You've browsed the list. You've gone back and forth. Should you really take a writing class this summer? Well, if the answer is yes, DON'T DELAY! Multi-week creative writing workshops begin next week, and we urge you (gently and with love) to sign up for the class of your choice this week

By Boyah J. Farah

(This is the second post by Somali-American writer Boyah Farah. You can find his first piece here: "Fear, Giddiness and Surrealism: My Long Journey to GrubStreet.")

I am afraid of death and time.  Death ceases memory. Time fades away the memories of war.  The war in Somalia began when I turned thirteen years old.  Then I saw the killings

In addition to teaching, I always take classes at Grub each term to keep up with my own writing. So, when Grub offered online classes for the first time in the fall, I decided to take Grace Talusan's Art of the Personal Essay online class. I had taken an in-person class with her a couple years ago (which was fabulous), so I had high hopes for her online class. I was not disappointed

I once had a writing teacher who advised us to begin the first draft, not with writing, but sitting.  Specifically, we were to descend to the basement and sit cross-legged on the damp floor.  Preferably we would be wrapped in a sleeping bag.  The basement, as I understood it, because we were meant to draw on our deepest subconscious.  The sleeping bag, to protect our quivering writer egos.