"Julia Thacker can meet students on their own ground and inspire them. It's one of the marks of a great teacher."

-Phyllis Strimling
Former Director,
Radcliffe Seminars


 

 

Creative Writing Workshops
In Fiction And Memoir

Please click the Schedules link for Summer 2023 (Live on Zoom) Workshop information

The Workshop

Designed for both new and more experienced writers, this 9-week session offers professional instruction in craft, and the supportive atmosphere of a workshop setting. Class meetings consist of group discussion of participants' manuscripts -- which also receive written comments from the instructor -- as well as analyses of stories and essays by writers as varied as Alexander Chee, Lauren Groff, Elizabeth McCracken, and Daniyal Mueenuddin. We will discuss the elements at the heart of all good storytelling: character, dialogue, scene, style, and conflict. In addition, part of each session will be devoted to in-class writing exercises in which key memories, vintage photographs, and newspaper headlines are the starting points for intriguing characters and plots. In this workshop we will trust our powers of intuition, while developing the technique which allows us to write a daring, disciplined prose. Toward the end of the course, the topic of publication will be discussed. The Workshops are limited to ten participants.