Neighborhood Classes

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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.

Stay tuned for more summer classes coming soon!

Egleston Square Branch of the Boston Public Library

The Mind Belly Connection with Vero González: Wednesdays starting June 26th, 5:30pm to 7:30pm

Mothers and Daughters: A Conversation Between our Inner Selves with Vero González: Friday July 19th, 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Summer Lovin': Odes to the People, Places, & Things We Love with Vero González: Friday August 2nd, 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library

Women of Color Rewriting History with Ashley Rose: Saturday, May 18th 2:00pm to 3:30pm

Writing with Radical Imagination: Cross-Genre Afro-Futurism & More with Porsha Olayiwola: Thursday, June 6th 6:00pm to 7:30pm

East Boston Branch of the Boston Public Library

Magical Realism Workshop with Marcella Haddad: Mondays starting June 3rd, 5:30 to 7:30pm

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. Register below! 

Schedule

East Boston Branch of the Boston Public Library: Wednesday, February 27th 2:30pm - 4:00pm

Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library: Saturday, March 9th 2:00pm - 3:30pm 

Egleston Branch of the Boston Public Library: Thursday, March 14th 12:00pm - 1:30pm

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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