writes about el duende, “the goblin wind,” that can breathe the creative spark into fire. The goal of this creative writing class is to fan your ideas and inspirations into flame. We’ll use timed writing, dream journals, guided imagery, Active Imagination, and anything else we can think of to get in touch […]
read moreExplore the relationship between words and pictures in a collaborative setting. We’ll use a wide range of visual images (including, but not limited to: photographs, paintings, postcards, and comics) to prompt new creative writing, in the style and genre of your choosing.
read moreWhat does it mean to write about home? We’ll examine the many kinds of homes that exist, ranging from houses to nations to the body itself. Our conversation will take us from the Grimms’ Fairytale “Hansel and Gretel” to the present day as we write about our changing relationships with home in the time of […]
read moreAre you curious about translating real-life events onto the page? Do you have personal stories that seem like they could work together holistically? Are you a consummate journaler who wants to experiment with craft? In this two-day intensive, we break down specific craft elements (structure, characterization, time management, etc), and then use what we’ve learned […]
read moreWhat do ghosts and the things that haunt us tell us about ourselves and our society? In this class, we will take a deep dive into writing and reading ghost stories, all while learning more about key craft elements such as character, setting, theme, and conflict. By the end of the 4 weeks, every student […]
read moreExperiment with or continue developing screenwriting for film through exercises and workshops. Students will work towards completing a short screenplay or TV pilot ready for production or begin/continue working on a feature length screenplay. This class is suitable for writers of any level and can be repeated.
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