Programs
Neighborhood Classes
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THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES MADE TO THE WDTS CLASS SCHEDULE. Please read class information carefully and note cancellations and updates.
HAN SIDO CAMBIOS EN EL HORARIO DE CLASES DE WDTS/AUTORES A LA VUELTA. Por favor lea los detalles de cada clase con cuidado y note cancelaciones y noticias.
More general updates and information can be found on our COVID-19 Updates Page.
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You can view all past writing prompts here.
Write Down the Street
Write Down the Street has a special focus on making the creative writing workshop more accessible to those who face challenges due to cost, language skills, lack of access to transportation, and other barriers. We believe that all voices must be spotlighted with the range and fullness they deserve.
These programs are offered tuition-free thanks to the support of generous donors who are committed to our mission of ensuring all voices are heard. This program is also supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, a local agency which is funded by the Mass Cultural Council, and administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.
Click on the links below to sign up for a class.
Types of Classes
Want to get into creative writing, but not sure where to begin? Get inspired with a FREE session at your local library. There are three types of programs offered so far. All classes welcome new and practicing writers!
Drop-in Classes: For about one hour, you’ll meet fellow writers, and learn to tell your story through fun directed exercises in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and sometimes other genres or forms.
Multi-week Classes: These 2-hour classes meet weekly for three to six weeks. These regular meetings allow for more time to share work, and give and receive light feedback. Students read and discuss excerpts of works written by new and established authors, and try writing exercises that deepen and expand their own writing.
*New! Ask a Writer: Office Hours* – These are open to anyone who wants to ask an instructor a question about a writing project, resources, opportunities, upcoming classes, and tips. Just come to the library and sign up for a 20-minute max time block. Unfortunately, advance reservations are not possible. Office hours time blocks are scheduled on a first-come, first served basis.
Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library
Multi-Weeks:
The Writer's Workshop with Quentin Lucas (NOW REMOTE): Tuesdays starting April 7th, 5:45pm to 7:30pm
Drop-Ins:
Decoding Black Speculative Fiction with Quentin Lucas (CANCELLED): Saturday April 11th, 12:00 to 1:30pm
Black Comics and Sequential Art with Quentin Lucas: Saturday May 30th, 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Egleston Square Branch of the Boston Public Library
Poetry Generator & Workshop with Vero González (CANCELLED): Fridays starting April 1st, 5:45pm to 7:45pm
All of Me: How to Bring Our Full Selves into Writing with Vero González: Wednesdays, starting May 27th, 5:45pm to 7:45pm
Drop-Ins:
Pieces of Me: Writing about Class with Vero González (NOW REMOTE): Friday, March 27th 12:00 to 1:30pm
Pieces of Me: Writing about Ability with Vero González (CANCELLED): Friday, April 3rd 12:00 to 1:30pm
Pieces of Me: Writing about Race with Vero González: Friday, May 1st 12:00 to 1:30pm
Realismo mágico: tradición latinoamericana with Vero González: Friday, June 5th 12:00 to 1:30pm
Pieces of Me: Writing across the LGBTQIA+ Spectrum with Vero González: Friday, June 26th 12:00 to 1:30pm
New! Ask a Writer: Office Hours
These are open to anyone who wants to ask an instructor a question about a writing project, resources, opportunities, upcoming classes, and tips. Just come to the library and sign up for a 20-minute max time block. Office hours time blocks are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Instructors are now offerering virtual office hours on the following days:
Quentin Lucas: March 27th, April 3rd, April 10th, April 17th, April 24th, May 1st
Vero González: April 7th, April 14th, April 21st, April 28th
Check back for more dates!
Meet the Instructors
Vero González is a queer femme-inist writer and translator from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has a MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writer's Workshop, where she was a Dean's Graduate Fellow and a BFA from Pratt Institute, where she won the Thesis Prize in Fiction. She has received support from A Room of Her Own Foundation (Touching Lives Fellow, 2015) as well as Hedgebrook and the Rona Jaffe Foundation (Hedgebrook/Rona Jaffe Inaugural Fellow, 2018). She lives in Boston, where she is working on a hybrid book about intergenerational trauma, colonialism, and healing. Vero is GrubStreet's Neighborhood Programs Fellow for Egleston Square.
Quentin Lucas is a Germany-born, Boston-raised bookworm. After meandering through college on his way to a degree in Business Management, he then adventured his way through the US Army and discovered a need to follow his passion for writing. As a freelancer, copywriter, and essayist, Quentin has worked on projects with MIT and Vistaprint, and has written for publications like the Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, Blerds Online, and Fourth River Literary Magazine. While awaiting the fall of 2019, when he will begin his MFA in Creative Writing at Emerson College, Quentin is crafting the second novel of his fantasy trilogy and is considering a memoir about his military days.
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