14 Daily Exercises That Make Your Writing Sing with Peter Mountford

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Date: Sunday, August 22nd
Time: 11:00 to 4:00 (with an hour lunch break)
Cost: $150
Limited to: 15 participants
​Where: Online

In this class you'll learn simple techniques that'll make your writing pop on the page. Publishers often say that within a paragraph they can tell if someone is actually a writer or not, and what they're talking about is an array of simple stylistic questions: verb choice, dynamic syntax, sentence length variety, and more. In this class you'll practice enlivening your writing with surprisingly fun exercises, and learn simple tools for diagnosing and repairing drab prose. 

Peter Mountford is the author of the novels A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (2012 Washington State Book Award in fiction), and The Dismal Science (a NYT editor's choice). His work has appeared in The New York Times (the Modern Love column), The Paris Review, The Atlantic magazine, The Sun, Granta, Writer’s Digest, and elsewhere. Currently a creative writing professor at Sierra Nevada College's MFA program, Peter is a writing coach and developmental editor with clients around the world.

Sex and the Poet: A Generative Poetry Workshop with Lauren Davis

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Date: Saturday, August 28th
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm (with an hour lunch break)
Cost: $125
Limited to: 12 participants
​Where: Online

Desire, regret, dysfunction, trauma, bliss. How can we approach such sensitive subject matter and stay true to the emotional truth in our work? Join Davis for a generative workshop exploring this question. Participants will have the opportunity to focus on creating first drafts of poems. In this particular workshop, in order to create and maintain a safe space, no one will read their writing aloud. This class is appropriate for both beginning and experienced poets.

Lauren Davis is the author of Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press, forthcoming), and the chapbooks Each Wild Thing’s Consent (Poetry Wolf Press) and The Missing Ones (Winter texts). She holds an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She is a former Editor in Residence at The Puritan’s Town Crier and has been awarded a residency at Hypatia-in-the-Woods. Her work has appeared in over fifty literary publications and anthologies including Prairie Schooner, Spillway, Poet Lore, Ibbetson Street, Ninth Letter and elsewhere.

Folk and Fairy Tales: A Generative Poetry Workshop with Lauren Davis

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Date: Saturday, September 11th
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm (with an hour lunch break)
Cost: $125
Limited to: 8 participants
​Where: Online

How can fairy tales and folk tales inform and influence our work? How have contemporary poets used these tales in their own poems? Join Davis for a generative workshop exploring these questions. This class is appropriate for both beginning and experienced writers.

Lauren Davis is the author of Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press, forthcoming), and the chapbooks Each Wild Thing’s Consent (Poetry Wolf Press) and The Missing Ones (Winter texts). She holds an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She is a former Editor in Residence at The Puritan’s Town Crier and has been awarded a residency at Hypatia-in-the-Woods. Her work has appeared in over fifty literary publications and anthologies including Prairie Schooner, Spillway, Poet Lore, Ibbetson Street, Ninth Letter and elsewhere.

Writing for Children: Picture Books to Middle Grade Novels with Patrick Jennings

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Dates: Tuesdays, September 28th - October 12th
Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm
Cost: $150
Limited to: 8 participants
​Where: Online
One Seat Available

Do you have a story guaranteed to delight young readers? This 3-week workshop will help you bring it to vivid life. We'll also discuss forms of children's literature, audience, and working with agents, editors, illustrators, and art directors.

Patrick Jennings is the author of 25 books for young readers - published by Scholastic, Random House, HarperCollins, et al - including Guinea Dog, We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes, and Odd, Weird & Little. He is the recipient of the Washington State Book Award, Booklist Editor's Choice Award, Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for Children, New York Public Library Best Book, and was a PEN Center USA Literary Award finalist as well as a PNW Booksellers Association Award nominee. Jennings has been a presenter at schools and libraries all over the US and abroad for over twenty years.

The Ongoing Poetry Workshop (afternoon) with Gary Copeland Lilley

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Dates: Thursdays, September 30th - December 16th
Time: 2:30pm to 5:00pm
Cost: $250
Limited to: 8 participants
​Where: Online
​Full

​A weekly poetry workshop open to writers of any skill level or genre, a gathering of writers coming together in a supportive environment to work on the development and refining of our personal aesthetics. Yes, free to do your poetic thing with a focus on the crafting of poems, and on not judging poets. That is exactly the attitude this ongoing workshop has always maintained, while working the literary elements we use to create poems: gaining an understanding of poetry’s major operating modes, discovering ways to build the sharper images, enhance the poem’s musicality, and to convey those subtle meanings and significant statements uncovered in the poetic process. Each week, bring 9 copies of a poem in progress. Simply put, this workshop rocks as much as you want it to.

Gary Copeland Lilley is the author of eight books of poetry, the most recent being The Bushman's Medicine Show, from Lost Horse Press (2017), and a chapbook, The Hog Killing, from Blue Horse Press (2018). He is originally from North Carolina and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. He has received the Washington DC Commission on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry. He is published in numerous anthologies and journals, including Best American Poetry 2014, Willow Springs, The Swamp, Waxwing, the Taos International Journal of Poetry, and the African American Review. He is a Cave Canem Fellow.

The Ongoing Poetry Workshop (evening) with Gary Copeland Lilley

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Dates: Thursdays, September 30th - December 16th
Time: 5:30pm to 8:00pm
Cost: $250
Limited to: 8 participants
​Where: Online

​A weekly poetry workshop open to writers of any skill level or genre, a gathering of writers coming together in a supportive environment to work on the development and refining of our personal aesthetics. Yes, free to do your poetic thing with a focus on the crafting of poems, and on not judging poets. That is exactly the attitude this ongoing workshop has always maintained, while working the literary elements we use to create poems: gaining an understanding of poetry’s major operating modes, discovering ways to build the sharper images, enhance the poem’s musicality, and to convey those subtle meanings and significant statements uncovered in the poetic process. Each week, bring 9 copies of a poem in progress. Simply put, this workshop rocks as much as you want it to.

Gary Copeland Lilley is the author of eight books of poetry, the most recent being The Bushman's Medicine Show, from Lost Horse Press (2017), and a chapbook, The Hog Killing, from Blue Horse Press (2018). He is originally from North Carolina and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. He has received the Washington DC Commission on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry. He is published in numerous anthologies and journals, including Best American Poetry 2014, Willow Springs, The Swamp, Waxwing, the Taos International Journal of Poetry, and the African American Review. He is a Cave Canem Fellow.

Works in Progress: Novel and Short Fiction with Samantha Ladwig

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Dates: Wednesdays, October 6th - 27th
Time: 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Cost: $150
Limited to: 5 participants
​Where: Online

Share your work in progress in a safe, small, and collaborative environment. This 4-week workshop is open to beginning novelists who are looking to better understand their story as well as the craft of novel writing.

Each week, writers will email the group a single excerpt of no more than 1,000 words. Everyone will read their work aloud while the rest of the group reads and/or listens along. Writers are encouraged to let the group know if they'd like feedback on a specific element of the story (tone, theme, plot, character, etc.) before they start reading. Afterwards, we'll take a couple of minutes to gather our thoughts on the piece, write down any questions/comments, and then we'll spend time offering helpful feedback that will inspire the writer and guide them forward.

Samantha Ladwig is a writer, book reviewer, and the owner of Imprint Bookstore. Her work has been published by Literary Hub, Bustle, New York Magazine, Real Simple, Vice, Bust Magazine, and others. She is a former reader for The Masters Review. ​​Prior to owning a bookstore, Samantha was a film cataloger at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Find her at www.samanthaladwig.com.

​Volta: A Poetry Workshop with Kathryn Hunt and Spencer Reece

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Dates: Saturday and Sunday, October 9th and 10th
Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday, 12:00pm to 4:00pm on Sunday
Cost: $350
Limited to: 10 participants
​Where: Online

Volta means turn around, tumble, waltz. In a sonnet, it’s the turn of thought or direction that channels surprise and originality. Our two-day workshop will focus on ways to roll and roam with your own poetry and allow it to take you in new directions. We'll consider the work of contemporary poets from the U.S. and abroad and explore ways you might employ risk and invention in your work, moving your poem forward and inward at the same time. We’ll provide writing prompts and, during the course of the weekend, each participant will receive feedback from the instructors on a draft. We’ll also send you a small packet of poems to read before we meet. You’ll finish the weekend with four drafts of new poems. The class is open to all lovers of poetry — beginners and experienced writers alike. Please come with a notebook or laptop and an open mind.
 
Spencer Reece’s debut collection of poetry The Clerk’s Tale was chosen by Louise Glück for the Bakeless Poetry Prize. His second collection The Road to Emmaus was a longlist nominee for the National Book Award and a finalist for the Griffin Prize from Canada. Reece’s poems explore faith, family, love, and loss and are filled with what Glück calls “shimmering intelligence. . . [and] unobtrusive wit;” “half cocktail party, half passion play.” His honors include fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and an Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. His memoir, The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Poet’s Memoir, from Seven Stories Press, will be published in 2021. A book of watercolors All the Beauty Still Left: A Poet’s Book of Hours from Turtle Point Press and a chapbook, Letters from Spain, will also arrive on the bookshelves this year. He lives in Jackson Heights, New York.

Kathryn Hunt makes her home on the coast of the Salish Sea. Her poems have appeared in The Sun, Radar, Orion, Missouri Review, Carolina Quarterly, and Narrative. She is the author of Long Way Through Ruin from Blue Begonia Press. Seed-wheel, her second collection, will be published by Lost Horse Press in 2021. She is the recipient of residencies and awards from Ucross, Willapa AIR, Artists Trust, and Joya AIR (Spain). She’s worked as a waitress, shipscaler, short-order cook, bookseller, printer, food bank coordinator, filmmaker, and freelance writer. kathrynhunt.net

Teaching the Fictionalized Memoir with Jennifer Haupt

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Date: Sunday, October 17th
Time: 11:00am to 3:30pm (with an hour lunch/writing break)
Cost: $150
Limited to: 7 participants
​Where: Online
Full

Are you struggling to tell your personal story in a dramatic and entertaining way--or understanding what the book-worthy story really is? Infusing your memoir with fiction can free you to explore all of the storytelling possibilities around your real-life experience. We'll discuss strategies for combining fiction and memoir techniques in ways that are true to the theme of your book, and may expand the plot and deepen characters. This class is focused on structural and scene-building exercises to move you forward in writing your book. ​

Jennifer Haupt is the author of the novel In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills (April 2018) and editor of ALONE TOGETHER: Stories of Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (Sept. 2020). She has also ghost-written memoir, and her essays and articles have been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today, The Rumpus, Spirituality & Health, The Sun, and elsewhere. She teaches at Hugo House in Seattle, and writing conferences and workshops around the country.

Finish Your Book and Sell It with Peter Mountford

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Date: Sunday, October 24th
Time: 11:00 to 4:00 (with an hour lunch break)
Cost: $150
Limited to: 15 participants
​Where: Online

Every year, thousands of first-time authors are paid in advance for their debut books. In this one-day intensive we’ll focus on the complex work of preparing your book for submission, including sourcing the best literary agents, building a platform, and the fine art of query letter writing. Students will come away with sample queries and handouts on publishing resources.

Peter Mountford is the author of the novels A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (2012 Washington State Book Award in fiction), and The Dismal Science (a NYT editor's choice). His work has appeared in The New York Times (the Modern Love column), The Paris Review, The Atlantic magazine, The Sun, Granta, Writer’s Digest, and elsewhere. Currently a creative writing professor at Sierra Nevada College's MFA program, Peter is a writing coach and developmental editor with clients around the world.

Backstory: How Much is Enough? Part I with Jennifer Haupt

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Date: Sunday, December 4th
Time: 11:00am to 2:00pm
Cost: $150
Limited to: 10 participants
​Where: Online

The first 50 pages of any book are critical for drawing in readers and keeping them engaged. (Not to mention keeping yourself engaged and moving forward!) That means balancing backstory, present action, and hints at what will come. We'll discuss the basics of what needs to happen in these critical pages, look at examples of successful beginnings, and do exercises to get down the bones of credible characters and storylines. ​

Jennifer Haupt is the author of the novel In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills (April 2018) and editor of ALONE TOGETHER: Stories of Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (Sept. 2020). She has also ghost-written memoir, and her essays and articles have been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today, The Rumpus, Spirituality & Health, The Sun, and elsewhere. She teaches at Hugo House in Seattle, and writing conferences and workshops around the country.

Backstory: How Much is Enough? Part II with Jennifer Haupt

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Date: Sunday, December 12th
Time: 11:00am to 2:00pm
Cost: $100
Limited to: 10 participants
​Where: Online

We'll workshop the first 10 pages of your book, specifically looking at the balance of backstory and forward motion in terms of plot and character development. Prerequisite: Part One of this series, or approval of the instructor.​

Jennifer Haupt is the author of the novel In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills (April 2018) and editor of ALONE TOGETHER: Stories of Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (Sept. 2020). She has also ghost-written memoir, and her essays and articles have been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today, The Rumpus, Spirituality & Health, The Sun, and elsewhere. She teaches at Hugo House in Seattle, and writing conferences and workshops around the country.